Successors (16 page)

Cori stepped onto the transmorphs level with a little more enthusiasm than she did the other levels. So much so, that she was actually dancing. She had a tune in her head that she had been humming all day.

As she started to sing it out loud, a few other voices similar to her own joined in. She glided across the floor with a few hop-steps and turns. Every cell down the line had a copy of her inside of it. The a cappella pop song echoed in stereo down the line. Her exuberant dancing was mimicked by her doppelgangers in every cell.

She was sure that Danato wouldn’t approve of her encouraging the devious manipulators, but she decided as long as they were images of herself; she would always know they couldn’t trick her. After all, she knew herself better than anyone.

Aside from this day being the day she got to perform with the transmorphs, it was also the first day she had permission to bring in some of the cargo from the delivery trucks. Finally, she would have an opportunity to view how she might escape this prison.

Once her supplies were put away, she got the call from the dock to come down and help unload. She nearly ran to the main level and managed to arrive just as the back of the truck was being opened.

She observed the number of people that were there, and the number of outgoing boxes, which were only a few. Mostly paperwork and a few empty boxes that were designed to keep suspicion down, in case the drivers were ever questioned about their purpose in this barely habitable section of Russia.

No one offered her orders so she grabbed a two-wheeler and headed into the trailer to grab something, anything. The cargo space was deep and dark. Dark enough to hide someone from sight.

She smiled at that thought as she shoved her cart under a box and started to pry it up. Something shifted in her periphery, but when she looked, she couldn’t see anything. She looked to the far back of the truck, into the darkness where she had just decided someone might be able to hide. The hairs on the back of her neck started to tickle.

As her eyes adjusted, she could see the faint outline of something. Something that wasn’t a box. It moved, making her jump. She backed away slowly. “There’s something in here!” she yelled out to the crew. One man glanced in and shrugged; the others didn’t bother looking.

“Hello, Cori.” She gasped and whipped her head back to the voice behind her. Vince was inches from her. She recoiled from his sudden proximity and nearly fell back. He placed a hand on her back to support her and she grabbed his arms for balance. “You’re not happy to see me?” he asked with disappointment in his eyes.

“See you, yes.” She pushed herself away. “But breathing you is a bit unnecessary.” She rolled out of his supporting hand and returned to moving boxes. Her heart was racing from the startle of seeing him, but she wasn’t prepared for the nervousness that came with it.

He followed her out with his long black trench coat trailing. It made him look mysterious and handsome, but since he was already a werewolf, it seemed overkill to her.

“Do you mind?” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I have work to do.” Outside of the truck, he veered off toward the door as if he had no intention of continuing their conversation. She paused and looked after him. She was a little disappointed that he hadn’t persisted in bugging her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him, but she didn’t like that his interest had waned since the first time they met.

He caught her looking after him and she looked away, but that was apparently enough to draw his attention back to her. He turned around, but didn’t come over to her. “I’ll be sequestered at midnight tonight. You won’t be able to see me for several days, and I’m unfortunately scheduled to leave directly after. You’ll be without me for several more weeks.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll try to fit you in.” He disappeared out the hallway. When she was sure no one was looking, she checked the big caged clock on the wall.

Just after dinner, she cleaned up the dishes in record speed while still trying to look as if she wasn’t in a hurry. With every plate she scrubbed, she wondered why she wanted to go see him. With every bowl, she demanded that she not let her past dictate her future relationships. The forks reminded her that Vince could potentially help her escape, and the knives reminded her that his help would come with a price that she wasn’t sure she could offer him.  Danato peeked over his newspaper from his chair in the living room as she scrubbed the dried food off the table with insistent vigor. She sensed he wasn’t fooled for a minute. He knew Vince had arrived and he also knew that she had cooked a quick dinner. He smiled at her as he adjusted the hideous thick frames of his reading glasses. “Need some help?”

She paused, but shook her head. “No, I think that’s everything.” She tossed the rag into the sink from her position by the table.”

Danato looked over at the landing position. “Looks good.”

“I should get back to the prison.” She undid her ponytail as she went for her coat. “I didn’t finish my area before the truck came in,” she lied.

“Of course, don’t work too hard,” Danato said ducking back into his newspaper.

“Hey, Cori, would you rub my neck?” Ethan popped up from the couch just as she reached for the door. “I think I pulled something lifting today.”

She doubted whether Ethan had actually pulled something. More likely he just wanted to make it known that he had lifted weights. She anxiously danced at the door trying to think of a viable reason not to. “Come on, you owe me. I can’t ask Danato, he’ll break my neck with those hands.”

Danato grunted from behind his newspaper.

She glanced at the clock. “Okay, but just a bit, I don’t want to lose sleep over janitorial work.”

“Just wait until tomorrow,” Ethan suggested as she came over to him. “Danato doesn’t care what day things get cleaned on.”

Ethan and Cori both looked to him for opposing answers. He peeked over the paper, cleared his throat, and went right back into it appeasing neither of them with an answer.

Ethan stretched out on the couch and she sat down beside him. She gruffly massaged his neck. “Ouch, can you try not to think about strangling someone while you do it?” She relaxed her grip and massaged more gently. His shoulders and neck relaxed in her hands. Soon enough, he was practically asleep on the couch. She left him be and moved to the door. “Thanks Cori,” Ethan mumbled into the pillows. “Your the best.”

She frowned, knowing that she wasn't the best. For some reason Ethan was blind to all her selfish faults. She glanced at Danato and he gave her a sympathetic smile. She put on her coat and slipped out the door.

29

Cori skipped the elevator and ran all the way to the third level. She slowed her pace just before she reached his cell so she didn’t look like she was flushed from running. As she reached Vince’s human cell she saw the door was closed. She looked at the locked door and then the caged clock on the wall. 10:30.

Vince came to the bars and smiled warmly, reaching for her hand.

She concluded his playful behavior had gone to the side of the jerk again. “You were just teasing me.” Her brow crumpled and she set her jaw.

“I normally get sequestered for 24 hours, before being moved to the big cage, and the same for the aftermath. The 24 hours will officially start at midnight.”

“Then why is it locked already?” she asked.

“Because I knew you would come to see me tonight, like I asked.”

Her eyes watered slightly. She was right; he was just playing some sort of game with her. “Fine, I won’t bother showing next time.” She walked away.

“Cori!” Vince called after her with distress in his voice. “Don’t make me wait three weeks to explain. Cori!” His voice cracked like a teenager in puberty, only instead of a high-pitched squeak it was a deep rumble that bled through his vocal chords.

It was perhaps only the strangeness of the sound that stopped her, but her curiosity prevented her from moving again. Midway between his cell and the section break, she argued with herself. She wasn’t about to let this man play her like a high school girl at a frat party. She wanted to know why he didn’t want to see her, though.

“Cori.” Vince’s voice was soft now, no sign of the monster within him. “I can smell you from here. I can smell your emotion like any fool could see them. Please come back, so I can make you understand. I’m trying to protect you, not hurt you.”

She shook her head, more to remind herself that she could, but she turned around and walked back to face him. Vince held out his hand again. “I won’t bite. Not yet.”

She moved closer, but just out of his reach. He smiled and put down his hands. “You don’t know enough about me to be afraid of me. Not the way you should.” He was smiling, but he was serious. She rolled her eyes. Everything in this prison was dangerous.

“Listen, you get that I’m a werewolf. What you don’t get is that 24 hours before and after being a werewolf I am a violent, lecherous, man. However, it’s a gradient. I knew this afternoon that I could get you here this evening. I knew that this evening, I could get you to that bed.” He nodded back to his bed. “What I didn’t know is if that was what you really wanted or what I wanted from you.”

“You think I’m that easy?” she snarled at the implication.

“No, but I am that good. I can smell your emotions. It’s very easy to manipulate people when you know how they are feeling. I didn’t want to manipulate you into thinking that you liked me, when you haven’t made your mind up about that yet. I do find it encouraging that you were disappointed to see this door locked,” he said, tracing his finger over the key hole.

She looked at her feet, but all at once pulled her chin up high and took a deep breath. “What now?” She wanted to keep control of this. It was her choice to be here, no matter what he thought of his skills. She could leave, but she didn’t want to.

Vince checked the clock on the wall behind them. “I have over an hour to talk to you, hold your hand, and run my fingers through your hair.”

“What happens after that?” she asked.

“The guards put you back on the line.” He motioned to the yellow line on the floor that marked his reaching distance.

“No, I mean, what would you do to me?” She looked away. “If they didn’t put me back on the line?”

He took in a deep hissing breath. She thought she heard a tremble in his exhale. “Maybe just pull your hair, hold your wrists a little too tight, and get to as much of you through these bars as I could. Hopefully, I’m not making that sound erotic, because I’d likely take your arm off trying to get to you. I could kill you just as easily as a man as I could a werewolf.”

“Could you kill me now?” she asked.

“I have control of myself now. It just gets harder after midnight.”

“I think I’m starting to feel that fear I’m supposed to be feeling.” She shuffled her hands around trying to find the right spot for them. The pockets of her jeans were too shallow. The belt loops were ripped. She fisted her hands and clenched her jaw. “Would you…” She shook even before she could get the words out. Only her anger and determination let her vocal chords form the words. “…rape me?” She was surprised the word didn’t make her cry. It shook her to the core, but it didn’t shatter her.

When she looked back at Vince, he wasn’t offering an answer. “Danato came to see me this afternoon. He wanted me to understand the situation surrounding your previous captivity. That’s partially why this door is locked.”

“Danato said he didn’t have a problem with me seeing you.”

“He doesn’t, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t going to have a chat with the boyfriend to set some ground rules.” Vince kicked his feet into the base of the door. “To answer your question, Cori, the midnight cut-off point is where I can no longer trust my actions.” He paused before adding, “You don’t have to stay, Cori. You don’t ever have to see me again if you want.”

She stepped forward and took his hand. He tensed at her movement, but didn’t move away. She took a deep breath and laughed at her own nervousness. Part of her wanted to run screaming, but another part of her felt like if she did, then she would always be running. “I want to be here. If I don’t want to be here, I will go.”

He smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

He held her hand, touched her face, and conversed with her about his life outside of being a werewolf. Just before midnight, they gave in and kissed awkwardly through the bars. At first, she was glad the bars were there, but after she relaxed and pushed away her bad memories, she wanted the bars gone. Those metal bars were the only thing keeping their desires at bay.

As he said, the guards came out and pushed her back to the line. She wanted to stay longer, but he asked her to go. He said her being there would only aggravate his hormone imbalances and make him more violent.

Back at the house, Ethan was awake and studying in the living room. She gave him a half smile as she hung up her coat.

“Everything go alright?” he asked.

“Fine.” She wasn’t interested in conversation, but he was staring her down as if she needed to report her activities to him. “You weren’t waiting up for me, were you?”

He didn’t take his eyes off her, just lifted the stack of books from his lap. “I’ve been looking ahead in my books. I wanted to know a bit more about werewolves.”