667 Issue #10: "Old Wounds"
Subject #???: Claire Grant

Yet again, another night where Rey didn’t come home when he said he would, except this time he had stood me up for our dinner date and I had gone home alone. I didn’t replace him there and out of upset, I cried myself to sleep in my bed.

I could have stayed with Violet and her friends. I could have stayed with the woman that I had first seen in the Tartan some few days prior. I knew there was something about her that caught my attention and now I wondered if it was because she was different like me.

I could have sworn that when she told me goodbye last night at the pub that her eyes had changed. That they had gone milky white in a mimicry of my own now blinded eyes.

But I questioned myself on whether or not that had been what I’d really seen: Rey made that easier for me. He made it easier to question my sanity instead of accepting things as they were, but with everything that had gone on, maybe I had been driven over the edge.

The slamming of a car door woke me and I checked the clock to see that I hadn’t been asleep that long; it was only a little after ten PM.

I came out of the room to replace Rey walking through the door, red faced and eyes bulging out of anger. Part of me wanted to yell at him for standing me up for dinner, but with the mood he was clearly in, it wouldn’t have ended well for me.

“Claire! Get the fuck down here!” Rey was practically screaming as I hid in my room and willed him to go away. I didn’t know what he was so mad about, but I figured that I would get the brunt of it.

“Goddammit, woman. Get down here, NOW!” He bellowed from the living room and I reluctantly pulled myself from the safety of my bedroom and came to the stairs.

“What is it, baby? I was asleep.” I rubbed at my eyes, pretending to have just woken up.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” He glared up at me and I tried to be strong.

“Sleeping.” I didn’t know what he was referring to.

“No, what the fuck were you doing meeting up with people without my permission?” Rey’s eyes were darkly ringed as he beckoned to me with one finger.

I slowly cleared the stairs and came to stand near him, but not close enough that he could snatch me by the hair if this got bad.

I stood silently for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. If I told him that I met Violet the night before after sneaking out and then slipped out again today to meet up with her and her friends…it would possibly end with a hospital trip.

“Well, what’s your excuse, Claire?” He cocked his head to one side and I stared at him blankly.

“She was an old friend of mine. Called me earlier this morning and wanted to know if I was still in town and I just happened to be. She was here on holiday and wanted to meet up. I hadn’t seen her in forever.” I came up with a fairly decent lie.

“Why didn’t you just ask me, then?” Rey’s eyes were less harsh now, almost like my words had calmed him a bit.

“Because I was afraid you’d—you’d act like this.” My words weren’t chosen properly, but I didn’t know any other way to say them.

“I saw you with them today. I saw you sitting with them, having a beer, talking about things. Did you tell them?” He started to boil over again.

“Tell them what?” I played dumb as my heartbeat quickened.

“DID YOU TELL THEM ABOUT THE RELICS!?” He boomed, slapping me hard across the face.

My skin pricked and stung as I held my hand to my cheek and shut my eyes tight.

“No, why would I do that?” I whimpered.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now.” Rey went from terrifyingly angry to eerily calm.

I wanted to question him as to why, but I didn’t know if I had it in me to endure another strike. But maybe I did.

“Why doesn’t it matter, Rey? What did you do?” I swallowed a lump in my throat and prepared for him to hit me again.

“They’re dead. All of them.” He waved his hand at me as he strode over to his study.

“What?!” My voice raised in pitch, “They’re dead?”

“Yes, you incredibly daft woman; they’re dead.” Rey turned and glowered at me.

“You—you didn’t.” I shook my head, not wanting to believe what he was telling me.

“I did. And we’ll have to get you a new car. Go to bed, Claire. Tomorrow we have to replace the last relic and then all will be well.” Rey slammed the door to his study and I instantly heard the sound of classical music.

I rushed to the front window and peered between the curtains to see that my little blue coup was missing and only his car sat in the drive.

What in the hell had he done? He had murdered people…I didn’t know that he was capable of such a thing, but he was capable of beating me, so why not?

I felt my chest begin to tighten as panic tore through me. What could he do—no, what would he do to me?

I didn’t want to help him anymore. No amount of salvation or protection was worth this. It started to dawn on me that maybe what we were doing with the relics wasn’t about educating the people, but more about greed and power. I didn’t know how I knew this, but I felt it in my core.

How could I have loved such a man? How could I have stayed for so long and let myself continue to suffer like this?

I had to get out…but I was stuck.

The only person that could have helped me was now gone.