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Even though this was the closest I’d come to relaxing during my imprisonment, I still couldn’t sleep. This time, it wasn’t the fear of the humans that kept me awake. It was my thoughts of Claire.
I hoped that the humans didn’t hurt her. With any luck, her assistance to Dr. Grant would keep her out of trouble. I noticed that Dr. Grant didn’t seem particularly kind to her, but perhaps that wasn’t indicative of anything. Dr. Grant didn’t seem to be the type with much kindness to spare.
Maybe, if I continued to cooperate with Claire, they’d let her come back. I wasn’t thrilled about the blood, of course. But it wasn’t so bad, and it seemed a small price to pay for her company. I’d do it again if I had the choice.
Her hand had felt so soft. And I had already forgotten how good she smelled. I inhaled deeply, trying to imagine that the scent lingered in my cage. It may have been my imagination, but I thought I caught a whiff of her fragrance.
I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. If I focused on her smell, perhaps it would soothe me enough to finally rest. It seemed to be working, as I felt my heart rate lower and my body calm down.
My ears perked at the sound of commotion nearby. It was coming from outside the main door. It was jarring, as I had never heard anything but silence before. I listened, trying to piece together anything I could. There was little I could do about it from this cage, in any case.
Suddenly, the door flew open. Claire burst in, dressed in the same uniform she was wearing when I first found her. She marched quickly to my cage.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, astonished.
“I’ll explain later. There’s no time now. Just do as I say, please.” She pressed a few buttons, and the door slid open.
I stared at her, mouth agape.
“I paid attention to the code,” she said with a crooked smile. “What? Did you think I was going to let them keep you here? I just needed a good idea first.”
“And what’s that?”
She slung her backpack to the floor, reaching for the zipper. “We’re going to blow this place up.” She pulled out two blocks of something covered in wires.
Claire scurried around the room. “I just need two minutes. I knocked the guards out, but that won’t last long.” She worked quickly, while I watched in quiet amazement.
“Time to go,” she declared.
I knelt so that she could climb on my back. She did so without hesitation. I felt a sense of wholeness to have her riding me once again. It felt as though she’d always belonged with me, and I was only just now realizing it.
We barged out of the room, moving as fast as we could. A guard approached, but I quickly disarmed him. I felt Claire rustling around, but I couldn’t focus on that now. As I raced for the exit, Claire fired a shot at another guard. I knew then that the motion had been her drawing her weapon.
I burst through the exit doors, the alarm blaring loudly behind us. At first, I just ran, with no regard for where I was going. All I wanted was to be far away from the building before it blew up.
The explosion rang behind us moments later. Soon, everything dissolved into chaos. People were out, running every which way. Though they were focused on saving themselves, I knew we had to get out of there immediately. It wasn’t like I could blend into the crowd.
Claire leaned forward, whispering in my ear. “That van,” she pointed. “There.”
I followed her directions, kneeling beside the van she had indicated. She hopped down, running around to open the back door of the vehicle. “Get in,” she urged. “We’re getting out of here. For good.”
I climbed inside the wide cargo area, and she slammed the door behind me. The seats were all removed, except for the front row, leaving plenty of room for me.
She raced around to the driver’s seat. Tossing her backpack on the floor of the passenger’s side, she slid quickly into position and fastened her seatbelt.
We skidded out of the parking lot, her foot pressed to the gas. I finally had a moment to decompress, taking in the events that had occurred.
“Thank you,” I finally managed to utter, still reeling. “You saved me.”
She glanced in the rearview mirror. “Well, you saved me once. I owed you.”
“How did I save you?” I asked, confused. I had helped her when she was hurt, of course. But her wounds had hardly been fatal. “Saved” was too strong of a word.
“You opened my eyes to the truth.”
Chapter Sixteen
Claire
