056 – Calculated

Day 8

I should have heeded Mike’s warning. That nothing good would come from calling Claire. I had lowered my guard, even though I should have known better. Had trusted her with a dangerous truth, to which she had found the only answer her ruthless mind could provide—a violent and fatal one.

Still covered by the Cloaking spell, I prowled over to the office building Claire was hiding in. Yesterday’s discussion hadn’t included many details about my subclass, there had been more pressing matters at hand.

She might have assumed that I would never find Jason. That her crime would remain hidden.

“If you need to end her, I can provide the tools. For a price, of course.”

Lucy’s offer didn’t surprise me. But my anger at it did. Had they been a physical presence, I would have lunged at them.

Encouraged by my silence, they went on, “It won’t be pretty, that much I have to warn you, and you’d need to find more of hers. But given a day of busy work, this threat of hers would be banished forever.”

[“Lucy. Do you really think I don’t understand that exactly such an offer, by his own devil, sealed Jason’s fate? Hell has already scored a massive win here. You pushed Claire further to the brink. Treat me with some respect and don’t assume I don’t see the game you are playing.”]

“Oh, Eve. You are being too grumpy with me. I don’t expect you to take me up on it. But I expect you to make her understand that she is not safe from consequences. When she throws her new immortality in your face, you can throw the threat of extinction right back at her.”

I didn’t reply further. They had achieved their goal. I now knew there was an option when I would rather not. And I would throw it in Claire’s smug face. Maybe.

Even as I stalked into the building’s lobby, which had been some kind of small office, I had no idea what I would say to her. My track record in verbal confrontations with Claire wasn’t stellar.

But I also couldn’t not confront her. Whatever storm was brewing inside, this was not one I could eat up and ignore. Claire was hiding someone on the first floor. I slowly ascended the stairs in the lobby.

[“How does it work?”] I asked in my Guide chat.

“Ever the curious one. I will not give you the details, they’d only be a weight on your mind. The gist of it is: you keep attacking her, and the attacks will leave marks that will eventually overwhelm her.”

I found myself growling.

Upstairs my Seek the Unseen spell led me in front of a metal closet, its door slightly ajar.

I considered staying a wolf. But then, I feared that if I didn’t have hands to shake her with, it’d end up like in the mall. With one less Claire and a mouth full of fluffy filling.

I dismissed the wolf shape and took a moment to gather my breath, examining my still unfamiliar clawed hand.

Opening one of the closet’s metal doors revealed shelves full of office supplies. And one plushy donkey, nestled to the side.

“Claire.”

The donkey straightened up and sat to face me.

[“Eve. What are you doing here?”]

Against my better judgment, I punched the other door, leaving a dent.

“You know why I am here. You… You fucking killed him.”

[“You weren’t meant to find him. But very well. Yes, I did. What do you want?”]

“What I want? What do you fucking mean, ‘What do you want’? You killed a child, Claire. You murdered another human being.”

[“I did what you should have done in the first place. I did you a favor and allowed you to keep your hands—claws—clean of blood. And my question stands: What do you want? Why are you yelling at me?”]

“I yell at you because I had hoped that there was a tiny flicker of humanity left in you. Are you listening to yourself? You are acting as judge, jury, and executioner. Why shouldn’t I, or Roslyn, continue the cycle? You are clearly dangerous.”

[“I may be a murderer, but I am no serial killer, Eve. I took no joy in what I had to do. The boy was too far gone, and if you had taken your bloody time dealing with him, the infection would only have spread further. Now slay this body if you have to get it out of your system, but know that I do not regret anything I did.”]

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At some point I had started pacing up and down in front of the closet. The swishing sensation of my tail behind me only agitated me further.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Claire. Why do you provoke me? You make me sound like I’m the abusive ex here. There aren’t enough people left in this fight. We can’t kill those that could be saved, and it is pure arrogance to claim that you can judge who is and isn’t beyond saving. There is no corruption bar.”

Her annoying little feet dangled over the edge of the shelf. I had lied. I did want to hurt her—I just knew better.

[“He was far enough gone to commit to it, Eve. Do you want to know how I lured him out?”]

“What? Why is that relevant?”

[“I told him you were a problem and needed to be dealt with, and that we had to discuss how to do it. That message lured him to this bridge, and that decision, to discuss your murder, was what ended up killing him.”]

I screamed and punched the door again, this time dislodging it from its upper hinge. It dangled, squeaking, for a moment.

“What do you expect me to do? Do you think others will just blindly accept that—” I stopped mid-rant when I heard a sound outside. Like rapid steps, metal on concrete. Only that my minimap didn’t reveal anything.

[“What’s happening, Eve? I don’t share your senses.”]