CHAPTER 2

She didn’t know what woke her. She sat up straight on her wide bed, squinting her eyes so that it adjusts to the semi darkness in the room. This was starting to become a habit, one that she abhorred with the whole of her being. Every day she goes to bed late and wakes just few  minutes before full dawn with a start as if someone had called her name or tapped her. Yet each and every single time, it was just her alone in her room panting heavily. This event has been repeating itself for almost three weeks now. Although there were days when she was spared and she woke like 'a normal human being'. And despite the cold winter outside, Her sheets felt moist, wet from the sweat which still drenched her skin.

Her hand went to the oval pendant of the necklace she always wore. She stroked it for a few seconds then She checked the time from the clock on her nightstand. It was fifteen minutes to six o'clock.

Clair Fisher got down from the bed with a groan and went to the bathroom.

I don't know what is wrong with me, but one thing I'm certain of is the fact that I need therapy. I'll ask Stephanie to give me the contact of that shrink she used to see. Maybe she could help me find out what the problem is.

She stared back at the image of herself reflected on the mirror.

Girl, you look like you got hit by a truck. Ugghh, I need a fucking vacation. Clair Soliloquized

The night before she had stayed up late to put finishing touches on a few articles and ended up going to bed late. Dark rings circled her puffy eyes. Her hair piled in utter disarray on her head.

The way I look right now, I wouldn't even ask myself out if I was the only woman left in the world.

She shook her head and went to the sink to splash some water on her face. She applied her facial scrub and left it on her face. Afterwards she applied toothpaste on her brush and cleaned her mouth. Clair dried her face and went back into her room to bring out the clothes she'll wear that day and then went back to the bathroom to rinse the mask off her face. She went back into her room.

Clair quickly changed into her running gear and packed her chocolate brown hair in a ponytail. Early morning jogs always puts her in the right mood for the day. No matter the situation, she makes sure she doesn't miss it except for critical cases like when she falls sick. She went to the water dispenser and filled her bottle with water then went back to fetch her ear pods. She connected it to her music player device and selected one of her favourite songs. She always played this song when she works out especially when she is out running. As she pressed play, the melodious voice of the famous artist Journey singing 'Dont stop believing' boomed through her ear pods and into her ears.

Just a small town girl

Livin' in a lonely world

She took the midnight train goin' anywhere

Just a city boy

Born and raised in South Detroit....

Clair hummed along as she walked to her front door and opened it. A cold gush of air blasted her face and harshly reminded her what season it was. She ran back inside for her head warmer and gloves and then hit the road. It was snowing lightly, the streets covered in thick layers of snow. Clair looked around and spotted only about four people on the road. Not unusual considering the temperature outside. Givena choice, Clair would prefer being tucked up under a large warm duvet but her morning run was a necessity for her. Turning up the volume of her music she ran intentionally down the road.

Strangers, waitin'

Up and down the boulevard

Their shadows

Searchin' in the night

Streetlights, people

Livin' just to find emotion

Hidin' somewhere in the night...

It wasn't until 15 minutes later that she got to the park where she usually stopped. By then she was already breathing heavily. She walked forward to wishing well and sat on the concrete pavement of the well. The water in the well was already frozen by the cold. The park had even fewer people, from where she sat she couldn't see anyone at all. But on her way there, she passed a man and his teenage son on the road, they were also jogging.

She took large gulps from her water bottle and waited till her breathing stabilized. After she regained her breath,  She checked her wristwatch: six thirty five. Clair got up and continued her jog back home. When she got home she removed her sweaty clothes and went to the bathroom to prepare a hot bath. After the tub filled up, she soaked in it for about 30 minutes before getting out and drying her body.

Inside her bedroom, she sat at her vanity and straightened her hair. Her phone on the nightstand vibrated. She went to it to check who sent her a message.

What the actual fuck?

She had six missed calls from Stephen Mang and two messages from him too.

One of the messages read, 'Clair, call me back when you see this. It's urgent'.

The other read, 'Are you avoiding my calls or what? If I find out you are it's not going to be funny for you at all. What I want to propose to you is something that will be mutually beneficial to the both of us. Please pick up!'

If I'm starting a new day with an angry message from Stephen Mang then I'm in for a very bad and long day. Oh God.

Stephen Mang was a millionaire investor who owned several establishments. He was also one of the biggest sponsors of the company where Clair worked. Because of this, Mang also felt entitled and calls in for favours more frequently than he had the right to. One of his establishments, The Mang Casino has been gaining bad publicity because of a recent murder that happened inside the building. Whispers has been traveling saying Mang might have something to do with the murder, so Mang has been on her Boss's neck requesting that they write something to redeem his reputation. The thing though was that, Clair wasn't so sure of Mang's innocence. He was a man of many resources and had the means to execute anyone he felt threatened by. He also had the means to cover it up. Clair decided that she wasn't going to be a pawn in his fight against justice.

As if on cue, a call from Stephen came in just as she was done reading the messages.

"Hello..." Clair answered coolly. She listened for a while.

"Yes, I saw your missed calls and messages. I wasn't with my phone"   More listening

"I'm sorry Mr Mang but I cannot do that, not only because it is highly unprofessional but also because it goes against my personal code of conduct." Disgust written boldly on her face.

It would seem the man on the other end was still trying to convince her to agree to whatever he was proposing because she listened a little longer. Her disgusted face transformed into full fledged anger.

"Look here Mister, first of all, you insult me by insinuating that I travel with you and act as your mistress. Secondly I'm a reporter, not an escort! If you want your ego stroked, go to Happy Endings. The work speaks for itself and the article is fair. It lets people make up their own minds by offering all the information. My boss can kissyour ass for all I care. All j know is I'm not going to be patronizing and write a bias story just to please you no matter how much you bribe me. So you can either let me write like I want to or if you still have a problem, call my editor. I'm on a deadline"

Clair hung up the phone with a roll of her eyes. She might have punched him if he was close by.

" The nerve of him to request I be his personal escort for a four weeks trip to France. They always think that I'm there for free publicity. Well, no one wants to read about how great you are, Stephen Mang, they wanna know how big of a dick you are." she said to herself, her angry frown dissolving into a mischievous grin. She was really looking forward to writing that particularly in a section about him.

When she was fully dressed, she stood in front of the full length mirror to check herself out.

You would do boo. You look almost ravishing. She smiled at her image and touched her pendant again, or as she fondly calls it, her lucky red stone .

The necklace was just superstition. A charm she carried like a friend to draw on its strength. She'd come across it while helping her best friend Hailey unpack after a four month trip through western Europe. When Clair held it up, the way the light shone inside the blood-red stone was mesmerizing. When Hailey saw her admiring it, she said,

"You can keep that! It just made it's way in there. I don't even remember buying it. Consider it the crappy souvenir I forgot to bring you."

" Done", said Clair. She put the old filigree pendant on and since then,  she hasn't been able to go a day without wearing it. She practically wore it to do anything and to everywhere.

She smiled fondly at the memory and made a mental note to call Hailey when she gets back from work that day. It's been a long while since they spoke. She appraised her image on the mirror again, She was wearing a white chiffon long sleeve top with an extra large bow at the neck and a wine coloured straight skirt with a split kind enough to allow easy movement. On her feet, she was wearing a Manolo Blahnik wine colored and silver stiletto. She does indeed look ravishing.

Clair wore her glasses then headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. She opted for a quick omelette and toast bread which she quickly ate. She poured herself a small glass of wine and went to her small study room to see if she had any new mails.

With her wine in hand, she perched herself in front of her laptop to check her emails. " Yep 3 angry emails from Mang... What a baby. His sense of entitlement is entirely off the roof." She slightly shook her head and deleted the mails with brisk clicks.

"Ohhhhhh what's this?" She clicked on it and it opened. It was an email from Rick Silver. She quickly opened the email. It read:

Subject: interview

Ms. Fisher,

I humbly accept your request to interview me. Though I'm not as interesting as, say, Stephen Mang, the work we're doing at Siltek is truly exciting, and it would be wonderful to have some publication from an unbiased voice such as yours. I particularly enjoyed your piece about the Amanda Fairbanks Animal Hospital. Only you could make a philanthropic veterinarian sound like an entitled bitch. I can't wait to read about my many character flaws.

I'd like to invite you to the Siltek research compound on Arcus Island, off the coast of Alaska for 4 days. We have guest accommodations, and I will personally deliver your tour of our facilities, including a fun demonstration of our newest product. Please let me know which dates will be manageable. I'm sure you're on a deadline.

Sincerely,

Erick Silver.

What!!!

Clair couldn't believe her eyes. She removed her glasses, cleaned it with her skirt and put it back on. She read the letter again to make sure her eyes did not deceive her.

" Who said that silver lining behind clouds don't exist. Looks like I'm going to have an awesome day after all," She shouted into the little space with a her two hands in the air shaking jubilantly.

Clair got up from her seat and did a little dance. " Rick fucking Silver just invited me to Siltek! And he's excited for me to rip him a new one. Best day ever"!

She stopped herself before the excitement carried her away and She quickly wrote back to Mr. Silver.

Mr.Silver,

Ok since you have asked for it, I cannot deny you your most urgent wish. I will be available in three days time as I am currently handling a project at the moment.  Please forward to me any pertinent travel information and have your PR specialist on hand.

Clair Fisher.

She fiddled with her glasses and waited, hoping he would reply instantly. She checked for time. She still had time before office hours. Lost for what to do,  she read through all of Mang's emails just for fun.

What a jerk. This dude shouldn't be allowed to roam free and reside with normal people. He was obviously insane. If you don't want people to know you're a womanizing slime ball,  don't try to cop a ...

, Then, "Bing" new email!

Silver? That was fast. I'm definitely having a great day. Whoop!

She quickly opened it.

Ms. Fisher

I have attached your travel itinerary as well as a list of items you may need. You will also find a medical form attached. Please fill this out to the best of your ability, and sign it. Do not leave anything out. We require a full medical history of anyone who visits the compound, as well as a standard waiver for legal reasons. I know you do not sign NDAs, so I won't disturb you by sending one. I will, however, request that you do not share the impending article with anyone but the magazine until it's time for it to be published.

Looking forward to having my flaws handed to me in a few days.

Erick Silver.

Clair found the things he asked for strange. She had never been asked for a medical history before.

"Maybe Silver's more of a creep than Mang. He certainly likes the idea of being beaten up by a girl, figuratively anyways".

She got up and quickly gathered her things. She took her bag and wine coloured briefcase from her study room and sashayed out of her house. In the mini garage, her small convertible electric car sat waiting for her. She got inside and drove out the driveway. Clair turned the radio on and The Pine Ridge Boys 'you are my sunshine' poured out of the speakers.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are grey

You never know, dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away...

Clair nodded her head in rhythm with the song's beat. She invested the volume. There was no hint of sun in the sky but her day looked brighter always. Clair smiled.

***

He kept struggling with the chains. Pulling at it like the biblical hero Samson did one of the times he was ambushed before he was blinded. Rick checked around him hurriedly to know where the other end of his chains were bound to. Also in a bid to look for an escape. The beast was hiding in the shadows.

"Aelfric." It called out. It's voice deep and scary. Obviously whatever it was in those shadows was dangerous. He looked up hoping to see what it was. What his captor was?

"Show your face!" There was a pause. "Abima imnis gerona manum." He said trying to perform a magical spell. He heard a low but deep laughter. Nothing happened. My magic!. It's gone. His eyes opened in disarray.

The beast's head came into light. It peered into his face. Its lower body was still in the shadows. Rick opened his eyes wider in shock. A chimera?. The chimera makes to open his mouth to spew fire at him.

Grrrrrrrrr. His alarm rang.

It jolted him back to reality. It was a dream. He could feel drips of sweat slide down his chest as he tried to sit up on his bed. He stretched his hand to stop the black clock beside his lampstand. He checked the time. It was 7 O'clock.

"Shit!"

He had slept for more hours than usual.  His day always started by Five O'clock with his morning runs and then to his office. But today he seemed to have slept so deep that he could not have heard the alarm ring at five. Rick goes into the bathroom to brush. His phone rings. Still brushing, He answered and puts it on loud speaker.

"Hello Sir". Came the familiar shrill voice from the other end.

"Good morning Alice."

"Mrs. Kirby called to say that she will be at your office by nine today"

"Can you move that appointment to say..." He checked his wrist for time as if he was wearing a wristwatch. "Ten thirty. Because I might be running a bit late today."

"Yes sir, I'll do just that."

He hurriedly puts on his running gear and makes for the door.