Possession II: Claire's Revenge

Taylor tried to concentrate on the book in front of him, but it just wasn't working. Shakespere on a Saturday night was not only boring, but he didn't have any answers to the questions that were plauging his mind. Was Claire really out there? Or was he just going insane?

He sighed and dropped his head down, hitting the library table repeatedly. A squeak from the chair next to him sounded as someone sat down next to him. He looked up to see who it was and smiled brillantly. It was the girl he had seen in the library!

"You shouldn't do that, you'll hurt yourself." She said softly, with a gentle smile. Her hands were folded on top of the table and she looked at his book curiously. "Still on Shakespere?"

Taylor nodded his head, still amazed that she was actually speaking to him. She smiled again, and took the book out from under his hands.

"I love Shakespere....Once you understand it, it becomes a lot easier to like." She assured him.

He nodded again.

"Listen...." She began, looking down at the table. "I don't know you or anything, but I can tell when someone is upset about something. Do you want to talk about it?"

He hesistated before speaking. If Claire happened to be in the library, he didn't want her to hear this. "Well....I am in a lot of trouble....I'm pretty sure that someone is trying to hurt me, but no one believes me."

"I believe you."

He smiled at her declaration of faith. "Thanks....But my family doesn't, especially my brother....His girlfriend is the one that is trying to hurt me."

The girl closed the book of Shakespere and stood up from her chair. "Maybe your brother is blinded by love. I think you should talk to him again, maybe he will listen this time." She suggested, then walked away, disappearing behind a shelf of books.

Taylor sighed. She is right. I have to get Zac to listen to me before it's too late. I might not get another chance to warn him....

"Look, Taylor, I don't care about what you think you saw or heard." Zac complained into the phone. "Just quit bothering me with your weird visions, okay?!"

Taylor felt his face get hot as anger swept through him. "ZAC! I'm telling you, it's Claire! I have a letter from her right here in my hands!" He cut off when Zac hung up on him and the dial tone rang rudely in his ear.

He slammed the phone down and let out a curse so loud the the people next door banged on the wall for him to quiet down. Still, he could not believe that his brothers didn't believe him about Claire Hatchett! Of course, they didn't think it was Claire. To them, sweet little Sara Parker was just Zac's girlfriend, not a homicidal maniac.

Too many people had died. And he didn't want to join them either. He knew Claire was out there, but he wanted to verify it too.

Taylor picked up the phone again and dialed the number of the Tulsa Institution for the Criminally Insane. A polite voice answered and asked what she could do for him.

"Um....I was wondering if I could speak to the doctor who cares for Claire Hatchett." He asked nervously.

The secretary put him on hold, and a moment later, a smooth regal voice came over the line. "I assume you are family?" The doctor questioned.

Taylor thought about that for a moment. "Yes. Her uncle."

"I can honestly say that I have never met anyone quite like your neice, sir. She is extrodinarily intelligent in every possible subjet matter. Every single test we gave her, she passed. Not just sanity and reason tests, but IQ tests...." Taylor could hear the excitement in his voice. "She is a genius of multiple porportions. I would have loved to see what else the girl had to offer, but as you know, she escaped before we could---"

Taylor's body grew cold at the mention of the word escape and inturrupted imeadiately. "Es...cape? You mean, she's not in the Institution?"

"No, she escaped a few years ago. I notified all her family....I thought you knew."

"Why didn't you notify the police?!" Taylor howled into the phone, gripping the counter top with a free hand. This was too unreal to believe! The doctors had let Claire escape, and then didn't even tell the police or him about it!

"Lawsuits. We were afraid the Hanson family would sue us for not keeping the prisoner. She was stable enough to be let out. Most tests that were given she passed." The doctor stated plainly.

"I don't give a care if she passed tests! She is still freaking insane!" Taylor screamed into the reciever. He hung up on the doctor and buried his head in his hands.

The phone rang, breaking silence.

"No." He commanded. "Stop ringing."

The phone didn't stop, but continued to ring, seemingly louder and louder until he couldn't take it anymore.

He picked it up slowly, grimacing when he heard Possession on the other end of the line. Sarah McLachlin's voice seemed to surround him, squeezing tighter and tighter until he thought his heart was about to burst. The words were so familiar and frightening that it almost made him sick.

His mother had always told him as a child that dogs can sense fear in little kids. He had wondered before if humans could sense it to. The last thing he wanted was Claire knowing that she scared him. If he could manage it, he would act like she was merely a prankster.

"Claire, the least you could do is get some new material." He snapped. "After all, if I have to hear your sorry voice, you could at least get me a song that I like."

"Taylor, Taylor, Taylor." Claire began in a familiar voice that sent shivers through his body. "You can't expect me to give you whatever you want. You did put me in jail. I'm not exactly happy with that one, you know."

She paused for a moment, then went on. "But. I'm willing to give you a second chance. If you could meet me tommorow night in the library, I will leave you alone forever. I just want to make ammends."

"Yeah right." Taylor snorted.

"I'm going to kill your family." Claire blurted out, then giggled. "Your brothers go first you know....Then cute little sisters and brothers....Mom and Dad...."

As much as he wanted to believe that it wasn't true, he knew that Claire could get his family, and he also knew she wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

"Leave them alone! They haven't done a thing!" He shouted desperately. His family always seemed to wind up in the middle of this. He hated her.

"If you don't want them to die, then come to the library." The girl declared.

"Why didn't you just tell me who you were right off? You had plenty of chances, Sara." Taylor asked glumly.

"Sara?" She inquired. "Who is Sara?" Claire angrily demanded.

"You!"

"I told you before, my name is Claire, not Sara." She said, sounding confused. "You'd think you'd remember my name."

All though he had no reason to believe her, he did. Claire sounded genuinely puzzled about this Sara thing. That meant Sara really wasn't Claire! He had accused her for nothing!

"Is Sara your girlfriend?!" Claire demanded. "Well she won't be around long!"

Before Taylor could reply, Claire had hung up. Without a second thought, he dailed the number to his apartment and prayed that Zac would be home. The phone continued to ring until he got the answering machine.

"Zac! It's Tay! Pick up! Please!" Taylor howled into the reciever after the sound of the beep.

No one answered.

Zac reached over and unplugged the phone, sick of hearing Taylor yell. He had been calling since Saturday night, and hadn't even come home last night at all. Isaac and Monica looked up from their card game and gave him a disaproving look.

He ignored their glance and stared out the big picture window in the living room instead. Lightning cracked wildly in the distance, and thunder was heard vibrating through the walls. It was Sunday night, about 9:00, and with the darkness and the rain falling outside, the apartment windows a scary, horror movie appearance.

"Zac? Why did you have to unplug the phone?" Isaac complained. "I have important calls coming in."

Zac turned away from the window and sat down at the tabe with Isaac and his wife. "I'm sorry Ike. I just didn't want to hear him anymore." He apologized. "I'm expecting a call too, if it makes you feel any better. Sara was supposed to call me for a ride home from some dance club that she went to tonight."

"You're just going to let her walk home in the rain?" Monica questioned, fighting a laugh.

Zac grinned. "No, I think I'll drive down there in a little while and see if she's still there. In any case, she's going to be totally ticked off at me because---"

Before he could finish his sentence, all the lights in the apartment flickered and went out. Monica screeched and grabbed on to Isaac's arms, digging her nails into the skin.

"OW! When was the last time you trimmed those things Mon?!" Isaac shouted, and Monica released her grip. "Zac, where is the switch box?" He asked his brother, trying to feel around in the darkness for him.

There was no answer, but Isaac could hear Zac breathing heavily across the table from him. Concerned, he leaned toward where he assumed Zac was. "Zac? What's wrong?"

In the darkness, he could barely make out his brothers deep brown eyes, staring at the front door. He followed Zac's eyes to the door and saw that it was wide open, still swinging.

Monica gripped his arm tighter and whimpered in the darkness. "I saw someone come in." She whispered so quietly that he barely heard her.

The sound of music playing full blast out of the stero caused all three of them to jump, and Isaac grabbed both his brother and his wife and ran for the door. Possession was playing on the cd player.

He slammed the door behind him and ran down the hallway, meeting up with Monica and Zac halfway. The three of them raced out the apartment doors and out into the parking lot, screaming the entire way. Rain poured down in sheets on their heads, almost blinding them as they ran to Zac's Jeep.

Zac fumbled for the keys to his Jeep, cursing when he dropped them in the mud at the side of the car. Monica screamed for him to hurry, running around to the passenger side door and Isaac scooped up the keys and placed it in the lock. The doors unlocked and all three jumped in, locking the doors behind them.

Monica was crying by now, sobbing heavily in the back seat. Isaac reached back and held onto her hand, murmmuring consolations. Zac leaned his head on the steering wheel momentarily, then raised it and stared out at the rain as he started up the Jeep. They peeled out of the parking space and backed out of the lot.

His heart pounding so loudly he could barely hear the rain pounding against the windsheild, he turned back to face the apartment. He felt a cold rush flow through his body when he saw her.

Siloueteed by the lighting coming in through the picture window was Claire Hatchett, holding a very big knife, and staring straight at him.

Sara walked down the dark street, still dizzy from the lights that had been flashing at the club. New H Dance Club was the hottest new place near campus, and she had wanted Zac to take her ever since they first met. Unfortunatly, Zac was always so busy with his band and all, and if he wasn't busy with his band, it was Taylor. He seemed to always ruin her and Zac's plan, like some evil guardian angel. Tonight was the icing on the cake though. He hadn't been home when she called, and now she had to walk home, alone, in the rain.

She glared and kicked a rock out in front of her with the toe of her expensive gucci boots, now covered with mud and soaking wet. They had cost her a fortune, and Zac wasn't even there to admire them. Lighting crashed in the hills ahead of her and she pulled her sweater tighter around her.

A car drove by swiftly and she stepped up to the sidewalk to avoid being hit. It was late, nearly midnight, and the streets were basically deserted. Sara twirled her wet purse delicately in her hands and sighed.

"Why do I even bother with that guy?" She asked herself outloud. No reply came, but she knew it was because she loved him. She wouldn't put up with that crap any other way.

For the first time that night, she allowed herself to smile.

The headlights of an approaching car appeared on the horizon, so bright it burned her eyes. They were going about seventy through town and the speed limit was usually thirty. She sheilded her eyes and stared into the drivers seat, hoping to see what idiot had left their brights on while driving through town. It was too dark, and the rain was providing a sheet of cover over the windshield. Whoever it was had been perfectly flogged in darkness.

Of course, the fact that she couldn't see them was only a minor detail. The fact that they were heading straight for her at seventy miles per hour was a big one.

Immeadiately, Sara turned and started running in the opposite direction of the speeding car. It followed her, and sped up, chasing her down the middle of the street.

Hurridly, she tore through the main drag, trying to find a side street to turn onto. Her breath was beginning to turn ragged with the effort of running, she had never been good at long distance. A look back confirmed that the car was still tailing her, going as fast, if not faster. She couldn't scream, the effort would wear her out and she wouldn't be able to run anymore, and if she stopped....

The blast of a horn honking caused her to gasp and she saw the car no more than ten feet behind her. She scrambled off the street and onto a small bridge, listening to the tires of the car squeal as they tried to make the turn.

It's got to be Claire....It has to be her.

Her mind screamed out Zac's name, begging for him to appear and save her from this lunatic. Sara wished she had never thought Taylor was crazy, if this is what happened to him, and the same person was doing it, she had nothing but sympathy.

She had almost made it across the bridge when headlights appeared in front of her again. The same car.

Her entire feild of vison seemed to be filled with the light from the car, and her heart skipped slightly when she realized that there was no where to run. The car slammed into her and she was thrown up and over the hood and smacked into the windsheild, spreading cracks arcoss the smooth glass. The car squealed again and was put into reverse. Sara was flung off the car and hit the pavement, rolling several feet before coming to a stop, her head hanging off the edge of the bridge.

She focused her eyes on the water below, shimmering softly with the glow of the moon sliding across it. The she closed her eyes again and saw nothing.

Moonlight poored in through the large picture windows as Taylor walked slowly through the library. He paused to stare out of the window in awe at the full moon, a brilliant white circle high in the star scattered sky before turning back to look at the shelves of books. The night was silent, except for the occasional chirp of a cricket from outside. As if someone had sucked the breath from him, a feeling of ominous terror caused him to suddenly gasp in fear. The large library seemed to close in around him and he drew himself up against the books. A noise from the left of him caught his attention and he whirled around, his hair falling into his face.

"Taylor. I've been waiting for you."

It was the voice of his nightmares. A voice that would haunt him until his dying day, relentlessly tourturing him with enevidable death.

Claire.

My dream! It's just like my dream! His mind cried out, and he blanced when he remembered what happened at the end of his dream.

Without so much as a second thought, he sprang from his spot against the books and rushed to the door. He found the door knob and twisted it to open, but it was locked from the inside, just like the door to his dressing room had been.

He turned from the door and ran for the long rows of book shelves, hoping to buy some time. Her footsteps followed him, then grew quiet in the echoing silence of the library.

"If I can't have you no one will, Taylor!" Claire informed him, shouting from the next row over.

He surpressed a gasp and threw himself down on his hands and knees, crawling along the floor. Underneath the last shelf of books, he could see the next aisle over, and a pair of black Dr. Martens walking in the opposite direction that he was crawling. He crawled faster, following the boots with his eyes as he crept down the aisle.

Taylor turned into the next ailse of books and held his breath. He could hear her footsteps as she made her way in aisle he had just been in, searching for him. Quietly, he moved along the row of books, careful not to breath too loudly, for fear of being caught.

"Give it up Taylor." She said softly. "There is no one left to help you."

"I'm not going to let you kill me Claire! I'm not going to die!" He cried.

"Ah, but Taylor: Cowards die many times before their death; the valiant never taste of death but once....Either way, you will surely die tonight." Claire declared.

He gave her no reply, and spotted a door at the end of the aisle. If he ran, he could make it there before she saw him....With a deep breath, he stood up and ran quietly to the door and walked in, shutting it behind him.

The room was pitch black, and he grabbed a zippo lighter from his pocket and lit it up. A brooms, a mop, and a bucket. He wasn't in a room, but a closet instead. That meant that there was no way out except back in the library.

He felt his heart constrict in fear when he noticed the doornob turning slowly in the flame of the lighter. He backed up against the mop and grabbed a broom, ready to Claire. The door opened quickly, and someone flew into the closet, breathing heavily and causing the lighter to go out.

Taylor lit it up again and shined the light in the person's face. Dark rimmed glasses and shortly chopped hair framed a beautiful face. It was the girl he had seen the other day in the library.

Maybe luck hadn't been on his side earlier, but he was sure getting it now. He was in a closet, all alone, with possibly the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. He didn't think he would ever see her again after that day in the library.

"It's you!" He whispered softly, and the girl began to cry agaisnt his shoulder.

"She....she tried to kill me...." She sobbed quietly, clutching Taylor's arm. He rubbed her back gently and pulled her back to look into her eyes.

"It's okay. I'll protect you." He assured. "I know this girl."

She smiled hestitantly at him. "I hope you know her better than you know your Shakespere."

He smiled, then felt the smile drop off his face. Shakespeare....Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.....Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.....

I said that outloud the first time I ever saw that girl....Claire just said the same line to me a minute ago in the library....

He stared at her again, his mouth hanging open in confusion. For just a moment, their eyes met in silence, and he could see himself reflected in the dark of her eyes. Deep brown, almost black, hypotyzing eyes. Claire's eyes.

He glanced down. Black Dr. Martens on her feet. It was Claire. He knew. And she knew he knew. He could see it in her eyes.

Taylor grabbed the handle of a nearby bucket and swung it right into the girl's face. She backed up and hit the other side of the closet, knocking the lighter out of his hands. He fumbled for the doorknob and swung the closet door open, slamming it shut behind him.

"TAYLOR!!" Claire screamed from the other side of the door. He held the door shut as she repeatedly smacked herself against it, groaning from the strain. She stopped trying to get out momentarily, and then the sharp blade of a knife sliced through to door and appeared at the left of Taylor's head.

He let out a scream and jumped away from the door as it swung open. Before she could stab again, he ducked and ran away down an aisle, his heart beating wildly in his chest. That was just too close for comfort.

Claire tugged at the knife until it came free and turned to face Taylor, who was crawling along the library floor. Anger overwhelmed her and she thrashed the knife around wildly, screaming profanity.

He caught sight of her right behind him, just as he came to a dead end, barricaded by bookshevles on all sides except straight down the aisle. Claire held her head down, but her dark eyes remained on him. With a small movement of her hands, a large knife appeared. Delicately, she held the knife to his throat.

He clenched his teeth. "No! I'm not going to let you do this to me you psychopath! Isaac, or Zac, or Sara will be here any minute and they'll call the police!"

Claire chuckled quietly and shook her head, her short hair falling into her face. "Taylor, honey, Sara's dead."

His heart stopped.

"What?"

Chapter 12-13
Claire's Revenge Index
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