Chasing Dare (7 page)

Balduen couldn’t help but smile at the brave and cheeky woman. “Yes, that’s about right. I don’t think you could call it super powers, just an enhancement of abilities we all have.”

“Strength of course, I can feel it coursing through my veins and bulking my muscles. My smell, sight, touch, hearing and taste are sharper; my reflexes much faster. My fury and rage are heightened, allowing the adrenaline to give all of my senses even more of a boost.” Balduen paused, surprised at how noticeable the changes were becoming in him; the extent of his loss of control.

“Ok, so far I’m not seeing the down side of this. That’s all stuff we need to try to get the hell out of here.” Dare couldn’t keep the optimism out of her voice.

“The problem is I haven’t lost enough control for it to matter. I can’t hear their conversations downstairs; I can’t break out the bricks or the door. Right now, it’s useless. And if I lose too much control before we have a plan, or before I know what to expect when I do, I could end up getting us killed or being separated from you. I wouldn’t be any good to either of us then.” He tried to smile, but his greatest fear right now is not there with her; being separated from her in some way.

“Then we wait. It’s not like we don’t have the time. Do you know if it’s the drugs that are making you lose control? Is it being in here?” Dare almost sighed in her head at, there being something else they were in the dark on and needed more information about before they could act. She wanted out of here. Not more puzzles to figure out. Even so, she really didn’t have the heart to make him feel any worse than he already seemed to be feeling either.

“Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s the drugs or a combination of the drugs and being captive. I’ve never really spoken much to those who’ve come back from Relian captivity before, so I don’t know if this is normal, or if it’s being caused by the drugs. I don’t even know if this drug has ever been used on one of us."”

Balduen wasn’t the least bit happy that he had no answers for her, or himself for that matter. However, talking to her about it was making him feel a little less useless, and he hoped that maybe they could figure it out between them. 

“Then that sounds like something we need to try to get out of the doctor. We need to make a mental list of the things we need to get out of him, if we can. We each need to ask separate things, or he’ll realize pretty quickly that we’re pumping him for information. We don’t need him knowing how it’s affecting you until we know whether or not we can use it to get out of here. Agreed?” Dare met his ice blue stare and waited for him to answer.

“Agreed.” Balduen wasn’t the least bit surprised this time when she said what he had been thinking. It was almost comforting that she had.

“Cool. I’m going to grab a shower. I feel icky just knowing they took my damn clothes off me. Did they give us clean clothes or are we going to be stuck with these hideous things?” Dare asked as she stood and made a nasty face while she held the material of the gown away from her sides.  

“I believe they said the clothes were in the closet.” Balduen just grinned as he watched her quick and efficient movements.

Dare headed towards the closet to see what they had to work with. On the top shelf, right as she walked in, were stacks of what appeared to be well used scrubs and T-shirts. Grabbing a couple of stacks, she put them on the bed and began rummaging through the tops and bottoms looking at the sizes. There was a stack of white cotton T-shirts for each of them and a stack of bottoms as well. However, no underwear and no bra. She really wanted her damn bra back!

Balduen watched her looking through the clothes and knew she wasn’t happy about the missing undergarment that she had used for her breasts. As much as he would love to see her wearing nothing but the white T-shirt, he didn’t want anyone else to see her in nothing but that.

“On Valendra, our women are pretty inventive with cloth. In fact, my mother and my sister used to wear a dress that appeared to be nothing more than strips of fabric. Let me show you.” Dare watched in fascination as Baldy took one of his white T-shirts and ripped it, peeling it like an apple, it until it was a long strip of cloth.

He discarded the sleeves and then held it behind his back and brought the ends up over his chest, crisscrossing it, before tying it behind his neck.

“You’re a genius Baldy! Thank you!” Dare gave him a wide smile as he removed the torn shirt and handed it to her. It was as perfect as she could get without an actual bra, and she was thrilled.

“You are welcome. While you shower, I’ll see what kind of entertainment they will allow us on the video device.” Balduen wanted to assure her that he had no intention of violating her privacy.

He was also familiar with the local TV stations around the cabin where they had found Cari and was hoping he could find a channel he had seen before. They could use all the help they could get figuring out where they were, and the distraction would help him stop thinking about what Dare was going to look like naked under the shower.

Dare’s mind raced with questions as she grabbed a towel and headed towards the shower stall. Hanging her towel, shirt, pants and make-shift bra on the hook right outside the shower, she glared at the camera above the sink before she stepped in.

She removed the gown and threw it onto the floor and braced herself for the blast of cold water before the temperature settled on the hot that she preferred. As the water loosened some of her tension, and her mind began to stop racing, the enormity of the situation finally hit her.

Dare almost choked on a sob as she slowly slid along the wall of the shower until she was sitting on the floor. Wrapping her arms around her knees she curled into herself as tightly as she could and allowed the tears to mix with the water streaming down her face.

*****

Balduen had to fight the urge to run into the bathroom when he heard Dare’s single, uttered cry. He knew without a doubt she was in there sobbing, even though there was no sound other than the splashing of the water.

Go to her!
He wasn’t sure which he had to fight the hardest to stay on the bed, his beast, his body or his mind. However, he knew, somehow, that going to her right now would hurt her more. She was strong. Stronger than any of the Valendran females he’d ever met. She was proud and trained like a warrior; he would respect her as one and allow her this time of privacy.

In this place, where they’d been stripped of their dignity and even the control of their body through the drugs, he would not allow anything else under his control to hurt her. Even though it was killing him not to hold her and try to comfort her.

Thankfully, the drug was almost completely out of his system now, and it was much easier to control his beast. He’d never experienced the out of control emotions he’d been having since they started giving him that drug. Searching his mind, he tried to recall anything he’d ever heard of other Valendran males who’d been held captive, and he couldn’t come up with any mention of a drug that did this to their bodies.

Surely, if one of the males had been exposed to something that did this to them, they would have told the High Council. They would have warned the others. So this has to be something new; something that they are trying out on him, and they don’t know the results of either. It has to be the reason why they are keeping him alive; he thought as he blindly pressed buttons on the remote control that was bolted into a sleeve that was bolted into the nightstand.

Looking around the room he began noticing how everything was bolted down. The TV to the wall, the remote to the metal nightstand, the nightstand to the floor… he couldn’t help but chuckle at the precautions they were taking because of Dare’s gift. If what he’d seen in the alley was any indication of her power, they had a right to be a little paranoid. She hadn’t even broken a sweat and damn near killed every one of them without raising her arm.

It was some pretty bad luck they had that the drug was affecting her abilities. They must have planned on that though. That must be what the drug was made to do. Completely subdue and remove the threat of the gift. Maybe the fact that it worked on him was a side effect they hadn’t counted on. Which would mean that releasing his beast was an unintended consequence as well; one that they could use if he could control it well enough that they wouldn’t know it had happened, until it was too late.

“You’re thinking awful hard there Baldy.”

The caress of her whisper next to his ear startled Balduen badly enough to jump a foot away from her. He’d never admit it to anyone, but she scared the hell out of him. He never heard her coming up behind him. He was so deep in thought that he hadn’t heard a sound. Her laughter was doing nothing to soothe his pride about being caught unaware either.  

He frowned at Dare as she climbed onto the bed and assumed their private position. Sighing to himself, he scooted closer to her on the bed and bowed his head near hers.

“I think they developed the drug, specifically to capture and contain one of you; to neutralize your gifts so that they can keep you helpless. I think the fact that it works on me was something that they may not have counted on, and they are keeping me alive in order to study the effects.”

Dare’s breath caught in her throat when she realized what he meant. He’d be dead right now if the drug hadn’t worked on him. If they knew that it was affecting his beast, they would kill him for sure because of the threat he could pose to them.

“You can’t let them know how it’s affecting your beast.” Dare hated the note of fear in her voice, but she couldn’t stop it. She was strong, yet she wasn’t sure she could do this without him. She ignored the stabbing pain in her heart at the thought of losing him.

“I know. We’ll figure this out and get the hell out of here. Right now let’s see if there are any local channels we can get on the TV. It’d be good to know where we are.” Balduen needed to take her mind off of why he was still alive and re-focus her on getting out of this place. Although his heart soared at her concern, he couldn’t stand the smell of her fear.

Which he shouldn’t be able to smell so strongly; it must be yet another side effect of the drug. The heightening of his senses was no longer going away when he regained control of his beast. The effects were beginning to linger the more he was given the drug.

He kept silent when she spun off of the bed and began pressing buttons on the remote control, obviously frustrated by the awkward way she had to work it while it was bolted to the nightstand

He hadn’t realized he had been ignoring her, wrapped in his own thoughts, until he heard her whispered “Hey!"

Looking over at her, he took in her slight nod towards the TV and turned to see what had grabbed her attention.

It took him a few moments to realize what she was looking at as she flipped between the same five TV stations rapidly. Until he saw the TV news lady begin talking about recent events in the city of Knoxville.

It was three days after their abduction from downtown Knoxville, and they were still within the viewing area of where they were taken. From the smile on Dare’s face, she was just as happy with the news that they weren’t that far from where they started. The closer they were kept to where they were taken, the easier it would be for their people to find them.

*****

Dr. Jose Camarasa sat in the detached garage/office and stared at the cameras for a few moments before tearing himself away to answer the phone.

“Yeah!” He barked angrily, not wanting to be interrupted while he studied his subjects.

“I would suggest you use that particular tone on someone else, doctor.”

Jose visibly paled at the sound of the deep voice on the other end of the phone.

“Grai! I’m terribly sorry. I had no idea it was you calling.” His normally strong voice was wobbling slightly from fear. He had met the son of the Relian leader only once, but it had been enough to leave a lasting impression of terror in his heart. 

“I want a report, doctor, one that you will give with much more respect than when you answered the phone.” The deep growl was all the incentive the doctor needed to try to keep the alien happy.

“The drug has worked perfectly so far on the woman. Everything has been as expected. Her gift has been neutralized, and she is completely subdued without causing any harm to her. I have begun her first injections and based on her cycle, we should be able to start the fertilization process by the end of the week.” Jose knew that this news would make Grai happy.

“Excellent. What of the Valendran?”

“Surprisingly, the drug continues to keep him subdued as well. Of course, I’m studying him carefully so that we can determine the long-term effects and whether or not it causes any permanent changes.” Jose couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice. It had been a major discovery to find that the drug worked just as well on the Valendran as it did on one of the hybrid women.

“Good. I am very interested in the long-term results on both the Valendran and the girl. These tests, as you are aware, are very important to me, and my father. See that the utmost care is taken in ensuring that all observations are precisely noted.”

“I want daily updates sent to my phone, twice a day. No excuses doctor. I’m sure you are aware that I’m not as patient as my Valendran cousins and will not hesitate to find another doctor who can pick up where you leave off.” The tone of Grai’s voice left no doubt in Jose’s mind that the alien would easily kill him.

“I will not forget, Grai.”

“Good. I will be in touch.” The click of the phone disconnecting made Jose let out a harsh breath of relief. He loved the money and the ability to do what he wanted without ethical oversight of the scientific community, but working with the aggressive and brutal alien race was wearing on his nerves.