Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

GiB - 6

Alex checked the time as she opened the front door. One-thirty, so why the hell were all the lights on, and even music playing? That late, Claire should be sleeping, or with Ollie. She turned off My Chemical Romance's Black Parade on her way to the kitchen. Not a good sign, that Claire had relapsed into her emo music.

"Finally!" the girl cried when Alex walked in.

Alex saw the mug full of black coffee in her niece's hand and the carafe half-empty in the coffeemaker.

"Where were you? I called you a thousand times!"

Alex approached her with a cautious frown. She removed the mug from her hand and made her sit on a stool by the breakfast bar. After what had happened in Montana, Claire still had some trouble sleeping, but nothing serious enough to keep her awake.

"Breathe, Claire," Alex said in a warm, soothing tone. "What is it? Another nightmare?"

"What? No! She's still alive, you see? She can't be! I checked she was dead myself! But she ain't! At least the thing inside her isn't!"

Alex held her eyes, waiting for a clue to make any sense of the girl's words, and found none. "You talking about Ann Campbell?"

Claire didn't seem to listen. "And she giggles! All the time! I keep hearing her giggles!"

"Claire..."

"I tried to sleep but she wouldn't let me! And you wouldn't pick up the fucking phone!"

"Claire, please, can you tell me what on earth are you talking about?"

The girl snorted, snatching back her mug from Alex's hands.

While she told Alex what had happened at Rob's party, the boy rested in a hospital bed, surrounded by devices monitoring his vitals, his mother Sarah watching over him. He was unconscious but stable. In the morning, the tests would tell how serious his concussion was, and if he needed any kind of surgery.

Lou Thompson had gone home and Sarah snoozed in an armchair by Rob's bed, covered with her jacket. Across the hall, the night nurse watched a movie on the nurse station's computer.

Nobody seemed to notice the girl in black that came down the hall. The nurse didn't even glance up from the computer when the girl walked into Rob's room to stand by the boy's bed. Sarah stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake up.

Lila brushed Rob's lips with a peck and whispered in his ear, "Wake up, sweet Rob. It's time to go."

The boy's eyes fluttered open to meet Lila's. She nodded with a loving smile.

At the Corbans house, Claire filled a second mug and handed it to Alex, who kept pacing up and down the kitchen. When Alex walked for the third time by the mug without even seeing it, Claire left it on the bar and sipped her own coffee. Judging by the denial Alex's frown reflected, she could tell they were about to have an argument.

"It's an echo," Alex said after a long silence. "You saw the scars yourself. The girl wanted to die and she finally achieved it. It'll be over after her funeral."

Claire took her turn to play calm and reasonable. "What I saw moving down her throat wasn't an echo, Al. That's why I wanna look it up in Grandpa's books."

"And what're you expecting to find there? That it's some creature you can fight with spells? Enough already, Claire! Didn't you already get enough of supernatural creatures? We ain't opening that door again!"

"You didn't fall back like this in Montana."

Claire regretted her words the moment she said them. Alex glared at her as the girl had slapped her. Her voice was a living reminder of the scolds Claire had gotten when she was a teen.

"That witch wanted to have her ghost pet kill you! And she almost made it! And you still wanna mess with that stuff? Forget it, child! That ain't gonna happen!"

Claire tried to make her case just to honor tradition. And to honor tradition too, Alex cut her off as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Nada! Can't you understand this ain't no game? Grandpa spent half his life running away from the supernatural! And see what good it did to him! He only got a slow painful death!"

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

Alex snorted to cover up for her slip and ignored Claire's obvious question to resume her rant. "There's no coming back from the supernatural, Claire. And you ain't going there! I won't let you do it!"

The distant wail of a siren kept Claire from replying. Lady Gaga's Bad Romance filled the kitchen from the girl's buzzing phone, earning her another poisonous glower from Alex as she hurried to pick up.

"What?" she cried on the phone. "I'm on my way!"

A chill ran down Alex's back when the girl disconnected and grabbed her jacket on her way out.

"Where d'you thing you're going?" Alex asked, following her.

Claire opened the front door, replying, "Rob disappeared from the hospital!"

"Shit!" snarled Alex. "Start the truck and wait for me! You ain't going anywhere alone, you hear me?"

A minute later, Claire stepped on the gas down the empty streets, but she didn't turn right at the hospital corner. Instead, she drove toward the town square and the police station. Alex caught a glimpse of the hospital entrance as they rocketed by, and spotted the cruiser and Graham's Jeep.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To make sure that girl's where she's supposed to be," Claire replied. "'Cause if she was happy a while ago, now she's plain thrilled."

Alex hated hearing Claire speak like that, so she breathed deep to keep her mouth shut. They found the police station closed.

"What now, Sherlock?" Alex asked mockingly.

Claire smiled back at her, producing her wallet. She took her credit card and used it to unlock the front door. She couldn't help a chuckle, seeing Alex's shocked scowl when she opened the door.

"You've got some things to explain, young lady," Alex grunted, walking into the station with her.

"Mark showed me how to do it," Claire replied, preceding her across the squad room.

Alex followed her reluctantly down the hall.

"Ha! Told ya!" she heard Claire say from the refrigerated room.

In there, she found her niece standing by the slab and the empty body bag.

"Told ya, didn't I? This girl, or the thing inside her, is alive and kicking. See? She's gone. And you can bet it's got something to do with Rob disappearing from the hospital."

Alex knew she'd lost the upper hand, but she wasn't about to admit it. "Sure. She fancied a night stroll and picked him up to go walk in the woods hand in hand."

"Does it really sound that crazy?"

"Can we please get out of here before Ollie and Graham come back?"

Alex didn't wait for Claire's answer. She spun around and strode away. Claire joined her in the Hilux, where Alex started the engine, avoiding eye contact.

"What're we gonna do, Al?"

"Why should we do anything at all? You're going to bed. And I ain't explaining myself to you, kiddo."

"Jeez! I so hate it when you treat me like a child! C'mon, Al! Man up and admit I was right from the beginning!"

Alex geared in, snorting under her breath, and pulled away from the curb.

"Fine! You're right. Happy now?" she grumbled.

"I'm not going to bed, Al. Not with two coffees under my belt and that frigging girl giggling in my head."

Alex crossed Main Street. "Fine. Then I'm taking you to the hospital. Maybe you can be of help there."

"What about you?" Alex's glare told Claire she was pushing it, so she chuckled and tried the diplomatic way. "Okay, I don't need to know. Can I call you if anything happens?"

"You better," Alex grunted, pulling over outside the hospital.