The Vigilante & The Dragon - Book 1 of the Guardians Saga [COMPLETED]

Complications Ch. 12.3

Cale's entire body was on fire.  His head throbbed with each cramp that seized his body.  He hadn't known where he was or who the people standing over him had been. 

He only knew that they hadn't been the one with what he needed, the one with the syringe, the one who could bring back his clan and stop all of the pain, if only for a short time. 

Anyone who wasn't that person was in the way.  He stopped to check his bearings and then trudged on.

******

Alex and Dr. Dewey lay prone on the floor of the carriage house apartment.

Alex recovered first and sat up. "Dr. Dewey, are you okay?"

"Alex? What happened?" Dr. Dewey held his head and pulled himself up to a sit as well.

"It was Cale. He woke up crazy, caught me by surprise, and knocked me out.  You, too, I guess.  I have to find him.  I'll search all the way to Hermann's lab. Tell Gabe and Rile what happened when they get back." Alex shot out the door before Dr. Dewey could object.

Does Cale know the way to the lab, especially in his condition? Or will he stumble around until he's discovered?

Alex neared the lab and slowed her flight, praying that she wasn't too late.  She circled over the entire brick complex before she spotted Cale on the back loading dock.

His golden-green hide stood out against the concrete walls, a contrast to the elegant front of the buildings.

She dove for him, too intent to see the two men in the doorway. 

One drew a bead on her with a strange looking gun.   Alex's last impression was of electricity arcing around her before crash-landing.

******

Gabe found Rile sitting on the levee near Café Du Monde. He had cooled off via a combination of exercise and fatigue.

Gabe sat next to him and they watched the muddy Mississippi River flow by. They listened to the last notes of the calliope of the paddleboat Natchez.

"Ready to return?" Gabe asked at length and Rile nodded.

It was late when they returned to Alex's.  The atmosphere was grim as Dr. Dewey explained what happened. 

"I think Cale returned to the laboratory," Dr. Dewey said. "Alex is backtracking there. I waited for you to return to tell you."

"But why would he go there? They imprisoned him and gave him drugs . . . oh, I see." Gabe fell silent, looking troubled.

"What? Are you saying Cale went back for more drugs?" Rile jumped to his feet, angry. "You don't know Cale. He would never! He has never even drunk enough wine to suffer winehead the next morning."

"His mind is not his own," Dr. Dewey said.

"Off to Hermann's lab," Rile said.

"I agree," Gabe replied.

*****

Alex woke with the sense that something was wrong.  It wasn't that she hurt. It was that she didn't.  She knew her face should hurt. She touched it experimentally, checking if it was injured. Then she realized that she was also abnormally calm upon waking.

Where's the confusion? The panic?Jagged cuts from my rough landing are there, why don't they hurt? 

She pushed herself up and looked out and saw she was in an all too familiar place.  Across from her cage, she could see Cale in his own.  Two white-coated men bent over him.  When they stood up, Alex could see the flash of a hypodermic needle.