Counting Our Stars • Tyler Joseph •

Chapter 14

          •  Claire  •

It had been nightfall when Claire had finally succumbed to the weariness that filled her aching muscles. She opened her eyes to find herself in a bed. Where was she? How had she gotten there? She peered around at the bare walls of her room. There was nothing but a small dresser and the bed she was currently on.

At the sound of the door opening, she scooted backwards until her back met the wall behind her. A figure stepped into the room, he held a wooden tray in one hand as he pushed the door open with his other.

She carefully watched the man, he looked familiar somehow. Her mind tried to separate the memories from the night before. The man offered her a kind smile probably at seeing how on edge she was.

"Hi, I brought you some breakfast."

Claire continued to gaze uncertainly at him.

"Are you the guy from last night?" She asked finally, narrowing her eyes in concentration. The man placed the tray down on the foot of the bed and backed up again to create some space.

"Um...Y-Yeah, that was me when Tyler attacked me. I'm Mark." He confirmed, an uneasy expression on his face. Claire looked down at the food on the plate. It was scrambled eggs and a slice of toast. She was almost afraid of eating it even though it smelled really good.

"It's okay. We don't intend to harm you." Mark assured her when he saw the look of worry on her face.

She didn't reply, however, she picked up the fork from the tray and stabbed at a small piece of egg and held it up to eye level. She examined the food closely. She was unsure what she was really searching for. She heard her stomach rumble in protest and she decided if the food was, in fact, poisoned she was hungry enough to take the risk.

Mark shuffled back to the door and Claire watched him.

"Mark?" She asked, placing her fork on her plate. Mark turned to look back at her.

"How...How is Tyler?"

A silence filled the gap between them. Mark avoided her gaze and nervously bit his lip.

"I-I'm not supposed to say anything." He admitted as he reached for the doorknob. Claire frowned and sat up straighter.

"I need to see him. Please?" She pleaded. All she wanted to do is see him. Mark sighed heavily and it didn't seem to take him long to decide.

"I'll come get you when the others are out feeding. Tyler doesn't need much guarding."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her anxiety beginning to rise.

Mark simply offered her a sullen expression and shook his head.

"He's in no shape to escape and he might not survive much longer."

His mysterious words left her with no hope and more dread. What had they done to him? Was he dying? Tears sprung to her eyes and blocked her from seeing Mark's exit. Her heart fluttered rapidly in her chest and not in a good way.

She curled onto her side, drawing her knees to her chest and allowed her shaking sobs fill the room.

• • •

After what felt like an eternity, Claire looked up when she saw the door to her room open. Mark poked his head into her room and smiled softly.

"You ready? We only have about twenty minutes and I'll have to bring you back here." He remarked. Claire sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. They burned and felt heavy from all the crying she had done. She missed home on top of being worried about Tyler. She sighed breathily and stood up from the bed. Her legs were a little unsteady due to the lack of activity but she was fine as she scurried over to Mark. Part of her was dreading seeing what condition Tyler was in and the other part was anxious to see him period. She wanted to see proof that he wasn't dead. Could he actually die? She didn't think so and she wasn't going to ask Mark.

Mark nodded for her to follow him. She had to scramble quickly most of the time to keep up with him.

The hallways were a maze and she was beginning to think they were walking in circles until they had made a left turn and came face to face with a large metal door. There was a keypad next to the door and Mark typed in a code. 3534. She made a mental note of the code in case she ever needed it.

Mark turned to her as the door slid open.

"Now, I have to warn you, Tyler...isn't in the best shape so prepare yourself."

She wasn't sure what exactly to expect but with a shaky breath, she gave him a reluctant nod. Mark's expression was one of somber sadness and concern but he quietly led them into a large room.

The brightly lit room reminded Claire of a lavatory and that's exactly what it looked like. There were computer monitors on the far left wall with various numbers and information on the five screens. On the far right were large upright coolers with glass windows. She noticed in one of the coolers there were small, plastic boxes containing a black liquid that was being stored. She wanted to question Mark about the mysterious liquid but when she turned her head to find him.

Her heart stopped.

Behind a large viewing window, lay a motionless figure on the bed. iVs attached to both of the figure's hands with a IV bag full of a dark blue, almost purple liquid, on their right side.

Claire gasped, her hands covering her mouth and tears filling her eyes once more. She slowly stepped towards the window, her legs feeling like they were dragging cement blocks. She stared at the figure in the bed.

"Tyler."

Her voice came out as barely a whisper and a few tears escaped her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

"I-I told you it was bad." Mark spoke quietly, appearing at her side and also stared sorrowfully at Tyler. Claire frowned as she noticed the blue liquid was slowly draining into the tubing that was connected to Tyler's right hand.

"Mark...What...What is that?" She whispered.

"It's wolfsbane. The same poison that was used on that knife."

"Why are they pumping that into his body? It'll kill him!" She said, her voice raising a little as she forced her attention away from Tyler to look at Mark.

She realized he was focused on what was to the left of Tyler's bedside. She followed his gaze and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. On a rolling cart were dozens of vials...filled with blood.

"They're using his blood laced with wolfsbane to...create unstoppable hybrids. Josh...is creating hybrids for an army." Mark's tone was gentle and full of despair.

Claire felt a rush of icy panic as his words sunk in.

"So he wants to literally bleed Tyler dry for an army? And he doesn't care what happens to Tyler?" She asked incredulously and shook her head.

"Yes, it appears that way." Mark replied sadly.

he stepped over to a door and typed in the same code as before. A second later, the door slid open and mark motion for her to go inside.

"You must hurry, we have to go back soon." He said.

Claire slowly stepped into the smaller room and sadly looked down at Tyler in the bed. He was so pale and sickly looking that she could hardly recognize him. She quickly noticed that his veins in his arms and on his neck were the same dark blue as the wolfsbane And they were prominent on his pale skin. The veins under his skin looked like a complex spiderweb and it killed her to see him like this. She gingerly reached for his hand, the one receiving the wolfsbane and she gently squeezed it. She quickly wiped away a few stray tears that began rolling down her cheeks again.

"I'm sorry Ty. I wish they weren't doing this to you. I will get you out of here somehow." She promised, lifting his hand and pressing a gentle kiss on his knuckles.

"Okay, we have to go." Mark said.

She didn't want to leave Tyler behind. He shouldn't be going through this. She leaned over and pressed a long kiss to his forehead before moving away from him. She felt her heart break at seeing how lifeless he was.

Finally she wheeled her self to walk away and she followed Mark back out of the room and watched as the door shut behind them. It took a lot less time for them to reach her room again and she went inside without a word to Mark. She had to come up with a plan and quickly because from marks words and from what she had seen for herself, Tyler would not make it past a few days.