Graveyard, Backyard

52. Claustrophobic

"What? No.. No! That's not possible. It's not-" Ander stood at his window, "She was 18 when I, when we, I mean, we knew each other for more than two years. How can -"

"Andy, listen. That's not all. According to the records, her child was born in the year 1915. She was 20 years old she gave birth to the child."

"What? The child is as old as me! Was Gabriela 20 years older than me? Dora, this is insane!"

"Precisely!" Dora chuckled.

"But who's the child? Wait, there are no male witches. So if she had a boy he'd have died or he'd be hundred years old."

"No, there are male witches - warlocks, but they're quite rare. Mostly only female child would inherit witch powers. Gabriela's child could be a young looking boy."

Rick?

Could he be Gabriela's child? No. That's not possible. But, he'd been doing weird things-

"I found something this morning. A bottle -" Ander said thinking about the bottle with a familiar symbol.

"Andy, I'll call you later. Someone's at the door." She ended the call with that, leaving Ander confused than before.

What will he do now?

On one hand, Gabriela and her child were plotting against Claire's life and on the other hand, he was chickening out to even meet Claire.

The dreams continued. Every dream would bring Claire's deepest fear in front of her. Ander felt he was knowing her more, peeping on to her deepest secrets. The hardest part was watching himself in her dreams every time. Claire felt deeply for Ander who appeared as Will and then he'd turn into a monster. There was no way of stopping this internal catastrophe.

But that Friday night was different. And he knew something was wrong.

That night when Ander went to sleep, he didn't saw any nightmares. He felt trapped instead. Darkness surrounded him, or Claire, he didn't know. He felt claustrophobic, forcefully trying to breathe. Scared.

Even weirder was the feeling didn't go away when he woke up. It was late in the morning. He got ready and rushed down for breakfast. The feeling still there, but the connection felt off?

When he sat down at the table, alone while Rachel served him sandwiches, he closed his eyes and deeply breathed in. He tried to calm himself thinking about Claire. And the connection zinged!

He felt everything Claire was feeling, as he knew it was not him feeling suffocated. It was Claire. Was she still sleeping? Was she ok?

"Ander," he opened his eyes to look up at Vincent. He was standing by the table, a folded newspaper in his hand. "It's weekend. You've been working at the restaurant nonstop. Take a day off or two."

"But.." He protested.

"I'll handle it." Vincent genuinely smiled and Ander agreed.

He could spend today spying on Rick, he thought. He was the prime suspect and Ander couldn't wait to find him guilty.

Call it luck or coincidence, Ander found Rick at the restaurant near Sands and Witches. Ander was happy. Almost. But, the moment he realized, that Rick was with none other than Claire, he was beyond piss.

Rick had his palm placed on Claire's back, guiding her into that restaurant. Ander had to follow them, however, he convinced himself he won't make an appearance unless it's necessary.

He took a table not far from them. Claire was extra cheerful. Her red lips grinned widely while she intently heard what Rick was saying. They were laughing, flirting, and having a good time on their date! Ander tightened his fists. He was jealous. Seeing Claire with him of all people made him mad.

Once their drinks arrived, Ander noticed keenly. And he did find something suspicious. Rick grabbed something out of his jacket pocket. Something tiny. He couldn't find it out from the distance but it looked like a potion bottle.

Ander shook his head. It couldn't be...

While Claire was busy staring Rick, he shook the bottle and emptied it in a glass. Rick said something to Claire and glided that glass towards her.

How dare he!

Ander stood up without any thoughts and rushed towards Claire as she gently took a sip from the glass. He bumped into a waiter in the process, the glasses from his tray flying down and creating loud clutter.

Every eye turned towards him. Claire's too.

'Ander?' She mouthed.

Maybe she didn't drink anything, he prayed. Claire looked up at him as he rushed to their table and yanked the glass of her hand, slamming on the ground.

"What the hell, Ander!" Shouted Claire.

"May I know what's happening here?" A guy in formal clothes stood by their table, inspecting the damage Ander made.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'll pay the charges. Give me a minute." The manager, he assumed, inspected him and then walked away.

"Booth," Rick said, "What a surprise!"

Ander threw a glare in his direction before looking towards Claire, saying "I think, we're done here. You should come with me."

The disgust in Claire's eyes said he was back being a mongrel. He had no other way.

"Ander, are you out of your mind? How come..-"

"Just come with me," he pleaded, "I'll explain everything."

"Will you?" Claire looked up in his eye and asked.

Ander ignored a chuckling Rick - he'd break his teeth later. First, he has to take Claire away.

Rick stood up, "Alright, what's your problem, Booth? Are you getting jealous? Are you jealous of me?"

Rick had a death wish.

Shoving Rick aside, Ander extended his hand towards Claire. He mouthed 'Please'. She was in great ambivalence, hesitating at first. She noticed her surrounding and gave up. Gently, she took Ander's hand and stood up.

"He won't back down, - I know him. We'll talk later." Claire explained to Rick.

He nodded at that and walked out of the restaurant bumping into Ander. "If she gets hurt, you'll be in the grave with your ex-fiancee." He had murmured to Ander, without letting Claire know.

Ander was confused. Why would he hurt Claire? And why would Rick be worried about Claire's where being- wasn't he the one who was adding some witchcraft to Claire's drink? And most importantly, how does Rick know so much about him?

But, right now, his priority was Claire. After paying for Claire's & Rick's food and the damage he did, Ander walked Claire to his car in total silence.

They were alone like this after a long - long time. Ander wanted to say so many unsaid things. Some confession he was desperate to make.

But, what he said was, "How can you be so stupid?" to an already pissed off Claire. And judging by the frowned look on her face, Ander knew he messed up.