Species

Chapter 35

Chloe ran straight into a hard chest. From her eye level she could see his gray suit jacket and navy blue tie. The scent of Old Spice filled her nostrils and she did not need to look up to see who the man was. She took a deep breath calming her nerves and took a step back looking at the one and only Drew Costner.
He smiled at her smugly with pursed lips.
"Chloe," he addressed her. She gave him a small nod in response. Her lips felt as though they were glued together. What could she say to him? She'd seen it. All of them. There were so many and at so many ages. The image of Joshua in his water coffin flashed in her mind and she felt goosebumps appear on her arms.

"Walk with me." It wasn't a question, but he smiled delightedly as though it was a wonderful invitation and he was about to take her for a stroll to some magical tea party. He held his elbow out for her to take. But she didn't take it. She stared at his arm and wanted so badly to shake her head at him like a defiant little toddler throwing a fit.

        "Take it." He growled at her through gritted teeth. She swallowed the knot in her throat and reluctantly took his arm. He tugged her towards the way she came and her heart skipped a beat. 'Surely, he wouldn't take me back there. He wouldn't want me to know about them.' she told herself. That thought disappeared soon.
         Before she knew it she was standing over Josh's water casket with Drew.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Drew asked in a dreamy voice. "I made him myself." He smiled full of pride. "He is my favorite specie of them all. My son. My water human. Like his brother." He gave Chloe a sideways glance waiting for her shocked response. He was not disappointed. She was shocked. How did he know that about her son? What had he done to their baby? He leaned down and whispered into her ear with a voice that was so angry and vicious she imagined fire filling his eyes as he spoke.
"I. Know. Everything."
              He grabbed her in anger squeezing her arms as hard as he could. His nails digging into her flesh. She winced in pain.
"This ship is my kingdom." He declared. "And you. You prance around here like a whore." He slapped her across the face as hard as he could. Her face stung so horrible bad like a whip had struck her in the face splitting her skin.
         Hanging her head, concealing her face with her hair, and hold her cheek she stood silently. He was so enraged. She knew there was nothing she could do to appease him. That she would just have to endure his rage and pray she made it out. He knew. He knew everything, but how? Angered by her lack of a response he shook her viciously.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" He screamed in her face.
"Nothing. Everything you say is true." She whispered.
                     He threw her away from him and began to pace as he fumed. She fell against a nearby by glass casket with a scary looking specimen in it. This specimen had black and red skin, horns and black claws. He looked like some sort of demon or devil but he was real. She could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed. She imagined him waking up, breaking through his glass casket and ripping her to shreds. Causing her to frantically jump away from the glass casket.
"I don't understand. I don't understand." Drew ran his hand through his hair. "Why, Chloe? You tell me why. Why him? Why not me? I gave you everything. A child. A ring. A spa. A kingdom. Sex. Lingerie. Whatever food your heart desired. What more could you want from me?"
              She stared at him amazed. She could see in his facial expressions and his eyes that he was truly bewildered. But how? Yes, he'd given her those things but he'd also tortured her and left her lonely.
"What do you want?" He yelled accidentally spitting a little. He huffed panting for air after his outburst.
"Love."
"What?" He scrunched his eyes at her. "Love?" He questioned as though it were a foreign word to him. Then he laughed to himself. "What does love have to do with it?" He chuckled some more and opened up his arms gesturing toward the whole room. "Do you think I made all of these species with love? No. I made them out of hunger, determination, and hard work."
           "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong." She recited from memory.
              Silence. He just looked at her unsure of what to say.
"If you loved me you wouldn't hurt me." She added. "But that's all you do." She held out her hand showing the scar that was left from his branding. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried really hard not to cry.
             He didn't respond. He just stared blankly at her hand. "You complain that I hurt you, but you lived up to your A. Didn't you?"
She shook her head frustrated and dabbed her tears away.
"I can't believe you let him touch you." He gagged. "It's so gross." He looked her body up and down.
"I'd hoped to be with you for a good while. Be together long enough to see Tyson take his first casket nap. I'd wanted to explore your body and plow you like my life depended on it. But now . . . Now I don't know . ."
"Tyson is not going in one of those caskets." She argued completely ignoring everything else he said.
           Drew inhaled sharply as though her words hurt. He looked at her like she was the worst person he'd ever met. "You repulse me." He said with pure hatred.
          He reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny remote. He pressed a button and all of the caskets opened.
"Get her." He ordered and the species popped up out of their water caskets.