Friendly Face, page 20
Jake had done nothing but knock Eleanor into the shelves; however, when she screamed and tore away from him, she had a stab wound in her belly. It was bleeding heavily.
Jake knew he hadn’t stabbed Eleanor. He looked down and checked to be sure some part of him hadn’t done it accidentally. He looked for sharp edges, for evidence that he had done damage. Nope. He had no blood on him at all. She’d done it to herself.
And it had the effect Jake was sure she’d planned.
Dr. Talbert cried out in rage, reached into a desk drawer, and grabbed something Jake couldn’t see.
That something turned out to be a gun, as Jake discovered when Dr. Talbert fired three shots at him.
Two of the shots pinged harmlessly off Jake’s metal. But the third shot hit his endoskeleton’s battery.
Jake crumpled to the floor, the energy sucked out of him.
As soon as Jake was down, Dr. Talbert rushed to his “daughter.” “I’ll be right back, Renelle,” he said. He left the room and quickly reappeared pushing a rolling metal table. He picked her up effortlessly and laid her on it.
“Hang on, Renelle,” he said. “I can save you. Remnant will save you.”
Jake couldn’t move, but he could hear and see. He wanted, with all his will, to say, “That’s not your daughter.” But he couldn’t speak.
As soon as Dr. Talbert said, “Remnant,” Eleanor smiled.
She wanted Remnant! That was why she’d tricked Jake into bringing her here.
But what was Remnant? And why did she want it? Flashes of the memories he felt when he was near her gave him glimpses into its nature. He couldn’t hear her thoughts exactly, but he could feel the words.
Power. Life. Eternal.
The doctor put a pillow under Eleanor’s head and said, “Just relax. I’ll be right back.” He ran from the room, then returned with a rolling metal tray containing beakers of bubbling, thick silver liquid. He pulled the tray up next to the table.
While Eleanor looked at the liquid and smiled widely, Dr. Talbert took out his phone and punched in a number. “Security? I’ve had a break-in. Thank you. Yes, now.”
Dr. Talbert glanced at Jake. He hadn’t seemed to notice the unconscious man on the floor. Eleanor gazed at the bubbling liquid as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Jake couldn’t move. All he could do was watch Dr. Talbert begin hooking up tubing to the containers of the liquid substance.
Dr. Talbert glanced at Jake one more time. Then he prepared an IV to transfer the liquid into the thing he thought was his daughter.
Jake tried to will himself to move, but will without physical power was useless. The detective’s eyelids fluttered and he mumbled something incoherent, but he did not regain consciousness. Eleanor locked eyes with Jake. She was still smiling.
Of course she’s smiling, Jake thought. She won.
Something was changing. Eleanor’s human disguise was disintegrating. The dark, curly hair fell from her scalp but disappeared before it hit the floor. The healthy-looking pink-tinged flesh on her face melted away to reveal a thin layer of sickly gray skin. Dr. Talbert drew back in horror. Eleanor’s huge, dead eyes bulged, and her red-stained mouth gaped, revealing the vicious zigzag of her teeth. She looked at Jake, her eyes pulsating, her unhinged jaw opening wide.
Copyright © 2021 by Scott Cawthon. All rights reserved.
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First printing 2021
Cover design by Jeff Shake
e-ISBN 978-1-338-78596-8
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Scott Cawthon, Friendly Face
