A Changed Man (Altered Book 1) (5 page)

Jackie must have fallen asleep in front of the TV.  The last thing she remembered was watching CSI and now the Late Late Show was on.  James Corden was doing an interview with a far too thin Gwyneth Paltrow.  Jackie clicked off the TV and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.  As she made her way down the hall to her bedroom she decided to just try and get some sleep.  She didn't have any weird feelings since her hilarious phone call with Sarah.  She actually felt pretty refreshed. She went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and put on her yoga pants and a t-shirt, and got in to bed. Jackie was just about to drift off when she heard a knock; not like a knock at the front door, but more like something being thrown against the side of the house. She laid there very still, listening.  Again, like a small rock being thrown against the siding. Jackie shot up and reached over the side of the bed to grab the shotgun but it wasn't there.
Shit!
She thought to herself. She had left it in the living room. She jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to grab the gun she left beside the couch. As she bent over to grab it, she saw a dirty shoe print on the hardwood floor. Jackie started to panic.  She grabbed the gun and spun around looking for the intruder, but she didn't see anyone. She checked the doors and windows; everything was still locked up tight.  She went through the entire house, checking every cupboard and closet, every corner; she even checked under the beds, nothing.  She went back in to her bedroom and pulled open the curtain just enough to take a peek outside.  The moon was bright and lit up the yard; she didn't notice anything unusual. 
Maybe that was your shoe print dumbass.
She thought. She was walking around outside earlier in the day; maybe she just forgot to wipe her feet when she ran in earlier after seeing the shadow.  That doesn't explain the knock she heard though. "Maybe just a bird, or a bat, or something," she said to herself. She knew the mountains were full of bats and they hunted at night; maybe one was chasing something and knocked in to the side of the house. Not really believing her own explanations, and still a bit scared, she settled herself back into bed; resting the shotgun on the mattress next to her like a protective lover.

Jackie must have finally dozed off sometime during the night, because it took the screeching of the alarm clock to wake her. She rolled over and smacked the button to turn it off then got up and made her way to the bathroom. After a quick shower she went to the kitchen to start the coffee. Another half hour till the sun would come up.  She walked over to turn on the TV and catch the morning news and weather. As she looked around for the remote, she saw it laying on the couch where she was sitting last night and remembered the shoe print she had seen on the floor when reaching for the shotgun. The print wasn't there though.  The floor bared no mark of a shoe, or any dirt. Jackie looked around the floor; thinking maybe she was looking in the wrong spot.  There was nothing anywhere. The floor looked clean. Maybe she just imagined it.  It
was
at night.  It
was
dark except for the light of the television; maybe it just cast a glow on the hardwood that looked like a shoe print. Jackie sat down on the sofa and put her head in her hands. "Am I going crazy?" She whispered to herself. "Am I just seeing things because I’ve been so stressed out and cooped up in this house too long? Not the shadow, that was real, and nothing can make me think otherwise; but maybe the shoe print wasn't really a shoe print."  She looked around the room; door still locked, curtains still drawn, everything in its place.
Today I'm getting out of this house for a while
. She thought.
I'll spend the day in town; maybe talk to Henry Miller again at the hardware store.
  The coffee maker was brewing, sending a wonderful aroma through out the house.  Her stomach growled with anticipation.  Jackie went back in to the kitchen and poured herself a big mug of coffee, then sat back down on the couch and turned her focus to the TV.

Jordan Chase had been spending almost every night staking out the various exits leading out of The Den. Trying to figure out the routine of all those coming and going. He kept track of what time the new shift came in and the others were sent home, and what entrances and exits they used. Hoping for a break in the sequence of events that could give him a chance to sneak back in and execute a rescue. It was a well-organized operation. There wasn't much time between shifts that there were no people around. The place hummed with activity. He kept track of the guards, lab technicians, kitchen staff, and orderlies, even the suits that would only show up once or twice a week.  He figured they were the money; they backed these sick experiments. Tonight, he was across the river from the only entrance that no one used. It was a cave mouth; high up on a sheer cliff surrounded only by loose rock. He had to check every possibility.  If he was able to escape sometime ago, maybe someone else could too. Besides, this would be the way he would eventually have to go back in. As he laid there in the grass on the bank of the river he watched the entrance for a few hours. He was ready to call it quits when he saw a figure at the mouth of the cave.  He sat up so he could see better when he saw the figure move out onto the rocks. "That's a bad idea," he said to himself. He watched the figure slowly make his way across a narrow ledge when it fell into the freezing cold river below. Jordan jumped up and ran down the riverbank trying to keep up with whomever it was bobbing up and down in the fast currents.

Remington had walked as far as he could through the woods over night, never coming across any roads; which was a plus.  They would be patrolling the roads looking for him.   He guessed it had been around five to six miles before he was completely exhausted and had to stop. He was freezing and banged up good.  He had a twisted ankle, large gashes running up and down both legs, and his back felt like it had been hit with a bat.  His head ached with the worse migraine he had ever had. It was just starting to get light out.  He needed a place to hide. He was looking around the woods when he found a huge gutted tree lying across the forest floor. Remington made his way over to it.  He desperately needed to sit down and rest, just for a few minutes. He sat down on the log and tried to catch his breath; the cold air pierced his lungs and it was painful. He tried to take shallow breaths, but his head was spinning.  Remington knew he wasn't going to be able to stay conscious much longer.  He looked around at his surroundings and saw something odd; a shadow in the trees, it was out of place, he could see between all the other trees now that it was beginning to get light out, but between two particular trees back in the forest there was a black mass. It startled him, had they found him already? It didn’t appear to be shaped like a person, but he couldn't be positive, he was having trouble staying focused. Remington jumped up from the log to run but his feet wouldn't move.  His vision started to get spotty when everything went dark.  He passed out.

The sun was starting to shine. Jackie could see the warm light trying its best to shine through the closed curtains.  She finished watching the news and cut herself up some fruit for breakfast. She poured herself another cup of coffee and headed outside to sit on the front porch. It wasn't anywhere near as ominous as it was the night before. The birds were singing and the slow breeze caressed the wind chimes. She sat down in the rocking chair and just looked around.  She checked the tree line and saw nothing but the woods.  She looked out toward the road and saw no other tire tracks besides her own, no dirty shoe prints on her porch leading to her front door.  She was sure of what she saw; even though it was hard to think she hadn't just imagined it all when she was now outside in the light of this beautiful day.  Jackie finished her coffee and took her plate back in the house.  It was time to go to town; she would try to spend the whole day there if she could keep herself busy. She needed away from this solitude for a while.  Jackie grabbed the clothes to be donated to the local Goodwill, locked the front door, loaded her car, and left.  It took about a half hour to get to town.  When she reached the hardware store she saw Henry Miller sitting on the front porch.  She pulled in and got out of her car to greet him. "Hello Mr. Miller!" Jackie said as she climbed the porch stairs.

"Well hello young Lady! How are you on this beautiful day? Please, call me Henry." Henry stood up and offered the chair next to him to Jackie.

"Um, I'm ok." Jackie said taking a seat.

"What can I do you for? You needing more paint already?" Henry laughed.

"No, no, nothing like that.  I was just wondering if you had a few minutes to talk?"

"Oh sure! Carl’s minding the store, and there’s no one in there anyway."  He smiled.  "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly.  My grandmother's place; has she ever talked to you about anything that goes on up there? I know she came in to see you a lot. I was just curious if she ever mentioned, uh, well, anything weird?"

"No, not really. She would come in to buy some big tool, I would try and talk her out of it, not wanting her to hurt herself." Henry laughed. "She told me she had someone doing the hard work for her.  That’s why I figured she must have had a handyman, though, she never said for sure or who it was. Other than that, we'd sit right here like you and me.  We’d talk about the weather, and she was always quick to ask about my family; a great woman your grandmother."

"Yeah, she was. Did she ever say anything about weird noises at night? Did she ever seem shaken up about anything?"

"No, your grandmother was a strong woman.  If she had any problems out there, she never told me. Why? Is something bothering you out at her place?"

"Well, I hear weird sounds at night sometimes, it kind of freaks me out." Jackie laughed.

"Well darlin’ you are in the mountains, them woods are full of critters and a lot of them come out at night!"

"Yeah, I guess." Jackie was starting to get the feeling if she said anymore the guy was going to think she was just a scared little woman afraid of every little thing that goes bump in the night.  "Well I better get going.  I have some errands to run. Thanks for your time Henry." She smiled.

"Oh anytime, anytime!"

"Oh, could you tell me where the Goodwill is at?"

"Sure, you head down main street four blocks, then swing a right.  It’s the second building as you’re coming up the street.  There’s a big sign, can't miss it!"

"Great, thanks again!"

"You have a great day darlin’!"

Jackie waved goodbye, got back in her car, and made her way up Main Street.

                     
Chapter 4

Slade Thompson was awakened by the ringing of his cell phone.  He rolled over to see it lit up with the name Josh across the screen. "It's midnight.  This better be good,” he answered.

"Mr. Smith! It's me, Josh.  We've had a breach at The Den!"

"What? That’s the second one in the last six months!"

"I know sir.  I'm sorry.  A guard was killed."

"Why is it every time I leave that place something happens Josh? Is everyone just screwing around while I'm gone? The cats away so the mice will play?"

"I dunno sir.  All subjects were locked in their rooms. I checked them myself. Most were sound asleep."

"Well are you going to tell me who it was that escaped or do I have to prolong this tedious conversation by guessing?"

"Uh, yes sir, it was Remington Cross sir."

"Remington Cross? That’s impossible! He failed us!  There is no way he could have escaped the cell, let alone the den!"

"I know sir, never the less, he's gone."

"Are you positive it was him?  You don't have his cell mixed up with someone else’s?"

"Yes sir. When I opened the door he looked to be sleeping so I went on to check the others. They were all in their rooms so I went back to his cell; opened the door and told him to get up. He didn't move, so I called Phillip on the radio, he was guarding the east entrance."

"Get to it!" Slade yelled.

"Uh, yes sir.  Well he joined me at the cell and we went in to wake the subject, but his bed was empty.  He had laid pillows out and covered them up to look like a body. We checked the bathroom and under the bed, he was gone."

Slade began to roar with laughter, not the
oh that’s so funny
laughter; more like the laughter the devil would make while holding innocents over his fire pit in the deepest bowels of hell.

"Sir?" Josh felt it through the phone; the evil that emanated from this man was sending cold shivers up his spine, as if he was standing right in front of him. Good thing for his sake that he wasn't.

"Ahh" Slade sighed loudly. "You're telling me the subject fooled you with a teenagers prank? Like he was trying to sneak out of his parent’s house after curfew? Is that what you're telling me Josh?"

"Uh, yes sir, it looks that way. The cell door was locked when we got there, so we really don't know how he was able to get out.  Unless he was able to bribe a guard or something."