John Saul - Creature

He leaned back in the seat then, and tried to relax, but still felt crowded by the two orderlies on either side of him. It was almost like they were taking him to prison, he suddenly thought, and were afraid he might try to escape.

When they came to the high gates protecting Rocky Mountain High from the rest of the valley, the image of a prison grew stronger in his mind. "What is this?" he asked. "A sports center or some kind of concentration camp?"

He heard Ames chuckle in the front seat. "Actually, it does look sort of like a prison, doesn't it?" he heard the doctor say. "But it's to keep people out, not in. We have a lot of valuable equipment out here and a lot of programs we'd just as soon not let anybody else in on." He turned and winked at Mark then, and Mark thought he understood. It was likeTarrenTech, and all the other companies in Silicon Valley that spent half their time trying to keep their new ideas from being stolen and the other half trying to steal everybody else's stuff. To him the whole thing had always seemed kind of dumb. After all, everybody eventually found out what everyone else was doing anyway, didn't they?

The gates swung open and Mark gazed curiously at the big building that housed the center. It looked nice-like a lodge, not a hospital. Then he remembered what Robb Harris had told him about it.

"How many kids come here in the summer?" he asked.

"Almost fifty this year," Ames replied, grinning at him.

"Of course, we don't give them the full benefit of everything we know. If we did, the home team might get some competition." He paused, gazing speculatively at Mark. "You interested in football?"

Mark shook his head. "Not really," he admitted. "In fact, I've always thought it was kind of stupid." The car he was in passed the front of the building and drove toward the rear while the other car pulled up near the main entrance. "Where are we going?"

"Around in back," Ames replied. "We'll go in through the garage." A few seconds later the car pulled up to a pair of imposing metal doors, then the doors swung slowly upward. As soon as they were open, they drove inside. The doors closed behind them with a heavy metallic clang.

"Here we are," Ames told him. One of the orderlies slid out of the backseat and held the door open for Mark. He followed the orderly through a door and then down a hall, turning finally into a treatment room very much like the one Dr.MacCallum had examined him in the night before.

Except that in this room there were heavy straps made of thick webbing attached to the examining table.

Mark frowned at the straps, and suddenly recalled the strange marks he'd seen on JeffLaConner's wrists the morning after he'd spent the night here.

"Wh-What are those?" Mark asked, his voice betraying the fear that had begun to play once more around the edges of his mind.

"Nothing to worry about," Ames told him. "Just take off your clothes and put on this," he went on, handing Mark a pale green hospital gown.

"Why?" Mark demanded. "You already know what's wrong with me, don't you? I just got beat up. I'm not sick."

Ames's voice hardened. "Just do what you're told, Mark. We're not going to hurt you. All we're going to do is help you."

Mark's eyes flicked toward the door, but one of the orderlies was blocking it, his eyes fixed on Mark as if he knew what he was thinking. Mark hesitated for a moment, his heart pounding.

Then he reminded himself that it was his father who had sent him here. So whatever this was all about, it had to be okay, didn't it? Still, his nervousness only increased as he slowly took off his clothes and put on the hospital gown.

It wasn't until he was already stretched out on the table that the orderlies suddenly jumped him, one of them holding him down while the other strapped his legs and arms securely to the metal surface.

"What the hell-" Mark shouted. Then a gag was placed over his mouth and he felt a needle slipping into a vein in his forearm.

"You're going to be fine," Ames assured him once more. "Believe me, Mark, you're going to feel better than you've ever felt before in your life."

Mark struggled against the heavy straps for a moment, but as he tried to pull himself free, a stab of pain lashed through his chest.

Even before the searing pain had faded away, Mark Tanner sank into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

Linda Harris already had her book bag packed by the time the lunch bell rang. She'd been thinking about it all morning, but had finally made up her mind only fifteen minutes ago. She was going to skip lunch and go out to the hospital to visit Mark Tanner. She didn't have time, really, but her class after lunch was only a study hall, and she could always say she'd spent the time in the library. In fact, if she had to, she could get Tiffany Welch-who always spent that hour helping the librarian-to back her up. As the clanging of the bell faded away, Linda hurried out of the classroom and toward the wide staircase that led to the main floor. She was halfway down the stairs when she heard Tiffany calling to her from the mezzanine above.

"Linda? Wait up!"

Linda hesitated, half tempted to pretend she hadn't heard, men thought better of it. "Hi," she said as the other girl caught up with her. "Look, I need a big favor. If I miss my study hall, will you tell Mr. Anders I was in the library?"

Tiffany's oval face reflected confusion for a moment, men her bright blue eyes took on a conspiratorial quality. "Where are you going? Are you cutting the whole afternoon?"

The eagerness in her friend's voice told Linda that Tiffany was considering coming with her, to Tiffany, practically anything was more interesting than school.

"I'm just going to the hospital," Linda said.

Tiffany's face brightened. "To see Jeff? I'll go with you."

"Why would I want to see Jeff?" Linda demanded, her eyes flashing angrily. "After last night, I hope I never see him again!"

The eager look faded from Tiffany's eyes. "Then who?" At last, the light dawned. "You mean you're going to see Mark?" she asked, her voice traced with scorn.

"Well, why shouldn't I?" Linda snapped.

"He's just such a… well, he's kind of a wimp, isn't he?" Tiffany said.

Linda's features congealed coldly. "Just because he isn't a sports nut like everyone else around here doesn't mean he's a wimp. He happens to be a real nice guy. And he doesn't go around jumping guys who are a lot smaller than he is, either."

Tiffany couldn't resist the opening. "There aren't any smaller guys," she said, "unless you go over to the junior high." Seeing Linda's eyes glitter with tears, she relented. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "And I'll cover for you, too. Say hi to him for me, okay?"

Linda nodded, then turned away and hurried out of the school building.

Twenty minutes later she came to the small county hospital and pushed her way into the waiting room. Except for a Chicano woman-her face pale and her eyes sunken and tired-the room was deserted. Linda looked around uncertainly for a moment, then went to ring the bell on the counter separating the reception area from the office.

"She's in Ricardo's room," the fragile woman suddenly said. "She's giving my son a bath."

Linda turned to face the woman, realizing who she was but not knowing what to say to her. Before she could say anything at all, Susan Aldrich appeared. "All done, Mrs. Ramirez," she said, then recognized Linda. "Well, hello. What brings you out here?" She glanced instinctively at the clock.

"It's lunch hour," Linda explained. "I thought I'd come out and say hello to Mark."

"Mark?" the nurse replied blankly, then understood. "Oh, you mean Mark Tanner. He's not here."

Linda looked at the nurse in confusion. "But they brought him in last night."