Zero Power (Book 2): Trying To Survive

by Lockwood, Max

  How had she missed seeing her sister degrading this badly?

  It took Tessa a moment to focus on Clara, and then she was grinning and holding out her arms eagerly, gesturing with her hands for Clara to get closer.

  "Come on, sis. Come here. Come sit with me so I can tell you about my latest vision." Her voice was hoarse, scratchy like she hadn't drunk any water in too long. Or, hadn't spoken in a while.

  Or, had spent too long screaming until it affected her vocal chords.

  What happened the day I left here?

  Clara didn’t move, eyeing her sister. This was not the welcome she expected. No surprise that she was back, no real discernible emotion besides her excitement. Yet Clara knew that was for the sake of being able to speak out her vision, not because Clara was back. There was no way this could have had anything to do with her, could it? Tessa didn’t seem to notice her hesitation, the look of wild excitement growing in her face worrying Clara a bit.

  There was no way she could get anywhere near her sister with the way she was acting. She didn’t fear for her life, exactly, but Tessa was so obviously not stable. And she clearly had words that Tessa wouldn’t like, that she wasn’t ready to listen to after the week she'd had. She didn’t want to be within reaching distance in case her sister decided to get violent. She didn’t think it would happen, she would back out of the room if there was even a possibility, but it wasn't impossible either.

  "Tessa, you need to calm down," she said slowly, holding her ground.

  Her sister's face screwed into a scowl, and it only made her look more frightening. She clenched and unclenched her hands in the air between them, reaching harder, but if anything, Clara shuffled back. Tessa seemed to notice, her scowl darkening as she leaned forward. An image ran through Clara's mind, of her sister leaping at her, arms outstretched, hands curled into claws before she shoved it away. Her sister wasn’t an animal.

  "I am calm," she said. "But I've been waiting for you, Clara. I had another vision, I had so many of them when you left, but this one concerns you. Don’t you want to know what it is? It's important."

  Clara frowned. She had to admit her sister sounded lucid enough. If it wasn’t for her words, not to mention how she looked, Clara would have assumed she was just fine. She didn’t speak any differently than she had before, but Clara could only take that as a bad sign.

  "Tessa," she murmured, keeping her voice low and soothing. "Your visions aren't real. When are you going to finally understand that? There is no way they can be, even allowing for everything you've said that hasn’t been wrong. It's all because of the bad situation we're currently in, not because you actually saw anything—you're just letting your imagination go to town."

  She tried to explain as she had tried so many times before, but she could see her sister wasn’t ready to listen. Tessa dropped her hands down to her lap, though, her expression turning earnest as she leaned forward even further, and Clara worried she might fall off the bed altogether.

  "I'm not lying," she said insistently. "It was so bad when you left Clara. I wanted to contact you somehow, but you had already left and there was no way to reach you. And that woman that you had stay with us, and her little brats, you shouldn’t have let them stay, Clara, you can't trust them. You can't trust anyone."

  Clara watched her, surprised, as she took in harsh breaths after the fast talking she'd just done. When was the last time Tessa had talked so much at any one time? She swayed a bit where she sat, and Clara almost jumped forward to catch her. But then her head snapped back up, and it startled Clara so that she jumped back.

  "I had a vision, Clara! I've had them since you left. I knew Cooper was bringing you back home today, and I had a vision that predicts what will happen next. I need to tell you." she was growing excited as she talked, leaning forward again almost eagerly, and her eyes wide, expression open and earnest. "You're in grave danger, Clara. Just sit down and I'll tell you everything so you can prepare. You’ll want to if you want to walk away from this one. Someone is going to plot to have you killed!"

  Clara frowned at the words coming out of her sister's mouth. There was no way it was real. She had to make up her mind, believe her sister or not? Because she couldn’t keep thinking Tessa was making sense only to turn around and say she really was crazy. There were some things she could believe, things even she could agree with, but this wasn’t one of them. It sounded too much like some cooked up conspiracy theory.

  Who would even want to kill her? She generally stayed out of people's way. There were those she annoyed, of course, she could think of several from the past few weeks, but not bad enough that they would plan her murder, surely. Clara just wasn’t that important.

  "No one wants me dead, Tess," she said exasperatedly, feeling a low headache start in the back of her skull as she tried, yet again, to decipher what went on in her sister's mind.

  Tessa's personality had changed again in a moment. She wasn’t moving at all, having straightened out her back and gone completely still. She was staring at Clara from under her wild mop of hair, and she remembered the Tessa she had left behind a few days back. Then she smiled, it was small, but it was chilling, and Clara shivered. Now, this was a Tessa she was familiar with. She held her chin up, reminding herself again that there was no reason to fear her sister just because she had an annoying sadistic side to her twisted personality.

  "Well, you don’t have to believe me. You never do, anyway, right?" the smile grew bigger, and Clara lost the battle with herself and stepped back, jumping when she bumped into the door. Tessa, of course, noticed and smiled even wider. "Do whatever you want, Clara. Don’t listen to me. You'll see soon enough. You always do."

  Clara opened her mouth to say something but found she had nothing to say. She wasn’t sure what she could say. She kept reiterating that Tessa was acting crazy, not using those exact words but the meaning wasn’t lost in the words that she did use. Instead, she looked back at her sister and tried to remember how she had dealt with her big sister before. Being away from it so long seemed to have unbalanced her, or Tessa had just gotten a lot worse than before. Clara hadn't thought that was possible because her sister was bad enough, to begin with.

  Then she opened her mouth before Clara could.

  "Did you enjoy your time in a cell, Clara?" Tessa asked snidely.

  Clara felt her face twist in irritation. No way could she stay here and let her sister mess with her. She'd been through enough crap the past week to warrant at least a bath before having to deal with Tessa. Or better yet, going back to ignoring her sister until she started acting lucid. She searched for the door handle without turning around, and left the room, listening to Tessa cackle as she rushed back down the stairs.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As Clara was leaving the house to head out for community service, Alice appeared with her kids, ready for a day of work.

  Clara froze for a moment, surprised to see the other woman back. When she had gotten back and not seen her around, and then seen the situation that had been at home, she had just assumed the nurse had stopped coming by. Clara couldn’t even blame her, with how she'd seen her sister act the previous day.

  She was relieved Alice was still willing to come over and look after her family. Clara had been worried about leaving Cooper behind alone to look after them. He hadn't explained to her exactly what he met when he got back, but that in itself told her something must have happened that had him so flustered. She hadn't pushed much on it, just gotten her much deserved bath and gone to sleep in the early evening. She'd had another quick talk with Tessa the day before, right before she went to sleep, and hopefully, her sister would behave for the day while she was out.

  "Alice! Thanks for still coming. I heard from my grandmother you had some problems with my sister. I'm sorry about her," she said sincerely.

  Back to apologizing for Tessa. One thing I didn’t miss.

  Alice just smiled and waved it away. "It's all right. I assumed, when you asked me, th
e situation was bad. I can see why you need the help, especially when you can't stay at home. Your grandmother has been lovely, just a little forgetful. I've been coming back every day since you left, but I haven't stayed a full day until your friend came back. He sent me back yesterday saying you'd be home."

  Clara wondered if Alice knew what had happened. She wasn’t sure how Tessa even knew Clara had been locked up unless Cooper had mentioned it. She couldn’t know since he hadn't told her even when she'd asked, but Clara wanted to smack herself when she found herself wondering if Tessa had predicted her getting locked up as well.

  "I really am sorry about her. I don’t know what happened when I left, but I did have a talk with her when I got back yesterday. Well, hopefully, she'll behave today. I have to go out now but Cooper should help you guys with whatever you need, okay? Ask him for the payment."

  She went to go around them so she could head for town. She was hoping the sooner she could start her job, the sooner she could be done and gets back home early for the day. She wasn’t sure how long she was supposed to be doing 'community work' for. She had been volunteering anyway, so it was just like a continuation of what she'd already been doing. How had they viewed it as a punishment?

  Her progress was slowed when Alice grabbed her arm. Clara stopped, surprised, and turned around.

  The look on Alice's face was guarded, and it had Clara straightening her back as she wondered what was wrong now. Did Alice want more food in payment? If that was all, Clara wouldn’t mind with what she had to put up with. She had a feeling that wasn’t it, though. Whatever it was, it was definitely something she wouldn’t like.

  Alice shooed her children so they moved closer to the door and away from them to give them privacy. Alice pulled Clara a bit away and faced her with a look of determination.

  "Look, I came today especially because your friend told me you'd be coming back today. I've been meaning to talk to you for some time now, though I know it hasn’t been that long. Thank you for what you've done for my family, but I don’t think I can keep this up."

  Clara's eyes widened, alarm going through her body. "Did my sister do something bad? I'm sorry, but I really—"

  "It's not that. It's just that Tessa needs more help than I can offer. I'm not qualified to deal with her… condition, and I can't keep sticking around, giving her all my attention, when I have my own children to look after. I also don’t want them exposed to her."

  How could she argue with that? She had seen herself how Tessa was yesterday. Even if she never left her room, and Clara was starting to think she must not have done so in a while, there was no way two curious children wouldn’t come across her and get scarred by the experience. Especially if Tessa acted like she had yesterday.

  Alice had to protect her children, the same way Clara had to protect her own family. It was inconvenient, but somehow, they would have to deal with it.

  "My suggestion is to send Tessa to someone more qualified to deal with her."

  Clara sighed, almost exasperated, and reminded her, "I have no idea where I would find someone like that. I came to you because I knew you and you were close by. With the current situation as it is… I don’t have any other avenues except just leaving Tessa and Viola alone, or with Cooper, and hoping nothing bad happens while I'm away."

  If there had been choices, hell, Clara could have held interviews to determine who would be best for the job, and Cooper would veto them for her. If she could find someone that didn’t have children to take care of, it would have been even better. But Alice was close, convenient, and Clara sort of knew her, even if it was only in passing. Also, Alice knew her grandmother, so she was someone Viola could be calm around. Where else was she going to find someone like that?

  Now, with Alice quitting, she was back to her original problem; looking for someone to look after her family for her, someone qualified. It would have to be someone schooled in psychiatry, not just any nurse.

  "I'll continue to work for you, but at the first sign of Tessa declining, I'll have to leave."

  Clara watched Alice's back as she walked to the door and opened it to walk in with her children. She supposed she should be grateful that Alice wasn’t going off without any notice. Now that she had the warning, though, the only thing she could do was worry, because she had no idea where to start looking for someone new.

  Then she sighed and went on her way to town. Like she didn’t have more than enough to worry about. Considering the state she found her sister in yesterday, if she didn’t improve, Alice wouldn’t be around to help them out for much longer. It was unfortunate, but there was no way Clara could control her sister, even if she could stay at home. So, she put it out of her thoughts, to think about later.

  Well, they would survive somehow, like they had before without the extra help. It would take some readjustment, and Clara could only hope her sister would be a little more docile when the strangers left the house, but she knew it was too much to hope for. Somehow, she would have to find someone else to help out or Cooper would be the one having to deal with Tessa while Clara was out doing community service. He wouldn’t complain, but Clara knew he would rather not do it because Tessa unnerved him. Not that he would ever admit to that, either.

  She stepped into the police station and looked around.

  First, she had to deal with the gun. She was carrying it concealed under her jacket, feeling a little awkward about it. The process ended up being quicker than she thought, and she was grateful to have it over with. It was one of the officers from the trial, the one that had spoken during the proceedings. She left in a hurry once it was done and looked for someone else to help her with the other matter.

  She didn’t go for the officers she had talked to before to deal with the volunteering. Instead, she looked for one of the three from yesterday so they could tell her where to go first. She thought she recognized the woman police officer and approached her.

  "Excuse me? I was asked to come here today to get news on community service?" she asked politely.

  The officer's eyes lit up in recognition, so Clara had found the right person.

  "You've been reassigned to the hospital for today. From what I hear you've been there before, so I'm sure you know the way."

  Clara nodded her agreement and the officer went back to doing her job. She walked out of the place in a daze, somehow managing not to knock into anyone on the way. She stopped outside to catch a breath.

  Of all places, she had to end up at the hospital first. Ironically, also the first place she was sent the day she went to volunteer. Back then, she had been more than ready to go. But after her experience there, just knowing she would have to go back made her stomach turn.

  She had been so naïve, thinking that as long as she had the skills she would readily help out. She hadn't even thought about the conditions she would find there and had ended up horrified. Only her will had helped her push through her time there, and even that came to nothing at the end of her hospital shift. When that woman had been brought in, so devastated and obviously suffering, crying for her kids. Then asking for death when no one could give her any news.

  The last time she had been there to look for the woman she'd injured, she hadn't really taken a proper look around. She was pretty sure it had been roomier, so some people must have been let out in the time since she had volunteered there.

  Clara knew she hated the work there, but she couldn’t refuse it. It wasn’t the same as volunteering; this was meant to be a punishment so she didn’t have the option of picking what she wanted and discarding the tasks she didn’t like. So, she took a last deep breath of fresh air, held it, and then exhaled. She made her legs move down the familiar route to get to the hospital. She was there a lot sooner than she would have liked, but she firmed her resolve and marched the remaining steps forward.

  There was someone to meet her outside when she arrived, like the first time, and she was pointed where to go lend her services.

  At least one good th
ing came of it, though. Clara was placed with Felicia again. As soon as she walked into the section, she found the other woman there, and even with the misery surrounding her, it made her feel a little better to see a familiar face. She hadn't known how she would find Felicia after the trial because she hadn't known she would be sent to the hospital. Though she wasn’t sure exactly what she had expected.

  "Hey, Felicia. I didn't get the chance before, but I wanted to thank you for your statement at the court."

  Felicia, grinning over at her, just pulled off her gloves and patted her arm. "It's no problem, you don’t have to thank me. I know you're a good kid and you just wanted to help. Even if I really suspected you of nefarious purposes, it wouldn’t have made sense for you to show up here to make sure the woman was okay. I did suspect you had done something you regretted when you came, though."

  She smiled wryly. Felicia was sharp enough to have caught it, though Clara had to admit it had been careless just showing up like that, especially as anxious as she'd been. She'd tried to put up a front but it had clearly been useless. Still, there had been no way she just wouldn’t go. At least knowing the woman would be fine had made her feel a lot better than the crushing guilt and hovering depression that hit her in the wake of what she did.

  She had to keep reminding herself she hadn't killed someone. She hadn't even managed to sleep the night of the incident because she was worried about nightmares. The closure had helped her enough that she could still sleep soundly at night.

  "And besides," Felicia added, getting another pair of gloves for herself. "Checking on her showed your character, though I was positive I had read you right already. I can tell you aren't a killer. There's nothing wrong with trying to protect yourself in a situation like that."