The Things We Bury - Part 1: In Anticipation of the End of the World [Completed]

Chapter 7: The Ring of Fire (Part 6 of 8)

The tension in the OC was heavy and seemed to blanket all sound.  There were only six of them and on the rare occasion when someone spoke, it was soft and brief.

Normally when the girl was in the wolf room, any member of the team with the time and the curiosity could come in and take a chair or lean against one of the many consoles encircling the control room.  There was an unspoken belief that with such a strange phenomenon more eyes would lead to more accurate observations.  But with the eclipse, R.J. didn't want anyone getting in the way of a rapid response to quickly changing events.

The eclipse was the new factor in the equation, and all of the tension and anticipation stemmed from it, as though the whole fucking werewolf thing had become old hat.  It was as though everyone had already gotten used to the fact that the laws of nature—never mind God and man—were being broken.  A person transforming into that horrific creature was apparently normal now and this eclipse promised that something strange might happen.

There was comfort in having Max so near while they waited for all hell to break loose.  The first time the full moon struck, Emily had to dig deep into her reserves of strength and cope with the dreadful ordeal alone—no one else was there for her.  But now, she knew she could rely on Max when things got crazy. 

Not that he was paying her the least amount of attention.  She admired the way he could shut everything off when he wanted to.  To an outside observer, it might appear that the two of them had never met by the way he acted. 

He sat there, not five feet from her, calm—bored even.  His arms folded as though he was waiting for a bus and not a display of demonic forces.  It was such a contrast to the others.

R.J. looked like he was about to go into labor.  He kept getting Aikman to run diagnostics and recalibrate the equipment every half hour.  He was so preoccupied with what might happen, she and Max could have started going at it on one of the consoles and he would never have noticed.

Horus's anxiety was turned inward.  He was absorbed with the cuticles he kept picking at.  His forehead creased as he looked down at them whenever he wasn't getting readings off the sensors.  When he finally tore one too deep, he sucked at the blood on his finger like a child.  He must have been worried about having another heart attack at the appearance of the beast.

Gracie was her usual cold bitch self.  She stared at the little girl as though she were an ant under a magnifying glass.  Every now and then she'd glance around the room.  She tried to do it casually, but Emily knew it was all about watching her.  For the last few weeks, that freak had been hovering around, always casting looks her way.  Emily had even spotted her at the grocery store near her house, while she was getting the ingredients for a dinner date.  She was trying to decide on a wine when Barbara Gracie stepped out from behind a pyramid of beer cases.

Just what she needed: some wack-job serial killer stalking her. 

At first, she felt the cold terror of being prey.  Was the evil Doctor plotting to capture her and eat her liver with some fava beans?  But Gracie would have to be both insane and stupid to go after another member of Project LARS.  The DTAA kept close tabs on all of them.  If someone turned up dead, she'd be the prime suspect.  If she needed to kill someone, she would be best to explore the vast world outside of the bunker.

Of course, one of the team had already turned up dead.  But that fucking moron Tray had been a victim of his own stupidity.  Max had explained to her how he was found OD'ed in his own apartment. 

Unless he had help.

No, Emily couldn't picture Gracie killing with a syringe.  She seemed more the scalpel and bone saw type.