Page 147 of Rage

But he said we had to use fresher parts, or the experiment would be tainted. He wanted to kill the poor and transplant their organs. When I refused, he decided my research should be in his hands. He threatened to call the police if I didn’t agree.

He was going to put me behind bars and continue on in a much more heinous way. Even if we parted ways without the police—agreed to disagree—he was going to murder men on the street with the research I’d put in his hands.

Telling him what I was working on and providing him with all my research was the biggest mistake of my life.

I corrected my mistake.

In the corner of the boathouse, deep in the shadows, Professor Bram’s phantom mouths “help” to me over and over. I frantically rush to get the coal burning in the boat’s steam engine.

“Leave me alone,” I hiss in fear. He moves closer, the sound of his shoes scraping across the wooden planks as smoke plumes up from the chimney and into my lungs.

I cough as I watch Professor Bram come closer, reaching out for the boat. I fall over, gasping before scrambling for the rope and unmooring the boat. I kick off the boathouse deck as hard as I can, but my eyes never leave his as I drift out of the building and into the bay. They shine strangely as his mouth keeps moving.

I think I might be going insane.

Chapter Five

Samantha

It’s disconcerting being on the water at night. Even though the campus buildings aren’t far, I feel completely detached from the world I know while out on the black waters. The eeriness of the bay isn’t helped by the deafening sounds of the engine. The steam hisses while the metal mechanics chug and churn. It’s loud compared to the lapping waves and whatever else might be lurking out here.

Sometimes, I imagine great, looming beasts as I stare into the darkness. Then, my mind begins to fill in the idea by showing me shapes in the water. Tonight, I look straight ahead. I don’t want to see any more imagined nightmares today.

Lightning flashes, and the silhouette of the lighthouse emerges from the gloom. I slide across the port side and blindly find the oil lamp. Once it’s lit, I open the lantern fully and watch it cast a dim yellow light on the water in front of me. If I hadn’t been here a thousand times, I could easily hit one of the jutting rocks surrounding the little island instead of the weathered dock.

The lighthouse welcomed coming boats to the university long ago. Apparently, far too many of them crashed in the bay, so they began detouring to the larger dock in town. Instead of wastingthe building, they had turned it into an observatory. The lens room had been gutted, the roof altered to open directly to the sky, which had been convenient for me and my experiments.

Currently, the observation deck is filled with telescopes of all shapes and sizes, all collecting dust. There was nothing in the library on why they abandoned it a hundred years ago, and I tried not to think about it as I spent many hours alone in the place, hearing creaks and whispers. Perhaps the idea of ghosts had soaked into my mind despite my attempts to suppress them. That might explain why I’m seeing one now.

As the boat quietly hums across the bay, slicing through fog, I feel as if I’m traveling to a different world entirely, one where my giant monsters exist and my creation lives. It feels odd that only a few sea miles separate Casper and the university.

The boat slowly approaches the dilapidated pier, and I turn off the engine and look up at the lighthouse. There aren’t any lights on inside. This was the longest I’ve been away. The storm kept me, but so did Casper.

When I woke him up that night, he looked terrified of me. He grabbed his throat, and I saw his mouth try to move behind its tight stitching. I saw my ghost come to life.

Had Casper seen something? A distant memory in his head?

After docking, I swallow and walk up the rocky path to the lighthouse. My fingers fiddle with the keys, but when I get to the door, the lock is broken and on the ground. For a moment, I stay standing outside. Thoughts spin in my head, likely and unlikely scenarios. One sticks out and causes me cold dread. Could someone have come here while I was away?

Quickly, I burst into the room.

“Casper!” I call out. The room is swamped in darkness—there are clouds in the sky blocking the moon and none of the candles have been lit. Casper never lights them. He doesn’t like fire so close to his hand.

“Casper!” I listen for noise or movement. “Are you asleep?” I call out, moving further into the room. My shin hits a chair, and I hiss. Outside, I can hear the boat softly knocking against the pier in a chaotic rhythm. The hiss and hush of waves come from the open door behind me. The bay is picking up energy. A new storm is coming. I can’t stay here long, or I’ll be trapped. Fall brings such terrible weather to the bay.

My heart beats faster as I hear no response. Something has happened. Someone came and saw him, or maybe he stumbled outside and drowned in the water surrounding this place.

I’m panicking as I try shuffling deeper in. I knock over a stool and reach out for a table. A glass beaker tips from the table and stainless steel pieces fall to the ground. The grating noises stop me in my tracks. I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. My heart is still beating so fast in my chest, I can feel it fluttering in the back of my throat.

Suddenly, the sensation of being watched hits me. The hairs on my neck and arms rise—gooseflesh suddenly sprouting like weeds. Someone is in here.

“Casper?” I ask quietly. Moonlight spills through the window, and I gasp as a huge shape is outlined by it. Then, I breathe out, relieved.

“There you are,” I sigh, shuffling forward. The images of him drowned in the bay vanish, and my stomach untwists itself.

Casper isn’t moving except for the way living things do compared to corpses—the subtle expansion of breathing, the swaying of maintaining balance.

“Let me turn on a light.” I orient myself in the room, finding a candle and sulfur matches. When I strike the box, the flame hisses alive. I lift the lit candle up and turn to him.

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