Page 77 of Freak Camp
“I d-d-don’t ...I d-don’t expect anything, sir.I don’t know ...I can’t ...I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”Tobias shook and dropped his head, trying to control himself, trying not to beg, because he didn’t know what he would be begging for.
The hand withdrew.The Director stepped back.“You may remove your hands from the chair.”He walked back to his desk.Tobias released the wood slowly, his fingers aching.The Director withdrew a tissue from a box on his desk and fastidiously cleaned his hand.Tobias didn’t look at him directly, but he thought he caught a hint of red.
“Put your clothing back on,” the Director said.“I have no sexual interest in monsters.But I do have a deep, practical interest in making them useful for humans, instead of the scourge they naturally are.To that end, you will report to me every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.so that you may be trained, educated, and conditioned into the kind of monster that deserves the food and air you consume.Mr.Todd will bring you next week so you know where to go, but I expect you to arrive promptly and on your own after that.Is that understood, 89UI?”
Tobias pulled his pants up and tugged his shirt down.“Y-y-yes, sir.”
The Director came back, and he was smiling.A real smile that reached his eyes.“Good.”He unlocked the padlock holding Tobias to the table and unwound the leash.“You may go now.”
Tobias left with his head down, walking past Victor and Karl without pausing to look at them.He kept his eyes on the ground all the way to the barracks.He couldn’t stop shaking, even when he was in the safety of the night air.
***
As he jerked the wheelthrough the last few turns on the winding road to Freak Camp, Jake had to acknowledge that he was acting more like a drug addict minutes from his next hit than an upstanding member of the hunting community.
But according to Roger (as well as Leon, though Jake didn’t think of that anymore), “upstanding member of the hunting community” meant Dixons and Dixon kiss-asses.At any rate, Jake’s paperwork looked as good as two crafty bastards and a desperate twenty-year-old could make it.Turned out that Roger could stretch the truth better than even Dad had.
He pulled into the FREACS parking lot, slammed the Eldorado’s door shut harder than he usually would, and pushed through the entrance.Sometimes he felt he was losing control, and other times heknewhe was losing control, but right now he badly needed a reminder of why he was doing this: cutting open his life to display it to the ASC, leaving behind the rock he’d built his life on.If he could get Toby to look him in the eye for a few seconds, if he could break the barriers between them—they seemed both more impenetrable and more brittle every time he came—the shitstorm that had become his life would fall into perspective.If he could get Toby to give him even a half smile, Jake could find solid ground under his feet again.
Yeah, seeing Toby would be some kind of hit.
His anticipation slammed headfirst into a wall at the reception desk.
“I’m sorry, Mr.Hawthorne—Jake,” Madison said, smiling at him through her lashes.“But with your withdrawal permit pending, I can’t allow you access to the facility.”
Jake blinked at her.“What?”He felt dazed and stupid, head ringing like he’d just gotten slammed by a poltergeist.
“Your monster withdrawal permit?For” —she glanced down at the computer— “permanent removal of 89UI6703 from the facility.Until that is either approved or denied, I cannot allow you access.”
They hadn’t mentioned that at Headquarters.They had just taken his information and told him they would be in contact.Leah Dixon had handled the process, and she hadn’t said one damn thing about Jake not being allowed back in fucking Freak Camp.
Jake groped for a response.“Any idea why?”
She shrugged.“It’s a security measure.The separation helps the review committee determine if the hunter’s desire to remove the monster has been influenced by any supernatural ability, like those possessed by sirens and psychics.It’s just safer if the hunter does not have access toanymonster for the period of review.We’re all susceptible.”
He hadn’t told Toby that he was doing this now.He had wanted it to be a surprise, or maybe he just wanted to be sure it would actually work before he got Toby’s hopes up.The idea of disappointing Toby hurt too much to risk.And now that indecision had made it so that Toby wouldn’t know that Jake was coming for him, wouldn’t know why he had vanished.“Do you know how long this usually takes?”
“For a permanent removal?I honestly have no idea, but my best guess is six to twelve months.”She interpreted Jake’s strangled noise as criticism and bristled.“We take containment very seriously.The background check alone can take months.Any hunter requesting to remove a monster has to be considered absolutely unimpeachable, with a record of successful hunts and no hint of mental instability or supernatural contamination.As a hunter, I’m sure you understand how hard it is to get an accurate profile.Plus, the monster’s history and psychological profile must be examined to make sure that when released, the hunter will be able to keep it under control.The committee has to determine if any additional measures—such as fang removal for a vampire or a bone harness for a shapeshifter—are needed to ensure the safety of both the hunter and the civilian population if a once-contained monster escapes its handler’s control.The process is involved and can’t be rushed.”
And no guarantee that Jake could get him out in the end.The fucking Dixon committee could always say no.Then Jake would do his best to burn Freak Camp to the ground and get Toby the hell out anyway.“Is there any way, any way at all, that I can speed it up?”
“Unless you need a specific monster to complete a time-sensitive hunt, or have a previous bait permit—neither of which I can influence, you would have to go back to Headquarters—no.”She smiled at him.“Don’t worry.You’reJake Hawthorne.I’m sure the committee is already working to grant your request as soon as possible.”
Jake didn’t know if that would be good enough.
As he stepped outside, the disappointment hit him hard as a body blow.He leaned against the wall, fighting the urge to run around the perimeter to find a place where he could climb and hurdle the wall.All he needed was a minute with Toby, a minute to look at him, to make sure he was okay, to tell him Jake would get him out of there one way or another soon enough.
Jake would infiltrate the camp any way he had to if those old puckered assholesdaredreject his application.He had nothing left to lose.If it came down to it, he wouldn’t hesitate to grab Toby, shoot his way out of FREACS, and deal with the shitstorm after that.But Toby deserved better than a life on the run with Jake and the Eldorado, crap motels, and credit card fraud, so Jake had to try to do this the legit way, through the fucking bowels of government.And that meant keeping his head on straight.He couldn’t do anything to jeopardize his permit, especially since he was damn lucky Matthew hadn’t put a black mark on his record the last time he’d lashed out inside the camp.
He felt nauseated, thinking how he could have ended all his chances, all of Toby’s hopes for survival, that day.He had to be better.He had to wait it out.And he hoped Toby wouldn’t blame him too much for how long it took.
He pushed away from the wall and looked back at Reception.Nothing of the camp interior was visible from the outside, but he couldn’t turn himself away.Hang on, Toby.Hang on.I swear on my mom’s pyre I’m coming for you.
Jake turned back to his car.
***
The next day, halfwaythrough dinner, Victor came to the mess hall, nodded to Karl and Lonny, and scanned the monster heads.
