Nirvana Effect

47



Callista reached her clinic in less time than she thought possible. She must have had her foot to the floorboard the whole trip.

She had debated risking a stop there. She’d left all her money, though, at her house. She was defenseless without a bit of cash.

Callista’s hands were shaking when she tried to open the door. It took her five times with the keys to get the door unlocked.

She stopped in the lobby. All the lights were out. She always left them on. She flipped the switch.

Chairs were out of place. The door to the supply closet was open. All these things would have been tended to by Duiyon.

She thought she heard the clinking of instruments down the hall. Her hair stood on end. She tip-toed further into the clinic, but didn’t see anybody.

She checked the exam rooms, but found nothing else out of the ordinary. Footsteps. She whirled around.

Must be my imagination.

She was nerve-wracked, this much she knew about her state of mind.

Calm down.

Callista marched to the back of the building with all the aplomb she could muster. A car was parked on the back road that she hadn’t noticed before. She scanned the whole area, up and down the empty streets. Maybe she had seen the car before.

Calm down.

She tried to unlock the basement door. It took her even longer than the front door. She put her hand on the door and breathed slowly. She tried the lock again. Still, her hands shook too much to get the key in. She cried out, then hit the door with her fist. Finally, with a steady, frustrated hand, she slid the key onto the lock and jerked it open.

The lab was situated just as she had left it. She went to the back corner of the basement, behind a particularly long work counter, and knelt down to unlock her safe. She was so angry. It seemed as though she finally had gotten what she wanted, only to have it all taken from her. She just kept thinking over and over about seeing Edward as a corpse. She gripped the safe. Edward.

She grabbed the cash and her passport.

Footsteps.

They were clear and unmistakable. Not her imagination.

She slowly rose, until she could see him over the countertop.