The Tesla Legacy

Chapter 36

Joe had to get away from the window. Light reached across the carpet with flaming claws. They would rip him open and kill him.

Blinding pain flashed down from his head. It didn’t matter. He would feel it later. Now he had to escape. He had to escape, or he would die.

He lurched across the carpet away from the light, but something caught him. A heavy bar rested against his throat. His legs collapsed under him as he fought to get away. The bar pressed in relentlessly, choking off his air. He grabbed at it. The bar felt warm under his fingers, like skin. He tore at it, but it did not move.

Darkness replaced the pain in his head. He liked darkness better than light, but he fought it anyway. He had to get away.

A screech behind him. The sunlight’s claws withdrew. Safer, but not safe.

A man pinioned his arms to his sides. He tried to lunge toward him, but the bar against his neck wouldn’t let him move.

He recognized a face now. The man. He’d seen him before.

“It’s OK, Mr. Tesla,” said a voice in his ear. “It’s OK.”

The voice was familiar. Even the words were familiar. A woman. He knew her.

“I don’t want to choke you out, but I will.” She sounded so calm and matter-of-fact.

Vivian. Vivian Torres.

“Joseph Tesla, you calm down this instant.” His mother spoke behind him.

Vivian swung him around to face the voice.

His mother stood against a wall. She held the edge of a closed curtain in her hand. She looked pale and frightened, which was odd because his mother never looked frightened.

“It’s Vivian Torres, Mr. Tesla,” said the woman holding his throat. “I’ve got you, and everything is gonna be OK.”

Joe relaxed. The light was gone. He trusted her.

She had him in a choke hold, but she loosened it a notch when he relaxed. He could breathe again. The black around the edges of his vision went away.

His head pounded, red and insistent, and he felt sick and faint. He’d been hurt. He was in a hospital room. It was dark now, but it hadn’t been a moment ago.

A man in a white coat stood next to his mother. His mouth hung open, and his eyes were wide with surprise.

Something warm and sticky dripped down Joe’s neck. Blood. He’d hurt his head, and he’d been brought to a hospital, and he was bleeding.

He tensed again. Outside. He must have gone outside to reach this place.

“Home.” He tried to face the woman who was holding on to his neck, but she didn’t let go. They both almost fell, but the man next to her pushed them against the wall.

“Soon,” Vivian said. “I promise.”

She let go of his neck and moved her hands to his shoulders as if she expected him to fall. He might. His heart galloped in panic. He had to slow it down. He had to breathe and count.

But he couldn’t. His head hurt too much, and he was afraid of the window. He looked toward the window at the closed curtain.

Vivian turned him so that he faced her. Her brown eyes looked into his. She didn’t look frightened. She smiled at him. She had a safe smile. “It’s all going to be fine.”

“Take me home.” The words came out loud and fast, but that didn’t scare her.

“As soon as I can.” Her hands were warm against his shoulders.

“Now.” He had to make her understand. “Please.”

Sickness rose up inside him.

A flash of white in his peripheral vision. Someone was coming at him. Joe turned his head fast and was overwhelmed by dizziness. A man in a white coat had pulled something from his coat pocket. He broke it in two, and a piece fell onto the carpet. The cap. He’d uncapped something.

Joe stumbled toward the door again. He had to get away. His head hurt so much, he thought it might explode. The man in white kept coming. A sting in his arm. He reached a hand to his arm to feel it. But his hand wouldn’t listen. His legs wouldn’t listen. He threw up on the man in the white coat, pitched forward, and the world went black.