Chapter 14: Coral…?
The days turned into weeks that she spent with Wesker. Some days, he'd stay in his lab all day, and only emerge late into the night. Others, he'd sit in the living room and type away on his computer. Claire would ask small questions about his work, and more often than not, got the same answer; "Claire, you know better than to ask about my work." Then she would shrug and walk away.
The nights were somehow lonelier now that Chris was gone. She would stand on the beach for hours on end staring out over the ocean with tears in her eyes, seeing nothing. Her trance was only broken by Wesker coming out to find her, picking her up and carrying her wordlessly back into the house. Claire could tell that he wasn't happy about it, but neither did he voice a complaint.
One day, while she was wandering through the house on her way out to the beach, Wesker called to her. "Dear heart, quit wandering around listlessly."
She turned toward his voice and saw him leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed, a slight frown etched on his face. His sunglasses were nowhere to be found. Claire bowed her head and muttered an apology. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you working."
Wesker sight inaudibly. "Dear heart, come here."
Claire drifted towards him, still not looking up. She didn't really feel much of anything anymore. There was still the warmth and feeling she felt for Wesker, but it was buried deep under her grief for her brother. The brother who had abandoned her, disowned her, and then died on her. She was mutely shocked when Wesker wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. Instinctually, her arms slid around his waist and she buried her nose in his shirt, breathing deep the cologne and scent that was exquisitely Wesker.
As she stood there in his embrace, her eyes closed, she felt his lips brush against her exposed neck, making her shiver. Unconsciously, she tilted her head a little farther to give him more access to her skin. Her hands slid up his back and to his shoulders as he nosed aside the collar of her shirt. His tongue swept across her skin and she let out a small moan and shivered against him. As he kissed her neck again, his hands slid up under her shirt to circle her small waist in his large hands, his thumbs gently stroking her silken skin.
Just ask Claire was about to kiss him back, a loud beep emanated from his open laptop behind them in the living room. As solidly as he had been there, touching her and kissing her, suddenly he was gone, and was staring down at the glowing screen of the computer, a frown on his face. Had the computer eyes and any sense of self-preservation, it would have leapt of the table and scuttled out the door.
Sighing mightily, Claire straightened her shirt and hair and drifted out the door, down towards the flowers and the beach.
Wesker's fists were clenched as he read the data on the screen before him. He was supposed to have his shipment already, and it was delayed yet again, which was highly unacceptable. His fingers drummed on the arm of the chair as he forced himself to loosen his fist. This was why he hated working with underlings. They always managed to somehow forget something or misplace something of vital importance. Or completely disregard the information.
Flipping open his phone, he punched in a number and waited mere seconds for the other end to pick up. There was no greeting or introduction needed. "I need this taken care of immediately. The shipping company seems to have 'misplaced' my order and I want it now. You have two days, Miss Wong," he snapped, his temper flaring dangerously, his eyes flashing.
"Yes, Wesker. Delivered to the same place as usual, I assume?" she asked, a slight crackle of static distorted her voice.
"Of course. Two days, remember. Don't fail me," he snapped, and slammed the phone shut, tossing it on the table next to his computer.
He knew she wouldn't fail him. He paid her too handsomely for that and she relished her job. She was the best, and Wesker would have only the best. He would have his package in a day and a half and he knew it.
Claire was stripped down and wading through the water up to her knees, once again collecting pretty shells and interesting rocks on the shore. She had quite the collection, but she only kept the prettiest shell and the most interesting rock and tossed the rest back into the ocean when she was done. She put her treasures in a shallow cave at the end of the beach on a rock ledge that made a natural shelf. Eyeing them, she smiled faintly and continued up and down the beach, her eyes glued beneath the water for oddments.
She intentionally left her mind blank, trying not to think of her wretched brother or about the press of Wesker's soft lips against her skin. Both were torture in their own respects. As she swished through the water, a bright blue piece of coral caught her eye, out to the left, too deep for her to reach without dunking under the water. Wading out to where the cool water reached her waist, she dove under the waves her eyes glued on the shimmering blue coral.
It was about the size of her fist as she swam down to it. It was an iridescent blue with tiny little pockmarks like a golf ball covering its surface. Reaching out to pluck it from the ocean floor, she flinched back as something pricked her finger. A drop of blood drifted up in a tiny spiral from the tip of her finger and wafted away in the water as she reached back towards the coral cautiously.
Just as her fingers were about to contact its surface, tiny little spikes shot out of its surface, no longer than a quarter of an inch long. A sudden thought came to her mind, and she gently stroked the back of her finger down one side of it and the small coral seemed to almost shudder and its spikes slowly retracted and it lay quiet. Reaching towards it, she delicately cradled it in her hand as she swam towards the surface again.
She laid partially in the water still, the waves rolling up over her legs, backside and back as she examined the coral before her. It wasn't spongy, but rather hard like a rock. "What are you?" she murmured, running careful fingertips over its surface. It was almost completely smooth, and the pockmarks were only visible, she couldn't feel them. Before she said anything, she felt the coral become rough and sharp and small black dots appeared, but as soon as she spoke, they retreated and it became smooth again.
Stroking it thoughtfully, she let her mind wander as to what kind of coral it could possibly be. She had taken a few classes that had talked about marine biology and they had studied corals and this one looked like nothing she had ever seen. Maybe it wasn't coral after all. Maybe it was a creature of some sort. She listened closer to it with her exceptional hearing, but heard nothing but the surf crashing behind her and the birds in the trees.
"Dear heart, you look like a mermaid, lying there in the surf," Wesker said, striding down the flowered path from the house. As soon as she heard his voice, the little coral in front of her exploded with its little black spikes again. She yanked her hand back just in time to avoid getting poked again.
"I found this while I was swimming," she said, pointing at the shiny blue item in front of her, its spines still protruding dangerously. "It looks like coral, but I've never heard of coral with black spikes coming out of it. But watch this…" She stroked the back of the lump with her finger, and it shivered again, spikes receding back into itself. "I've never seen this before. It's so odd."
Wesker stared down at the shiny blueness at his bare feet. "I have no idea what it is," he said, a slight frown on his face. At his voice, the spikes once again exploded into being. "Apparently it prefers you to me. My area of expertise lies in the bio lap, not beneath the ocean."
Claire looked at it again, stroking it back to its smoothness. "It's so weird…" she trailed off.
"Indeed," Wesker said, slipping his shirt off and placing it on a rock a few feet away, out of the way of the ocean spray. "Care to join me for a swim or are you too enthralled with your new pet rock?" he asked, shedding his pants in a way that made Claire blush and pretend not to look. Stepping up on a rock, he dove gracefully into the water, but didn't resurface again.
Suddenly, Claire felt something latch onto her ankle and drag her down into the water. She panicked for a moment, till she whirled around and caught Wesker's vibrant eyes smirking at her through the bubbles. Her own green ones glared daggers. Then he was gone, swimming away from her out into the deeper water.
The deepest part of the little cove was easily twenty feet deep. It was about twelve feet deep just before the bottom sheared away to twenty feet below the surface. The entire bottom of the cove was littered with shells, coral and rock. Claire had not gone to the deepest part yet, and was still combing the shallower water for interesting objects. As she made to go back to the shallow water, Wesker grabbed her wrist and pointed at the surface, indicating he wanted her to join him at the surface.
As they broke the water, Claire used the water to push her hair back from her face. It fanned out behind her and floated around her like a fiery cloud. As she opened her mouth, Wesker spoke. "Follow me," he said, and turned, diving back under the water. Sighing slightly, Claire took a deep breath and dove down after him.
She was slightly nervous as he headed towards the deepest part, showing no intention of slowing his progress as he swam. As they went deeper, Claire was afraid that her ears would pop and she'd end up with a migraine and an ear infection. She hated deep water for that same reason before she had changed. Now, as she swam, her ears didn't pop, and she didn't get a migraine. Her ears felt a little fuzzy, but they didn't hurt.
When they reached the bottom, Claire's eyes went wide with what she saw. There was a cave. Not just a normal cave, either. The entrance was an arched doorway about seven feet tall, caved with intricate runes and designs she didn't recognize. It was beautiful in a very archaic way. There was lichen growing in the cracks and crevices of the arch, waving in the current, turning the dark grey rock slightly green.
Wesker nodded towards the opening before them, and swam through it, Claire close behind him. There were fallen rocks littering the floor that had fallen from the walls. But as she looked closer, the walls were also covered in carved designs. She saw what looked like dragons and mermaids and some creature that looked like an octopus with too many arms. The carvings were bordered with some form of writing that Claire couldn't make out in the murky water. The light from the surface was fading the farther in they went.
Just as her lungs were starting to want to breathe air again, her head broke the surface of the water. Wesker was already sitting on the ledge, his feet still in the water as he watched her swim towards him. They were in a sort of cave under the island. As Claire looked past Wesker, the far end of the cave disappeared into the gloom. Pulling herself up onto the ledge with Wesker, her eyes roamed the cavern.
The carvings were in here too; up the walls, across the ceiling, even covering the floor. Moss was hanging in long tendrils from the ceiling, dripping quietly in the dark. Claire twisted to her feet and drifted towards the wall to trace a finger over the ridges and grooves. As she walked along the wall in the near darkness, her eyes made out a familiar shape. As she got closer, she saw the shape suddenly grow spikes.
The make-shift shelf that was holding the spiky creature held eight more of them, though Claire couldn't tell what color they were. A small smile beginning to grow on her face, she reached out and stroked the back of the first one. When it shivered and became smooth again, Claire grinned, and proceeded to the next one. That one had the same reaction as the first. As she continued down the line, all but one reacted to her touch, leaving her with a slightly bloodied finger.
"Wesker, this place is amazing!" Claire said, returning to his side to dangle her feet in the water again, sucking on her injured finger. She stared at the ceiling again, trying to make out the carvings above her. In the back of her mind she wished for a flashlight or something, but was content to squint through the murk for the time being. "How did you know this place was here?"
Wesker smirked. "Believe it or not, but I do swim alone on occasion. I was merely curious as to why the ocean floor dropped off so suddenly, and this is what I found. It will give you something to do instead of moping around the house, will it not?" Claire didn't answer; she was too busy staring at the walls around her. "I take that as a yes then," he chuckled, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Well, dear heart, we must be getting back. I'm expecting a phone call and, believe it or not, I have something for you. It should help keep you busy as well."
Claire looked at him suspiciously when he stood up and dove back into the water towards the exit. She slid back into the water, her red hair closing over her head as she submerged.
Something for her, huh? That should be interesting…
Back on the beach, Claire scooped up her cute little coral with the spikes and followed Wesker into the house. The longer she held her coral, the more she realized it was very subtly vibrating. Cocking an eyebrow at it, she set it on the bed as she rummaged through the closet for a dress to pull over her head. Having a girly moment, she twirled around, her skirt flaring out almost perfectly perpendicular to the floor. She cradled the blue coral in her hands as she made her way back down the stairs to meet Wesker.
"Why are you carrying that stupid piece of coral around with you?" Wesker asked as she strode into the room.
The spikes on her coral burst out again at Wesker's voice, and Claire frowned at him. "Because, Mister-I-know-everything, I think its alive. I don't think it's coral. I plan on studying it. Besides, it's cute, in a very rock-ish sort of way, don't you think?" She stroked the back of it, making its spikes retract once again.
Wesker gave her a very odd look. "Dear heart, rocks are not, as you say, cute, in anyway. They're rocks, compressed dirt and minerals. Besides, I thought it was coral?"
She absently stroked the back of it with her fingertips, giving him a dirty look. "I don't know what it is. But I plan on finding out. There were more of them in the cave back there. All but one of them calmed down once I stroked them. I want to go back and study them some time." She sat down in the chair opposite of him, settling the creature-thing in her lap, where it vibrated gently. "Here," she said. "Feel this; it's vibrating." She took his hand in hers and gently placed it on top of its smooth blue back.
Wesker cocked an eyebrow at it, then snatched his hand back as the spikes slowly protruded, a very faint growl coming from the creature. "Well, I sincerely doubt that this is coral now. What type of coral has barbs and growls?" he said, sitting back down with his laptop securely in his lap. "Regardless, I didn't ask you to come in just to discuss your pet rock. As I said, I have something for you that will help cure your aimless wandering and your boredom." He pushed a nondescript box she hadn't noticed towards her with his toe, a smirk on his lips.
Setting her pet on the glass table between them, she knelt down on the floor, curiosity racing through her. What would Wesker possibly get her? A thousand thoughts raced through her head as she slit the tape holding the box closed and rummaged through the packaging. Her fingertips touched smooth, satiny plastic. She was pleasantly surprised when she pulled out a shiny blue laptop. Just by looking at it, she could tell it was expensive, and knowing Wesker, it was top of the line, the best anyone could offer. She could almost guarantee he had added his own little perks as well.
Smiling brilliantly, she set her laptop next to her pet rock, and wiggled herself into his lap between him and his own laptop. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, kissing his cheek and smiling broadly, her emerald eyes shining. "I'm going to use this and research that cave under the beach! Thank you so much!"
She kissed his cheek again but this time he turned his head and she met his soft lips instead. His hand slid up to cup the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair as he pressed his lips to hers. His other hand slid his computer down off his lap, and pulled Claire tighter against his body as his tongue flicked against her lips, then slid seductively against her own when she granted him access. Her arms slowly came around his neck as Wesker thoroughly kissed her.
"You're welcome, dear heart," he murmured, kissing her throat. The computer was something to keep her distracted, as well as kissing her into a haze.
Wesker won this go-round.