Collapse

By Robert B. Hazelton

Disclaimer: The characters within are used without permission for the sheer non profit enjoyment of fans of the Gabriel Knight genre.

Chapter 3

Moments pass. Become hours flow into days. Amass a year. No matter how much time passes, waiting is eternity. Pacing silently on a tiled floor in the lobby of a dimly lit hospital, Gabriel Knight pondered these things to occupy his thoughts with something other than worry. Casting a weary glance at the clock yielded nothing more than frustration. Thirty minutes since they had arrived. Some forty minutes since Claudia woke up in her kitchen screaming about non-existent blood and hysterically crying over the child that she was convinced she had killed.

The quandary existed in what may be wrong with her. Perhaps the supernatural explanation that he had envisioned was jumping to conclusions. Perhaps it was as simple as a mental breakdown. It sounded like she had been working pretty hard. What if she just needed a vacation? Maybe a couple of sessions with a good counselor?

Such a theory was sound if you eliminated her knowledge of him as a Shattenjager. There had to be more to the situation. If she was simply sleepwalking, why the fever? He forced himself to sit on a solid bench, leaning his elbows on his knees in contemplation.

"Mr. Knight?" An official voice drew him from his reverie and he pulled himself to his feet. An older man garbed in a white jacket stood before him, his drawn face unrevealing, hands planted in his coat's pockets.

"Yes?" Gabriel folded his arms impatiently.

"Miss Philips is resting quietly." He pulled up his right and frowned down at a gold watch. "She should be ready to go home any time."

"Go home?" Gabriel sounded confused. "What about the fever?"

The doctor shook his head. "There's nothing the matter with her, Mr. Knight."

Gabriel nodded with a sigh. "Can I see her now?"

"Certainly. When she wakes up, she can go home." The doctor turned and walked to the reception desk. "She's just down the hall there, second door on the right."

Gabriel followed his directions, more confused and irritated than before. There was something more to all this than her losing her mind. Perhaps a breakdown was playing some role in the situation but it had to have been induced. His initial thought, the assumption of a vampire seemed ridiculous now. What was next?

He pushed open the door and walked in, sliding over to the bed quietly to regard Claudia. Her brow was creased, lips tightly drawn into a thin line and she was trembling slightly... as if she were struggling. He could see the muscles in her jaws tensing and relaxing, her heart rate was alarmingly fast. He wondered what was normal about this state as he reached down and gently shook her on the shoulder.

Gabriel sat at the dining room table, sipping a mug of coffee as he scanned over the morning paper. They had arrived back at the house around six thirty in the morning, both taking a long nap until just after noon. Gabriel had been up first, made the coffee and collected the paper before waking up Claudia who immediately went about taking a shower.

He stretched in his chair and grabbed the phone, dialing St George's back home. "St George's Books." He heard the familiar voice answer.

"Hi Gracie, it's me." He sounded glum though he was too preoccupied to notice. "Did you get the information?"

"I did. What's up? Have you learned anything?"

"The puzzle just keeps growing, Grace. Things have changed from unsure to obscure."

"Details Gabriel?" He rolled his eyes at the sarcasm in her voice.

"I was thinking that she might just need to slow down with the work flow, get some rest? Last night she did a lap around the block in her sleep, came back and collapsed in the kitchen screaming about blood being all over her. But two things keep me from thinking that she's just having a breakdown. One being that she was burning up with a fever when she woke up and the second..." He paused and pursed his lips. "She knew that I was a Shattenjager."

"Oh?" Grace asked, interest creeping into her tone. "How?"

"I don't know. Neither does she, or so she claims."

"And you have a theory?"

"Only that there is something at work here beyond her mental state. Something causing her to feel this way... something that informed her of what I was and used her to draw me here."

"But I don't understand what the point would be."

"I figure that a Shattenjager would have countless enemies... Most probably made without our knowledge." Gabriel sipped the coffee and sneered at how cold it was.

"True enough." Grace replied. "So you need to figure out what has decided to use her, why it did so and what it wants with you. Perhaps with any of that information, we might be able to cross reference some info with SIDNEY and come up with some record of a past occurrence."

Gabriel inhaled deeply. "I suppose that I'll interrogate Claudia further, try and figure out what she's been up to that might've drawn attention to her."

"Good idea." Grace shifted the phone. "Give me your number there and I'll give you a call if I find anything. I'll scan SIDNEY with what we've got and maybe we'll get lucky."

Claudia leaned against the wall near the end of the hall, smiling to herself. Perhaps he wasn't as good as it was said...

Direction and purpose, method with cause. A myriad of thoughts and emotions stand in the way of resolution and traumatize one to a state of hesitation. Perhaps that's what stops one from making a decision based on instinct-- A dilemma facing Gabriel as he gazed into the sunken, tired eyes of his friend and one time lover Claudia. They sat in silence, the ticking of an antique clock echoed in the tiny kitchen-- the only semblance that reality was still moving despite the two figures languishing in a forever present.

"Claudia," Gabriel cleared his throat as soon as he spoke. "Claudia, I need to know what's going on. I don't think you've told me everything."

"I've told you everything, Gabriel. There's nothing left to say." She leaned on the table, her eyes flaming to something completely unfamiliar to her normally placid face. "Now perhaps you can tell me what the hell's wrong and why you are so incompetent that you need to continuously badger me!"

Gabriel blinked-- opened his mouth to respond but found himself speechless. "Claudia..." He managed but was cut short as she jumped to her feet, her chair slamming against the wall behind her noisily. A scream crept from the bowels of her soul, ripping through her throat unnaturally-- A hoarse cry that went beyond pain.

Gabriel hurried to her side as she collapsed on the table, hyperventilating, her body was a rigid brick of tension as he took her into his arms and lowered her to the floor. "Gabriel..." She spoke softly, her words coming as gasps as opposed to tonal vibrations. "Get out... get out now! I... can't fight this..." All at once her breathing became rhythmic and calm, her body relaxing into unconsciousness.

Gabriel gently lifted her and bore her limp form to the couch, positioning her arms across her chest. He placed his hand on her head and frowned at how cold she was. Whatever ailed her was wreaking havoc on her body. More troubling was the proof of what he had theorized with something influencing her-- only much more direct than he had guessed. Seemed to be some form of possession.

He rose to his feet and turned away but before he could complete one step, he felt a sharp pain erupt in the back of his neck, the sensation almost immediately numbed. Lethargy overtook his entire body... arms seemed to move in slow motion, legs cramped painfully, finally ceasing to support his weight. When he hit the hard wood floor, he was aware of the impact but there was no pain. Consciousness finally escaped. Time blurs with vision... Eternity in waiting. Strange the last thoughts that float through one's mind...