MORIANI HOME, CELLAR
Ryan's voice brings Claire back to
reality, and a wave of anger surges through her. She shoves Ryan away from
her forcefully. "Stop punishing you for this? Has it even occurred
to you that I'm the one who's still suffering? Not only do I have to live
with those memories for the rest of my life, but then you show up in King's
Bay wanting to be friends again and I'm forced to relive the whole thing
even more than I already do!"
"You're the one who's been chasing
after me," he spits. "For weeks you've been hunting around, sniffing for
clues--"
"Only because I want to get you out
of my life, this time for good! Don't you even try to turn this around
on me!"
"I don't have to. 'Cause it's true,
Claire, you know it as well as I do. There's something inside of you that
just won't let you stay away from me."
The words tear through Claire's insides,
but she remains focused on that crazed twinkle in his eye. He's close to
the edge, that much is clear to her.
"I just want this to be over with!"
she shouts, shoving him again with all her might. "I want to forget about
you and I want to forget about everything that happened--"
"I think it's a little late for that,
don't you?" he fires back.
"If it is, it's your fault!"
"That is such bull! You have become
so obsessed with this little witchhunt that you can't even recognize the
truth anymore!"
"Oh, that's rich -- you lecturing
me about truth."
She can tell that she has struck
a nerve. Unable to respond, Ryan grits his teeth. Tension seems to be building
inside of his head and finally, when it becomes almost unbearable, he clutches
his head between his hands.
"Shut up!" he screams.
Claire is silent. The display is
unsettling, a reminder of how volatile he can be, and her mind again flips
to the terrifying scene that played out so many years ago in a Chicago
living room.
"This is all his fault!" Ryan wails
angrily. He turns his back to her and covers his face with his hands. "He
did this! He screwed everything up so badly!" His body is shaking, she
can see.
"What? Who?" she asks in frantic
confusion, trying to sort out what is happening. She is certain that she
heard his voice being broken up by tears, and her hunch is confirmed when
he swings back around.
His face is streaked with the trails
of fallen tears. "Do you really not remember? Don't you get it? It was
him, it wasn't me!"
"What?"
"I didn't rape you!"
One .
Two .
Three .
Four .
Five .
Six .
Seven .
Eight
Main Page .
Current Episode .
Episode Archives .
Story Recap .
Characters .
Making Prints .
Interact .
Around King's Bay .
Links
