A Taste of Spring

PROLOGUE
Clara Warner picked up her towel and water bottle. She walked toward the door with a smile on her face as she waved goodbye
to the women in her spin class. She hadn't connected with any of them to the point of calling them friends just yet, but she had
hope, and they all seemed nice enough.
"See you Thursday, Clara!"
Clara turned her head to see who said her name. It was Sarah. Clara's smile spread wider as she offered the woman a personal
wave. "See you, Sarah!"
There was an extra bounce in Clara's steps as she walked toward her car. The early morning breeze felt nice, she was losing her
freshman "twenty", and her attempt to join the living was working. She was kicking anxiety's ass.
"One day at a time," she sang as she stepped up to her vehicle in the virtually empty parking lot. She parked the furthest from
the gym in the strip mall to add more steps to her fitness step counter.
"Excuse me. Clara?"
(What a deep sexy voice.) Clara spun around to see who was talking to her, but before she was able to see a face, she was
grabbed from behind, and something soft was pressed over her mouth and nose. Her attacker quickly pulled her close and
wrapped her in an embrace that squeezed her arms close to her body and kept the covering on her nose and mouth.
A strong chemical smell permeated her nose, and she could taste it on her tongue. Clara couldn't move her face away from it.
She couldn't move at all.
She tried to open her mouth to scream; she tried to fight, but it was no use. She was held too tightly, and every breath she
managed to take carried the chemical into her body. But still, she tried.
As Clara's eyes grew heavy and her thoughts drifted, she faintly remembered that she needed to get away. She had a test
tomorrow?