by Amy Cross
***
Creeping up the stairs, Kate felt like an intruder. She'd finished her drink a while ago, but she'd stayed by the window until finally realizing that it was close to midnight. Now she was making her way through the quiet mansion, heading to her room but stopping every now and again to admire the huge oil paintings that adorned almost every wall. These were members of the Le Compte family, staring down at those who now inhabited their home, and Kate wasn't quite sure whether she found them creepy or fascinating. A little of both, she figured.
When she reached the landing, she turned left and made her way toward the door at the far end. It was only when she was about to turn the handle, however, that she realized she'd made a wrong turn. She looked back over her shoulder and realized that she should have turned right at the top of the stairs. The mansion was large and it would be easy to get lost in its labyrinthine corridors, so she headed back the way she'd come, hoping that she'd be able to find her room and that she wouldn't have to look like an idiot by searching for Jacob and asking for his help.
Hearing a noise nearby, she stopped suddenly. After a moment, she realized that soft moans were coming from the other side of one of the doors, and a second later it became apparent that she was hearing Edgar and Didi making love. She paused, listening to the sound of Didi groaning slowly with pleasure, and it was clear that despite the argument earlier, the pair of them had now made up. Their relationship was clearly passionate.
Although she wanted to turn and go to her room, Kate felt rooted to the spot, as if she couldn't move at all. She listened as Didi's moans became faster and even more intense, and it was clear that she was being brought to orgasm. Again, Kate tried to turn and walk away, but her body remained frozen, barely able to move at all. It was almost like the time in the dream, when Edgar's touch had seemed to paralyze her, yet this time she knew for certain that she was wide awake.
And then, somehow, Didi's moans changed, filling with anguish as if she was in pain. At first, Kate told herself that she was imagining it, but after a few more seconds she realized that it definitely sounded as if the girl was in agony. Whatever was happening in that room, Didi was now gasping, and her howls occasionally came to close to vocalized attempts to beg Edgar for mercy. It was almost shocking to hear what was happening, and again Kate made a futile attempt to turn and walk away.
“Please,” she whispered, her voice weak and fragile, as if it might shatter. “Please, Edgar...”
Finally, after a few minutes, Didi let out a sustained cry that seemed to be part pleasure and part pain, and after that the mansion returned to silence again for a few seconds before Didi's sobs became loud enough to be heard.
Realizing that she had already heard far too much, Kate was finally able to turn and hurry back to her room.
IV
“It's a deep bite,” Doctor Burns said as he examined the wound on Alice's wrist. “Looks to have gone all the way through to the bone.”
“It really doesn't hurt that much,” Alice said with a flustered smile, as she looked first at the doctor and then at Ephram. “Please, I must get home. Mother's going to be wondering why it's taken me so long just to get some baking powder.”
“I need to clean it first,” the doctor replied. “Rats can harbor all sorts of diseases, and I don't want to take any risks here. Just hold tight for a moment while I fetch some antiseptic.”
“But -”
“Can it,” he added with a smile. “This is my surgery, so I'm in charge.”
As Doctor Burns made his way to the other side of his office, Ephram stared down at the gash on Alice's arm, through which it was just about possible to make out a sliver of bone. Shuddering at the thought that those damn rats were now brave enough to attack humans, Ephram couldn't help thinking back to the sight of that large black boat that had docked several times over the past few months; he was absolutely certain that the rats, and any diseases they brought with them, had used Edgar Le Compte's boat in order to get to the island. After all, there was no other way it could have happened.
“It was just a silly accident,” Alice said after a moment, her voice soft as she tried to reassure him. “It's not your fault, you know.”
“I've tried keeping them out of the shop,” he replied. “Nothing works. They killed most of my chickens, and now it seems they're turning on the customers.”
“They're in our yard as well,” Alice continued. “Father has been trying to poison them, but it's not working. Everyone is struggling to cope with them. I saw Theo Merrago pouring a bucket of rats into the harbor yesterday morning, and apparently there are scores of them down in the cellar at the cantina.”
“Something needs to be done,” Ephram muttered, lost in thought for a moment. “Edgar Le Compte should be made to pay for a full clean-up. He's got enough money to scrub this island clean, but instead he brings those rodents here and then sits up there in his mansion laughing at the rest of us. He won't be laughing forever, though. One day, when the rats have finished us all off and picked our bones clean, they'll start climbing that hill and then they'll flood through his door. Perhaps then, finally, he'll come to understand the horror he has brought to Thaxos. He'll probably just laugh, though. Men like Le Compte, they're twisted in the head.”
“Here,” Doctor Burns said as he sat next to Alice and unscrewed the lid of a tube. “It'll sting, but the wound has to be cleaned.” He squeezed some clear gel into the cut, and Alice immediately winced. “Brave girl,” the doctor added. “Trust me, this is better than leaving it untreated and risking an infection.”
A few minutes later, while Alice sat patiently and waited for the gel to do its work, Ephram joined Doctor Cole in the yard at the back of the surgery. As the doctor lit a cigarette, Ephram couldn't help but glance at the mansion high up on the hill, and he felt his blood curdle at the thought of Edgar Le Compte living such a grand life while the rest of the island suffered. While he was convinced that the rats would eventually go up the hill, he was in no mood to wait for nature to take its course, and he was starting to think that some other approach would be required in order to rid the island of this new curse.
“This is the third rat bite I've treated in a week,” Doctor Burns said eventually, between puffs on his cigarette. “I've had to send for more supplies. Sooner or later, someone's going to get sick.”
“The whole situation is only going to get worse,” Ephram muttered darkly, keeping his eyes on the mansion.
“Some of the men in the cantina want to get together and use poison to get rid of the damn things,” Doctor Burns continued, “but I told them that under no circumstances are they to go down that path. The last thing we need is a bunch of idiots spreading poison all over the island. I guarantee you, we'd end up with more dead townsfolk than dead rats.”
“But something must be done,” Ephram continued. “People are starting to panic.”
“Rats are rats,” the doctor replied. “We've been blessed up until now to be free of them, but perhaps we must just accept that the blessing is over. If we mend our ways and take more care of our homes, the rats won't thrive and eventually they'll die down to more manageable levels.”
“So that's your answer? Just accept what has happened?”
“I know a Sysiphean task when I see one, Ephram. There are probably already more rats than humans on Thaxos, just in these three months alone. We'll never get rid of them, no matter what we try.”
Instead of replying, Ephram merely continued to stare up at the mansion. He knew that the doctor was right, and this only increased his desire to see Edgar Le Compte pay for what he had done. Still, he knew enough of the world to understand that the rich never had to face the consequences of their actions, while he and the other townsfolk would just be left to deal with the rats as best they could. He hated to see the island in such a state, but there seemed to be no alternatives.
“I don't like that look in your eyes,” Doctor Burns said eventually. “Do I need to worry?”
&n
bsp; “No,” Ephram replied, trying to stay calm. “Of course not. Edgar Le Compte is going to treat this island as if it's his own private plaything, and there's nothing we can do to stop him. He's going to repeat all the horrors of his grandfather.”