by David James
‘We need to get out,’ said Ben urgently.
'The children,' said Sarah immediately.
They both ran to the first room, knocked, realised that was wasting time, and burst into the room and put the lights on.
Nathan was sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed. Ben could smell the smoke in the room and he noticed that the window was open. Nathan turned to look at them and Sarah rushed forward and started to cradle his head. To Ben he seemed eerily calm.
‘I’ll get Emily,’ said Ben, slightly relieved to leave Nathan’s room.
He opened the bedroom door and jumped as the figure of Emily was standing there in front of him. The only light in the room was permeating from the hallway and the flickering light from outside, and it had the effect of making Emily look unlike he had seen her before. Gone was the happy countenance, replaced by an almost demonic look.
‘Emily, we need to get out,’ he said.
Emily looked at him and he felt himself almost shrivel inside. He felt unable to move without her allowing him to. Mercifully, she took her eyes off him for a second as she started to walk out of the room.
They ran down the stairs and out of the front door. The shock of the light hit them followed by the heat from the fire. They started to look around for something to put the fire out before it fully took hold.
To the side of the house Ben could see there was some gardening equipment. He had paid it little attention before, he hadn't intended to be here long enough to worry about the garden, but he thought there must be something of some use there. As he walked across the front of the house, the heat from the flames making the side of his face hot, he banged into something metallic. Just as he was about to curse his luck and kick out at whatever it was, he looked down and noticed what it was.
'Sarah, see if you can find the tap,' said Ben as he dragged the hose across to the front of the house.
Ben pointed the end of the hose and waited.
The flames were beginning to lick upwards and now almost reached the first floor.
He stood there, pointing the hose hopefully at the fire. He could feel the heat from the flames now and he looked around for something else to put the fire out. He was about to despair when he felt the hose buck slightly and this was followed by a gush of water that almost caused him to drop it on the floor.
Moments later he regained control of the hose and pointed it at the flames. The flames greedily absorbed the water but eventually they began to die down and as they did so it became darker as the light from the flames slowly died.
And then all was silent except for the sound of the cooling timbers of the house.
Chapter Seventy
They made their way back into the house. Sarah sat down in the chair in the front room, the children stood either side of her. To Ben they looked like prison guards.
As Ben sat down opposite, he was formulating what he was going to say. But before he could start to speak Sarah began to speak.
‘Now you see what we are up against Ben. They won’t leave us alone. The children have told me that they started the fire.’
She said it in such a cold tone that Ben was taken aback.
He was about to ask her who ‘they’ referred to, but after Sarah telling him about continuing the experiment, he thought he could guess.
‘We have come to a decision Ben. We think it would be better if you stayed in one of the other houses, if you want to stay here that is.’
Sarah said it in such a manner that it was almost as if she wasn’t the one speaking.
He looked in her eyes, but she seemed almost to be in a daze.
Now was the time for Ben to make his decision. Stay or go. She had given him the ideal opportunity to just leave this place, go back to reality. And even if he was allowed to stay, he would be separate from Sarah.
He hesitated.
He was tired and smelt of smoke. The thought of a warm bath and a dose of normality began to appeal. But before he could paint too much of the picture he forced himself to say ‘If you think that is best.’
‘We do,’ said Sarah.
Ben looked at Nathan’s expression, he thought he caught a slight flicker of a smile.
‘Then I’m sure I can move into one of the other houses.’
Sarah’s expression didn’t waver, but Ben thought he could detect a look of relief in her eyes.
‘I can help you if you like,’ she said.
Ben picked up his meagre belongings and Sarah followed him out of the house. As they left Ben looked over his shoulder at his now former residence, just in time to see Nathan’s face appear at the window.
They arrived at the next house and Ben pushed the door open and walked into the front room.
‘At least it won’t take me long to settle in, what with it being identical to the last house,’ said Ben.
He noticed that Sarah’s mood had lifted slightly away from the children and she had the makings of a smile as she said ‘Shouldn’t take too long to unpack either’ as she looked at the small pile of things they had moved.
‘I do appreciate you doing this,’ said Sarah quietly.
‘If you think it might help,’ replied Ben.
Sarah nodded thoughtfully.
And now Ben had to seize the chance to ask her the questions he really wanted to, before she was back under the influence of the children.
‘What do you think happened back at the house just now Sarah?’
Sarah said in a low voice 'They say that it was the monsters that lit the fires.'
There was so much in this statement that Ben didn’t know where to start, but it had confirmed something that he had suspected.
‘So the children talk to you then?’
‘Oh yes, thanks to my father.’
Ben must have looked puzzled as she felt compelled to explain.
‘They trust me you see. He used to talk about me to them. Of course,’ said Sarah, ‘it’s just that when it all got, difficult, for them here they learnt to just communicate between themselves, sometimes with little written notes. They stopped talking to the people here. It was safer. And they couldn’t listen in on them.’
Ben wondered if they meant the staff or the monsters.
Sarah’s expression suddenly changed and she almost looked panicked. ‘I really must be going now Ben, I’ve been away for too long.’ She turned to start to leave. It was almost as if she was being called back by the children.
Ben had one last chance to talk to her.
As she reached the door and started to open it he grabbed her arm and said ‘What are you going to do now?’
She turned to face him and her expression was cold and almost menacing.
'We all have monsters Ben. They all need to be defeated.'
Chapter Seventy One
The door shut behind Sarah, and Ben was left alone with his thoughts.
It had all been almost too much to take in. The thought that the children had in effect been manipulating Sarah all along didn’t sit well with him. And he realised that their manipulation was unlikely to stop. Especially as they now had Sarah all to themselves; something he now presumed they had wanted all along. He had a feeling of dread as he wondered what they would be persuading her to do next.
But then he thought of Sarah’s expression. She didn’t look unwilling and that was a difficult thought for him to bear. What if he was the odd one out here? What if they were happy here and it was just him who was the strange one? That was an even more uncomfortable thought. Maybe he should try harder to fit in here?
He decided to take his mind off his own thoughts and made his way upstairs to unpack his things. As he put his few things away, he again wondered how much longer he would be here.
But he knew what was hurting him most was that he now felt out of the loop. Excluded from his own story. And he realised that since Sarah wouldn’t or couldn’t share any information with him now, he would have to find his own. It was after all his job before he came here. And
the logical place to start would be the manager’s office. It was where Sarah had found her father’s journals after all. And she had clearly been keen to exclude him from there. Maybe there was something else in there for him to find, and now there was no Sarah to stop him looking.
He went downstairs and emerged into the village with renewed purpose.
The village seemed its usual peaceful self, basking in its own delusional state.
As he clambered through the window and into the computer room, it looked to be the same as when he had left it before. The quiet hum of the computers was the only sound.
He quickly retraced his steps upstairs and towards the manager's room. At each door he paused, looked around and opened the door slowly. But each time it was all quiet. As he approached the door of the manager's office he was relatively relaxed, or as close as he could get in this place.
He paused.
What if Sarah was in there already? And worse, what if she was there with the children?
He pushed slowly at the door.
The room was mercifully empty. He wasn’t sure how he could have explained to her what he was doing here. Here where she clearly felt closer to her father’s memory. He almost felt as if he was trespassing on her private grief as he entered the room.
But he had his job to do.
He sat down at the desk that Sarah had found the journal in and looked at the desk.
It seemed strange to sit here in the light; no need for torches.
He proceeded to rummage through all the draws. But Sarah seemed to have done a thorough job of locating any documents. Slightly exasperated he looked around the rest of the room. It seemed a lot bigger than before and there seemed to be other cabinets around as well. Sarah had seemed to be drawn to the desk, but Ben stood up and started to open the other draws around the office.
And then he found the locked one.
He liked locked draws.
People didn't just lock drawers and then put the remains of their lunch or any other trivia in there. They locked it for a reason. But if they did, they shouldn’t leave around sturdy looking paper knives if there was a journalist in the room.
He jammed the knife into the lock and with sheer brute force the draw gave up its contents.
He was rather disappointed that there seemed to be very little of interest in there. More documents that were impenetrable to him. He picked the pile up and the papers slid over the floor. He began to tidy them up, feeling slightly guilty for some reason, and there hidden amongst the papers was a small innocuous looking notebook.
Whoever had put it here certainly didn't want anyone to easily find it.
He sat back in the chair behind the desk and opened it. Slightly to his surprise it was hand written.
This is not the sort of thing that I normally do. But for the sake of completeness I will continue the policy that was started by the previous director. I am sure you know the unfortunate circumstances in which I have felt it necessary to take charge.
It would appear that the delay in me taking over was damaging. I arrived to find very little discipline amongst the staff. The whole place appears to be on the verge of total chaos. I will attempt to instil some order.
The next page or so seemed to be pretty much gobbledegook to Ben, full of psychological terms that he didn't understand. He guessed it was written for someone other than him. Whoever wrote it seemed to be attempting to carry out a total reorganisation of the place. It seemed to be quite a time before they made their next entry.
Eventually he settled on some language that he did understand. But he almost wished that he hadn't.
The children all got up at the same time as normal. The staff got up as well and began to start the day.
One of the operatives as he had watched the children on the monitors said he thought the children were 'plotting something'. I'm afraid that is an example of the type of language in use here now. I know it is very unprofessional.
I didn't take him particularly seriously. Which was a mistake.
First the children barricaded several members of staff inside one of the buildings. Then they started going from building to building trying to find the monsters that were so foolishly created here. I wonder what was going through the minds of my colleagues when they came up with that idea.
The children systematically went through all the buildings. As far as I currently know there are no serious injuries. But what worries me is that knowing the children's background, how they ended up here in the first place, I'm not sure how long that will last.
We are still able to observe the children. They seem to be roaming around the village, perhaps enjoying their new found freedom. I am not sure how long they will continue to feel restrained by the boundaries of the village. They rather resemble caged animals at the moment who suddenly find the cage door opened. But they are reluctant to go beyond the boundaries that were set for them.
I have attempted to restore order and increase the security. But I am finding the response of the staff here problematical. It seems that they have been here in this unusual environment too long. They seem to have lost all sense of reality.
I can now report that the children are now all accounted for and back in their houses. An uneasy peace seems to have been restored. But it is clear that there is a serious problem here. And it would appear to be of our own making. No matter how well intentioned it might have been at the start.
My main worry is what will we do with the children now? Have we unwittingly made them worse?
This will be my last entry. I will need to devote all my time to restoring some order to this place.
I will try to ensure that this journal doesn't fall into the wrong hands and will take it with me when I eventually leave.
Ben put down the notebook, it was the last page. He wondered if the intended recipient had ever read it? Judging by how well it was hidden, they wouldn't happen on it by chance. Maybe Ben was the sort of ‘wrong hands’ that they were trying to avoid it falling into.
He also seemed to recognise the tone of the writing. So much harder and clinical than before. But he dismissed this, his mind was just playing games.
He knew they were describing Nathan and Emily. The children that were now in the house with Sarah.
He needed to know that Sarah was alright, he needed to go to the house. But then he wondered if the children would allow him to even speak to Sarah again. Or whether they would even let him in the house at all.
He sighed out loud. Frustrated.
And then his mind experienced a moment of clarity. He almost laughed at himself for not thinking of it before. He put the notebook inside his jacket and left the room.
Moments later he was sitting in front of the computer, the banks of monitors surrounding him, each with different images of the village. The images flashed around in front of him and he leant forward as he saw the front room of Sarah’s house.
It was empty.
And then he saw Sarah’s bedroom.
Sarah was sitting on her bed and seemed to be involved in a conversation. He couldn’t see who with, but the camera switched and suddenly he could see the children together in a different room.
He waited patiently until Sarah’s room came into view again.
She was still on the bed, but was now clutching what looked like some type of doll. He wondered if she had found it in the room.
The camera moved on.
He had prepared himself to have to wait until she came into view again. But he was surprised that he then saw Sarah appear in the front room.
Someone had changed the pattern of images displayed. Whoever had done it seemed more interested in Sarah’s house than before.
The room was partly dark. He noticed that the curtains seemed to have been shut. It had the effect of making everything look slightly ghostly.
But there was no doubt that he could see a figure hunched over the chess table in the front room.
He watched as Sarah studied the board in
tently, smiled, nodded towards the empty chair opposite her and made a move.
The children were upstairs and seemed to be talking amongst themselves and then just before the image changed he saw them both stand up in unison and head towards the door.
Sarah continued to sit at the chess table, seemingly waiting for her opponent to make their next move.
And then he watched as the next camera showed the children descending the stairs and heading towards her.
He almost shouted out as the image showed the outside of a different building; then the outside of the post office and finally the front room again.
The children and Sarah were talking; or more accurately Sarah seemed to be listening. He cursed the fact that he only had pictures and no sound.
And now every time the picture returned to the front room, they were just sitting there talking.
He sat back in his chair and watched. The cameras completed several sweeps of the village, each time they alighted on Sarah’s house Ben leant expectantly forward; but nothing changed.
He wasn't sure what he expected or hoped to happen; but at least he could keep an eye on her from here. As he continued to watch patiently, he noticed it was beginning to get darker outside. He realised that he hadn’t brought a torch; he hadn’t expected to be here long enough.
He looked at the monitors, just to have a final check on Sarah.
The front room was even darker than before and he noticed that there was no light on.
It was empty and he watched as the view spooled round until he caught a glimpse of what he recognised as the upstairs hallway of Sarah's house. It was dark here as well.
He watched as one of the bedroom doors opened and he caught a glimpse of…
‘Damn,’ he said as the image changed. But what had he seen? It had looked very strange, but it was dark and his eyes were tired from staring intently at the monitors.
He saw the outside of the house, but it was quiet.