Silent Treatment

by David James

  He knew the anyone he was referring to was Ben. Strangely, Ben had a pang of regret that the village no longer existed. In a strange way he almost missed it.

  ‘And was it all worth it?’ said Ben.

  ‘Certainly,’ said the director firmly. ‘We will never progress unless we push the boundaries.’

  Ben looked at the director. The expression on his face suggested that he truly believed this; it didn’t look like he was just trotting out a company line for Ben’s sake.

  ‘When will Sarah be returning home?’ said Ben.

  The director remained calm and said ‘Sarah won’t be returning to her former house. We feel that there are too many memories of her father there. We don’t think it will be healthy for her.’

  As Ben sat and listened to the director, he began to wonder if the person sat opposite him would be one of the colleagues that Cynthia had mentioned. The ones that would testify to Sarah’s instability if Ben spoke out; the ones who might have contributed to her instability. Was the director involved?

  He decided that he wasn’t going to just sit here and be passive.

  ‘And the children? How are they doing?’ said Ben.

  ‘Very much better now. The treatment was a complete success,’ replied the director.

  ‘Really?’ said Ben, thinking of his altercation with Nathan in the woods.

  ‘Don’t you think so?’ said the director.

  And with that Ben realised he was being tested. If he betrayed what he was really thinking then his chances of seeing Sarah would disappear.

  ‘Well, I’m not the professional, so if you say they are cured then I’ll believe that,’ said Ben.

  The director didn’t look entirely convinced and he said slightly menacingly ‘As long as that is what you continue to believe Ben. Then there won’t be any problems.’

  Ben felt like he was interviewing a politician again.

  ‘So can I let you see Sarah then?’ said the director bluntly.

  Stick to the story and we’ll let you see her. Tell anyone what you know and we start the process of smearing Sarah’s name and you won’t see her. He had seen it done before in the media. The drip drip of private details; the slow destruction of a person’s image. And he suspected that they would have plenty of things about Sarah that they could release.

  He thought about all Sarah had been through, and he thought about her behaviour in the village. And he could only imagine what they could use from her time at the institute and living in her father’s house.

  ‘Yes, you can,’ Ben replied eventually.

  The director continued to hold Ben in his stare, seemingly assessing whether he believed Ben or not.

  After several agonising seconds, he leant back in his chair and smiled ‘Good, good, I’ll get someone to show you up there.’

  And with that it seemed his time was up as the director leaned forward and pressed a button on his desk. 'Mrs Denton will you show him up' and Mrs Denton appeared almost immediately.

  Chapter Eighty Two

  The institute felt more like a maze to Ben as he was led to see Sarah.

  At one point he wondered if Mrs Denton ran away and left him whether he would be able to ever find his way out again.

  It reminded him of the building in the village.

  But it gave him more time to compose himself before seeing Sarah. It was the first time he would see her since he had escaped from the village, and the last time he had seen Sarah she had been in the middle of a forest and had only just removed her terrifying mask. He shuddered at the memory. She had the sort of expression on her face that he would never forget.

  What would she look like now?

  Surely she wouldn’t have the haunted, terrified face that he had last seen.

  Would she even remember him at all?

  Maybe she had blanked out the memories of the village and the children completely.

  And a less than noble thought appeared in his mind. He had given up the chance to break a huge story; a story that would have made his career, because he knew it was best for Sarah. So he could be walking towards her door now. So he could see her.

  Would she even be aware of that?

  He was being selfish. He shook his head to get the thought out of his mind. He was here for Sarah.

  Eventually Mrs Denton stopped walking and pointed towards the door. 'You can go in now. But just for a short time.'

  Ben braced himself, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. He pushed the door open carefully and walked into the room.

  The first thing he noticed was how normal and almost pleasant the room looked. He realised he had been expecting some cold austere place. It felt quite homely.

  'Hello Ben,' said Sarah from the bed in the centre of the room.

  He was relieved that she at least recognised him. And that he recognised her. She looked more like the old Sarah than the one he had seen at the village.

  'Sarah, so good to see you,' he said as he walked across to her. He was unsure whether to embrace her or not and in the end settled on a rather bizarre attempt to shake her hand.

  'Why so formal?' she said and gave him a polite hug.

  'I wasn't sure if…'

  'If I was going to do something odd Ben.'

  He now felt embarrassed at his reaction.

  'Sorry,' he said sheepishly.

  'Never mind you are here now. How have you been?' she said.

  'Oh things are bumbling along as normal.'

  Her expression became slightly more serious as she said 'How’s the career going?'

  He wondered how much she knew of the outside world anymore. He also wondered what the institute had allowed her to know.

  ‘Oh, much the same as before,’ he said.

  ‘Not famous yet then?’ she said.

  This was his chance to tell her that he hadn’t said anything to the press. That he hadn’t betrayed her. He didn’t know if she knew that and he desperately wanted to reassure her.

  ‘No, still waiting to be discovered,’ he said. Surely she could only interpret from this that he hadn't said anything, otherwise he would be able to announce that he had finally made it, thanks to their big story.

  She nodded. ‘It’s for the best,’ she said, sounding unnervingly like the director.

  And then she seemed to soundlessly mouth the words ‘thank you’. Or had he imagined it? Maybe he so wanted her to that he was seeing things.

  Her expression was pleasant if a little distant. Ben was beginning to wonder if it was a chemically aided expression. As she looked at him, he couldn’t really read her face at all. To him it seemed that she had swapped the mask from the village for a new mask, and it seemed to have the same effect of hiding her thoughts and what she truly felt.

  There was so much he wanted to ask her, not least what had happened when he left the forest. He could only imagine what might have taken place after he left. But he was aware he had to be careful. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if the room was under surveillance; it would be like being in the village all over again.

  ‘So how have you been Sarah?'

  Sarah's expression remained unchanged.

  'Oh, you know, it was felt that I needed a little rest. And I do feel that I am on the mend now.'

  'I hear that you have taken to writing a journal?' he said

  She nodded.

  'Kind of ironic if you think about it?' he said.

  'The thought had occurred to me as well,' she replied with an attempted smile.

  ‘I met someone called Gary on the way up. He seemed quite protective of you.’

  Now Sarah almost managed a smile as she said ‘That doesn’t surprise me. Gary and I have an understanding.’

  He was beginning to run out of things to say now. Or at least things he thought he would be permitted to say. He had visions of institute staff bursting in the room if he said the wrong thing. He decided to broach the subject of the children.

  'I hear the children are doing okay,' he said. He hal
f expected the door to burst open at the mention of the children and to be dragged out of the room.

  Sarah's expression changed almost imperceptibly. But the previous expression reasserted itself immediately.

  'Glad to hear it,' she said.

  There was a knock at the door and Ben turned around to see a uniformed nurse hovering in the doorway. She clearly wanted to show him that his time was up, but she didn’t appear to be threatening to remove him forcibly. He began to stand up.

  A look of panic spread across Sarah's face, but her voice still sounded calm as she said 'Just a moment please.'

  'Okay then, but we don't want you to get tired,' said the nurse and with that she shut the door.

  Sarah waited for the door to close and then said ‘Don’t I even get a kiss then Ben?’

  Ben was shocked. They had never kissed before and there had never been any suggestion that they would.

  Sarah smiled and said ‘I know it’s been a while, but I really miss them.’

  Sarah’s expression looked almost pleading. He wondered if the drugs were affecting her memory, or if her grip on reality had suddenly faltered.

  Ben leant forward nervously, Sarah pulled him towards her and kissed him and hugged him close to her.

  He was now completely confused.

  'You must see Gary on your way out,' she hissed into his ear. The expression on her face looked manic. It reminded him of their time in the village. Ben wondered if she had truly relapsed.

  ‘It’s not safe Ben. Don’t trust them. Please!’ she pleaded.

  Her expression was a mixture of begging and panic and he felt fearful that she had regressed back to the village, maybe she thought she was still there?

  He was about to ask her who she meant couldn't be trusted when he heard the door open behind him.

  She released Ben, put on a smile and said in a falsely cheery voice 'Will you come back soon Ben?' and the mask was back in place.

  Ben thought of the pact he had made with the director. He hoped it was still in place.

  'I'll certainly try Sarah,' he said truthfully.

  He desperately wanted to ask Sarah exactly what she had meant. But he couldn’t. He could see the nurse impatiently shuffling papers on the end of the bed. And he dare not openly ask Sarah anything important or he wouldn’t be allowed back to see her again.

  Reluctantly, he turned away from Sarah and was ushered from the room. As the door closed behind him he immediately felt a sense of guilt, as if he was abandoning Sarah. But what choice did he have?

  As Ben followed the nurse out of the room, Mrs Denton was there to accompany him. It was clear that at no point was he going to be allowed to wander around the building on his own. He followed her to the front desk and she said 'You can find your way out from here.'

  'Thank you,' said Ben. But he didn't want to leave. Sarah had been desperate for him to see Gary. Desperate enough to go through the charade of kissing him. For a second he wondered if the kiss was real. But he realised that was not important at the moment; there would be time to think of that later.

  He hovered around the front desk in desperation, hoping that Gary would magically appear.

  'Can I help you with something?' said Mrs Denton. Her tone suggested that she would rather he removed himself from her building.

  Ben was convinced that Sarah wouldn't want him to be blurting Gary's name out and drawing attention to himself.

  He just stood there, unable to decide what to do.

  As he hovered, trying to look as relaxed as possible, and singularly failing, he wondered if Sarah had known what she was doing or saying when she had told him to meet Gary. Would Gary look at him blankly and have no idea why he was talking to him?

  'Excuse me sir.'

  Ben ignored the voice.

  'I think you dropped this.'

  And as Ben turned he was looking at the face of Gary and he was holding out a lighter.

  'Oh no, I don't…' Ben started to say before managing to change tack 'Oh, yes, thanks,' he said far too loudly.

  'I'll show you out if you like,' said Gary.

  Ben followed him gratefully.

  As they went towards the main entrance, Gary turned to Ben and said 'This way sir.'

  And with that he led Ben an unbelievably convoluted route along corridors and through doors until he was being ushered into what looked like a broom cupboard.

  'I've been asked to give you this,' said Gary as he unlocked a drawer and handed Ben a small journal.

  'Thank you,' said Ben.

  'Take care of it won't you,' said Gary with a warning glance.

  'Of course, of course,' said Ben.

  ‘How was she?’

  ‘Oh, she seemed okay,’ he replied noncommittally. He felt that he was supposed to trust Gary, but experience had taught him not to trust anyone to do with the institute.

  Gary leant forward and his face was close enough to Ben that he could smell the tobacco on Gary’s breath.

  ‘What happened out there then?’ he said in a low guttural voice.

  Ben had to admit that something about Gary frightened him. It could just be that he was being protective over Sarah; or it could be that he was working for the director and maybe Ben was being tested here. No, that wouldn’t make sense; he was giving him Sarah’s journal and he was sure that the institute wouldn't approve of that. He was just being protective of Sarah, it was just that his protection seemed threatening to Ben.

  But he knew he couldn’t say anything, especially here at the institute.

  ‘It’s hard to say,’ said Ben. And he was being truthful on several levels when he said that.

  Gary continued to stare at Ben, but eventually he released him from his glare.

  'I'll show you out then,’ he said and with that Gary led him back though the institute and back to his car.

  As Ben drove home from the institute, Sarah’s journal was staring back at him from the passenger seat. He toyed with the idea of pulling up and looking at it then and there. But he felt he owed Sarah the privacy of reading it in his own home, away from prying eyes.

  And he knew there would be prying eyes that would want to read what was in it.

  He started to speculate what might be written inside the journal. They had shared so much at the village, but towards the end he had effectively been shut out of what was going on there. Nathan had taken care of that. Maybe it was a lucid account of what happened after he had left? But he thought about the madness of the scene he had left and doubted that it would be that.

  And then he thought of Sarah the last time he saw her in the village and he thought of how she looked when he had just visited her. And then he wondered if it would just be a series of disjointed and crazy sounding notes that meant nothing.

  He pressed the accelerator hard and sped up home.

  Chapter Eighty Three

  I hope this is Ben reading this. Really don't know if they will let me see you, so I have given this to someone I trust.

  I really need to tell you what happened and I'm not sure how long I will be able to do so. The treatment is leaving me very tired and increasingly confused. And I'm finding it more and more difficult to separate fact from fiction. Things that I was certain of a few days ago now seem like they were part of a dream.

  I must write this all down while I’m still able to. I don’t know how much longer I will be able to remember things. These tablets seem to be making it more and more difficult to remember.

  What I am sure of for now is that you must beware of the children.

  The children lured me there Ben. Lured me to the village. I thought I was treating them, thought I was in charge, but all along they were just trying to get me to go the village and fight their monsters. To finish the experiment. And I helped them Ben! I thought I was continuing my father's work, but I was just being used by the children and the institute.

  I don't know what is happening out there, they won't let me have any access to the news or anything. In ca
se it upsets me apparently.

  So I don't know what they have told you. Or even if you are okay?

  I have been assuming that you are okay? They would have told me wouldn’t they if you weren't? Please god you are okay. If you're not then who is reading this? Who are you?

  Ben turned the page, there seemed to be a gap between when she had been writing this.

  Hope this is you Ben. I really need to tell you what happened and not sure how long I will be able to. Getting more tired and confused by the day. Did I say that already? Can’t remember.

  How are you? I really want to see you.

  Whatever they are telling you about the children isn't true. The things that I saw when you left to get help. If they tell you they are cured they are lying. It's getting difficult to remember now but if you had seen their faces!

  Ben turned another page, it seemed as if Sarah only had the energy to write in small passages.

  They told me things. Things that I scarcely believed. But if you had seen their faces when they told me. They told me things about my father. He told me not to believe the children, but I'm finding it hard to know who to trust. Even my father.

  I can trust you can't I Ben?

  They are not alone Ben. They told me. There are more of them. There are more places like the village. I'm sure of it. I'm sure that's what they were saying.

  And Ben, they are looking for the others. They want to find them.

  The monsters haven't gone Ben, they are still there.

  Don't trust the children.

  Ben put the journal down on the table. It was worse than he thought. He hadn’t expected this much pain. His heart went out to Sarah, isolated in the institute, imprisoned really thought Ben, but desperate to warn the outside world.

  As he re-read it, he could see that Sarah was struggling to make her thoughts coherent. She seemed to be repeating things. But her meaning was clear to him.

  The institute think they are cured Ben. They think it worked. They are all very happy with themselves. But it didn't work Ben. It didn't. And I think they want to create even more of the villages. They want to continue the experiment but with more and more of them! You must stop them Ben!