by Power, Max
“You had an asthma attack sweetheart, just across from the house on that little wooden bridge.”
He kissed her again.
“You were very lucky. Your mother saw you collapse on the bridge and realised what was happening. She said you were waving like a lunatic before you collapsed and that you ran around in circles?”
“Wasp.” Daisy offered explaining everything in one word.
“Your mother guessed as much.”
They all knew of Daisy May’s terror of bees and wasps. Daisy sat up straight and took a good look around. Everything she had gone through must have been some kind of awful dream. But it had seemed so real.
Moments ago, or at least that was how it felt, Woody had chased her from Darkly Wood and Benjamin….. Unconsciously, Daisy May touched her lips where he had kissed her. She remembered the kiss. That was real surely?
“I could hear you call my name.” She suddenly announced remembering her father’s voice in her dream.
“You kept calling me.”
“I wasn’t exactly calling you love, but I did talk to you a lot. Maybe that’s what you heard?” He gave her a slightly puzzled look.
“I definitely heard you dad. You said my name a lot.”
Daisy’s voice still crackled a little and she took another drink. She sounded very definite so Archie thought about it for a moment.
“I did kiss you on the forehead every day when I got here and I always whispered your name in your ear hoping you’d wake up. But I didn’t call out your name. Not loud anyway. It was always my little whisper.”
“That’s it!” Daisy May answered almost excitedly, “It was a whisper. I heard your whisper,” She felt relieved that at least some part of her dream was real.
“There you go then!”
Her dad responded, happy to have given her some relief from her obvious anxiety.
“That must have been it. It worked so, that and the reading.”
She had not heard her father sound so happy in a long time. It was weird. He stood up and kissed her again. From his jacket pocket he drew his mobile phone.
“I have to ring your mother. She was here all morning.” He laughed, “She’ will be annoyed that she wasn’t here when you woke up. That of course will probably be my fault.”
They both laughed understanding her mother’s competitive streak and the fact that she always blamed her dad for anything that didn’t go her way. Daisy May loved both her parents but she knew them well. It was good though that they could joke about such things without any malice. It hadn’t been that way in the beginning. When they began the whole divorce thing, Daisy was barely able to mention either one to the other. But it seemed better lately.
“I will just step outside for a minute, can’t get a signal in here and I better check and see where that doctor is. I won’t be long darling.” He blew her a kiss.
“Dad?” she called him back for a moment.
“What love?” he answered half in, half out of the door.
“What book were you reading me?”
As always she asked the question the moment it struck her.
“Oh it’s the one you had by your bed darling, it’s there on the locker beside you.”
He jiggled his phone before he disappeared.
“I have to make this call sweetie; your Mum will want to know immediately.”
She waved him away and glanced at the locker. The cover and binding were unmistakable. The book her father had been reading to her all the while was ‘Tales of Darkly Wood’ by J.S. Toner.
CHAPTER FORTY THREE – LIONEL GOJA
Lionel Goja was a peculiar little man in many ways. On the surface he was all smiles and politeness, always ready with a deferential tip of his cap to those of higher social or working rank. He rarely had a bad word to say to anyone that he worked with and kept himself to himself. He did his job well, was never late and never threw a sickie. Funnily enough despite all that, no one really liked him. There was no specific thing that anyone could put their finger on. But there was definitely something about him that made people uncomfortable. You could ask pretty much anyone and they would say more or less the same thing. More often than not, if someone did offer their honest opinion, the way they would probably describe Lionel, would be ‘a little creepy.’
Most of the men who worked with him disliked him outright. Again it was hard for anyone to put their finger on it he was just a little odd. Lionel didn’t fit in. Whenever anyone became involved in any in-depth conversation with Lionel, it soon became clear that he was different. There was nothing wrong with him being different; it was just that his conversations tended to veer in a direction that made others slightly uncomfortable. He would always reference female work colleagues and try to engage other men in conversations about them. The younger they were, the more likely it was that he would want to talk about them and not in a nice way. Invariably he would test the waters and when the guys he spoke to showed discomfort, he would back off. It was all a little perverted. But Lionel was careful not to push it too far. Still, he didn’t create a good impression.
The women who came across him, more specifically the young pretty ones, were even more conscious of his strangeness. His glances lingered a little too long and delved a little deeper than they should. There was always wariness about being alone in his company or God forbid, having to pass by him in in a narrow corridor. Not that he ever actually did anything to warrant any action being taken against him. Certainly not that anyone knew of anyway.
No one knew of his past. That was a closely guarded secret, for Lionel had indeed indulged his perverse nature many times before. He had spent time in prison for a sexual assault several years earlier and had been accused but acquitted of indecent exposure a couple of years previous to that charge. In recent years, as he grew older and wiser, Lionel had learned to be more careful. His perversions remained the same. But he didn’t want to go back to prison, so he took his time and chose his victims carefully.
After six months working as a porter in Wickby hospital, Lionel had yet to satisfy his vile lust. When he landed the job, he thought it would be easy. But it wasn’t. Lionel realised it would be easy alright, as long as he did not mind getting caught. Getting away with it well, that would be a lot harder. He had come close a number of times, but the other members of staff were very attentive. It was difficult and Lionel was extremely cautious. He did not want to go back to prison. So he watched and he waited, passing his time perving after the pretty young nurses and female patients, always careful not to do anything that might arouse suspicion, always looking for an opportunity.
He had scored a major success through a moment of carelessness by a young intern and he had stolen a bottle of chloroform. Knowing its loss would be noticed quickly enough; he took care not to be connected to the theft and hid it behind some old pipework in the basement. No one would look there and even if they did, there was no way of connecting it to him. All he had to do was to wait for a suitable opportunity to use it and if nothing else, Lionel was patient.
Then one day, a young girl was brought in. She was a pretty teenager and the very sight of her drove him to distraction. She was very ill. As far as he knew, she was in some sort of coma, completely oblivious to the world around her. He was a sick, sick man and quickly began to conspire to get some time alone with her. But it was impossible during the day. She was constantly watched by one or other of her parents.
So, Lionel arranged to change shifts to work nights. That way he figured, he might gain access to the sleeping beauty. But as it transpired, changing shifts was a complete waste of time. On his first night shift and at the first opportunity, Lionel made his way to the ward and sought out her room. He was so excited. It had been a long time since Lionel had felt such a rush. It was frightening. Lionel was almost blinded to everything and the thought of getting to the young girl completely obsessed him.
The door of her room was ajar and to his dismay, Lionel heard the voice of the girl’s f
ather. Archie Coppertop it turned out, stayed overnight with his precious girl. Lionel paid several night visits to the ward to spy on the girl, hoping that her father might not turn up some night. But it was useless. Her father never left the girl at night. He would read to her, sing to her softly and talk to her until sleep took him. He only left when her mother relieved him each morning.
It drove Lionel crazy. Having zeroed in on his intended target, he had no way of achieving success. He was obsessed to the point where he would take every possible opportunity that he could to visit Monica Ward and perhaps catch a glimpse through the open door of the object of his desire. It seemed futile but he couldn’t help himself. What he did was risky and he was afraid someone might notice, but there was so much staff movement between shifts that people were oblivious to the porter in the halls. Lionel was careful to have a purpose, an errand, a reason to be where he was just in case he was ever challenged. But he never was. All of his efforts seemed to be wasted when out of the blue, a miracle happened. Daisy May Coppertop woke up.
It was the talk of the ward but it meant one thing and one thing only to Lionel. Now that she was awake, there would be no need for her parents to keep constant vigil by her side. Lionel also knew that it meant his time was running out. Now that the girl was awake, there was a good chance she might be going home after a few days. He had to act soon. Lionel became very excited and began to plan. At lunchtime on the evening of the very day that Daisy came around, Lionel paid a visit to the basement and retrieved the hidden bottle of chloroform.
He had spent so much time obsessing about her that Lionel already had the bones of a plan hatched in his mind. There was a bathroom right next to Daisy May’s room and Lionel put the chloroform and some cotton wool in a plastic bag, having already convinced himself that the bathroom was a good place to hide his evil tools. At the first opportunity, Lionel made his way to Monica ward and slipped into the bathroom. There was no one there.
He tied the plastic bag with string and entered one of the cubicles. High up on the wall was a narrow window that opened outwards. He stood on the toilet seat and hung the bag outside the window, attaching the string to the window latch. No one would see it hanging there from outside as the window faced out to the blank wall of the boiler house opposite. Below was the first floor roof extension that led between the two buildings. It was perfect. All he had to do was to wait until night time.
But there was a little more work yet to do. Lionel needed to cover his tracks. He planned to get off his shift early which he did. As far as his colleagues were concerned, Archie had gone home. He wasn’t expected for the night shift, but he turned in for it anyway. He arrived late for the late shift so he didn’t have to meet the other porters. If he was spotted by any of the nurses or doctors they wouldn’t even remember seeing him. He was just a porter. All he had to do was keep his head down. There was no crossover staff around who would notice he was on night shift as well as the day shift. It was too easy. As he wasn’t officially on duty, he simply dodged most people who might know him until the quiet of night. Occasionally he swung by Monica ward, checking to see when the girl’s father would be gone.
At first he began to worry as it appeared as though Archie might never leave, but eventually he did. It was late and Lionel knew that his time was near. There was only one nurse on duty in the ward as the night went on and she was at her station for the most part. The nurse’s station was essentially a desk at the entrance to the ward. Lionel knew the routine well. He knew that once she checked in on Daisy May he would have at least an hour before she would check again. There were other rooms in the ward for her to check as well, but Lionel had her routine carefully noted from all the time he had spent planning for an opportunity like this one.
Lionel waited at the top of the stairs and placed a few wet floor signs on a small patch of floor before emptying some water from a bottle onto the floor. He had brought a mop and bucket, another well thought out part of his plan and he spread the water around a little with the mop. From where he stood, Lionel could observe the corridor inside Monica ward through the glass windows on the doors. He would be unseen unless someone came out of the ward or up the stairs and then he simply had to pretend to be mopping up a spill.
He waited for the nurse, a cranky old biddy whose name he couldn’t remember, to check on those in the main body of the ward. As soon as she disappeared into the open ward, he slipped quietly through the doors and skipped up the hall and into the bathroom. The Nurse’s last port of call would be Daisy May’s room and then she would head back to her station. Quietly, Lionel crept into the cubicle and slowly climbed onto the toilet to reach the window. He slid his hand out and grabbed the bag. It made a horrible plastic bag noise and he cursed himself. In the quiet of the night it sounded even louder. This was one thing he had not considered.
As slowly as possible in order to reduce the noise, he drew the bag back in through the window. Lionel grimaced with every slight rustle. After an age, handling the bag carefully as though it contained a most fragile flower, he managed to lower it onto the floor. Opening the bag would make even more noise, but Lionel had no choice. Again with as much stealth as possible, he untied the string that held it closed and very gingerly opened the top of the bag. Inside was the precious chloroform and cotton wool. He smiled, but then froze as he heard a noise in the hallway outside. It was the ward nurse going into Daisy May’s room. Lionel was sure of it and he almost chuckled. His heart rate soared and his blood pressure rose. This was it. After months of waiting, finally, his chance had come.
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR – THE BATHROOM
Lionel waited and listened. He had to be careful but he knew that every second now would count. He did not want to waste a minute. He was filled with a combination of excitement and fear. Just yards away, Daisy May lay waiting. It was all too good to be true. Small beads of sweat bubbled up on his forehead. Danger waited for him just next door. What he was about to do was very risky and Lionel feared getting caught so much. There had been moments leading up to that point, where Lionel had almost backed out. Even as he mopped in the hallway just a few minutes earlier, he had been tempted not to go through with his evil plan. But he had reached the point of no return. His excitement and anticipation were stronger than his fear. There was no going back now.
When he finally thought that he heard the nurse leave the room next door, Lionel steadied himself. Ever so slowly he opened the cubicle door, half expecting it to creak and give his position away, but it didn’t. Lionel looked along the darkened bathroom. There were three other cubicles, all open, all unoccupied. He had to be careful. At the end of the bathroom to his right, directly opposite the door, there was a large sash window. He knew that it led out onto the roof of the connecting corridor below. Lionel had planned his escape by simply walking out of the ward unseen when the nurse began her next rounds, but there was no harm in having options. It suddenly dawned on him that the bathroom window might be a good escape route and he decided to have a quick look.
The window was partly opened up already. There was enough room for Lionel to bend and poke his head out. It was perfect. Below him, maybe five or six feet only, was the flat roof just as he thought. It was an easy drop. From there he could easily climb down one of the solid metal drain pipes to the ground. This was the back of the hospital and at such a late hour there would be no one about. He was amazed that he hadn’t thought of it before and pleased with his discovery now. Lionel smiled and pulled his head back in. He straightened and turned, ready at last to make a quick dart into the girl’s room.
But even before he made it all the way around, Lionel felt that there was something not right. He sensed another presence and he was not wrong. In the faint glow offered by the emergency lights that lit the bathroom, Lionel certainly didn’t expect to see a boy standing there right behind him. Though startled, he managed to stifle his desire to shout out in fright.
The boy was scruffy, a good foot shorter than Lionel and Bare
foot. It was hard to see in the dark, but the boy appeared to have enormous eyes, like those of a nocturnal animal. He was so unsettled to discover the tussled haired boy that for a few moments Lionel was at a loss at what to do. They literally just stood there looking at each other in the half light. Neither one moved. Neither one said a word.
His initial start was replaced by genuine fear. What if the boy were to give him away? Then as that thought crossed his mind, so did another. He realised that this boy was a witness. He hadn’t done anything yet, but if he did, the boy could tell the police about seeing him. Panic started to set in. But Lionel had not planned and waited all this time to be thwarted by a kid at the last minute. He remembered the bottle of chloroform that he held in his hand.
Lionel put a finger to his lips and softly made a shushing noise. Then he smiled as he slipped his hands behind his back. The boy cocked his head curiously as if studying Lionel but did nothing else. Slowly, Lionel pulled the stopper from the bottle behind his back and covered the top with a wad of cotton in his other hand. He tipped the bottle to soak the cotton wool. This was going to be easy, he thought.
But then something extraordinary happened. It happened as if by magic and so slowly and smoothly so that the change was almost imperceptible. The boy began to change. Right before his eyes, the boy began to grow, ever so slowly. Lionel was frozen with the shock of it. Within seconds, he was the same height as Lionel and his boyish face greyed and aged, as did his hair. It was without question, the most terrifying thing Lionel had ever seen.
He shook himself, remembering again the chloroform behind his back. Lionel reached back to the window ledge directly behind him and carefully placed the bottle there, freeing up his left hand. Then as fast as he could, he lunged at the boy, grabbing him by the throat with his free hand intent on smothering his face with the chloroform soaked cotton in his other hand.
The boy didn’t even flinch when Lionel grabbed his throat and when his other hand came swinging around towards his face, Woody didn’t take his eyes off the strange man for one second. He caught his wrist before it arrived and held it in midair for a moment, squeezing it tightly. The grip hurt Lionel and he wanted to yell out, but he still had a need to keep his presence quiet. Even in that moment, Lionel’s warped perversion was still lurking, preventing him from giving his position away. He did not realise what he was dealing with. When he looked Woody in the eye he saw it. But it was already too late. Woody sucked air through his teeth, drawing back his upper lip. He bent Lionel’s wrist completely back. It snapped into a right angle as the bones shattered with the force used. Before Lionel could scream, Woody was on him.