by Amy Cross
"That's said," I say, not quite sure why he's telling me this. "Does Janet Smith know something about what happened?"
At this, Henry smiles. "I should imagine so," he says. "Janet Smith is not her real name". He takes a deep breath. "Rose Tisser is very much alive, in room 301 of the home. And now that her brother has passed away, I imagine she's available for visits whenever you're ready".
16
The three of us - Jess, Patrick and myself - make our way out to the lighthouse. Patrick, as usual, says nothing, for even by his usual standards he seems reserved and distant. For one thing, he holds back and walks a good few paces behind Jess and myself. Jess holds my hand.
"It's the strangest thing," Jess says as we traipse towards the door that leads into the lighthouse. "I've got the most awful headache. Had it all day. Do you have a headache?"
"No," I say. "But I'm ruddy cold".
"Oh, stop complaining," Jess says as we reach the door. "All you -" She stops, turns. "What?" she asks, looking into thin air. Then she turns to look the other way. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" I ask. "No".
Jess looks at Patrick. "Did you hear something?"
Patrick shakes his head. He has a very curious expression today, almost as if he's heartbroken and nervous about something. And I can't help feeling he's hanging back because he doesn't want to come into the lighthouse.
"You can wait outside if you like," Jess says. "Rose and I can look for the ring".
I look at Patrick. He has such a sad look on his face, as if he's expecting something terrible to happen. To an extent, he always looks this way. But this time he seems even more concerned. He steps forward and joins us as we go inside.
"It must have fallen on the floor somewhere in the dark," Jess says, looking around.
"You never told me what happened," I say, helping her look while Patrick - rather conspicuously - doesn't do anything. "When you went to look at the lights, I mean".
"You found me," Jess says.
"But that was hours later -"
"Was it?" She stops and looks confused. "Yes, it was. I... slept".
"But what about the lights?" I ask, a little annoyed that she apparently didn't bother to think about whether I would be okay outside. "Did you find out what they are?"
"No," she says. "Don't worry about the lights".
"But what were they?"
Jess stops and turns. There's a look on her face that I don't look, a kind of blank look as if it's not really her. "Ask him," she says, looking at Patrick. "The vampire knows".
I turn to look at Patrick, and I can immediately see from the look on his face that not only does he know, but he's weighed down by the knowledge of whatever is about to happen.
17
St Winifred's Nursing Home is on the other side of town, but I quickly make my excuses at the funeral and set off. I don't tell Adam where I'm going, or what Henry told me. I don't know why, but I feel this is something I need to sort out for myself. I need to be able to ask about Patrick, and I can't do that properly if Adam's with me. Sure, Henry says Rose has been pretty much comatose since she was admitted to the home shortly after Jess was killed. But I can't help thinking that there's a chance I can get through to her. After all, I bet no-one has talked to her about Patrick for a long, long time.
"I'm here to see Rose Tisser," I say when I get to the reception desk at the care home.
The nurse looks at a list. "I don't think we have anyone by that name," she says.
"Sorry," I say, "I mean Janet Smith".
"Well that's different," says the nurse. "She's in room 301, in the red wing. Are you a relative?"
"Kind of," I say. "Is it okay if I go straight through?"
"Sure," says the nurse. She grabs a pile of magazines from a little table. "Take these. She's not exactly a chatterbox, but it's nice to see someone coming to see her. She never gets visitors".
I take the magazines, with no intention of reading them. As I head towards the corridor marked 'Red Wing', the nurse calls out to me. "If you need better light in there," she says, "don't be afraid to open the curtain!"
***
I knock on the door, but there's no answer. I reach down and turn the handle, pushing the door open into a pretty dark room that smells pretty foul. In the gloom, I can barely make out the dark shape of a bed against the far wall. Shutting the door behind me, I walk towards her. The only sound is the huffing and puffing of a mechanical respirator that's keeping her alive.
"Hi Rose," I say. There's no reply. "My name's Sophie, do you mind if I sit with you?" I can barely see her face in the darkness. "Do you mind if I open the curtains?"
I take her lack of response to be an agreement, so I pull the curtains open. Strangely, though it's bright outside, little light seems to enter the room. It's as if the room itself is intentionally staying dark. I look down at Rose and see such an old woman, it's hard to believe she's still alive. And of course, she barely is. Rigged up to the machine, she has apparently been in a coma for more than half a century. Her only company during all this time was her brother John, who Henry says would visit her twice a week, every week. But now I'm here. A stranger.
"I came to see you because I want to ask you about Patrick," I say. I half expect his name alone to bring her out of the coma, but there's no response. She seems so peaceful. "The thing is," I continue, "I know him too. Except it's different now, he's older and... I came because I want to find out what happened to you and Jessica at the lighthouse. I need to know if Patrick killed your friend".
No reply from Rose, just the continuing sound of the respirator.
"So," I say, "you've been like this all the time, huh? Just in a coma, waiting to die". No response, and it strikes me suddenly that this must be what happens with all the women in Patrick's life. He might be able to live forever, and never age, but we humans have no such luck. Before Rose, there were probably hundreds of women. Does he abandon them all like this? Will it be my turn one day? When I stop being young and interesting, will he abandon me for someone else? Will they wheel me in as an old lady, hoping against hope for Patrick to come and visit me one more time? I look around at the bare, dull grey room. As hard as I try, I can't imagine Patrick ever coming here. It just doesn't seem like that's the kind of thing he'd do. Rose has been left here all this time, completely forgotten by everyone except her brother. And even he had to change her name.
"I went to the lighthouse the other day," I say. "Your great nephew took me. Adam. I guess you don't know him. I was at John's funeral with him today". I suddenly wonder if I should have said that. "Did you know he died?" I ask. "Do you know anything about anything?" I look at her calm, passive face. Is there anyone in there?
"Ridiculous," I say out loud, which in itself is ridiculous. I walk over to a chest in the corner and pull out the first drawer. Okay, I shouldn't be doing this, but these are strange times. The drawer is almost empty, with just a hairbrush and some boxes of matches. I push it shut and open the next drawer, which is filled to the top with old newspapers. It's a load of copies of the Dedston Gazette. I take a look at some of the covers, half-remembering old local stories. I notice the by-line on one of them: Dexter Logan. I can't help but smile a little at that.
I push the drawer shut and pull open the third. It's almost empty, except for a ring that has been left rattling around in the bottom. I pick it up and take a look. It's old, large and chunky with a brown paste stone. Ugly, and probably exactly the kind of thing that was in fashion back in the 50s.
I drop the ring as a hand touches my shoulder. I turn to find Rose Tisser standing directly behind me, her eyes looking straight into mine.
18
"For... thousands of years we were loyal servants to the vampires," Jess says, her voice strangely halting, as if she's struggling to keep the words coming. "We were... their guardians and watchers, and... we kept watch over Gothos".
"What are you talking about?" I ask, looking at Patrick for some kind of clue.
"What does she mean?"
"The Sentinels were so loyal," Jess says. "And then we were... betrayed by... the last vampire... when we had... given everything we had".
"Vampire?" I say. "What are you talking about, Jess?" I look down at the ground. "Let's find this ring," I say, hoping to get things back on-track, hoping to make things normal again.
"We have... been abandoned," says Jess. "Left to... die... without even... our... bodies. But we... will not... die... We will take... a body and... we will recover... We will... take enough bodies... to hold us all... now".
I step back a little. "Jess, you're scaring me".
"Jess is scared too," says Jess. "The voices scare... her. Our voices scare her. Tens of thousands of us... in here... all in one... weak body". She steps towards me and holds out a hand. "We need... to share".
She goes to put a hand on my shoulder, but I duck away.
"Patrick!" I say. "I think we should go".
"We would take his body... if we... could," Rose says, still coming towards me slowly as I back against Patrick. "A vampire's body is... a miracle but... we prefer human... form while we... wait".
She reaches to put her hand on my shoulder, but I duck away again, running behind Patrick.
"Do something, Patrick," I say, then I turn to run to the door but I see it's shut now. I run over anyway but, as I half-expected, it's locked.
"He... can't," Jess says. "Vampires are... forbidden to kill Sentinels... He can only... watch... and... besides... we are the last of our... kind... and he has already... committed genocide once". She smiles at Patrick. "I... don't think... he has the stomach... to destroy... another species".
I look at Patrick. My sweet, gentle Patrick...
"Ask him... why he doesn't... speak," Jess says, as if she's taunting him. "He... destroyed them... all... even though we... tried... to stop... him". She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, as if she's in pain. "This body... will not hold us... all". She fixes me with a calm stare. "You... will share... the burden".
With that, she lunges at me and I barely get out of the way. Without waiting for Patrick to help me, I run across the large circular room and through a small wooden door, which turns out to lead into nothing more than a storeroom. I turn to see Jess almost catching me, so I slam the door shut and pull a table across it as she tries to push the door open.
"It's no... use... resisting," Jess says from the other side of the door. "You already... have... some of us... inside you... Every time... I touched... you today".
I look at my hand; the hand Jess held on the way here. And then I hear them: the voices. Quiet, almost imperceptible, but definitely there, voices in my mind that aren't my own. They're all saying the same thing: Open the door. Open the door. Open the door.
19
"Hi," I say, but Rose just stays where she is, staring at me. "My name is Sophie, I was a friend of your brother's". No response. Not even a flicker. She doesn't even blink. "I shouldn't really be here," I say finally, as if that isn't obvious. Still no reply. "Sorry," I say feebly, "did I wake you up?"
With no response still, I carefully step to one side. Rose doesn't seem to notice. She's just staring at where I used to be, her hand still reaching out as it was when it was on my shoulder.
"Do you need help getting back to bed?" I ask.
Slowly - really, really slowly - she turns her head to look at me. I swear I can hear bones clicking and creaking in her neck.
"You've been in bed a long time," I say. "I guess it feels good to get up and have a stretch".
She turns the whole of her body to face me, and puts her hand on my shoulder again.
I decide to see if I can get through to her. "Would you like a drink?" I ask. I go over to the sink in the corner of her room, and pour some water into a glass. When I turn back to her, she has followed me over and is staring at me again. I hold the glass out, but she ignores it. And that's when I notice something really strange: while the rest of the room is pretty dark still, the part where Rose is standing is noticeably darker, as if she's absorbing more of the light in her immediate vicinity. And there are no shadows on her at all.
"How long have you been asleep?" I ask, starting to get a very odd feeling about all of this.
Slowly, Rose opens her mouth. Her lips are dry and chapped, with stringy bits of skin showing that it has been a long time since her lips were opened.
"Are you trying to say something?" I ask, still torn between two feelings: terror and concern.
"You..." she says, then pauses as if surprised. She tries again: "You..." but she still can't get any further.
"My name is Sophie," I say. "I'm a friend of your brother, John, and his grandson Adam. And your friend, Henry. And... and I know Patrick".
"You..." she says.
I wait. There seems to be no more.
"Me, yeah," I say. I'm starting to think I should call it a day and get out of here, perhaps come back another day with reinforcements. "I'm just a visitor. I can come back another day. I'll let the nurses know you're up and about, though".
"You... would..." she says. It seems like it's an immense effort for her to speak. "You... would... have..."
I wait for more. "I would have what?" I ask eventually.
"You... would... have... been... okay... if... only... you... had... left... before... I... got... out... of... bed".
Suddenly her cold stare, and her hand on my shoulder, seem a little more menacing.
20
There's a loud smashing sound from the other side of the door, followed by a scream. It sounds like Jess screaming. I don't dare move. I have no idea what's happening, and the voices in my mind are getting louder, telling me to let Jess in.
"Help us!" I hear Jess shout, followed by what sounds like a snarl and then more smashing sounds.
I step back from the door but there are more voices in my mind now. Open the door, they're telling me. And my own voice, my own mind, seems to be being flooded by these others.
Slowly, almost against my will, I walk to the door and pull the table away. The sounds in the room outside have stopped and there's just calm out there now. I open the door and I'm greeted by the most horrific sight imaginable.
In the middle of the room, Patrick is kneeling. He's covered in blood, and all around him there's more blood, and what looks like... pieces of a human body, lumps of tattered flesh left all over the floor. Most of the pieces are unrecognisable, but one of them is clearly part of an arm, another seems to be a chunk from a torso. As soon as I look at Patrick's eyes, I realise the horror he feels is the horror at having just taken a life, but at the same time he looks... natural. When he's in town, or just hanging out, he seems so awkward. But here, covered in blood, having just killed someone, he seems more natural, as if this is the real him. And that sadness in his eyes seems to make sense now. Did he know all along that this would happen?
The voices in my mind shriek in unison: He has killed our brothers!
Ignoring the voices, I step towards Patrick, walking through pools of blood, stepping over a lump of ragged flesh and bone that was once part of Jess's body.
"What did you do?" I ask.
Patrick stands up, blood dripping from his hands. For the first time, I see his teeth, with the two sharp little telltale signs of his true nature.
"They're inside me too," I say, my voice trembling. "They're telling me to do things". I look at the blood and body parts spread across the room. "Please," I say. "Please don't do this to me too".
Patrick just stares at me. If the look on his face was shock, now it seems to be enormous sadness.
The voices tell me: He won't kill you. He can't kill you. He can't commit genocide again. As long as we are the only body, he will let us live.
"Is it true?" I ask. "Won't you kill me as long as I have these voices inside me?"
As if he can't look me in the eye, Patrick looks away at the bloody mess he has made out of Jess's poor corpse.
"They died when you killed her
," I say. "The only ones left are inside... me". I recognise that pause in my voice. They're starting to take control of my body. "They're going to... do to me..." I try to speak properly, but other voices are breaking through. This must be what it was like for Jess. "...what they... did to her... aren't they?"
Patrick looks at me helplessly.
"Kill me," I say. "Before it's too late. Kill me before they take over. Make it painless and quick, but kill me. These things, whatever they are, you should have killed them before, when you had the chance. Do it now or this'll just happen again and again".
But from the look on Patrick's face, I know he won't - he can't - bring himself to kill me.
"Okay," I say. I turn and I run to the set of steps leading up the inside of the lighthouse. I'm soon more than ten metres off the ground, but that might not be enough. I turn and see Patrick coming after me. "You can't stop me," I say, and I run some more. I stop and look down. From here, surely...
"If you can't do it," I say, turning to Patrick. "I will".
And I let myself fall.
The voices in my mind scream out for me to stop.
But one voice - my voice - my real voice - tells me I've made the right choice.
I see Patrick lunge forwards to try to catch me.
But I know it's too late.
I'm falling.
The voices are screaming.
As I hit the concrete floor, I scream, but everything goes black before the scream has left my mouth.
21
I slip my shoulder away from Rose's hand and step away.
"It's okay," I say. I can see I've come at a bad time. I'll come back tomorrow, or next week, or some other time. The year 2500, maybe". I go to the door and turn the handle, but it seems to be stuck. I immediately turn and find Rose has followed me over. She's pretty fast when I'm not looking. But now she's standing next to a lamp on a chest, and I can see that the light from the lamp seems to be dying when it gets near to Rose's body. I reach out and pick up the lamp. When I pass it close to her, all the light from the bulb seems to just... disappear, as if it's being drawn into her.