Cassandra: And they all fall down

by Julie Hodgson

  “You can’t keep me here,” Cassandra told him defiantly. “My parents will start to wonder where I am.”

  “You should be thanking me, Cassy,” the doctor told her and took a seat just a little too close to her.

  “Thanking you?”

  “You’re lucky I released you from the trap rather than any of those psychos from the committee. They are gunning for your blood, Cassy.”

  “For my blood? What have I done?” the innocent play sounded like a lie even to her own ears.

  “Come now, Cassy, we both know what you are. I’ve been watching it grow since it was born.”

  “Watching it grow? What are you talking about? Watching what grow?” Cassandra could feel the anger rising in her again. It was such a familiar feeling now, but it shook her every time it came. It was so powerful and overwhelming. She strained at her bonds, but couldn’t free herself.

  “There’s no point keeping it from you now, I suppose,” he giggled and then cleared his throat and lowered his flat hands on the bed, delighted in the power of telling the story at his own pace. Then he finally said, “Your mother came to me for help, Cassandra.”

  “I know. She had IVF. She couldn’t conceive. She had cancer, and she thought she couldn’t have children.”

  “That’s right. I was new to town then. I had been working with the government.” He paused to see if anything was sinking in with his prisoner then continued. “I was a leading researcher in bio-weaponry. Do you know what that is?”

  “I don’t know. Natural weapons, I guess.” The full implications of what he was saying were not getting through to her, and she listened intently to hear the part where she might become involved.

  “My field was genetic manipulation, Cassy. It was my job to research how we could manipulate an organism’s genome using biotechnology. Of course, it was top secret because this kind of thing is viewed as unethical, but it is the future, Cassy.”

  “So, what are you telling me?”

  “I loved my work, but the secret services for whom I worked had very clear guidelines on what I could and couldn’t attempt. It was a theoretic study, one in which I was encouraged to test my theories on mice and rabbits, but I could take things no further. Do you have any idea what that’s like? It’s like asking a chef to draw pictures of meals rather than actually cook them, or forcing a racing driver to sit on the ground in a parking lot holding a dummy steering wheel. I grew restless, Cassy. I knew what I had would work and I needed human subjects.”

  “So, you tested your shit on me?”

  “No, better than that, Cassy. I grew you, using some of what your parents gave me and various samples from my experiments, but you’re making me get ahead of myself.”

  “You grew me?” Now she was furious.

  “Look, Cassandra, if you don’t stop interrupting me, I’ll have to gag you. Is that what you want?” He said it so casually as if he were telling her he would like to make her a cup of coffee.

  Cassandra managed to contain herself to remain quiet.

  “So, back to the story. I did a few tests, which were seen as unethical, which I still struggle to understand. We had a shared vision, to engineer humans who were anything but human, who could run and fight and kill, who could seek out injustice wherever it lurked and annihilate it. This was the vision, Cassy, but it would appear that I was the only scientist intent on making this a reality. My colleagues were happy to speculate and debate, spend their lives drawing diagrams. I wanted the real deal. I wanted to see my creature live. I wanted to see my vision realized. It would shoot razor-sharp vines from its hands that could maim and mangle. It could hear and see and feel and taste and smell in remarkable ways. It could be used to keep our streets free from crime. But they didn’t want it done. They just wanted to know that it could be done. They were quick to throw me to the lions when I started to make it a reality. I was lucky not to be thrown in jail, they told me. Lucky to get away alive, but I would never work again, not as a doctor and not in the field of genetics.”

  Cassandra had no idea what to say about any of this. It just wasn’t sinking in. She knew the creature he was talking about. She had known this creature her whole life, but it couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t.

  “I suppose you’re wondering how I happen to be working as a doctor now,” he said, but the thought hadn’t even occurred to her. “Very simple. I lied. I would never work for the government again or in a reputable practice, but these provincial towns just don’t care about the backgrounds of their doctors. I set up in Scottsville, where you were born. Of course, I had to move to Garden City when you moved, and your naïve parents saw nothing strange in that coincidence at all. It was an inconvenience at first, but then I was grateful. It was another mouthful of American backwash so behind the times that they didn’t care about their doctor’s background. Of course, this was pre-internet and pre-intelligence, but the jokers running this town really take the dumb cake. I can’t say it has particularly improved in the last ten years, but those backward ways have worked to my advantage. The lack of police funding, for example, poor forensics, sparse CCTV. I’m surprised we don’t see a steady migration of criminals determined to steal the town from under the noses of the idiots who run it. And your Captain Barnsley? What about him? He couldn’t detect a bad smell if it were under his nose. This has been our playground, Cassy.”

  “Our playground?” she pulled at her restraints again as it all spun round and round in her mind. Our playground? This was her life, not some kind of game.

  “Of course, I had to keep you safe over the years, to manage my creation, if you will.” He pushed his hand into his ridiculous white hair and hadn’t lost his calm and casual tone. There were no emotions involved here. This was work, all of it, and having Cassandra bound to his lab bed was just another part of that. A planned part, it would seem.

  “The ADD,” Cassandra said slowly to herself.

  “I let you develop naturally in the beginning, but then there was the unfortunate incident with the farm. ADD seemed the perfect diagnosis. The trust that worried parents put into their doctors is just unbelievable. I told your mom and dad to give you a pill every morning, and they did it religiously for ten years. It could have been cyanide or heroin. As it turns out, it was a formula I developed to contain your development. Things were happening too quickly. I had to allow you to mature before the beast could reign.”

  “I’m not a beast!” Cassandra said sadly, but her words lacked conviction, and Dr. Somner ignored them anyway. But those four words continued to play over and over in Cassandra’s mind, gathering momentum and fueling something dark inside of her, summoning everything she didn’t want to be. She clenched her fists and could feel the power they contained. She didn’t even try to stop it happening. Dr. Somner was as worthy of her vengeance as any of the guys she had killed. He had done this. He had done all of this, and now she could almost taste his blood and feel the thick glug of it trickling down her throat, circulating around her body, quenching that part of her that he had created. The monster, the beast, the creature. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the moment when her tendrils would burst out of the backs of her hands. She visualized scalping him. She had to look at that pathetic mop of white hair for too many years. She pictured her razor-sharp tentacles whipping it clean off and then she would play with him. His bloody skull would be exposed, and she would sink a tendril into his brain and watch his eyes roll into his head and the thick blood spew from his mouth. She willed it with every bit of strength she had and could feel the power brewing within her, but nothing happened. She closed her eyes even tighter and clenched her fists until the nails cut into the palms of her hands, but, again, her beast refused to emerge.

  “Of course, I have you back on the tablets now,” Dr. Somner told her and when Cassandra opened her eyes she could see that he hadn’t moved an inch from the side of her bed. He was watching her with his arms folded and a curious smile on his face. He looked far too pleased w
ith himself and Cassandra would have given everything to see that smile slashed away to a pulp. Cassandra’s shoulders sank as she abandoned her attempts to free herself and exercise her powers. She had no powers. She was completely vulnerable to whatever this psychopath wanted to do to her.

  “So, we find ourselves at a new beginning, Cassy,” he told her.

  The way he said her name made her stomach twist into knots.

  “We have no time to waste. Although those government wankers didn’t want me to make you, they would be very interested to see the results of my seventeen-year experiment. They wouldn’t have to actually take responsibility for having created you, but the hypocrites would have no problem reaping the benefits.”

  “The benefits? What benefits? What are you talking about?”

  “You’re a law-enforcement dream, Cassy. The threat of you would send even the most hardened criminal into retirement. And then there are the global implications. You could be sent into war zones all over the world – a violent, incredibly fast weapon beyond the enemy imagination.” Dr. Somner looked at Casandra’s face and said, “Don’t look so worried. That would never actually happen.”

  Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You are what would be called the first generation. They would have to contain you and experiment on you, learn what they could from you so they could develop an army of mutants. Theoretical, remember? The government would always rather create a dossier than implement change. You, my sweet mutation, will spend the rest of your life much as you have spent the last thirty minutes – bound to a bed while nasty men do their nasty experiments on you. It’s what you’ve been training for your whole life. At last, you will realize your potential.”

  “But you can’t do this!” Cassandra screamed at him. “What have you got to gain from giving me to the government? They turned their backs on you, remember? Why would you just give me over to them?”

  “Let’s just take care of something first, shall we?” he said softly, sounding every bit the caring doctor, but his actions completely contradicted his compassionate words. He reached above her head, and she got a whiff of his chemical perspiration. He dragged a strange-looking implement from behind her and before she had a chance to question what it was and what was happening, he forced it into her mouth. He held the back of her head firmly to keep the apparatus in place, and then she felt the cold plastic inside of her mouth swelling. It grew until there was no way of removing it, and then Dr. Somner released her.

  “Another invention of mine,” he beamed. “Gags are surprisingly coveted items, Cassy, by perverts and criminals alike.”

  Cassandra tried her hardest to push the awful contraption out of her mouth, but it was wedged in there tight. She tried to make a sound, but absolutely nothing came out.

  “That’s the best bit,” the doctor added. “It completely filters sound. I call it the silencer. What do you think?” He waited for an answer with a sadistic smile on his face. “No? Nothing to say. I think you like it. No? Well, you need to get used to it, because it’s going to be your new best friend. I just need to get a line in so I can feed you. A drip. This is going to be great, Cassy. Then I need to get you packaged and ready to go. And to answer your question; why am I doing this if the government turned their back on me? Cold hard cash. Do you have any idea how many millions of dollars you’re worth, Cassy? This time next week I will be sitting in a street café in Paris, contemplating ways to spend my retirement. And you will be … well, let’s just say you should get comfortable.”

  Cassandra strained and spat and writhed against the bed, desperately trying to free herself, but it was completely useless. Each wrist and ankle was tied so tightly that she could feel the material cutting through her flesh, and the silencer was also going nowhere. This didn’t stop her body from thrashing around as the panic battered her insides. This couldn’t be it. She couldn’t just disappear. Her family would come look for her? But how would they ever find her in secret governmental labs? She could feel the tears cascading down her face as the energy drained from her body, and the realization was starting to infect her. There was absolutely nothing she could do. She could wail and thrash and cry and scream and kick and pull, but there was no possible way of freeing herself. The silent tears were relentless now, and it felt as if she might choke as the emotion gripped at her throat. All the while, Dr. Somner watched her with his rotten fascination and a half smile that challenged her to keep going. If for no other reason, she prayed she could free herself just so she could smack that pathetic smile off his face. It was more than five minutes until she was completely still again, exhaustion and hopelessness forcing the movement from her.

  “Finished?” Dr. Somner asked, and when he got no reply, he opened his mouth to continue speaking but was interrupted by the ringing of a doorbell. “Now, who could that be?” he asked in a cartoonish voice. In his mind, he must have already started his retirement. Life was great, his life’s work had come together. He wasn’t going to let an evening caller spoil his fun.

  “Better get that,” he told her. “Looks suspicious if I don’t. Now, don’t you go anywhere.”

  When Dr. Somner opened the door to the lab, Cassandra could see red and green patterned wallpaper in the room beyond. She had thought herself to be in some kind of secret facility, but now she realized she was in his house. She had seen that wallpaper before. She had only been there once, to collect an out of hours’ prescription for her mother, but it was unmistakable. His taste was as poor as his morality. The doorbell rang again, and Cassandra now realized how close she was to the front door; she could hear it clearly. Maybe Dr. Somner had left the door open on purpose, to taunt her, so she would know that escape was so near yet so far. She didn’t even need to strain to hear, and when Dr. Somner opened the door, she could quite easily hear the visitor beyond.

  “Dr. Somner, I know it’s late, but I need to have a quick word with you. Do you mind if I come in?”

  It was Captain Barnsley. She would recognize that tired, desperate voice anywhere. Cassandra tried to call out, although she knew she had been silenced, and when nothing came out, she began thrashing around on the bed again, pulling at her restraints with all of her strength. She had to get free. She had to let him know what this monster had done. She had to let him know she was there before it was too late. Before her life slipped away from her and she was forced to spend the rest of her days as a lab rat, but her restraints were unsympathetic to the desperation of her predicament and her will to contact the cop in the other room. If anything, they were tightening around her as she tried to free herself. Her throat was raw now from screaming and crying, but it was all for nothing. Only silence came out of the lab.

  “I won’t keep you long, Dr. Somner,” Captain Barnsley told him, and now that Cassandra was sure she was powerless to get his attention, she simply listened to what he said and hoped Dr. Somner’s arrogance would trip him up. He was so close to the open door, Cassandra could hear him moving around the room as he spoke. It was a quick visit. He didn’t want to take a seat. He wanted to investigate. Or, at least, she hoped he did.

  “I just need to ask you a few questions about some of your patients.”

  “Is this about Cassandra Jones again?” Dr. Somner asked. “I told you all I could on your last visit.”

  “In a roundabout way, it’s about her, but I’m more interested in some of your other patients, Dr. Somner. Do you know Abe Johnson, Jason Notts, Spike Blue, Marcus Bulstradt, Tyler Davis and Daniel Snape?”

  There was a pause, and for a split second the desperate peril of Cassandra’s situation fell away, and her eyes bulged as her ears strained to hear the answer.

  “Of course, Captain Barnsley. I’m familiar with most young people from the town.”

  “So, you are their practitioner?”

  “I wouldn’t know offhand. I would have to check, but I believe I have seen all of those boys on occasion. I read about the tragic demise of Abe, Jason and Spike and Marcus
in the newspaper, Captain. Anything I can do to assist in your inquiries and I am at your service. Are the reports of a wolf true?”

  “A wolf? You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers.”

  Cassandra was holding her breath now, hanging on the captain’s every word.

  “Tyler Davis and Daniel Snape were found murdered earlier this evening, in the same way as the other four. These two were responsible for the attack on a young woman in the underpass just a few hours ago.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “I have been investigating these boys, Dr. Somner, and they are good guys. Everyone has their secrets, but without fail, their friends and family were shocked that they could have been involved in sex attacks. They were all excitable characters, but loving and kind.”

  “So, what can I do to help you?”

  “ADD,” Dr. Somner. “You were treating all six of them for ADD. Is that correct?”

  “I would have to check my files, but I think it could be correct.”

  “Weren’t they all attending your support group every Saturday, Doctor, for boys with ADD?”

  “That might be the case.”

  “Wouldn’t you say that’s quite a coincidence?”

  There was a pause, and Cassandra pictured Dr. Somner flushing red, wordless, caught out, and then she heard her name again.

  “You were treating Cassandra Jones for ADD, too, Dr. Somner. That’s correct, isn’t it?”