by Andy Tilley
‘Jack, cover the door!’
Yes, my dad. My dad, who’s just shoved me so hard in the back that I’m now sat on the floor rubbing the pain out of my elbow. Knocked aside just so that he can reset his damned defences! This mistrust of Keltz is really starting to piss me off. It really is time that I…..hang on a minute, did he just say Jack? My bewilderment wipes every other emotion from my face.
‘Yeah it’s me Cristian. Long story but hey, what d’you know, Jack’s back!’
As I stand to hug him (possibly a little inappropriate having barged past my father to do this to a man whom I’ve only ever spent a few hours with!) I ask him how this could be, remind him that I saw him die less than a week ago.
‘Takes more than a knife wielding nutter to do for Jack Noble lad but I tell you, that Setantii is one pissed off silkie now!’
‘Yes indeed. And it’s going to take more than a few gun toting men to stop her finishing you off too. Jack Noble.’
Jack releases me, raises his gun to hip height and points it at Keltz who doesn’t flinch but does carry on talking; calmly and clearly.
‘Okay I’m silkie too but believe me, that’s where the similarities between me and Setantii. Is it really so difficult to accept that we’re not all the same, that I’m not willing to stand idle as one of my kind persists in slaughtering and maiming men? I mean, come on people! You only have to pick up a paper to see that your lot have the same problem. Front page you’re all ‘oooh, aren’t we good, aren’t we humane’ and slapping yourselves on the back for sending blankets and a couple of sniffer dogs to an earthquake zone but turn to page two and one of you just shot the kids after stabbing mummy to death. Evil deeds done by individuals. And it’s the same for us. Of course Setantii would argue that her fight for her offspring justifies any cruelty but she seems to conveniently forget that those children belonged to someone else before she laid the seeds that would one day steal their souls.’
Compelling stuff this and everyone seems gripped by it. Growing in confidence Keltz takes a small step away from the wall and relaxes his stance. His arms raise and open slightly but no one responds; no weapon is raised or light shone back in his face.
‘So please believe me when I say that silkies don’t have to destroy to survive. Take me for instance, Donald Frasier. I didn’t raid this man, charge in to his head one sunny afternoon and evict him from his life. No, when I found Donald he was all but dead, crumpled in a heap at the base of the cliff that he’d slipped from during a spring hike. He was broken, his mind and spirit irreparable by your medicine but just as his life was about to ebb away I stepped in. It took me a couple of hours but I finally got him fixed him up. Good as new except that Donald had gone. And that’s how it should be. That’s how it will be too if we can only work together on this. Setantii is a rogue. She’s gone too far and I’ll tell you now, I’m not the only one who thinks that her carrying on and contaminating the silkie entity like this cannot be allowed to continue. Gentlemen, it’s already been decided. Her line will be purged.’
In a final, dramatic gesture to let everyone know that Setantii’s fate has already been taken out of his hands, Keltz stuffs them firmly into his trouser pockets.
‘So what do you say eh lads? You gonna let me help you sort this bitch out once and for all?’
The angle of Jack’s gun tilts slowly down until it’s pointing to the ground. My dad is thinking too, tapping his torch against his leg. I hadn’t noticed until now but he looks terrible; torn dirty clothes smattered with dried blood. He mumbles something to Jack and then looks at me, but not for advice. I can see from his serious brow that he has to know something more before deciding what happens next.
‘Give us a minute Keltz. Cristian, Jack, we need to talk. You too princess, give me your hand and we’ll get you some juice in the medical suite. Jeremy, take Jack’s gun and just make sure he doesn’t move. We won’t be long.’
As we walk toward the back of the room that name rolls around my head. Jeremy…Jeremy…Jeremy! Of course, that’s who this third man is! Jeremy Hill, our old family doctor. God he was always so crisp and clean cut, so together. I guess that’s why it took me so long to put a name to his drawn, dishevelled face. The last time I saw him was at the hospital I think. He’d been escorting Mrs Williams, Rose’s mum when she accosted me in the corridor. That was the last time that I had seen Rose too and this sudden memory ambushes me, hits me hard enough to exhale a whisper of her name across my lips. My father stops so sharply that I bump him forward onto the door which he was about to open. Bizarrely, he spins around to offer an apology before I can begin mine.
‘I’m sorry son, I should have mentioned it earlier but there’s something you need to know before we go in here.’
I know what it is! I can see in his eyes what he wants to tell me! Rose is behind this door so I repeat her name, only louder this time with a rising intonation that turns it into a question. My dad answers me with a crooked smile. He’s turning back to the door, preparing to open it but he’s taking far too long! Barging past him I grab and twist the handle, burst into the room. My god she is more beautiful than I’d dared to remember! How did I ever consider abandoning her? I see nothing else, only my porcelain princess lain on crisp white linen barely creased by her delicate presence. So still, so peaceful as if, well as if…
‘She’s okay dad right?’
‘She is Cristian, she is. Although there hasn’t been much improvement as far as the coma goes but Jeremy thinks that…’
His voice fades away as I drift into an alternate space and time, a place where only Rose and I exist. Frozen here, unable to move yet I still drift toward her, drawn to her bedside. It’s only when I’ve taken her hand in mine that I can hear dad again, finishing what ever it was that he was saying about her condition. I’ve arrived on the far side of what would best be described as an operating theatre. Thankfully Rose isn’t connected to any of the machines here though and the gentle rise and fall of her chest tells me that everything is okay, that I haven’t lost her.
‘Christian, there’ll be time enough to spend with Rose but for now, we really do have to talk.’
A firm hand accompanies this soft voice, grasps my elbow and coaxes me away. As dad walks me over to join Jack and Christine I notice another strange feature of this subterranean world that he and his associates have created. In the left hand corner of the room there is a glass box, floor to ceiling and ten feet square. At its centre there is a large leather chair. Not built for comfort though this seat, more like something a dentist might use, if he was fixing fillings for the Spanish Inquisition that is. Straps and tubes lace it, the tubes disappearing into the sturdy metal pillar which supports the whole contraption. There are only two other objects of interest here; a large container of clear liquid suspended high above the chair and a frightened, ginger haired boy sat in it.
‘His name is Jonathon. That’s all you need to know for now.’
I have no choice to accept this because I am immediately dragged into a hushed and urgent discussion.
‘So? Do we trust him or not? Cristian, you know him best.’
‘Awe, come on Jack. I’ve only spent a couple of days with him. You’re the silkie expert here.’
‘Well excuse me pal, but you seem to be forgetting that you are a fuckin’ silkie!’
‘Hey, now just mind you language Jack!’
Christine is grimacing madly in her effort to stifle a huge grin at hearing such grown up talk. It’s a rather comical attempt at presenting herself as being old enough to hear swear words without giggling. She isn’t old enough, she’s just a kid and as I smile with her it strikes me how easily I forget that she too has a silkie inside. What Jack has said (however crudely) should be true though. Both me and my sis (and especially me) should know Keltz better than anyone here but I don’t feel like we do. I certainly don’t. That sense of being something new that I initially felt back on Sule Skerry really has faded. Yes, I can fly with pigeons or climb
inside a strangers head but do I feel fundamentally different to how I did a week ago? No, I wouldn’t say so. It’s as though my human and silkie ingredients blend so well with one another that, rather than change this whole process has been one of consolidation. So does this give me any better insight into Keltz? No, and I guess that’s because I never met Donald. What I do know is that we really have very little choice but to trust him, at least for now, so here goes.
‘Okay okay. I don’t like doing this but just hold on. Let me concentrate a moment, try and connect.’
I stare at Keltz, count to three and then close my eyes. One deep, deep breath. Hold. Exhale slowly.
‘He’s telling the truth, so what next?’
I don’t feel at all bad about moving this along with a lie. At least now we are making some kind of progress, putting focus back where it should be; on finding a way back to fresh air.
‘Well in that case there are two things that struck me. First, that Setantii is pretty much finished. If there are others, and god knows how many of her kind that have turned on her and decided she must be dealt with then I don’t really see how three extra men are going to be much help. No, this is good, and I’m thinking that all we need to do is keep our heads down, stick together and sit it out.’
‘Down here? No way dad! I’m not…’
‘No, not down here. I’m thinking of the manor. We can all stay there, keep an eye on each other, set up defences and bolt holes that we can easily get to if we need to batten down. So what do you think Jack?’
Jack obviously thinks this is a great idea. The most recent confrontation with an angry silkie appears to have completely knocked the fight out of him too. I must have missed something here though because with a strategy agreed both Jack and my dad turn to me.
‘Which brings me to the second point. It isn’t just Setantii that has to go, Keltz was very clear about this. It’s her line that has to be ended and that means you two.’
My dad pulls my sister and I close, hugs us both tightly, one under each arm. I will never forget his face at this moment. His lips are trembling, his eyes brimmed with tears. It isn’t long before these tears roll down huge cheeks and moisten the corners of a smile that’s bursting with pride. This is not pride for us though. This is for Thomas Chevalier; a man who has battled over a decade to rescue his children from the devil and who has finally arrived within sight of that goal.
Chapter 37
Actually, this is a lot comfier than I thought it would be. The straps are firm but not that tight, except the one around my forehead perhaps which is very irritating. Mind you, I always hated having my head restrained, be it by a motor cycle helmet or during a rugby scrum. I wonder if the garage has fixed my bike yet? Jim reckoned no more than a couple of weeks to get the parts an..
‘There, it’s in.’
I have to hand it to Jeremy. I didn’t feel a thing. The needle he is wiping down and securing with tape is pretty big too, perhaps the largest of the three that he’s inserted into various veins around my body. Thankfully, this one flopping onto the back of my hand is the last of them.
‘So what’s next?’
Dr Hill looks confounded by my question, as if this point in these magical proceedings would always be so far far away that it didn’t ever really need considering. But this is exactly where we are; on the point of introducing a purging, diamond laced synthetic fluid into my body. For my part I was expecting there to be some kind of internal conflict, to be fighting myself over this decision to separate into component parts but it seems that Kingdom agrees with Christian; it was fun whilst it lasted but this relationship’s going nowhere, especially with my love for Rose being so strong. Three’s a crowd as they say. Hey now there’s a thing, I wonder if we’ll still be friends?
‘You seem very relaxed about all this Cristian.’
I can see Rose through the glass box. She is all I want.
‘And why wouldn’t I be? So, what’s next?’
Hill reaches down, collects something from beneath the chair. When he stands again he’s holding a mask in one hand and the end of a tube in the other. The mask is clear and light but it’s also big and the thought of it clinging to my face causes me to tense and flinch against the constraints.
‘Are you having problems Cristian? You know, with your, well with your silkie side’
‘No, no. I just hate masks that’s all. Or anything on my face really. Is it absolutely necessary?’
‘Oh yes, I’m afraid it is. This is to make sure that when the silkie leaves it doesn’t hang around here.’
The doctor waves the tube in front of my face then sets about connecting it to the mask as he explains how this will work. I hadn’t realised, but the walls of this box are in fact laminated sheets of glass sandwiching a thin film of pure carbon. Hence the grey tint I suppose which I’d thought was simply a cool look and not functional at all. Silkie proof Dr Hill reckons. The mask and the tube have a similar hue so I guess they’re the same type of material. Apparently the idea is that when Kingdom is coaxed into separation, when he’s chased out of me by the poisonous diamond drip, then the mask and the tube will guide him to the surface. Somewhere in the woods above there’s a rat busily nibbling away at a piece of plastic pipe and he’s in for a hell of a shock! I have to admit, this all seems to be remarkably well thought out. But I have to stop thinking about that now and concentrate on keeping it together. The mask is here, sucking onto my cheeks and pushing my eyes together. This is the right thing to do isn’t it? Bloody hell this mask is tight! Why so tight? Yes, remember this is all about my Rose. Hill has left the room, already closed and sealed the box leaving me alone. And then there’s the other thing too, that thing Keltz said about Setantii’s line having to end anyway so…oh hang on, what’s that? Looks like a control panel or a monitoring station or something has just popped open in the wall outside. Hill is standing in front of it, checking stuff out then….shit, here we go, he’s pushed a button!
Beneath the chair a pump has started turning and sucking and pushing. Okay, now breathe Cristian, because if you mess this up not only will you lose Rose but you’ll spend the rest of your life hiding from silkie hit men. Yeah, imagine that, so…uh oh, the pump’s hunted down my right hand already and the first batch of blood is on its way! Into the tube I go, down below to be processed. Damn these straps are so tight! I’m surprised any blood can flow at all. A soft click a whirr and a beep, all sequenced above my head. I can’t see properly but, ah here it comes, the diamond stuff dropping down its tube past the chair on its way to blend and cure me. Do I really want to be cured? Wouldn’t it be simpler for Rose to simply learn to love me again? Keltz’s looks happy about all this though. I can see him stood next to my dad, whispering something in his ear from time to time, all the while smiling. Why is that? Why is he the only one smiling? And it’s not a warm, supportive ‘you’ll be fine and we’re all behind you’ smile either. No, this is more of a ‘mwah ha ha, I love it when an evil plan comes together’ kind of twisted grin. It is undeniably sinister. Another pump starts, another tube fills with blood and my panic ratchets up. The straps tighten, the mask clamps harder. Bang! Bang! Bang! Three thunderous booms ripple the sheets of glass around me. What the hell made this noise I have no idea but outside the box heads are turning, guns raising. Everything is happening so fast now! The third and final tube jabbed into my left arm jerks, demands my attention with a sharp jolt of pain. I can just about manage to tip my eyes down far enough to watch as a pallid red liquid rises through it from the floor. This is it. This is the end. The final phase of a sequence that has collected, cleaned, mixed and prepared a lethal mixture that‘s now on its way to invade and take my Kingdom from me! And there is nothing I can do about it except scream into this bloody mask and jack my eyes open as wide as they will go. It’s almost here! Less than an arm’s length away this red venom snaking up my leg and still no one does anything! Up over my knee now, crossing my thigh, lifting itself up, inches from the sin
gle steel fang through which it will enter my veins. No more than a small section of clear tube to fill, now a slither, now falling back and stopping its advance? The door is already open by the time I have the confidence to look away from the tube. Jeremy is back in the box. Looking past him I can see the woman whose sudden appearance must have something to do with Hill’s last minute intervention. I watch her as the doctor removes his needles from me, quickly but firmly. Once satisfied that I’m fully detached he finally prises the mask from my face. I breathe deeply, calm myself and allow him to remove the rest of the straps until I can stand free.