The Doctor

by Jennifer Bull

  Finally I came to a long corridor I was sure I hadn’t been in before. At least, I hoped I hadn’t. I slowed down and looked around carefully. There was a wooden door at the end of the corridor, but otherwise it looked the same as all the others. I wondered where the door might lead to — it had to be worth a try. I moved closer to the wall and crept forwards, trying to stay in the shadows. I reached the door and put my ear up against it to listen. Nothing. Just silence. I really should have been more concerned about the silence. He always knew what was going on. No matter what I did he knew everything. I should have been worried that I had got this far without anyone noticing, or at least it seemed like no one had noticed. But I wasn’t. I wanted to escape more than anything, and this was my chance. I took it.

  Pushing open the door just a little, I squeezed through the space it had left me. I couldn’t believe it, I was actually outside. Breathing in the freezing cold air, I shivered, pulling my thin cardigan closer to me. It wasn’t much warmer in my cell, but here there was a breeze that seemed to be grasping at me all over, sneaking in through my cardigan to get at my skin. Looking around, I saw that I was standing near a great forest, the tops of the trees hidden in a thick mist. The moonlight was shining brightly, leaving shadows on the floor that seemed to be creeping towards me. I shivered again. It was always night-time here. I didn’t even know what the sun looked like, though my mother had tried to describe it to me. I just wish she was here to guide me now, she always knew what to do.

  A noise from the old house behind me brought me to my senses. I needed to run! The trees would surely provide some cover, give me the best chance of escape. I took off, my bare feet landing heavily on the broken twigs and wet leaves that littered the floor. Breathing through the pain, I kept running. If I stopped he would catch me. I just had to keep moving.

  The trees grew thicker and thicker as I ran further into the forest. Even the moonlight was struggling to find me now. I was covered in scratches from the branches that lay in wait as I ran past. But I couldn’t stop. I mustn’t, he’d catch me if I did.

  My foot landed on a sharp stone and I fell to the ground, crying out in pain. My ankle twisted as I went down and it was throbbing relentlessly. I grasped my ankle hard, trying to lessen the shooting pains running up my leg. My breathing was raspy now, the damp air filling my lungs. Resting my head against a rough tree trunk, I waited for the pain to subside. That’s when I heard it.

  Crash.

  It sounded like a giant moving through the forest, tearing up everything in its path. I kept deathly still.

  Snap.

  The slow crunching sound of a tree branch being ripped off filled the air. I had to move. Now.

  Holding my breath, I got up and placed my weight gingerly onto my damaged ankle. Okay, I could just about tolerate it. I limped forwards, holding on to the tree branches as I went. He was thundering somewhere off to my right so I headed to the left. I had to keep quiet now, it was my only chance.

  I moved as quickly as I could through the trees, flinching at every crunch underfoot, every thud of a branch that hit me when I failed to get out of the way in time. I could still hear him moving around through the forest. The noises were getting nearer and the misty air seemed to be hindering my ability to breathe. I moved faster, as fast as my ankle would let me. I squeezed through the trees ahead; if they got any denser I wouldn’t be able to get through. The crashing sounds were getting closer and closer. He must know I was here.

  He was coming up behind me. There was nowhere to hide, he’d find me if I tried. My mind had gone blank as I stared around at the trees. I couldn’t climb any; he would just tear them down. I don’t think he’d care if he killed me while doing so. Maybe he’d be disappointed for a few minutes that his toy was broken. But then he’d just get a new toy.

  Rip.

  Another tree damaged. He’d see me any second. Suddenly I spotted a hole through the bushes ahead. If I could squeeze in there maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t see me. I hopped over and leant down, crawling into the hole. It was quite small and I was getting scratched all over, but I didn’t care. If it led me to safety it would be worth it. The hole was actually a tunnel, and I could see the light coming in from the other side. If I could just shimmy through I’d be free. I dragged myself along, grabbing the leaves and branches and pulling hard. I didn’t have far to go.

  Crash.

  He was right behind me now. I just had to hope he wouldn’t spot me. I was almost fully in the hole, out of sight. Almost.

  Two great hands grabbed hold of each foot and started to pull me backwards. The pain in my ankle sprang back to life and shot through my whole body, causing an involuntary whimper. I stretched forwards as far as I could and my hands grasped hold of the first thing they met. It was warm. A pair of hands. Someone had reached in the other side of the hole and was pulling me forwards. Pulling me away from him. And they were winning.

  Inch by inch I crept forwards through the hole. It was out of my control now. I could see the light getting bigger and bigger as I reached the exit. Finally his hands let go of my feet and I was swiftly pulled the rest of the way. I threw my arms around my rescuer and buried my face in his clothes. The relief coursing through my body was unbearable. Tears were streaming down my face and I breathed deeply.

  My rescuer smelt familiar.

  It was as if time had stopped when I looked up at the face. I could hear nothing, see nothing, feel nothing other than the person in front of me. The last person I wanted to see. Small beady eyes stared back at me, almost completely hidden under the bushy brown eyebrows. A large beard hung in tangles from his chin, and he was grinning maniacally down at me. His hands held on to me tightly. Too tightly.

  It was him. Him and his mind tricks. There was nothing else I could do; I screamed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Jack's Story

  I stepped out of my 4x4 and onto the pavement. The sun was struggling to break through the clouds and it was much too cold outside. The kind of cold that makes me want to get straight back in the car and turn the heat on full blast. Pulling my vest tighter to me, I hooked my thumbs through the armholes and shivered. I thought spring was supposed to be warm.

  The passenger door slammed shut and my partner came to stand next to me, all six foot four inches of him. It was useful having a partner that looked like he could take on most wrestlers and win with his hands tied behind his back. Not that I was small, mind you, but anyone could look short next to Tez. The muscly build didn’t hurt either.

  Tez and I were part of the P.A.D.S team; the Paranormal Agency’s Detective Service. Always the first ones on the scene of any crime that involved unusual activity. The serva—that’s what we paranormals call all the non-paranormals, observant creatures that they are—Crime Scene Investigators didn’t know we existed. We come and go before they even know a crime has been committed. It was our job to remove any evidence of paranormal activity, and to track down the criminals that the servas would never find.

  ‘Gonna be a long day Jack,’ Tez sighed, straightening his vest. He never could get it to fit quite right. I’d recommended he try a larger size, but apparently my input was not required. I think he just liked to impress the pretty girl who sat on reception at headquarters, but my input on that wasn’t appreciated either.

  ‘Isn’t every day a long day?’ I said truthfully.

  We were standing at the gates to the local college, which was eerily quiet considering it was mid morning. A group of pale looking students languished at the side of the building, with a couple of the Paranormal Agency’s Police Service team, who were taking statements. We’d probably have to take the statements again; the P.A.P.S and P.A.D.S teams were notoriously competitive. At last count we were winning, but they weren’t far behind. Right now, however, we had a situation to take control of. Quite a few of the students were nursing injuries, some looked worse than others. The report we’d received said that a young male had suddenly started attacking the other students
, and that he was not quite himself. Shame the P.A.P.S had got here first, or we might actually have a little more information to go on.

  Over the last five years we had seen similar cases where victims had been turned into some kind of monster, werewolves seemed the most common, and they had started to attack friends and family. After the third crime scene appeared we suspected we were dealing with a serial killer. After the fourth we knew we were. If our suspicions about today were correct then this was number twenty-two… that we knew of.

  I looked at Tez, who took a deep breath. ‘Let’s go.’

  We walked tentatively through the open gates, waved a greeting to the P.A.P.S, and went into the old school building. Pushing open the door, we moved into the corridor and surveyed the scene. There was a lot of blood everywhere, but thankfully no bodies. It must belong to the survivors outside.

  The corridor was deserted, save for the bodily fluids. A number of open locker doors to our right suggested it had been vacated in a hurry. There was a wailing sound coming from one of the rooms up ahead so we moved in that direction, taking care not to disturb anything. There was no sign of any monsters here so far, but the college was pretty big, so he could be hiding out of sight, or more likely he’d already disappeared and we would be getting a call about a new crime scene shortly.

  I had my camera out and was taking photos of everything as we went. We didn’t collect evidence at crime scenes, we let the serva CSIs do that. We just accessed their databases once their results were in. Saves a heck of lot of time. I prefer taking my own photos though. Knowing that those responsible could have any number of paranormal abilities has you looking at a crime scene a little differently to a serva.

  Both Tez and I were recruited specifically for the job because of our abilities. I was able to access the minds of others, to see and manipulate memories that they often didn’t even know they had; telepathy the servas call it. Tez was telekinetic; he could manipulate objects with his mind. It had pulled us out of a tight spot on more than one occasion.

  We reached the room the noises were coming from and opened the door, keeping out of sight, just in case. I peered around the doorframe and found a group of young women huddled together in one corner. Clearly there was no threat in there.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I said gently, ‘we’re investigators.’ I pulled off my badge and showed it to the nearest girl who barely glanced at it. The girls all looked like they were in shock, which was understandable considering what they had most likely witnessed. The room looked fairly clear, but there were spots of blood here and there amongst the tables and chairs.

  ‘Is anyone hurt?’ Tez asked, entering behind me. I swear a couple of the girls instantly looked a whole lot better. One was even checking her hair was still in place. I turned to Tez and raised my eyebrows at him questioningly, but he just grinned. I wish I knew how he did it.

  In answer to his question, most of the girls shook their heads but two came forward from the back and showed their injuries. The first had superficial scratches all over her and a broken wrist from the look of it. The other was a little worse. She had deep cuts across her face and arms, and her hand was clasped tightly on her shoulder. Blood was seeping through her fingers and she just shook her head, tears running down her face.

  ‘Come on,’ Tez said softly, placing a hand on her back and leading her to the other side of the room, ‘Let me take a look.’

  She’d be fine once Tez had manipulated the wounds and stopped the bleeding. He had to leave her injured still, to avoid suspicion from the servas, but she would be out of danger at least. I turned my attention back to the other girls.

  ‘Can anyone tell me what happened here?’ I asked, trying to ignore the fact that they were all concentrating on what Tez was doing. I cleared my throat and asked the question again.

  They seemed to snap back to the present and a deluge of responses came at me as they all tried to talk at once.

  ‘It came out of nowhere…’

  ‘The monster, he just attacked us…’

  ‘We ran and hid. He was attacking everyone in sight.’

  ‘Can we go home?’

  I put my hands up to stop them talking. ‘One at a time ladies, I’m not a mind reader.’ Okay, so that was a bit of a lie. I focussed on the girl nearest me. She was petite, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a pretty girl. She was chewing her nails nervously, and looking like throwing up was not totally out of the question. I motioned that the other girls should sit down and I would speak to them individually. Taking the petite girl to one side I sat her down and promised we would have a quick chat and then she could go home.

  ‘I—It was,’ she looked like she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. I encouraged her, with a little help of the paranormal persuasion, and she continued with more confidence, ‘We were attacked during class. One of the students started yelling, screaming in pain, and then… Then he changed. He grew hair all over his face, his hands. He didn’t look like a person any more. His fingernails turned into huge claws and he left the classroom, but he attacked Charlotte and Jessica first.’

  As she was talking, I could see images in my mind. They were her memories of the event. Some she could remember, others I had pulled from her subconscious. She was crying now from the effort of reliving the attack and I decided that was quite enough. I’d got a clear idea of what had happened so I wiped the memories and told her there had been a break in at the school and ambulances were on their way to make sure everyone was okay. I sent her to sit with either Charlotte or Jessica, the girl who Tez had taken care of, and who was looking much better already. Before the petite girl reached her I made sure her memories were wiped too.

  It took another ten minutes to speak with the remaining girls but they had very little to add. This was definitely the work of the serial killer. There was no doubt about it. After the fourth crime, his methods had earned him a nickname, the Doctor. We just didn’t yet know how he managed to complete his surgery. All the victims had been physically fine, before the transformations. Those who had returned to human form didn’t have a scratch on them.

  By the time we were done talking to all the girls and wiping their memories, the ambulance crew had turned up. Jake and Mel appeared at the door to the classroom, grinning as usual. Like us, they were always first on a paranormal scene, but they worked at a serva hospital. We couldn’t have serva paramedics turning up before we had finished with a scene, so the agency made sure we had people stationed at every hospital in the country.

  Mel swiftly checked out all the injuries and confirmed there was nothing life-threatening. With a quick wave to us, she led them all outside to the waiting ambulance, and Jake stopped behind.

  ‘Another Doctor case I’m afraid,’ Tez told him, ‘Looks like most of the kids made it out safely, but we have to go and check the rest of the building.’

  ‘Alright, we’ll take those who are injured to the hospital and pop back in case you need us. Give me a call once it’s clear, and I hope you don’t find anyone else.’ Jake shook hands and left, following Mel and the girls back outside.

  ‘Okay,’ I said with a deep breath, ‘Let’s check out the rest of the place. I hope we don’t find anyone, or anything, else either.’

  ‘Better not. I’ve got my good shirt on today,’ Tez said gruffly as he walked out the classroom. I chuckled and followed him out. Every time he wore his good shirt he always managed to get it messy. Usually with blood. Mama Tez was not impressed when he went home dirty, and you do not want to mess with Mama Tez.

  We walked down the empty corridor listening carefully for any more sounds. It was so quiet, we could just hear our own footsteps echoing as we walked. Checking every room as we passed, we made sure there were no others hiding, or hurt, anywhere. There wouldn’t be much time left before the serva police arrived. The alarm must have been sounded by now.

  In the fifth classroom we found our first fatality. This one hadn’t been as lucky as the girls. It looked like he had been
attacked, there were fresh claw marks across his chest, but they weren’t that deep. The head wound was quite bad and there was blood on a nearby desk; most likely the werewolf had startled him, he’d fallen and cracked his head on the way down. Tez made a call to Jake who was already on his way back to the college from the hospital.

  Deciding there was nothing more we could do for him, we made our way back out into the corridor and continued our search. The next five rooms were all clear and I was feeling a little less tense.

  ‘These students were very lucky,’ Tez said, ‘This could have been so much worse.’

  ‘Tell that to the guy in classroom five,’ I replied, stepping past him.

  Tez grunted and moved on to the next classroom. I followed, snapping pictures as we went. All the remaining rooms were clear; the students had actually been very lucky. Usually these crime scenes contained more victims than this. Tez’s phone rang and he picked it up.

  ‘One fatality, a handful injured, and a lot of scared students… Okay, we’re almost done.’ He put the phone back in his pocket. ‘Let’s finish up with the pictures and get back to the office. Serva CSIs are on their way, we’ve only got fifteen minutes until they’re here.’

  ‘Fine, I’m almost done,’ I said, putting my camera away, ‘I want to have a final look around before we leave, I feel like we’re missing something.’

  Tez sighed, ‘You know we’re not Jack. We never miss anything, because there’s never anything to bloody find at these scenes. The Doctor never comes himself, and half the time the werewolf or other creature has already left. Give it a day or so and it’ll turn back up. Hopefully before it kills anyone else.’