My legs couldn’t take the running any longer. To say they felt like jelly would be an understatement. They felt swollen, but empty. It was like they didn’t belong to me anymore. I don’t even know how my legs were still moving, and I was pretty sure my brain wasn’t telling them how to anymore, it was too tired. My arms were still moving too, keeping the momentum going. My chest was hurting from the effort of my heavy breathing, but the end of the corridor just wasn’t getting any closer.
I kept my eyes open, looking left and right, I needed to get away from here. There must be an exit somewhere. A door, or another corridor. I couldn’t see anything but wall. Lots and lots of wall.
I ran a while longer before my body decided it had had enough. I collapsed on to the floor, exhausted. Drifting in and out of consciousness, my mind was racing with images of endless corridors and spinning lights. My chest heaved under the harsh breathing and my throat was on fire from the warm, dry air. I needed some water.
As my body slowly recovered, I got unsteadily to my feet. Thankfully he had stopped messing with my dizzy head and I was able to stand up without falling straight back down again. Turning my back on the far away wall at the end of the corridor, I went back the way I had come. I’d had enough of this game now. My mind was set on finding something to drink and I couldn’t think of anything other than my dry, sticky mouth and aching body. I even ignored the whispers that were flickering just behind my ears. I swatted them away and went in search of water.
Almost immediately I heard a faint sound of a tap, dripping methodically. I tilted my head and listened carefully, trying to trace the source of the noise. Taking a guess, I followed a corridor off to my right.
I must have been lucky, I could hear the dripping getting louder as I walked. Feeling confident now, I followed the sound down one corridor, then another. I came to a doorway and to my delight I could see a kitchen inside. The tap was dripping into a deep metal sink, the noise reverberating around. I ran over and twisted the tap to make the water flow. Nothing happened. I pushed it, pulled it, twisted it again. No more than a drip came out.
Sticking my head into the sink and facing upwards I tried to catch some water in my mouth, but I just couldn’t quench my thirst.
In frustration I kicked the whole unit hard and hit the tap again. Something dropped inside and water came rushing out. Desperately I gathered it in my cupped hands and drank handfuls of the liquid. It was only after my third handful I realised the water wasn’t water anymore. It had turned a deep shade of red.
Screaming, I dropped what was left in my hands and rubbed them on my sides, trying to remove all traces of the liquid. I spat the remainder in my mouth out into the sink and wiped my face with my cardigan, then tried to wipe the red marks off that too.
I backed out of the room quickly and headed further down the corridor. I was going to keep going but something caught my attention. Another door to my left was wide open, and inside was a table, with lots of papers scattered over it. A large black chair was tucked under the desk, and a computer sat amongst all the paper. Could this be where he worked? Where he lived?
Curiosity won out and I entered the room, first making sure I wasn’t walking straight into the lion’s den. He was nowhere to be seen. I looked around and my eyes fell on the wall opposite. Bastard. How dare he? He had no right.
CHAPTER SIX
Jack's Story
Keeping close together, Tez and I walked towards the room at the end of the corridor where the noise had come from. Tez opened the door telekinetically so we could see in as we approached. The room was completely empty.
‘Are we just hearing things?’ Tez asked, frowning, ‘Nothing passed us in the corridor and there’s nothing in here. So where’d it go?’
I shook my head and shrugged. I had definitely heard something; and we couldn’t both be imagining these noises. Another sound came from out in the corridor. We rushed back out the room but there was nothing there.
‘Okay, this is getting weird now,’ I said, glancing around, ‘I think we might have to call in backup.’
‘Looks like it. Definitely can’t let the servas in here yet,’ Tez said. He stood back to back with me, making sure no one, or thing, could sneak up on us. He made a quick call to headquarters and put his phone away again.
‘I think we should get outta here, Jack. At least until backup arrives,’ he said. I was inclined to agree.
Then there was a sound directly above us and the moment of realisation hit seconds too late. The panels in the ceiling were ripped up and the creature dropped right on top of us. Furry body, huge claws and horrendous breath. Definitely a werewolf. We were crushed to the floor under its weight, and before I could even move, it turned to Tez and swiped. Over and over again.
‘No!’ I yelled, searching for the wolf’s mind, trying to control him. He was desperately trying to block me. This wasn’t a usual werewolf. He’d known the only way to attack us was to surprise us. Just what we needed; a clever werewolf. He must have already been a paranormal before he was turned. The Doctor was trying something new. He’d only preyed on servas before.
The wolf swiped again and blood splattered over the wall as Tez yelled in pain. At least he was still alive. Concentrate. I searched again with my mind, and found an entrance. The wolf stopped, his arm raised ready to swipe again.
‘Back off,’ I said loudly, anger flooding through me, ‘Back up to the wall.’
I was in control now. The wolf did as I ordered and backed up. I could feel him fighting against me, but he couldn’t beat me. I scrambled over to Tez. He was clutching his chest and coughing and there was blood everywhere. I put pressure on his chest, trying to lessen the bleeding.
Grabbing my phone out my vest with my spare hand, I fumbled with the keys until I’d found Jake’s number.
‘Jake, Tez is down. I need you now,’ I said frantically. Tez was losing blood fast. I dropped the phone in my nearest pocket, and used both hands to try and stop the bleeding.
‘Can’t you do anything?’ I asked Tez desperately. I knew he couldn’t. Paranormals usually lost the ability to use their power when they were hurt this bad. It wasn’t a good sign.
Tez shook his head, ‘Tried… Can’t.’ He coughed again.
‘It’s okay, don’t worry. Jake is coming. He’ll fix you back up,’ I told him, wishing Jake would hurry up. I could hear someone coming into the building. It had better be him.
‘Stay right where you are,’ I shouted at the wolf, who was trying to sneak away while I was looking after Tez. ‘Don’t even think about it.’
Jake came running around the corner and stopped dead when he saw the werewolf.
’S’ok, he’s under control. Just come and help Tez. Now.’ I think I shouted the last part.
Jake looked unsure but he came over when he saw how bad Tez was looking. Mel came running around the corner as he leant over him.
‘What on earth happened?’ Mel cried, rushing over, her eyes staring at my blood soaked clothes, ‘Are you hurt Jack?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘Just Tez. Wolf jumped us from above.’ I pointed to the ripped ceiling as I moved out the way and let Jake work on Tez.
My hands were covered in blood too, and I wiped them on my trousers before turning my attention to the wolf. The fury in my body was hard to control.
‘Get over here,’ I yelled at him, glancing down to the floor next to me. I needed to be sure Tez was okay before I left.
The wolf stayed where he was. He actually looked like he was sulking. I delved deeper into his mind. There was a person in there somewhere, I just had to find him.
It took a good few minutes before I’d found him hidden inside. It was a few more before I managed to coax him out and lock the werewolf back up. I knew the serva police must be here by now. The fact that they weren’t in the building told me backup had already arrived and was holding them at bay, but I certainly couldn’t walk out of here with a werewolf in handcuffs.
Slowly the creature
, and his fur, disappeared and a boy stood in his place. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old. His clothes were ripped and bloody, and he was shaking all over.
‘What’s happening to me?’ he asked as he slid to the floor, looking at his hands.
‘Come on,’ I said, taking hold of his arm tightly and pulling him off the floor, ‘We have to take you out of here now.’
The boy looked over at Tez who was still lying on the floor covered in his own blood. He looked down at his hands again.
‘Did I do that?’ he whispered. Tears started falling when I didn’t answer him.
Jake breathed out deeply, sat up and looked up at me, ‘He’s going to be okay Jack. We’ll get him to the hospital, but he’ll be fine.’
The relief washed over me and I felt dizzy. Gripping the boy even tighter, I started to manoeuvre him away down the corridor.
‘Where you taking me?’ he asked, struggling against my grip. He wasn’t going anywhere.
‘Somewhere safe,’ I told him. I didn’t mention that, for everyone’s safety, he would have to be locked up for the rest of his life. Or at least until we caught The Doctor and could undo the damage he’d inflicted on the poor kid. At this rate it would take the rest of his life, and mine, before we found him.
We got outside the building and were met by the head of the Agency’s Security Service, Tom. He directed us straight to a waiting car, took my car keys and handed them to his assistant, assuring me that my car would be waiting safely for me back at the office. I noticed a couple of serva police waiting nearby looking distinctly disgruntled. Judging from the two P.A.P.S that were stood next to them in full suit get-up, dark glasses and all, I figured they’d pulled the old ‘we significantly outrank you’ trick on them and it seemed to have worked.
I climbed in the back of the car with the boy, trying not to cover everything in blood, and Tom got in the front. The journey to headquarters passed in silence, aside from the sniffs coming from my left. I was not in the mood to babysit right now. It probably only took us half an hour before we arrived, but it felt so much longer. I couldn’t stop thinking of Tez lying there helpless. I should have done more to help, searched harder for the werewolf. I should have known he was above us, that he was going to attack us.
Just as we pulled into the parking lot, my phone rang. Jake was calling to say Tez was scheduled for surgery later that day, but everything was looking good. I relayed the information to Tom who sighed with relief and seemed to lighten up. We took the boy inside to the temporary lock-up. He’d have to go and join the others eventually, but first we needed to see if he knew anything.
I spent hours with the boy that day, trying to delve into his mind and recover any memories that had been locked away. As usual, there was nothing. Whoever had done this to him had also cleared the memories out of his head.
It was not the first time I had thought that the Doctor showed signs of being an advanced telepath. There were tells in the boy’s head that suggested someone had entered his mind before. Damage to the mind always left visible traces, if you knew where to look.
If the Doctor had managed to manipulate his victims’ minds so far that they completely believed they had these monsters inside them, it was conceivable that this could manifest in physical changes in the body. A simple case of mind over matter. It wouldn’t be the first time we’d seen it. But the extent to which the Doctor invaded their minds was concerning to say the least. I knew there were parts of my ability that could be pushed further, but it had never occurred to me to try; the results could be indescribably horrific if I did. But maybe that’s just what the Doctor had done.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Daniel's Story
Zach was still staring out the window, trying unsuccessfully to remain hidden, waiting for me to make my next move. The wolf paused for a moment, as if he was contemplating what to do, then he turned his back on the visitor centre. I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew now that the wolf had just been playing. If he’d wanted to kill them, they’d be dead by now, not safely hidden in the visitor centre. He was just trying to torture me, make me try to regain control and watch me fail. Wear me down so I couldn’t do anything again. He wanted to stay in control this time.
Relieved that Ty and Zach were now safe—well, as safe as they could be anyway—my thoughts turned to Rex and Beth. The wolf looked up and sniffed the air intently, then cocked his head to one side and listened. I just had to hope they’d made it out the park and weren’t hiding. The wolf would find them if they were. Then I remembered I had the car keys. They weren’t going anywhere quickly, that was for sure.
The wolf was pleased, I could feel it. He was licking drops of Ty’s blood off his fur, and I was feeling distinctly sick. This pleased the wolf too. He flexed his claws and sniffed again, no doubt ready to move on to Rex and Beth. I hope they had managed to get away. Maybe they were safely with Jeff in his lodge. He must have seen everything on his screens. But why wasn’t he here already? He had tranquillisers in the lodge, just in case something like this happened. I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t come after me yet.
I wondered if I could try and trick the wolf into running close to the lodge. If I could do that then Jeff would have to tranquillise me. Assuming he wasn’t fast asleep, which was the most likely reason why he hadn’t stopped me yet. With a deep sniff, the wolf growled and ran into the park. Okay, that wasn’t going to work. He had other plans.
I groaned inwardly as we neared the Zipper. I could hear whispered voices coming from one of the cars on the coaster high above the ground. Damn his hearing. And damn Rex, why didn’t he take Beth out of the park to safety? And why on earth had I thought it was a good idea to show Rex the emergency stop hidden inside the front cart? The top of the track was not a good place to be right now.
The wolf took his time as he climbed up the track to the top of the ride. He made sure to scratch his claws on the metal, to scuff his paws on the track, made sure that the two people hiding inside would hear him coming. They had nowhere they could run to; they had no choice but to stay where they were and wait. I could hear Beth’s panicked breathing and Rex trying to soothe her. He tried to tell her everything would be okay. I was exhausting myself with the effort of trying to pull the wolf back, to make him turn around and leave them alone.
The wolf reached the top of the track, and scratched his claws purposefully on the metal before leaping to his feet. He put his great paws on the edge of the car and stood to his full height. The screams went right through me as the wolf looked down at my two friends crouching on the floor of the car, the moonlight casting deep shadows around them. Rex jumped up and tried to hit the wolf, which did nothing except anger him. The wolf did not take kindly to being hit.
The next few moments passed in a slow-motioned blur. I screamed in my head as the wolf swiped at Rex hard. There was a look of shock on his face, and blood splattered all over the car. The force of the wolf’s hit knocked him to the edge and he leant against the side heavily, clutching his chest. Time seemed to stand still as I watched Rex, his face frozen with fear, swaying towards the edge. No! Rex lost his balance and toppled backwards over the side of the cart. I just stared at the empty space where Rex had been a moment before, as if staring hard enough would bring him back. We were at the top of the coaster. Surely nobody could survive a fall that high.
Beth had screamed when Rex was hit. Now she was crying, hiding behind her hands. I felt like my body was tearing in two. The wolf, however, seemed delighted. Beth had distracted him from dwelling on Rex’s demise. Thankfully he hadn’t made me watch, but the damage had been done as far as he was concerned. It was because of me Rex was dead. No one else, just me. I would never forgive myself and the wolf knew it.
As he leant in to the car, Beth scrambled back, pressing hard against the seat, a look of absolute terror on her face. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to watch this. I’d give anything to let her get away safely. She stared at the wolf with those
deep blue eyes, tears streaming down her face. Her mouth was open as if she wanted to scream but no sound was coming out.
The wolf moved, claws extended. But to my surprise he didn’t attack her, instead he picked her up. What was he doing?
With Beth slung over his shoulder, he turned and ran down the tracks with ease, holding her tightly. Beth, who had now found her voice, was screaming as loudly as she could. Please come and help Jeff, please, I begged to myself. I couldn’t let him hurt Beth. The wolf hit her hard over the head to shut her up. It worked. She must have been knocked out as she went limp over his shoulder, but thankfully I could still hear her breathing.
The wolf half walked, half ran across the park. He had his hands full now, so he couldn’t move at full speed. It gave me chance to look around as he went. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of the security cams moving, only an inch but it had definitely moved. Jeff! Thank goodness, he’d be here soon and this would all be over. Unfortunately the wolf noticed too. He growled and hurried towards the Haunted Tower. The gates to the graveyard slowed him for a few minutes as he twisted the metal bars and yanked them off their hinges one by one. The park must look in a terrible state now, the wolf had broken nearly everything in his path.
I could hear running footsteps as we made our way across the fake graveyard. My heart leapt; this had to be Jeff coming to take me out. A wave of relief took over me. Beth would be safe, that was all that mattered. I didn’t know what would happen to me, but at least she would be okay. Everyone would be safe from the wolf. I’d probably be locked up now for the rest of my life, but I didn’t want to be free any more. I wouldn’t be able to look at any of my friends again after what I had done. I thought about Rex and my eyes burned strongly. The wolf wasn’t going to let me cry. I had to suffer. I deserved to suffer for what I’d done.
The Doctor Page 4