CHAPTER SEVEN
Ben
The silence inside me was suddenly broken. The few moments of peace shattered. That little grasp of freedom was snatched away from me like it had been caught up in the wind.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Ben,” sneered Quint. “I ain’t going anywhere. It’s you and me… that’s how it’s got to be… forever. You didn’t really think I was going to give up your sorry arse, did you? Just like I’m a thorn in your side, you’re like a rock sinking in deep water to me. But hey, we can make this work… you and me. You’ve just got to let go… loosen up… have some fun. Stop trying to play the good guy. Quit all these questions and let me take over once and for all.”
I shook my head. Was I dumb, or what? Why did I believe that I was finally free of Quint? Why, after all these years, would I fool myself into thinking that it was over – that I had my life back? This was never going to end. Still, Quint had been quiet. Something was up, that I was sure of.
Quint spoke up again and sniggered. “Don’t you like being my dog on a lead? I tell you to sit… I tell you to stay. I say, ‘go kill that person’ and you obey your master! But maybe you don’t detest me as much as you make out. After all, you keep hanging on – unwilling to let go of Doctor Ben Fletcher. Maybe you enjoy the things I get you to do. Remember the fun we had with that priest? We scared the shit right out of him… didn’t we? And let’s not forget the volunteers. Those sad cunts just kept on coming. Who was that girl… you know… the one we killed slowly? Wendy, wasn’t it?”
“Shut up!” I shouted. “Shut the fuck up, Quint! I don’t want to hear it!” I lashed out at a nearby tree, punching the trunk with my fist. My head hurt. Just the sound of his voice made my brain feel perished. His tone cut through me like a thread of repulsive hate. I couldn’t bear to listen. It crowded my head so much, I couldn’t concentrate. If only I could shut him up. If only I could smash open my head and tear out his toxic voice. I covered my ears with my hands and paced back and forth.
“No use doing that, Ben,” spat Quint. “You can’t block me out – we’re a pair – where I go, you go. What I want to do – you do!”
I heard him laugh. It was useless – everything seemed so pointless. How could I ever change this? How could I ever do the right thing if I was pulling in one direction and Quint was pulling in the other? Yet, he hadn’t stopped me from helping Kassidy and he’d even gone out of his way several times to aid her. The more I thought about Kassidy, the more I remembered. I breathed in deeply, searching for calm – some peace. Kassidy made me smile. She warmed my lonely heart, offering a light in my darkness. There was something about her that I liked. But as I continued to smile, those warm feelings turned cold. I had to keep myself in check. I needed restraint. I knew there could never be any kind of love between us. I would end up killing her. Quint would make sure of that.
Pushing my thoughts aside, Quint suddenly said, “You know what, Ben? I’m gonna cut you some slack. You do so much for me and I never give you any time to pursue the ladies. Let’s go see Kassidy!”
Annoyed at myself for letting my guard down and allowing my thoughts of Kassidy to fill my head, I said, “What… wait… I don’t want to see Kassidy.” I could feel my heart start to thump. I knew only too well that this wasn’t Quint being nice. “Let’s go back to Cruor Pharma… I’m sure Doctor Middleton must be wondering where we are.” Of course, I didn’t want to go back there, but one thing I was sure of was that Quint, Kassidy, and me should not be together – not if I wanted her to live. I turned in the direction of the town, the rain blurring my vision.
“No!” shouted Quint. “We’re going this way, not back to Carden.”
I felt my limbs fight against what I wanted to do. But as I tried to lift my foot from off the ground, Quint had had me turn in the opposite direction. My feet, now controlled by Quint, splashed through the puddles as we headed down the dark lane. As my mind tried to fight against Quint, my head clouding over, the last thing I could think of was Kassidy.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kassidy
I fumbled around in the pitch black, my hands thrashing about, trying to find the edge of the table to pull myself back up onto my feet. Someone grabbed me. Arms wrapped themselves tightly around my waist. I hit out, fearful that those arms didn’t belong to one of my friends.
“Get off!” I shouted, pulling left and right, hoping to loosen the hold on me.
I jumped as a voice spoke into my ear. “It’s okay… it’s me… it’s Max.”
Trembling, I latched onto his arms and buried my face into his chest. “Max...!” I stammered, relieved it was him. “Oh, God… did you see it… did you see that person in the chair?”
“No… was it Langstone?” Max whispered.
Closing my eyes briefly, I tried to rid my mind of the awful vision I’d seen. If that was Doctor Langstone, then I wanted out now. Whoever that was sitting in the chair looked like they’d been dragged from out of hell. I breathed slowly, trying to steady my nerves.
Still holding on tight to Max, I whispered, “I don’t know who it was… but I think it was a man.”
“You think?” mumbled Raven.
I jumped at the closeness of her voice. Blindly reaching out, I felt for her. She must have crouched down beside me. My hand made contact with something soft.
“Ouch… that’s my nose,” complained Raven.
“Sorry… I can’t see you,” I muttered. “Where’s Jude?”
“I’m right here, on the floor behind you, I think,” whispered Jude.
A finger prodded my back and I reached behind, my hand finding him. I could feel the material of his shirt and the warmth of his body.
Satisfied that I knew where they all were, I whispered, “We have to get out of here… that thing… sitting in the chair… it’s not normal… I want to leave.”
“What did it look like?” asked Max, still holding onto me.
I squeezed his arms tightly, too afraid to let go – scared I would lose him in the dark. I whispered, “I don’t know how to describe it… I only saw it for a second before I dropped the lantern.” I took a deep breath, my body still trembling. “It looked like something you’d see in a horror movie.” I shuddered.
“Are you sure you didn’t just imagine it? I mean… fear can play terrible tricks on the mind and the eyes, and when you’re scared, you think you see all kinds of stuff,” muttered Jude.
I shook my head, not that anyone could see, and whispered, “I wish I had imagined it… I wish this was something I could wake up from… how can you even question it? We’ve been living in a fucking horror movie for days now… or is that all in my imagination, too?!”
“Shhh!” Raven snatched hold of my arm. “Did you hear that?”
“What?” asked Max, panic in his voice.
“Shut up and listen!” hushed Raven.
We fell silent. Only our breathing and the wind could be heard as we sat huddled together on the floor. The darkness felt like it was swallowing us up, smothering us. We waited. I slipped my hand into the satchel and fumbled about, my hand shaking, until it found Father Williams’s rosary beads. I pulled them out and gripped the beads tightly to my chest. I listened, trying to block out the noise from the storm outside. I felt sick as soon as I heard it. I knew what it was. I had heard it so many times before – on Ward 2 at Cruor Pharma, at the bishop’s house, and now here. That horrible scuttling sound of feet and hands scampering up walls and across ceilings. The noise was above us. I looked up, not that I could see anything. Was it Sylvia? Or could it be Robert? I prayed it wasn’t him – for Max’s sake. What if it was that thing I’d seen sitting in the chair? The very thought made my blood curdle.
“It’s above us,” whispered Max, his body tense.
“Crawl under the table,” muttered Jude. “But stay close.”
I heard him move away. I quickly followed him, listening carefully, seeking the direction he went. Max clung onto my leg, obvious
ly worried about getting left behind.
Once under the cover of the table, and crowded together, I said, “Let’s get out of here. We can crawl back down toward the door. The table will give us a bit of protection from whatever that is clambering about on the ceiling.”
Before we had even moved, a loud bang filled the room. Something smashed on top of the table. The sound of glass bottles falling to the floor echoed around us. The papers I had seen only moments ago strewn across the table could be heard scattering in all directions.
Max yelled out and I felt him wrap an arm tightly around mine, almost pulling me over. A strong smell of burnt meat hit my nostrils. Was something on fire?
“Go!” shouted Jude. I heard him move away toward the door. Raven crawled past me. I felt Max brush alongside me as he too followed the others.
“Hurry, Kassidy,” he warned, his voice disappearing into the gloom under the table.
I wanted to follow. I wanted to get the hell away. But my body froze. If that was Max who had just gone ahead of me, then who was it with their arm wrapped tightly around mine? In my panic and confused state, I mentally went through who had passed by me under the table. I wanted to believe I was mistaken but… I swallowed down the scream that was charging up my throat. No. I wasn’t mistaken. Everyone had definitely passed by me.
I turned my head slowly and whispered, “Max, is that you?” I knew if it was Max, he would answer me. Never before had I wanted so much to hear his voice. But he didn’t answer me. Instead, I was wrenched off my knees and pulled out from under the table. I screamed. I called out for the others, kicking my legs and swinging my arms franticly about. If only I could see. If only there was some light then maybe I would have a better chance of fighting back.
“Help me!” I managed to scream before a hand came down over my mouth. That strong smell of burnt meat engulfed me. I hit out in the direction I believed the attacker was – above me. My hand made contact with something leathery. I pulled away instantly. It felt horrible.
As I wriggled and squirmed about on the floor, I heard Jude call out.
“Doctor Langstone! Doctor Langstone! Is that you? My name is Jude… we’ve come here for help. We’ve…”
From out of the dark, a raspy voice cut over Jude. “I know who you are and why you are here!”
The room fell silent. The hand pressed over my mouth lifted, and I could hear footsteps shuffling away. Leaning up on my elbows, too afraid to move, I heard the sound of a match strike. All of a sudden the far corner of the room was lit up. I blinked. My eyes stung from the abrupt ability to see again. Staring wide-eyed, the sight of Doctor Langstone filled me with horror.
CHAPTER NINE
Kassidy
I shifted back on my elbows, using my legs to push me away from Doctor Langstone. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted Raven, Max, and Jude climbing out from under the table.
A chilling laugh came from above and I peered up. Sylvia was perched on top of the table, her black, stumpy teeth on show as she continued to laugh.
Doctor Langstone shuffled toward me, his hand outstretched for me to take. I ignored his offer and clambered to my feet unaided. There was no way I was going to take his hand.
With a glint in his eyes, he looked at me and said, “I didn’t mean to alarm you. I was just trying to pull you out from under the table. I knew you could be in trouble.” He peered over at Sylvia and then back at me.
I looked away from him. The sight of his face and his body sickened me. Was this what demons truly looked like? Surely this couldn’t be Doctor Langstone’s body? What demon would pick this to dwell in?
Jude stepped forward. “Doctor Langstone… we need your help… well… my friends do. We’ve come from Cruor Pharma on Strangers Hill, and…”
“Yessss…” wheezed Langstone. “I can see quite clearly why you are here.” He sniggered to himself and shuffled a little nearer to me.
I moved back until I had joined my friends. Doctor Langstone stood in what looked like a pair of pyjama bottoms and a dressing gown that trailed along the floor. It flapped open, revealing what was his chest, only the skin, just like his face, looked like stretched leather, bubbled and blistered. There were strips of singed flesh hanging from his chin like it was peeling away. On closer inspection, I could see that his pyjama bottoms were embedded into his burnt flesh. An aroma of overcooked meat oozed from him, churning my stomach.
Wheezing through bluish lips and holding up a lantern toward us, he said, “I’ve been waiting for you… I knew you would arrive soon… looking for answers… for help.” He took another step nearer, and in the light from the lantern, I recoiled at the thick, taut scabs across his stomach. They were surrounded with large red swellings. Some leaked pus while others had deep, red streaks as though the flesh had been carved away with a potato peeler.
Jude stepped forward, his eyes trained on the Doctor and said, “Can you help them?” He glanced over his shoulder at me and then looked back at Langstone. “Can you remove the drug in them? It’s called VA20.”
Doctor Langstone chuckled and shook his head. “You are all so naïve… so stupid… you think I can remove such a drug?!” He came nearer to us and we all took a step back. Doctor Langstone laughed again. “Stepping away from me is pointless… I don’t even have to take another step toward you to be able to touch you… take you.”
My hair suddenly blew across my face as if someone had switched on a hairdryer. I jumped, looking to my right, expecting to see someone beside me. But there was no one.
“Seeeeee…?” wheezed Doctor Langstone. “I can touch you from here… I can touch you when you’re asleep… I don’t even need to be in the same room as you to feel your body, to take hold of you.”
“Please… Doctor Langstone,” said Jude, “If you can’t help my friends then maybe there’s something else you can help us with.” Jude stood with his hands in his pockets as if this was just a casual conversation with someone he had met in a bar. “We’ve come a long way to get here. We’re trying to find Robert, Max’s brother. We think he came here looking for help. Is he here… have you seen him?”
Doctor Langstone’s eyes narrowed as he peered at Max. “Brother, you say?”
With his arms wrapped across his chest, Max nodded nervously and mumbled, “His name is Robert O’Brien… we know he left the bishop’s house to come here… he was travelling with Sylvia.” Max pointed over to where Sylvia still crouched on the table. “But she tried to kill herself and was sent to a mental asylum. We think Robert carried on his journey to here.”
Ignoring our questions regarding Robert, Doctor Langstone muttered to himself, “Very good… very good. Trabek has been busy…” He looked down at his stomach and scratched the burnt flesh, knocking off a thick, black scab with his bluish fingernails.
Covering my mouth with my hand, I looked away. Doctor Langstone was a vile creature; everything about him made me want to vomit. Of course, the mention of Trabek was no surprise. We already knew that Trabek was Doctor Middleton, or should I say, Doctor Middleton was really Trabek. After all, Middleton only existed because this demon, Trabek, had taken his body to dwell in.
I looked at my friends, unsure as to what to do. He hadn’t given us any indication as to whether Robert was here, but one thing that did fill me with despair was that it seemed highly unlikely that he would be able to rid us of VA20. But was that because he couldn’t or because he wouldn’t?
As the rain continued to hit the windows, Sylvia suddenly jumped up. She snarled at Doctor Langstone, stretching out her handcuffed wrists as if to make a grab for him. Before she had even touched him, Langstone simply looked at her, and with a blink of an eye, she was flipped up into the air and thrown down the length of the table, scattering test tubes and bottles. They rolled off the table and smashed to the floor. But that didn’t deter Sylvia. She was straight back on her feet, launching her body across the table back toward Langstone. But it was pointless. Langstone merely stared at her, and she was
flung from the table, her body smacking into the wall. She crumpled to the floor, where she lay still.
Stepping forward, I shouted, “Stop it… leave her alone! You can’t blame her for trying to attack you! It’s your fault she’s like this!” Surprised at myself for defending Sylvia, after all, she scared the hell out of me, I moved back next to Max, feeling more secure beside my friend.
Doctor Langstone stared at me with his black glinting eyes and approached. I held my breath, fearful that he may touch me. I avoided his stare, even though he had stopped right in front of me. His scrawny, scorched body loomed over mine and he bent over and looked at me. His warm breath on my skin made me want to shrink away, disappear forever.
With a confused look across his face, he slowly circled me, stopping only when he had returned to stand in front of me. Reaching out his scabby hand, he took hold of my chin and tilted my head up so he could inspect my face more closely. “Who are you?” he asked, a puzzled expression in his eyes.
Trying to steady my nerves and not show him that I was scared, I took a deep breath and answered, “My name is Kassidy Bell.”
His eyes lit up as if someone had turned on a switch inside his head. Did he recognise my name? I remembered back to when I had been pinned to the ceiling at the bishop’s house. Ben had been talking to a shadowy shape who I later found out was Eras, another demon. They seemed to know who I was. But how? And why now did Doctor Langstone seem to recognise my name? None of it made any sense.
Doctor Langstone continued to hold my chin and wheezed, “Are you sure that’s all you are?” He pushed his face closer to mine and sniffed. “There’s more to you than just Kassidy Bell… there’s demon in you.”
Raven, who had been quiet, suddenly stepped forward. “Well of course there is… she’s been injected with VA20. She’s got more demons in her than hell!”
Doctor Langstone let go of me and held up the lantern.
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