Blood Water

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Blood Water Page 9

by Dean Vincent Carter


  Sean shouted at his brother: ‘James! Are you serious about the study centre?’

  His brother didn’t reply – he evidently hadn’t heard; instead he just crossed the road and jogged into the school car park.

  ‘Because we’ll never get there in the car now,’ Sean went on.

  ‘Come on,’ James said, waiting for him to catch up. ‘Let’s see how Waites is getting on.’

  They splashed through the reception area and headed for the main hall. Waites was pacing again now. He looked up and saw them standing in the doorway.

  ‘Sean, are you OK?’ he asked.

  ‘Yeah, we’re fine.’ Sean hurried over to the teacher. ‘We couldn’t find Mrs Rees though – she could be anywhere by now.’

  ‘Then it’s out of our hands. We’ll just have to hope that no one else has found her. Sean, can I have a quick word?’

  Both Sean and his brother found the request odd, but neither said anything. Sean walked away with Waites so that they were out of earshot, leaving James by the cupboard.

  ‘Sean, I know what you’re going to say, but before we decide what to do next, we have to consider the possibility that…’ Waites hesitated while he found the right words.

  ‘What?’ Sean followed Waites’s gaze as it rested momentarily on James.

  ‘The possibility that James might have been infected by that thing and not Titus.’

  ‘What? But he hasn’t been! You know that.’

  ‘Shh! Keep your voice down. I know that’s how it seems, but we could be wrong. Look, if it is in Titus it could well have been trying to convince me that James is infected so I’ll set it free – I’m aware of that, but still… there is a chance. Emily said it was in "him". She didn’t say which "him".’

  Sean looked again at his brother, unwilling to believe that he could be the monster now. That couldn’t be true. The ramifications were too horrible to consider.

  ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘If it was in him I’d know by now. It would have done something or said something to give itself away. It would…’ He winced and started rubbing his forehead.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Yeah. I just… It’s from the other day, I think. The run. Still not fully recovered.’

  ‘Here, sit down on the end of the stage.’

  Sean did as instructed, perching on the edge. As he looked around, he realized that the hall itself, and indeed the rest of the school, seemed strange now, tainted by the bizarre, the horrific.

  ‘Look, I know my own brother,’ Sean said. ‘He can’t be infected, and besides, while we were out he had plenty of opportunities to either attack me or escape. And why would that thing want to come back here?’

  ‘I don’t know. Did he say anything to you that sounded odd, or out of character?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘OK, well, look, just be careful. We can’t be certain of anything right now, so let’s just be on our guard. You stay here a sec. I’ll go and see how Titus is.’

  ‘What about Dr Morrow?’ Sean asked, suddenly remembering the dying man.

  ‘He’s… He didn’t make it, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Oh.’ Sean looked down at his feet as they swung idly below him. He glanced over at his brother, again praying that the thing hadn’t got to him. To have to watch something so horrible happen to someone he loved was unthinkable.

  ‘He tried to leave us a message though,’ Waites said. ‘He wrote it on the floor.’

  ‘What did it say?’

  ‘Sall.’

  ‘Sall? As in Sally?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe. Do you know anyone called Sally that might have something to do with this?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What about James?’

  ‘Well, he worked at the study centre with Dr Morrow – maybe it’s someone they both know.’

  ‘Let’s ask him.’

  Meanwhile James had heard the odd word from Sean and Waites’s conversation, but had been unable to make out the gist of what they were saying. He’d seen them look at him though, and had guessed what they might be discussing. Not good.

  He inched towards the cupboard. He thought he could hear breathing inside, but he might have imagined it. And then the man inside spoke.

  ‘Who’s there? Is that you, Daniel?’

  James didn’t reply, but instead turned his back and leaned against the door.

  The voice came again. ‘Look, please let me out now. This is ridiculous. I told you – that thing, whatever it is, went inside that boy – Sean’s brother. It’s not in me, for Christ’s sake! Get me out of here.’

  James considered this while the voice continued, ‘It’s you, isn’t it, boy?’ it said all of a sudden. ‘I know it’s you. It’s inside you. You do know that, don’t you? You might not remember, but I saw. I saw it! And now it’s me that’s locked up instead of you!’

  James peered through the crack in the door, fancying that two eyes were staring out accusingly. ‘Shut up,’ he said coldly. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘James?’

  ‘Yeah?’ James turned round, looking startled.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Sean asked.

  ‘Don’t listen to him,’ Waites said, meaning the man in the cupboard. ‘He’ll try anything to get out.’

  ‘Oh yeah, I know. I just—’

  ‘Dr Morrow’s dead,’ Sean said.

  ‘Oh God.’

  ‘Yeah, I know… but he left us a message: "Sall". We think he might have been trying to tell us something.’

  ‘Sall?’

  ‘He may not have been able to finish the message,’ Waites said, testing the cupboard door to make sure it was still secure, ‘but we think he may have meant to write "Sally". Do you know of anyone at the study centre called Sally?’

  James thought for a second. ‘Yeah, there is! One of the marine specialists, Sally Cooper. She’s only there on Saturdays and Wednesday evenings, but she knows… knew Dr Morrow quite well. She shared an office with one of the other scientists. Maybe there’s something there that can help us. I was thinking we should go there anyway. That’s where the thing came from. If there’s nothing in Sally’s office that can help, then maybe Dr Morrow wrote something in his notes.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Waites said. ‘But "Sall" could mean anything. I think we should stay here and wait for the rain to stop. In the meantime we can decide what to do with that thing.’

  ‘But it will probably have killed Titus by then,’ James said. ‘If it leaves him, it can probably get out of the cupboard somehow. I’m sure the answer is at the research centre.’

  ‘You seem awfully keen to go back there,’ Waites said. Sean could sense his suspicion – a suspicion he now found himself sharing.

  ‘I just… I just think we should do everything we can to end this. What if it keeps raining until morning? We don’t want to be stuck here all night with that thing.’

  They were all silent for a few moments. Waites was clearly thinking things over.

  ‘All right,’ he said at length. ‘We’ll go, but we can’t leave him here.’ They all eyed the cupboard. ‘We can’t be sure that cupboard will contain him. If it leaves Titus, it could go anywhere. We’ll have to take him with us.’

  CHAPTER 21

  The bridge was now all but submerged. The raging waters thundered through and against it relentlessly. Cracks had already appeared along its length and some stonework had long since washed away. The bridge’s architects had not made provision for a flood of this magnitude all those decades ago. The car park of the nearby pub was completely swamped; the fields on the other side were now a vast lake. It was like the end of the world. The pub owners were staring at the waters swirling around the ground-floor bar, wading around in their wellington boots and wondering if there was actually anything they could do. But once the sewage-tainted water was in, that was it.

  The path that ran along the river towards the park was no longer visible. Nearby, the supermarket was flooded
with over a foot of water. Packets of noodles, crisps and other light debris floated lazily around in the muddy, smelly water, as the shop’s manager swore and went on trying to get his superior on the phone. His staff were waiting to be told what to do, some of them wishing they’d gone home when their shift finished instead of agreeing to stay and help.

  The water stretched all the way up the high street. Had it been clean water, the damage would have been bad enough, but now there was sewage to contend with.

  Along Market Street people were wading around the site where the public toilets had stood. Most of the small brick building had fallen into the swollen brook below it, along with a large section of wall and brick paving. Rubble marked its original location, like an open, jagged wound. The town’s drainage system was no longer functioning. Blockages that hadn’t been dealt with had pushed water back up out of the drains, so there was nowhere for it to escape.

  Orchard Wells was already struggling with one catastrophe. It didn’t need another.

  ‘He’ll just attack us! Why can’t we leave him here?’ Sean was panicking now. He wanted the creature to stay locked up, and didn’t see why they had to take him along with them.

  ‘We can’t do both things,’ Waites said, trying to remain calm. ‘We should stay together. Getting to the study centre will be dangerous. We can’t leave him here – like I said, the thing might leave him and we know it can get around – we won’t know where it’s gone. This way, we can keep an eye on it at least.’

  ‘But how are we going to tie him up?’ James asked. ‘Morrow survived that fall from the window when he was possessed. He told us that thing gave him abnormal strength, remember? I don’t think we’re going to be able to restrain it.’

  There was a moment of silence as Waites considered this.

  ‘Well, we’ve got to tie him up somehow.’

  ‘Ha, good luck. If that’s your plan, you’re on your own.’

  ‘If he tries anything we’ll have to subdue him.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Sean said. ‘That thing is really sensitive to blows on the head, isn’t it? If we hit Titus hard it should knock him out.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ Waites said doubtfully. ‘We should also cover our mouths to stop that thing getting in.’

  ‘That… won’t be necessary,’ came the voice in the cupboard. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me. And if you’re willing to let me out to prove that, I can promise you there’ll be no funny business.’

  Waites looked at the two brothers. ‘Why should we believe you?’

  ‘Oh, come on, Daniel, for God’s sake…’ They could hear the headmaster’s laboured breathing now. He was standing right by the crack in the door. ‘It’s me! Just open the door… I promise… I promise I won’t do anything. I’ll go with you wherever you want. Besides, pretty soon it’ll become quite obvious to all of us where the monster really is.’

  At this, Sean couldn’t help glancing over at his brother, who in turn understood the meaning of it.

  ‘It’s not in me!’ James blurted out defensively. ‘It’s in him, I saw it. He’s just trying to—’

  ‘Calm down,’ Waites said. ‘It’s OK. For now let’s just… Mr Titus, we’re going to let you out. But I’m telling you now, if you try anything, we’re going to have to use force.’

  ‘Oh, this is ridiculous…’ came the reply. ‘How on earth did all this happen?’ There was a shuffling and a coughing from within. ‘Just please let me out – I’m in no state to do anything. This is just so stupid…’

  Sean looked at his brother again. James looked uncomfortable. They were all scared and apprehensive, but James also looked like he was hiding something.

  ‘Right, you two,’ Waites said. ‘I’m going to open the door slowly. When I unlock it, cover your mouths and be ready to run if he tries anything. I’ll tackle him myself if it all goes wrong – just get yourselves away from here. Right?’

  ‘What are you saying? We’re not going to leave if he attacks you,’ Sean said.

  ‘Yeah,’ James agreed. ‘We’re all in this together. We all tackle him if we need to.’

  ‘I just don’t want you guys getting… you know.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ James said. ‘But still, we’re not leaving you alone with him.’

  ‘All right then. Ready? Hang on…’ Waites covered his mouth with one hand, wondering what it would be like to have that crazy, wriggling monstrosity trying to burrow its way up into his brain. ‘Nah, this is no good. Sean, does Mr Cole keep the fencing equipment in that cupboard?’

  ‘No, it’s in the store cupboard in his office – why?’

  ‘Go and get three face guards.’

  Sean made his way to Mr Cole’s office. It was unlocked and, luckily, so was the store cupboard. He rummaged around, spilling most of the contents onto the floor until he found three mesh face guards, which he took back to the others. He handed one to Waites, then the other, nervously, to his brother, who noticed something was wrong.

  ‘What is it?’ James asked.

  ‘What? Nothing.’

  ‘I’m OK, really.’

  ‘I know.’ Sean went and stood next to Waites.

  The teacher put on the face guard, then inserted the key into the lock of the cupboard. He glanced back to make sure the two boys had protected their faces, then turned the key.

  The sound was somehow louder than it should have been. It seemed to echo and linger, as though heralding some awful event. There was a final click, then Waites turned the handle and slowly opened the door.

  The interior was in darkness, but they could see piled chairs, gym equipment and a projector screen. However, the headmaster was nowhere to be seen. The cupboard extended to the left and right of the door: he must be hiding somewhere out of sight, but why? Was the sudden light blinding him, or had he panicked and decided he’d rather stay there after all?

  Waites was peering around nervously. ‘Titus? Mr Titus, where are you?’

  There was silence for several seconds; then the headmaster burst screaming out of the darkness: his arms were outstretched, bleeding, swollen, covered in weeping sores and welts, and from his mouth protruded the end of a writhing black slug like an ebony tongue.

  Sean was so shocked he staggered backwards and fell. James turned and ran towards the windows overlooking the playing fields, and it was only Waites’s quick reactions that prevented him from being cornered by the headmaster. The teacher dived for Titus’s legs, bringing him crashing to the floor; he banged his head hard and lost consciousness again.

  James was about to bring a boot down hard on the tail end of the slug, but it quickly pulled itself back inside the headmaster’s mouth.

  James swore and scowled at the unconscious headmaster, annoyed that the opportunity to destroy their enemy had been lost. ‘So what now?’

  CHAPTER 22

  ‘We’ll carry him to my car,’ Waites said, getting to his feet. ‘Come on. You guys grab an arm each. I’ll take his legs.’

  Sean and James took hold of the man’s arms gingerly, watching his mouth in case the creature decided to make another break for freedom. They turned him over and lifted him, surprised by how heavy he was. Sean watched him carefully as they carried him towards the steps: his head was lolling to one side, his mouth open. Was that a gasp? There were also red, bleeding sores on the back of Titus’s neck. Sean wondered what the creature was planning to do at that moment. Would it stay inside the headmaster until it saw a chance to escape, or was it intending to wait until it had one of them alone before emerging and attacking? Either way, Sean didn’t want to be alone with it. As they negotiated the steps, he nearly lost hold of Titus’s arm, and glanced at Waites. However, all the teacher’s attention was focused on Titus’s mouth.

  ‘Right, guys, careful now. I’ll try and open the door. Turn him round… God, I can hardly see through this thing. Hang on, put him down a second. I’ve got a better idea.’

  He took off the face guard and put it on Titus, securing it as
tightly as he could. Sean and James removed their face guards too.

  ‘Right, that should stop it from getting out. We’ll tie him up properly at the centre. Come on.’

  They picked up the body again and slowly turned so that Waites could shoulder the door open. As they passed through, the doors banged twice against the headmaster’s body. They carried him through the hallway and out into the car park. The rain seemed to have eased slightly, but the path was covered in water, and when James accidentally stepped onto the grass, it was like stepping into a bog.

  ‘My car’s on the far side,’ Waites said.

  ‘That figures,’ James said, already showing signs of tiring.

  They splashed across the car park until Waites told them to stop.

  ‘Right, just put him down gently while I get the car open,’ he said.

  They laid him down in the water; his face was paler now, almost luminous in the dark, but with more sores visible on his forehead and cheeks. Waites took out his car keys and unlocked his old Vauxhall Corsa, opening a back door so that they could manhandle the headmaster inside.

  ‘One of you will have to sit back here with him,’ Waites said.

  Sean and James both stared at him, horrified, neither one willing to volunteer.

  ‘Come on, we don’t have time—’

  ‘All right,’ James said. ‘I will.’

  ‘No, I will,’ Sean countered.

  ‘I’ll do it,’ James insisted firmly.

  ‘No!’ Sean was adamant now, his fear gone, his desire to protect his brother stronger.

 

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