Dwell

by Lynda O'Rourke

  CHAPTER NINE

  I opened the bathroom door. Jude stood outside. He was back in his shirt and trousers but smelled clean and flesh. His black hair had a shimmer to it and his skin looked smooth and soft.

  “What was all the banging about in there? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he asked, his eyes checking me from head to toe as I stood in just the bath towel.

  I pulled it up higher over my chest and said, “Look in the shower – on the floor, there’s a message.”

  I waited just outside the door. I didn’t want to go back in there. Jude came out, a look of confusion over his face, “I can’t see anything, Kassidy. Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?”

  “No, I didn’t imagine it. There was something in there with me – I nearly drowned.” I could feel myself getting upset. “It held me down and shoved the fucking hose down my throat.”

  “What’s going on?” Max walked out from the lounge, a clean towel in his hands.

  “Kassidy thinks there was someone in the shower with her,” sighed Jude. “I think you just need a good sleep – we all do.”

  “Yes, I do need to sleep but I know what I saw – what I felt. I’m telling you, something was in there – something has followed us from that fucked-up hospital,” I snapped, hugging the towel tighter around me.

  “What did it look like?” asked Max, nervously eyeing the opened door to the bathroom.

  “I… I… don’t know. I didn’t see it, exactly,” I said, knowing that I now sounded like I had an overactive imagination. “I felt it. It grabbed my wrists and nearly killed me.”

  “Do you think it was the cleaners?” asked Max, still peering into the bathroom.

  “No, it wasn’t them. They’re different. It felt like there was just one but it had loads of hands,” I said, looking at Jude and then back at Max. “It was able to hold me down by my wrists and hold my mouth open at the same time. Whatever it was, it wanted to kill me.”

  “You said it left you a message on the shower tray,” said Jude. “What did it say?”

  “It told me to get out – to leave,” I whispered, looking back at the bathroom.

  “Well that sounds a good idea to me,” said Jude, running his hands through his hair. “Don’t take too long in the shower, Max. I think we should go as soon as possible.” Jude turned away and walked back into the lounge.

  “Maybe I should just skip the shower,” whispered Max, sticking his head slowly into the bathroom. “If we’re in a rush to go, I don’t want to hold everyone up.”

  “Have your shower,” I said. “But don’t lock the door – just in case. What about Raven? Has she showered yet?”

  “She went in before you,” said Max. “She fell asleep about ten minutes ago.” He stepped into the bathroom cautiously and closed the door.

  I walked into Hannah’s bedroom. The clothes she had found for me were laid out on the bed. Walking past them, I headed for the window. Peeling back the curtain, I peered out. The view looked over the seafront and the main road into The Mumbles. There was very little traffic about, just the odd person taking a morning stroll along the seafront. Everything looked quite normal, yet it still didn’t do much for the uneasy feeling I had inside me. The attack in the shower had left me shaken. Was this what life was going to be like now for me? Living on the edge – looking over my shoulder every couple of seconds? It seemed that the whole world was after me and my friends. Police – cleaners – doctors and whatever that was in the shower. I shuddered and wrapped my arms tight about me.

  After dressing, I zipped up the pair of boots that Hannah had left out for me. Sitting at her dressing table, I gave my hair a quick brush and borrowed some of Hannah’s make-up. At least I looked a lot better. I would be able to walk about in public without anyone thinking I’d been out on the town all night pissed and shooting-up shit with the local drug addicts. I sat in silence and stared at myself in the mirror.

  The bedroom door swung open and Max came stumbling through, clutching a towel about his waist, clothes screwed up in a ball under his arm.

  “Sorry,” he said, “I thought you were finished in here.” He turned to leave.

  “It’s okay, I’m done,” I said, standing up. “How was the shower? Did you see anything?”

  “Nothing. Just a nice, hot shower,” he said, drips of water running down over his shoulder.

  My eyes fell upon his chest. “I’m not the only one who looks like they have a circuit board in them.”

  He looked down at his body and nodded his head, “I’ve seen better days I think.” He half-smiled and looked up at me. “It’s weird, don’t you think? How can we have this shit in us but none of us have had any real effect from it? Why haven’t we ended up like the other volunteers? How are we still standing and yet the others turned crazy?” He dropped his clothes onto the bed and flicked his wet, blonde hair from out of his face.

  “I have no answers.” I shrugged, “Only questions like you, Max. We have to get to Doctor Langstone’s. I know it’s a long shot but if anyone can help us, it’s him.”

  He raised one eyebrow and sighed, “We could be walking into another nightmare. He’s another demon, what’s to say he won’t take us – keep us for himself? We could end up just like Carly – end up dead.”

  “All I know is that I don’t want to end up in the hands of Doctor Middleton, the cleaners, or the police – I think we can safely say that we’re dead if they get their hands on us. Doctor Langstone is our only hope now. I know it’s risky but I don’t see any other way out of this mess.”

  Max sat down on the edge of Hannah’s bed. He picked up a small towel and started to dry his hair. “I’ll go to Doctor Langstone, but first, I need to find that Bishop. The one Father William sent my brother to. I need to know if he’s still alive and where he is,” said Max, staring at me with his green eyes. “I haven’t gone through this nightmare for nothing. My brother is the only reason I signed up to be a volunteer, so I can’t walk away from that – not until I know the truth about Robert.”

  I sat down beside him and pulled on the gloves that Hannah had found for me. “I told you I would help you last night with finding out what happened to your brother. I will go with you to the Bishop’s, I promise.” I took his hand in mine and gently squeezed. I knew how he felt. He needed answers just like I needed answers about my parents. We both had an emptiness that needed to be filled. Bad or good, we had to know one way or another.

  Max squeezed my hand back and smiled at me. “Thanks, Kassidy. You know Jude won’t be too happy with our plan. He’s dead-set on us going to his place.”

  “I know, but we can’t just hang out partying all day and night with him. If what Doctor Fletcher says is true, then we can’t hang out anywhere for too long. Jude needs to open his eyes and accept the truth or he’ll end up dead – and take us down with him.” I stood up. “I’ll let you get dressed and go and see if Hannah can look on the internet and find out where this Bishop lives.” As I went to walk away, a sudden thought came to mind. “You know, we might be safe at the Bishop’s. It’s a holy place. I don’t know a lot about demons but I’m sure church is the last place they would hang out in. Remember what Father Williams wrote in his journal? He called the chapel his sanctuary. He said they couldn’t follow him in there. I think we may have just found ourselves somewhere we can rest safely for a while.”

  “That’s if the Bishop don’t mind,” said Max. “He might not want to give up his home to help a bunch of people infected with demon shit.”

  I left the bedroom. Surely the Bishop would let us stay. He was a man of god. They were meant to help people in their time of need. As my head raced with thoughts of the Bishop, my heart jumped with the sudden notion that a Bishop could perform an exorcism. Would that get rid of the dark matter that was in us, or did we have to be possessed for an exorcism to work? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that going to the Bishop’s would help us one way or another. If he couldn’t perform an exorcism on us at least we wou
ld be in a place of safety – away from the cleaners and demons.

  CHAPTER TEN

  I walked into the lounge. Take me to church, by Hozier played gently from the iPod dock. Jude sat on the edge of the sofa – remote control in hand – flicking through the news channels, while he sipped from a bottle of Bacardi and Coke.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him, my hands on hips.

  “Just checking the news channel – making sure Middleton and Cropper haven’t put something out there to the media about us. I haven’t seen anything yet, so I guess the world ain’t looking for us.”

  “That wasn’t what I meant,” I tutted. “Why are you drinking? It’s still the morning and you have to drive.”

  “It’s just one for the road – to wake me up,” smiled Jude. “Chill, Kassidy, I’m not gonna drive us into a river or a building. I can handle my drink. I can handle anything.” Jude looked me up and down. “You look good but the towel and wet body-look suited you better.” His blue eyes shimmered as he took a swig of Bacardi.

  I turned away, my eyes fell on Raven. She was curled up on the beanbag, stretching her arms and yawning. She wore the clothes that Hannah had found and her greasy black hair looked fluffier now that she’d had a shower. She had obviously helped herself to Hannah’s make-up as her eyes were now stencilled with thick, black eyeliner and her thin lips coloured black.

  “Why do I have to wear this shitty rosebud blouse?” Raven snarled, her eyes checking out the clothes I was wearing. “Why can’t I wear what you’ve got on?”

  “This wouldn’t fit you,” I said. “You’re taller than me – it would look like a tank-top on you.”

  “I look like I’m off to freaking Sunday school,” she hissed. “And look at these stupid shoes – they’re pink with a bow on top.” Raven stood up. Her scrawny legs looked even thinner now that she was out of the porter’s trousers she had taken from the locker room.

  “If you don’t like them, then wear the porter’s clothes,” I snapped, feeling irritated by her ungrateful behaviour.

  “I’m not wearing dead people’s clothes,” she scowled. “Their spirits follow you – haunt your every step.”

  I couldn’t bear any more of her weird talk. “Then shut up and wear what Hannah has kindly given you.”

  I headed into the kitchen to find Hannah filling a small picnic hamper with food from the cupboards. She turned to face me.

  “I haven’t got much in the way of food to give you all. I haven’t been shopping this week yet,” she said, placing a pot of potato salad and a small box with chicken vol au vents into the hamper. “I’ve filled two flasks with tea and there’s a bottle of milk and some sugar.” She placed a pile of napkins and some forks into the hamper.

  “Thanks, Hannah,” I smiled, taking it from her. “Can you do me a favour? Could you look on the internet and find out where the local Bishop lives?”

  “Okay,” she said, a look of confusion on her face. “Why?”

  “It’s a long story. I don’t have time to tell you,” I said. “We really need to get out of here. The longer we stay, the longer we put you at risk. If we get found here, then you’ll get caught up in this mess and I don’t want that to happen.”

  “Follow me,” said Hannah. “My laptop is in the lounge.”

  I sat beside her on the sofa. The screen lit up as Hannah started to search.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Jude, turning away from the T.V.

  The address for the local Bishop,” I answered, my eyes never leaving the screen.

  “It’s a bit late to go praying now, don’t you think?” said Jude. “The damage is done. No holy man is gonna help us. Look what happened to that other priest back at the chapel. He’s fucking dead.”

  Hannah looked up at me. “Are you sure you want me to find this address? Is there nowhere else you can go?”

  “My place. We can go to mine. It’s safe and miles away from here,” pushed Jude.

  “I’m not going to yours,” I argued. “If we go to the Bishop’s, then we can rest up there for a while and Max can find out about his brother.”

  “He ain’t ever gonna find out about his brother,” said Jude, standing up and leaning over Hannah so he could see the screen. “He’s probably dead.”

  “We don’t know that yet,” I said. “And keep your voice down. I’m sure those kind of comments aren’t going to help Max.”

  “I just think,” started Jude, “that we would be better off….”

  “I’ve found it,” smiled Hannah, cutting over Jude’s voice. “He lives at Dusk Fall Retreat, Squire Village, Rane. St. George’s church comes under the same address.”

  “Never heard of Rane before,” I said, more to myself than Jude and Hannah. “Is there a map?”

  “We don’t need one,” said Jude. “I know where Rane is. It’s about an hour drive from here.”

  “Good,” I smiled, relieved that we could reach it easily enough. “So are you coming with us?” I stared at Jude, unsure that he would want to, seeing that he so desperately wanted to go to his place.

  “Of course I’m coming with you,” said Jude. “We’re in this together, aren’t we? As much as it pains me to go on all these little detours, I know we are safer – stronger if we stay together.”

  “I want to go to the Bishop’s,” mumbled Raven, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to hide as much of the floral blouse as she could. “I want to know what happened to Max’s brother – he might still be there.”

  “Have you found it?” Max walked into the lounge. His blonde hair was dry now and tied behind his head in a short ponytail. One loose strand dangled down the side of his face and he tucked it behind his ear. His leather jacket creaked with each step he took.

  “Got it.” I smiled, knowing that Max would be relieved, being one step nearer to finding out more about his brother. I could tell by the hopeful look on his face that he was glad.

  “I guess we’re ready to leave then,” I said, suddenly feeling sad. I looked at Hannah. Would I ever see her again? I wished I could stay here with her or take her with us but I knew that neither were an option. If there was one person in this room I could trust with my life, it would be Hannah. I felt secure with her. She had been my one and only constant friend, and as I looked at the faces of Jude, Max, and Raven – and remembered the half-comment that Ben had started to say back at the van – they were no more than strangers to me. We had been thrown together in a nightmare and now I had to leave with them and trust in them. But did they really have my back? When push came to shove would they reach out and save me or save themselves?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  We stood in the hall by the front door. Raven leant against the wall, yawning, staring out quietly at us as we made sure that we had everything we needed.

  I had emptied out the pockets of the jacket I had taken from the morgue and placed the photo of my dad and Sylvia Green’s passport into Father Williams’s satchel. The rosary beads I put on. The cross sat hidden under my top. After what had happened in the shower, I wanted the rosary beads close to me. How much they would protect me – I wasn’t sure – but anything would do for now, at least until I got to the Bishop’s.

  “Ready?” asked Jude, taking the hamper from Hannah. “Are we going on a picnic?” He looked at the hamper with a bemused look on his face. “Where’s the picnic blanket – you know, so we can pull over on our travels and sit by a nice lake and catch some sun?”

  “There’s no need for that sarcastic tone with me,” said Hannah. “Some people like to dine in style. Greasy spoon cafes aren’t for everyone you know.”

  “We’re on the run,” smiled Jude. “Dining in style is the last thing on any of our minds.”

  “Well now you can be on the run in style,” she answered, turning to face me. “Do you have everything you need, Kassidy?”

  “Hang on,” I said, slipping past Max and heading into Hannah’s bedroom. I didn’t want to leave behind the iPod that had been cha
rging in the dock. As soon as we were in the car and leaving The Mumbles I would turn it on and see if anything had been filmed at Cruor Pharma. As I went to take it from the dock I realised that it had been switched off from the wall – the plug pulled out.

  “Shit,” I cursed. Why had someone turned it off, and who? Hannah wouldn’t have done it but why would any of the others? They knew I had taken it from Ward 1 to see if there was any evidence we could use against Cruor Pharma. It made no sense. We were all running from the hospital, the doctors, and the cleaners so why do this? Should I go out into the hall and confront everyone – see who looked guilty? No. I would keep quiet and see if any of them waited for a reaction as I joined them back in the hall. “One of your friends – you can’t trust.” Ben’s unfinished comment played through my mind. Maybe it was just paranoia that had me doubting my friends. Maybe the demon in Ben had been playing with me. But it had seemed that Ben had tried to warn me and then something had stopped him – midsentence. It was the demon that liked to play games – not Ben. So therefore, shouldn’t I believe Ben’s warning? That uneasy feeling I had felt a while ago was creeping back up on me. I didn’t want to believe that Jude, Max, or Raven couldn’t be trusted. We had all been through the same horrors – all been fooled into volunteering for the drug trial, so Ben’s mistrust made no sense. Not unless he had found out something about one of them or had met one of them before? But where? As far as I could tell, Ben seemed to be pretty much kept up at Cruor Pharma. He didn’t get to spend his time hanging out in Holly Tree and chatting with the residents, so where would he have met one of my friends before? I looked down at the iPod and turned it on. The battery life was near non-existent. I would be lucky to get two minutes out of it before it shut down again. Turning it off, I placed the iPod into the satchel. I really didn’t know what to think about my friends and I didn’t have time to stand here and analyse everything I had seen and heard. I would go back out into the hall and not mention the iPod and see if either of them happened to mention it. Turning my back on the iPod dock, I left the bedroom.