Beyond the Blood Moon

by Vic Robbie

  ‘Think I’m getting the picture.’ He had to continue probing for a weakness, but he was running out of time.

  ‘At first, it was the odd transfusion, but she’s an inquisitive woman and kept enquiring about her treatment. And we noticed improvements. This is akin to the elixir of youth and slowed ageing, and she became obsessed with the idea. She can be a vain woman and wanted to keep her looks and her mind, and she encouraged me to pursue it above all else.’

  ‘She’s aware of everything you’ve been doing?’

  Angry at the interruption, Skarab scowled. ‘She realises she requires regular transfusions, but not where the blood comes from. As with all research, we’ve encountered problems. It soon became obvious we needed more regular and larger transfusions, or she’d regress.’

  ‘So, the girls’ young blood fuelled your experiments and gave her a thirst for more.’ It made him feel sick. ‘Your mother developed a taste for killing. Does she take after you or did you inherit it from her?’

  Embarrassed, the scientist snapped back, ‘We didn’t expect it to go smoothly.’

  ‘You can say that again.’ She’d killed a couple of men and would have added to her tally the other night if he hadn’t intervened. And he’d had a lucky escape. ‘Our newspapers are saying she’s the vampire killer, and it’s obvious your research has given her an insatiable thirst for blood. How does that rest with your conscience?’

  ‘Ridiculous!’ Skarab shouted. ‘Sometimes it triggers aggression in the hippocampus. My mother has picked up men. She has inadvertently bitten them in an act of passion, but she didn’t intend to kill them.’

  ‘You fed her blood so she could go on killing?’ He stifled an incredulous laugh. ‘Is that science?’

  ‘The girls were donors. Meant them no harm. I didn’t hurt them, they didn’t suffer. They were sedated throughout.’

  ‘What kind of twisted logic is that?’

  ‘I have no qualms about my research. We must make sacrifices for the greater good. As a neurobiologist and a physicist, I combine the science of both fields. These discoveries will improve our lives. And my experiments are vital.’

  His head was hurting more now as he struggled to keep up with the scientist’s madness.

  ‘An important early discovery helped me to carry out my work undetected. After taking the girls’ blood, I was able to transport their bodies and there would be no connection to me. There would be no reports of the girls’ disappearance and no records of their lives. So, in your world, they didn’t exist.’

  ‘Becky exists.’

  ‘That was an aberration.’ There was a speculative light in his eyes as if considering sharing a secret as he shifted in the seat. A car swerving in front broke his concentration, and he wrestled the wheel to get back on track before lapsing into a long silence.

  ‘You must feel guilty about their deaths?’

  ‘No, a handful of deaths is a fair exchange for saving the lives of thousands. In our evolution, there have been many sacrifices.’

  Although sickened, it intrigued him. ‘Your mother must be like a pincushion with all those transfusions.’

  ‘That will soon be over,’ Skarab said as if remembering something he’d forgotten. ‘There’s a way to replace all Bette’s blood. A permanent solution.’

  ‘How?’

  Pleased to be asked for an explanation, the scientist continued, ‘So you can understand, I’ll keep it simple. I must slow my mother’s heart and pump out her old blood. As it’s no longer flowing, there’s no supply of oxygen to the brain and after two minutes that causes damage. By cooling her body to twenty degrees, the brain’s functions slow, and it should survive for around twenty minutes. The final part is transfusing the new supply from the donors into her.’

  He didn’t want to ask but needed an answer. ‘Is Becky a donor?’

  ‘Children’s bodies hold just over half a gallon of blood while adults can have up to a gallon and a half, so I need a good supply.’

  His struggling caused the chains to cut deeper into his skin. ‘It’s not too late to end this madness.’

  ‘It’s science, that’s all.’ His expression softened. ‘Becky won’t suffer, she’ll know nothing about it. I’ll sedate her and within minutes her brain will stop, like going to sleep.’ Appearing spent, the scientist lapsed into silence, his concentration broken only by the checking of his watch as they drew close to their destination.

  ‘And is Solo a donor?’

  ‘No, my plans for her are much different.’

  ‘Tell me?’

  Skarab stared at him for longer than necessary and was forced to swerve out of the path of an oncoming vehicle. ’It involves you, as I mentioned.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Have you heard of parabiosis?’

  ‘What’s that?’ Whatever it was, he knew he wouldn’t like it.

  ‘A major part of my research has involved parabiosis. In the lab, I suture old mice and younger mice together, like conjoined twins, so they share the same circulation. The results have been good, the older specimens benefited from the younger mice’s blood. Until now, humans haven’t been used.’

  ‘I guess it’s one way of always having a dance partner.’

  The scientist didn’t appear to hear and eased his foot off the accelerator. ‘You and Solo’s situation is unique, and you’ll have the honour of being the first.’

  ‘You’ll sew us together?’ He couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice as he struggled. ‘You’re a monster.’

  ‘It’s a medical procedure and straightforward.’

  He attempted to close his ears, but the words slipped through and flowed around his mind.

  ‘After being anaesthetised, you’ll be laid side by side and incisions made in the peritoneal cavities below the rib cage before being sutured together. This will connect the internal organs. You should recover from the procedure, but there are risks if your separate immune systems fight each other. Sadly, it can mean death for one or possibly both.’

  ‘What’s the point? We’re both relatively young people.’

  Allowing the car to coast to a halt, Skarab appraised him with a spiritual gleam in his eyes. ‘It’s different for you and Solo. My research has been about stopping time, pausing ageing, turning back the clock. You and Solo are timeless. The question is can you exist together in the same place at the same time? What happens when you share each other’s blood? Which of you becomes the dominant one?’ He stared at him but receiving no reaction, continued. ‘Her presence must trouble you?’

  It did, but in ways he wouldn’t understand.

  ‘At the moment, you’re unaware of what’s happening, but as we progress, it should become obvious. Like a metamorphosis.’

  Not understanding a word, he turned away furrowing his brow, but the man wouldn’t stop.

  ‘This was set in motion by severe trauma, and not necessarily a physical one. Strange things happen in these cases. And you both have experienced it.’

  The night he met Solo in the alley flashed before his eyes.

  ‘Let me use an example. You’re travelling on a train racing down a track, then something happens. Let’s call it a trauma. The points have changed, but you don’t notice you’ve switched onto another track heading in an entirely different direction. Instead of a smooth ride, your train eventually comes off the rails. That’s what has happened to you.’

  Is it the scientist or me who is mad?

  As they turned into the lane, Skarab offered a broad smile like an old friend. ‘The results will be amazing and exciting. I cannot wait to see how you and Solo react. I have my theories, and I expect them to be confirmed. You both share a special secret, and once you’re conjoined, you will understand what it is.’

  The scientist let that sink in. ‘Don’t regard it as an unpleasant experience. It’s something to look forward to, and to help you relax, I shall play my special recordings. Do you enjoy music?’

  He shook his head, thinking he once
did but not if he had to live with a never-ending soundtrack.

  ‘My favourites are the songs of the stars, the music of space.’

  His puzzled expression encouraged an explanation. ‘It’s beautiful. We can listen to the universe, the sounds of the stars and planets far beyond our blood moon. Stars resonate like huge musical instruments. They give off a different harmonic hum like music. And their electro-magnetic vibrations can be mapped and turned into sounds we can hear.’

  His underwhelmed response seemed to embarrass the scientist who added, ‘Wherever you go in this and other universes, there’s music. So, when the music stops, we all die.’

  Skarab’s voice took on a more serious tone. ‘I will release you from the cuffs but remember what I told you about the chipping process. You’re both programmed for deletion,’ he waved the scanner in his hand, ‘and I can start the process with a press of the button should you step out of line. So, don’t attempt any heroics. Solo’s life is in your hands.’

  By lifting his hands and ankles as one and wedging them against the dashboard, he could see the road ahead, and adrenaline stampeded through his body as he gasped. ‘Don’t understand what’s happening. Only hours ago, there was a family home there.’

  With an amused smile, Skarab responded and his voice seemed to echo, ‘Now it’s just an ordinary single-storey building. We live in strange worlds, but now I think you’re beginning to understand what I’ve been saying.’

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Bette took so long fumbling with the padlocks on the cages that she feared Skarab would return and prevent them from escaping.

  ‘C’mon, you’re doing well,’ Solo encouraged the scientist’s mother, concerned she might change her mind. Muttering to herself, Bette grappled with the padlocks and wiped away the sweat streaming into her eyes. ‘Can’t do it, it’s difficult.’

  It took much coaxing, but eventually, Becky was freed, and the child ran over to Solo’s cage and, with a nervous smile playing at the corners of her mouth, pushed her fingers through the wire to make contact.

  As soon as Bette released the second padlock, Solo pushed the gate open and grabbed Becky. With a backward glance, she carried her out and through the main room, wanting to get her as far away as possible from this prison.

  As she opened the heavy outside door, she heard footsteps descending and shrank back, feeling the child’s hands gripping her tighter. The first person to emerge was Headlock and relief flooded through her. But there was no welcome in his eyes.

  Becky shouted, ‘Papa’, and wriggled free and stumbled up the steps to greet him, and he lifted her and embraced her.

  But another figure descended, Skarab holding the scanner above his head. ‘Don’t be brave, Solo,’ he shouted. ‘You’re both programmed for deletion. One wrong move and I press the button and…’

  With her last hope of escape extinguished, she almost collapsed in defeat, and she realised Headlock wouldn’t risk making a move if her life was on the line.

  Confident he had total control, Skarab scanned the room before turning to his mother. ‘Why did you release them?’

  She saw regret in Bette’s eyes as she stared at her and Becky. But the woman addressed her son, ‘I tried to save you. This policewoman—’

  ‘She’s no policewoman,’ the scientist snorted. ‘She tricked you to save her own skin. I’m risking everything to help you, and yet you betray me.’

  ‘Solo said you took the girls’ blood and killed them.’

  ‘That’s not true. Unfortunately, they died while helping me with my research, but I cared for them, and they didn’t suffer.’

  Bette nodded but then, confused, slumped to the ground, and Becky knelt beside her, stroking her hair.

  ‘Get up.’ The scientist’s voice rang with a malevolence his mother hadn’t heard before, and it frightened her. ‘Go back into the bunker. I have to work on the girl.’

  ‘No,’ Solo gasped, putting a protective arm around the child. ‘You’re not touching her.’

  But Skarab brushed past and pulled Becky’s arm, dragging her into the room.

  She and Headlock ran after them, and when within inches of getting a hand on Becky, the scientist wheeled around and threatened them again with the scanner.

  ‘One more step and you’re dead,’ he said and opened a drawer and pulled out a pistol which he handed to his mother. ‘You two sit over there where I can see you,’ he directed them. ‘Bette, make amends by pointing the gun at them. If they move, shoot them.’

  ‘Never shot anyone in my life,’ Bette wailed, holding the gun with both hands, her arms trembling.

  The scientist led a bemused Becky over to a bench and made her lie down. He put a pillow under her head and covered her with a sheet. Then he dabbed her arm with a swab, primed a hypodermic syringe and picked a spot.

  ‘It’s only a sedative,’ he said with the reassuring smile of a family doctor. ‘She’ll experience no pain or discomfort.’ And he fastened a belt around her.

  He went over to the far wall and lifted a cover, revealing a contraption resembling a dialysis machine. He trundled it over, stationing it alongside the child who was slipping into unconsciousness and muttering to herself.

  Headlock was looking from Bette to Skarab, obviously calculating the distance between them. The scanner lay on a countertop within the scientist’s reach, but if Headlock attempted to wrest the pistol from her, could he shoot the scientist before he pressed the button? Her eyes warned him not to try.

  Skarab plugged in the machine. Again, he treated the child’s left arm and placed a pressure cuff around it before using a small needle to insert an IV line into the vein. And he switched on the machine which made a low whirring as he adjusted knobs and checked the flickering dials. Once completed, he double checked everything was working to his satisfaction. ‘There,’ he said, looking at his wristwatch. ‘This should take a little time.’

  He swung around to Headlock. ‘You and Solo can share a cage while I prepare my mother for the procedure we discussed, and it will give you a couple of hours to get reacquainted.’ He picked up the scanner and waved it menacingly. ‘Then it will be your turn.’ And he smiled crookedly.

  As if in a trance, Bette didn’t appear to hear so intense was her concentration, her arms rigid, pointing the gun as sweat cut grooves in her face powder.

  Becky appeared to be sleeping, and Skarab turned back to her and bent over and retook her pulse. ‘Perfect, everything’s going well.’

  A beep from his scanner echoed around the bunker, and he hesitated, looking at it quizzically, and frowned as he read the information on the screen. He pressed a button and stared into space.

  ‘Hope it’s not bad news?’ Headlock asked, receiving a glare in response.

  ‘Not good for you,’ Skarab said, glancing at Solo. ‘Ottomon is on the move, and that complicates matters. By my calculations, he’ll arrive here in about ten minutes.’ His eyes ranged around the bunker, considering his options. Decided, he came over and pushed his mother’s hands down, so the pistol pointed at the floor. ‘Sorry, Solo, but I’ve got to hand you over to Ottomon. Had hoped to keep you away from him so I’d be able to carry out my experiment on both of you.’

  She flashed him a questioning look.

  ‘Thought I’d convinced Ottomon by promising to eradicate the threat you posed, and I also said I’d help with his infernal drawing. But he wants you dead, and he doesn’t trust me to carry out his orders.’

  Headlock interrupted, ‘You might still change his mind, this experiment is too important to you.’

  Considering that, Skarab paused before his expression hardened. ‘I’ve no choice. He isn’t aware of the bunker. Can’t risk him finding out.’

  Her fingers wriggled into his, and they felt like ice.

  ‘We could tell him about the set-up you’ve got here,’ she threatened.

  The scientist rounded on her. ‘At the moment, Ottomon and his men don’t know Headlock exists, and for the t
ime being he’s safe, but if you step out of line, I’ll make sure they kill him, too.’

  She gripped his hand all the tighter as Skarab retrieved the pistol from Bette. ‘Solo, you come with me to the old lab. I’ll try to persuade him to give me one last chance to conduct my experiment. That way, you should at least live longer.’

  Skarab turned to Headlock. ‘You’d better join us. Don’t want you interfering with Becky’s transfusion.’

  Unmoving, Becky lay on the bench, and Solo wondered how long it would be before she reached the point of no return. And Headlock made to go over, but the scientist jabbed him in the ribs with the gun. ‘There’s no time for that. Get upstairs now.’

  Once outside, Skarab ensured the opening to the bunker was hidden before shepherding them towards the old lab.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  As they waited in the old building for Ottomon’s arrival, Skarab’s thumb twitched on the scanner in his pocket, and he paced the small room, footsteps crunching on the littered floor.

  This time only one vehicle arrived with the tycoon climbing out of the back. The two henchmen accompanying him, dressed in identical dark suits with black ties and white shirts, entered first. They checked out the main space and adjoining rooms before frisking them and, finding the scientist’s pistol, searched no further. One went out and escorted in the tycoon who wheezed with the exertion, and Solo took a sharp intake of breath as she recognised him.

  ‘So, scientist, we meet again,’ Ottomon said, ignoring her. ‘At last, you’ve found the woman. Now my men will deal with her. Every minute she lives, she’s a threat to me.’

  ‘Sir,’ Skarab was at his most subservient, ‘we agreed that I could use her in one of my experiments. And you’d no longer need to take any further action against her.’

  The tycoon cocked his head to one side like an eagle about to swoop. ‘Any agreements you believe we had are terminated.’

  ‘But I planned to use her later today.’

  As if considering what he would do to her, he rubbed his chin. ‘I don’t understand your work. You can find another woman.’