by Amy Cross
"Don't worry," I say, "I can go out the window".
I run across the room but, of course, the window's stuck shut. I turn to find Rose has already followed me all the way over.
"You're fast," I say, really starting to feel like something's wrong here. "And I bet you're not as frail as you look, are you?"
"You... would... have... been..." Rose starts, then pauses.
"I know Patrick," I say, deciding my only option is to level with her. "And I know what happened at the lighthouse. Sort of. I know Jess died, and I know you managed to escape and you've been here in a coma ever since. I know you knew Patrick".
"Poor... Rose..." she says.
"Poor Rose," I repeat. "What about poor Rose?"
"She... is... still in here... somewhere... we... keep her around... for amusement..."
I stare at her for a moment. Her voice seems to be getting a little stronger every time she speaks. "Who are we?" I ask.
"We... keep her... around... in here because... it amuses us to... hear her... screaming..."
I swallow hard. "Well it sounds like that's... Who am I speaking to, then?"
"We... are taking... turns... Some of us are stronger than the others".
"Other what?"
Rose, or Rose's body at least, starts turning her head a little, with more cracking sounds coming from her bones. "This body is old... It can barely speak... It is... making us sound weaker than we are... We will... have to take... yours".
I back right away. "My body?" I ask. "I think we should discuss all this first". I reach out to try the door handle again, but it seems completely stuck. Rose is shuffling towards me.
"Please..." Rose says. "It would be... inconvenient... to have to... struggle with you".
"Sorry," I say, and then I launch myself at her, with the intention of pushing her over. But she just grabs me and holds me tight. So tight, I can't get free.
At that moment, there's the sound of breaking glass. Rose and I both look over just in time to see Patrick stepping through the broken window.
"You're... early," says Rose.
22
In the midst of the darkness, there's a moment of light. I see Patrick looking over me, with such sorrow in his eyes. I wish I could tell him what I've always felt about him, since the first day we met. But my body is too broken to speak. And I can still hear the voices in my mind, telling me that I failed, that my body will heal, over time. As I start to lose consciousness again, I focus on Patrick's beautiful, concerned face and I pray to God that I will never wake up. That I will die, and take these creatures with me.
23
Rose loosens her grip on me, enough for me to slip away. I back right into the corner of the room.
"We have been in this vessel for many years," Rose says, shuffling slowly towards Patrick. "You were... wise to trap us here, but... unwise not to kill us".
Patrick stares at her. He hasn't even acknowledged my presence in the room.
"There will... always be a place for Sentinels in this... world," Rose says as she nears Patrick. "We will... have to take her body... for now... We will return it... when we can, though you will be aware that... certain damage is unavoidable".
She reaches out a hand to touch Patrick's shoulder, but he grabs the hand and with one quick, hard move he snaps the wrist.
Rose looks at what he has done. "You see... why we need... another... body". She turns to me. "It has already begun," she says. "We... just need... to finish".
"What are you talking about?" I ask, looking at Patrick, hoping for some kind of explanation.
"We just need to... touch you... a little more," says Rose. She has almost reached me, but Patrick has done nothing. Whose side is he on here?
"Patrick," I say. "Are you going to do anything about this?"
"Quiet," says Rose as she reaches me. "The Sentinels are ready to return now. We have hidden in here for so long". She fixes me with her dead eyes. "Ten thousands of us in... one body... the perfect hiding place... but so... crowded".
I try to slip past her, but she's much stronger now and she grabs me, forcing me against the wall. I feel heat in the grip she has on me.
"Patrick!" I shout, but he just stands there. For the first time, he has a look of helplessness on his face, as if he wants to do something but can't. "Patrick you fucker!" I shout. "Do something!"
"Relax," says Rose. "We will... give you this body back when we are finished with it... after we have... found others... thousands of others". She cracks a smile. Literally. Her skin on her face, unused to really moving for half a century, splits at each corner of her mouth.
It's at that moment that Patrick comes over. Standing behind Rose, he puts one hand on Rose's shoulder, one hand under her chin, and with a single sharp movement he pulls her head completely off her body. As blood bubbles up from the gaping hole at the top of her neck, her severed head falls to the ground with a heavy thump, and her body topples down onto the carpet. I stare down in horror as blood leaks out, then I look at Patrick.
He stares at me for a moment and then, with no warning at all, he punches me and I black out.
24
I open my eyes and immediately I realise that time has passed. I'm not in Rose's room anymore. I look around and see that I'm in a room at Patrick and Vincent's underground house. Patrick must have carried me here after he... oh yeah, after he punched me. It's starting to come back now. I sit up and - No, wait - I don't sit up, because I'm tied to the sofa.
"Don't struggle," says Vincent, who I realise is standing close by. "It will do no good, and it won't help your cause".
"My cause?" I ask. "What's going on?"
I look over to the other side of the room and see Patrick watching me.
"Let me go," I say.
"We can't," says Vincent. "We don't know what she did to you". He comes over to me and seems to be peering at my eyes. "You're a bloody fool, by the way. What were you thinking going near that woman?"
"I wanted answers," I say, struggling with the ties that hold me down. "Get me out of here, Vincent".
"All in due course," he says, but I see the look he gives Patrick, and it's not a happy or optimistic one. "First we need to run a few tests. After all, I'm sure you'll understand that we can't risk another Rose Tisser".
I try to get my hands free. "What happened to her?" I ask, to distract them while I work.
"We made a mistake," Vincent says. He glares at Patrick for a moment. "Well, one of us did. Still, it would have been okay if you hadn't woken her up. She only had a few more years left, and then she would have just died. That's what was supposed to happen".
One of my hands is almost free. This is working, but I need to keep Vincent talking. "What was inside her?" I ask. "The voice said 'we', as if something was inside".
Vincent nods. "Sentinels. Created by the vampires to act as independent observers of the great war. But they didn't stay independent for long. They were supposed to be completely incorruptible, but of course that only helped to turn them into monsters. They became evil and cruel, but like the worst monsters they were utterly convinced that they were right. The only solution was to trap them, all of them. And then wait for the vessel in which they were trapped to die".
"That's what Rose was?" I ask. "A vessel?"
"It was unfortunate. If we'd killed her at the start, none of this would have happened. Unfortunately..." He looks up at Patrick again. "Unfortunately emotions ruled the day".
At that moment, I get both my hands free and I push Vincent away. But before I can get anywhere, Patrick has reached me and is holding me back down. His face is pushed right up close to mine, a look of pure violence in his eyes. He hisses, bearing his teeth at me.
"No!" Vincent shouts, trying to push Patrick away but giving up. "She's not infected! I'm sure of it!"
"Infected?" I ask. "By what?"
"By the last Sentinels," Vincent says. "When the vampires turned on them, they had to hide. Where do you hide 10,000 souls? You pour
them into one single body and you hope that body can hold them until it's safe to come out. And if that body can't hold them, you hop from body to body".
I'm finding this hard to get my head around. "Rose Tisser's body contained ten thousands Sentinels?"
Vincent nods. "Can you imagine? Ten thousands other souls in your own mind. We thought it would be safe to leave her there in bed, just waiting for her body to die out. It seemed easier than taking responsibility and actually killing her ourselves". He looks at Patrick again, almost as if he's angry. "But we took the easy way out and waited for nature to take its course". He looks back at me. "I need you to concentrate, Sophie. I need you to listen very carefully".
"I'm listening," I say.
"No. Listen to yourself. Ignore all other sounds. Listen to your own mind and tell me what you hear".
I'm quiet for a moment. "Nothing".
"Harder," says Vincent. "Listen to your mind and tell me if you hear anything that shouldn't be there. Any voices, any murmurs at the back, anything that could indicate that you're not alone in there. And don't lie. I promise you, we'll know if you lie".
I listen to myself. To my mind. Somewhere in the depths, I can hear my mother's voice, talking to my father back when we still lived together. I can hear myself talking to my little brother, and I can hear Shelley laughing at something. I can hear my Dad's girlfriend talking about her gallery. I can hear the sound of Patrick breathing as he stands behind me in my bathroom back at home, his hands on my body. And I can hear Adam, telling me it's okay and he'll wait for me. But that's all I can hear. I swear.
"Nothing," I say. "There's really nothing".
Vincent stares at me for what seems like the longest time. "I believe her," he says eventually. "I can tell. She's telling the truth". He reaches to set me free, but Patrick stops him. "She's telling the truth, Patrick!" Vincent insists. "Rose's body was weak, there wasn't time for them to cross into Sophie". He tries to free me again, but Patrick keeps staring at me.
"I swear," I say. "I promise there's nothing. I'd know! There are no voices! Just the usual crap". I have visions of myself in a hospital bed for the rest of my life, in a coma while Patrick waits for me to die. Or worse, perhaps he'll just rip my head off like he did with Rose. "Please," I say, and Patrick loosens his grip. I get straight off the sofa and turn to face the pair of them.
"I'm sorry," says Vincent. "We had to know".
"Who was she to you?" I ask Patrick. "Was she your lover? Your girlfriend?"
Patrick shakes his head. That's possibly the most direct communication between us since we met.
"Is that how all the women in your life end up? Old and abandoned by you, while you move on to the next young one?" I know I shouldn't be saying this, but I almost died today. Twice! I think I'm entitled to go a little off the deep end here.
"Rose was a terrible mistake," says Vincent. "We should have dealt with it better. But it's over now. Patrick finally did what he should have done fifty years ago. The Sentinels didn't transfer to you, as they did with Rose". He turns to look at Patrick. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'm sorry you lost her in the end. But it was always going to happen, one way or another".
I guess he's right. One way or another, Patrick eventually loses everyone. All he can do is try to replace them. But even the replacements get lost in the end.
25
I let Adam hug me. He says he's been worried about me, but of course I can't tell him what really happened. I can't even tell him about Rose, so I just say I was hanging out with Shelley and I make a mental note to tell Shelley to back me up if she and Adam ever meet. Which, I'm starting to think, they will.
Adam and I are on my bed at home. I still have my fat lip, plus a slight bruise on my cheek from where Patrick punched me. I've explained the bruise to Adam as the result of a woman at the bus stop swinging her backpack into my face. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I learnt as a kid that if you want to distract attention from bruises, you should make up a crazy story that no-one thinks you'd make up.
"Have I told you I have a car?" Adam asks.
I stare at him. "No!" I say. "Can you drive it?"
He shrugs. "There'd be no point having it if I couldn't. So do you want to go for a drive later?"
"Yeah," I say. "Where?"
"Anywhere. Absolutely anywhere, as long as it's out of town. I need to get out of town for a few hours".
"I know exactly what you mean," he says. "This place is fucked up. Did you hear about that woman in the old peoples' home?"
I tense slightly. "No?"
"Some old lady was in a coma, she fell out of bed and her head came off. They reckon she's been in the coma for like fifty years, and her neck had atrophied. But the really weird part is that when they checked out her name and ID, it turned out she didn't really exist. They have no idea who she is, so they can't let her family know".
"That's sad," I say.
He kisses me on the cheek. "I guess the people who loved her once, they all moved on. Some people don't wait for others". He puts an arm around me and holds me tight. "Others are willing to wait forever, for as long as it takes, and they don't even think of it as waiting because it's so much damn fun". He pauses. "I love you, Sophie".
I don't know what to say.
"There," he says. "I said it".
"I love you too," I say. "I mean, I love you, Adam". I said it, but I don't know if I mean it. In fact, I don't think I do. Damn! That's the first time I've ever said it, too. Oh well, I guess perhaps I'll grow into the feeling.
"I wasn't sure whether I should say it," he says. "But then I thought... what the hell, right? I want to tell you everything that I'm thinking, everything I'm feeling. I want you to know me, and I want to know you too".
"That's what I want too," I say.
"Come on," Adam says, smiling. "Let's go for that drive".
We get up and head out to the hallway, where my mother is lumbering towards her bedroom, her heavy frame wrapped up in her dressing gown.
"This is Adam," I say. "My boyfriend".
My mother's jaw drops as Adam and I head out the door. "You've got a boyfriend?" she says, incredulously.
Now, that would have been the perfect moment to make my exit, but I remember I left my wallet on the desk in my room.
"I'll be back in a moment," I say to Adam, rushing past my astounded mother. I run into my room and go to pick up my wallet, but I suddenly notice that my bedroom window is open. I know I shut it, so...
I look around the room. No sign of Patrick. He must have been and gone. It's then that I notice something has been left on my bed. I walk over and pick it up. I can't believe it... I open it and see the same old-fashioned handwriting that I struggled with before. I close the book and look at the front. It's Rose Tisser's diary. I guess Patrick decided he wanted me to read it after all.
26
Entry from Rose Tisser's diary, dated 20th May 1959.
Today I met the most charming guy. Jess and I were in town, just hanging out and delaying our inevitable trip to the library, when I noticed a guy about our age, standing nearby and clearly unable to keep his eyes off Jess.
Well, I'm used to that. Men always like Jess. But just as I was about to tip Jess off and ask her if she thought he was good-looking - which of course he absolutely was - I realised it wasn't Jess he was looking at, it was me.
I immediately blushed and looked away. But then I forced myself to look back, only to find that he had vanished.
Damn it! He was stunning, too, a real man. And he had the most beautiful, haunting eyes, a mix of wonder and sadness. I should have done what Jess would do. I should have smiled a flirty little smile.
Jess noticed something was up and asked what it was, but I covered pretty quickly. And then Jess and I headed off to the library, even though she kept gently ribbing me all the way.
I wonder if I'll ever see that handsome guy again? Oh, it would be just my luck to be a spinster my whole life! Jess will get all the men, while I en
d up as a little old lady in a rocking chair, never to be touched by a man so long as I live!
NEXT
DARK SEASON III: ARMY OF WOLVES
There's a werewolf in town, and he needs Patrick's help. Running from the other werewolves, Hamish is an old friend of Patrick's who fought with him in the Vampire War. But for Sophie, Hamish is everything Patrick isn't: friendly, funny, charming and communicative. Is Hamish the man for her, and what dark secret is he using to control Patrick?
DARK SEASON IV: THE CIVIL DEAD
After a terrifying encounter in the local cemetery, Sophie discovers that the dead are walking in Dedston at night. With Patrick having seemingly left town, she turns to an unlikely ally in her attempt to find out what the ghosts want, any whether anything can stop them.
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A collection of ten sexually explicit, erotic short stories for women. Includes 'Last Impressions', about a woman getting revenge on her ex, and 'Unfaithful', in which a couple of friends spend the night together in a hotel room with one simple rule: no touching. Warning: contains sexually explicit material, suitable only for adults!
