“Drink!” I gasped, “I need a drink!” My eyes wandered over the top of the table but it was covered in nothing but mess.
“Here, drink this.”
It was Raven. She stood beside me, a glass in her hand.
I snatched it from her and gulped down the water. Regaining my breath, I gasped, “Thanks.” She nodded her head and turned away.
With my breathing now stable, I avoided looking at Langstone and stared at Jude instead. He looked worried – concerned. A look that I hadn’t really ever seen on Jude before. I could tell he was serious and I guessed that like me, he realised that we didn’t really have any other option than to do what Doctor Langstone wanted us to do. But was Jude concerned about us or was it because he was Doshia and Langstone had just told him he would have to kill himself in order to help us? I looked at Raven and Max. They stared back, deflated.
Wrapping my arms tight about myself, I wandered over to the window. I could feel myself shake. My throat was raw. Doctor Langstone had just given me a taste of what a damned existence, living here, would be like. I knew that was just a taste – just a starter. There would be worse to come. Staying in this ruin with him would be torture. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stay here; but could I really go back to Strangers Hill and face what lurked in those decrepit corridors again? Could I really destroy Quint? Could I really kill Ben? I stared out the window as silent tears trickled down my face.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Kassidy
I dried my tears and turned away from the window. Langstone was standing at the head of the table, rummaging through a tatty cardboard box. Mr. Shackleton had disappeared; I hadn’t heard him leave. Sylvia was still crouched underneath the table, her eyes shut tight and she mumbled quietly. Still handcuffed, she continued to rock back and forth.
I watched her closely and wondered if the rocking motion was some kind of blanket – a soother. Did it make her feel comforted? Was she so disturbed that there was no hope for her? That same old question still bugged me. Was she crazy or playing a very good game? Not wanting to look at Doctor Langstone, I continued to focus on Sylvia. Every so often I would catch a glimpse of her staring about the room, checking it out. I was almost convinced that her crazy state was all an act. There was more to Sylvia than just some deranged mental patient, especially after the things she had said about Jude. I had so much that I needed to ask her. I only hoped that I would get some solid information from Sylvia about Jude.
Clearing his throat and breaking the silence that had swamped the room, Doctor Langstone looked up and said, “I left Strangers Hill after one of Trabek’s drug tests went horribly wrong. Well… all of them went wrong but this one in particular was chaos. Previous tests hadn’t worked but most of the volunteers just died without causing us too many problems. They were easily covered up with the help of Cherry Tree’s law enforcement. We could easily dispose of the bodies at the local crematorium with the assistance of Inspector Cropper. Any family members would be dealt with. Anyone who dared to question what went on behind the closed doors at Cruor Pharma.” Doctor Langstone smiled as if remembering happier times. “It helped having most of the workforce live in Holly Tree. They were desperate for work… desperate to keep their jobs. How else would they pay their bills? So people kept quiet. Of course, they had no idea what was really happening. Most of the workforce was kept out of the old part of Cruor Pharma. They worked on the real drug tests. They heard rumours, of course. Some of them… the ones who got caught up in the mess… were told that the volunteers had gone mad from the drugs. They had no idea who I or Doctor Middleton really were. They just kept on believing that we were the same old doctors who had worked at Cruor Pharma for all those years. They knew not to question us – they valued their employment, and I think, their lives. I’m fairly certain that Inspector Cropper made sure that we were to be feared.”
Sitting down on a chair, my throat still sore, I asked, “How did you come to be inside Cruor Pharma? Who brought your coffins there?”
Doctor Langstone smirked, and poking a black nail inside one of his open sores, said, “We were dug up from a crypt that had been concealed for hundreds of years. Doctor Middleton, before Trabek took him over, had an interest in archaeology and bodies. I guess he had us sent to Cruor Pharma for his own personal interests. Maybe he had plans to dissect us all and find some kind of exciting discovery. But of course, he got more than he bargained for when he opened up our coffins.” Doctor Langstone laughed to himself and wandered over to the window.
I looked at Jude. He had been very quiet. He seemed uncomfortable, shifting about on his chair, getting up and pacing back and forth and then sitting back down again. He perched forward, head in his hands, and made no eye contact.
Doctor Langstone continued to talk, his back turned to us as he watched the stormy, autumn evening approach. “Mr. Shackleton was the man who delivered us to Cruor Pharma. I believe he worked on the archaeological site where our coffins were found.”
Raven, pulling at her twisted nails, looked up and said, “How is he still here… how come he’s alive?”
Turning away from the window, Langstone narrowed his eyes and answered, “He’s not really living… you must be able to see that for yourself. He has been most useful to me, and…”
“Yes, but surely he needs a demon in him to keep him going. That’s how it works, doesn’t it?” I coughed.
“He was in the room when the coffins were opened. In fact, I think it was Mr. Shackleton who opened up the first coffin.” Doctor Langstone scratched at his head as if he were having trouble remembering.
“So which one of your demon friends jumped into him?” spat Raven, shaking her head. “Who’s inside him?”
Doctor Langstone shuffled over to the cardboard box he had earlier been looking through. He pulled out a handful of old photos, flipping through them until he came to the one he wanted. “Here – this is a photograph of Mr. Shackleton with Doctor Middleton before our coffins were opened.”
The photograph was passed among us. Jude refused to look, snatching it from Raven and shoving it into my hands. I stared down and felt uneasy looking at Middleton, even though this had been taken before he changed. My eyes fell upon Mr. Shackleton. I immediately felt sad. The poor man was standing side by side with Middleton, a big smile across his face, eyes gleaming in excitement. Just an ordinary guy, happy with his life, and now what had become of him? An empty shell used by demons. I held the photograph nearer. I could just make out a coffin in the background. The room seemed modern. It had that fresh, clinical look about it.
I placed the photograph down on the table and asked, “Well… who’s dwelling in Mr. Shackleton?”
Langstone chuckled and said, “No one now. I keep him going from my own strengths. He has a little of me inside him. He doesn’t talk but he’s company of sorts.”
I stood up and looked back down at the photo. “You said, no one now…?”
“Yeah, one of you devil suckers must have got in him when those coffins were opened up, otherwise Mr. Shackleton would have died there and then. You demons wouldn’t have let him live otherwise,” pushed Raven.
Doctor Langstone nodded his head and whispered, “You are correct. Mr. Shackleton was indeed used for a time.”
“Well… who?” demanded Raven, getting more impatient.
“Mr. Shackleton’s body was used by Doshia,” answered Langstone, his eyes looked nervously about the room.
Raven jumped up. She flung her arms about and shouted, “Oh great, we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, in some godforsaken hole, with a body once used by Doshia.” She stared at me, her eyes wide.
“Sit down and shut up!” ordered Langstone. “Doshia is no longer inside Mr. Shackleton. Doshia left his body long ago. If it wasn’t for me taking pity on Mr. Shackleton then he would be gone – finished. I saved his body and have kept him going ever since.”
“Not much to feel proud about,” sneered Raven, taking her seat. “The poor guy
would probably rather be allowed to just die properly once and for all then float about dead and possessed by you!”
“Silence!” hissed Langstone. He glared at Raven, his already burnt face flushing red with anger.
“Are you sure Doshia left Mr. Shackleton’s body all those years ago?” I asked, feeling uneasy.
Doctor Langstone picked up a candle and placed it in a holder. He struck a match and held it to the wick. The room glowed with eerie shadows. He sat back down and said, “Doshia went missing years ago. He was impatient. He became frustrated with Trabek’s failed drug tests, and after the test that went very wrong right before my eyes, Doshia left. Mr. Shackleton’s body dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes and I never saw Doshia again. Never saw whose body Doshia used next. I knew then that it was time I also left. Like I said to you last night, I don’t have any interest in the Cleaners and I didn’t back then. But Trabek was insistent – adamant about getting the Cleaners into bodies. Even with Doshia gone, I could see how determined Trabek was to continue. It was time for me to get out of that hospital on top of Strangers Hill. I knew that one day Trabek would come up with a way to house the Cleaners in a human body. I knew, when that happened, it would just be a matter of time before Trabek would come for me and have the Cleaners kill me once and for all. So I set myself up here and grew strong – used my strengths to turn this place into a fort. Nothing can get in and nothing can get out unless I allow it.”
With his arms folded across his chest, Max looked at Langstone and glared. “Are you sure about that? We are talking about Doshia here. I don’t know much about this demon…” Max peered over at Jude and then back to Langstone. “But I do know that it’s been following us ever since we escaped Cruor Pharma. People have died… we’ve all nearly been killed. You say nothing can get in here without you allowing it but I think you’ve let Doshia in without even realising it.” With a look of satisfaction across his face, Max slouched back on his chair and stared at Langstone, seemingly happy that he had just spoiled Langstone’s gloat of having power over who gets in and who doesn’t.
Doctor Langstone, with his eyes narrowed, stared at each and every one of us. He shook his head slowly and wheezed. “I would know if Doshia were here. He would not stay quiet… but if Doshia has slipped through, you can rest assured that he hasn’t been following you… it has been he who has manipulated you all here. He is not a follower. Doshia leads.”
Tucking my hair behind my ear, I said, “Maybe Doshia is playing the waiting game. After all, that’s what all you demons seem to be doing. Middleton’s waiting on the Cleaners to bring us back… the Cleaners are waiting at the gate for us… and you are waiting for Middleton to arrive here. I guess Doshia is waiting for the right moment.” I looked at Jude, “What do you think? Is Doshia waiting on something?”
Jude leant across the table. Taking a match and candle, he lit it and said, “How would I know? This is all so fucked up! This place is rotten through and through. How could you live here and be happy with this?” He stared at Langstone. “How could you even think that I would go back to Strangers Hill and destroy the bodies in those coffins? Are you fucking insane? Did you melt the brain inside that head as well as the flesh on that body you stole when you set fire to this place?”
“Won’t go back did you say?” asked Langstone, his eyes wide. He turned back to his box of photographs. “Think I’m not happy here? I love it here. I live like everyone else does. I have my fun… I’m living just like the rest of you do.”
“I hardly call you living like one of us,” sneered Raven. “People don’t live in places like this. We don’t kill and take people’s bodies and we don’t worship the devil.”
Taking a handful of photographs from the box, Doctor Langstone held them up in his hand and said, “Shall we take a look at these? Or shall I tell you what it is you need to do when the time is right to head back to Strangers Hill?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Raven stood up. “I’ll take the photograph option any day.”
She started to move toward Langstone as Jude jumped up. Snatching hold of Raven’s arm and pulling her back down onto her chair, he shouted, “We’re not here to look at your family fucking photos!”
“Are you sure about that?” asked Langstone, a glimmer in his eye. “Because I have some good ones here…” His charred fingers gripped hold of a photo and his hands shook as he held it up.
Slamming his fists down hard onto the table, Jude, his eyes ablaze, shouted, “Enough! Enough of this crazy bullshit! We will do what you want us to do… as long as my friends here don’t get hurt. They get to walk away from this unharmed.”
I stared at Jude somewhat surprised. What was he playing at?
Doctor Langstone rubbed his hands together. His dark eyes had a sparkle to them and his burnt lips stretched up into a smile. “Very well.” He placed the photographs back inside the box. “You know, you really are too soft. This friendship you think you all have has clouded your minds… given you feelings. These feelings are bad. They create mistakes. You have to step on others to go forward.”
Jude shook his head and whispered, “No. You don’t have to be like that. Having friends… looking after each other… that’s what takes you forward.”
Jude turned away and headed for the door. Looking over his shoulder, he said, “I need a break. Middleton won’t be here for a while – I need to think.”
He disappeared out into the ruin, his footsteps muffled by the roar of the wind. Sylvia jumped up and went to follow Jude. I reached out and snatched hold of her by the handcuffs.
Leaning close to her, I whispered, “You’re coming with me. We need to talk.” Pulling Sylvia toward the door, I looked back at Langstone. He had sat down at the head of the table, his shaky hands rummaging through the box.
His eyes peered up at me and he rasped, “Don’t be too long… you all need to be ready for when Trabek turns up.”
I didn’t bother to reply to him. Instead, I left with Sylvia, Max, and Raven and headed across the grounds.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Kassidy
The cold wind hammered against us. We walked away from the ruin back toward the staff quarters. I looked around at my surroundings. This place was wretched – forlorn. I didn’t want to stay here. Surely there must be a way out. I stopped in my tracks and changed direction.
“Where are you going?” called Max, over the wind.
“To the wall… the gates. I want to see if we can get out,” I shouted, holding down my hair with one hand and keeping hold of Sylvia who pulled and yanked on the handcuffs.
Max looked worried and said, “I can’t go, Kassidy. Not without Robert. We must see him. If any deal with Langstone is to go ahead then we have to see Robert first.”
“I know… don’t worry. I won’t leave without you or your brother. I just want to see if there’s a way out. You keep an eye on Jude.” I turned to walk away but a hand took hold of my arm and spun me around. It was Max.
Squeezing my arm gently, Max said, “Be careful. Don’t open those gates. You mustn’t let the Cleaners in.” He looked over at Raven and then back at me and said, “Langstone needs to die. One of us has to kill him – well, get rid of the body that he uses. It would give us enough time to find Robert and a way out of here. It’s the only answer.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged, “You just watch Jude. I’ll go and see if there’s some way out of here.”
Max nodded his head and walked away. I looked at Sylvia. She swayed in the wind, her white gown rustling about her bare legs. I could hear the dogs barking again. Their aggressive snarls made me pick up pace and I pulled on the handcuffs to get Sylvia moving. Evening was almost here and I wondered if I would have enough time to reach the gates and check the walls before it got too dark.
I headed along the dirt track towing Sylvia. The further I went, the darker it became. The track was surrounded by trees, all burnt but the sheer amount of them darkened the way.
As w
e disappeared from view of the ruin, I pulled Sylvia up alongside me and said, “Sylvia, you told me earlier that Jude is your friend… is that true?”
Instead of answering me, Sylvia looked away and started to mumble. Her dirty hair blew about, concealing her face. I continued to walk along the track as our feet crunched over the gravel. I felt frustrated. How was I going to get her to talk? Maybe she didn’t trust me? After all, I must have seemed pretty crazy last night. I tried again, and said, “If Jude is your friend, then where did you two meet?”
No response. Sylvia just continued to stumble alongside me.
“I know you probably don’t trust me and I get it… I really do. I’m finding it pretty fucking hard myself to know who to trust but… I’m just like you. The same shit has happened to me. Look.” I held up my arms and revealed the black veins under my skin. “I’ve been injected like you. I escaped from Cruor Pharma and now we’re both in trouble… both wanted by demons.” I leant forward, hoping to get a glimpse of Sylvia’s face, something that would tell me she wasn’t just insane – that she understood me. But she hung her head low and continued to shuffle forward.
“Please, Sylvia,” I begged, “I really need to know that you’re not insane. I need to know that there’s hope for me. I can’t end up like those other volunteers crawling up walls and killing people. I can’t end up like…”
“Like me, you mean?” mumbled Sylvia. She suddenly turned her head. Her bloodshot eyes peered at me from under her droopy eyelids. A gust of wind threw up Sylvia’s hair and revealed a face full of thick, black veins.
I stumbled slightly, shocked that she’d finally spoken back to me, but also from fear. This close to her face had me even more scared for my future. Was this what I’d be seeing when I looked into the mirror at myself not too long away?
Damned (Kassidy Bell Series Book 4) Page 12
