Violet pulled out another letter. Again, it was addressed to Nurse Powick.
Dear Priscilla,
They are trying to take my licence. They say my work is that of a madman! My friends and colleagues have all turned against me. Thank you for your latest kind words – they are all that keeps me sane. As you say, the GREATEST MINDS are ridiculed the most and someday they will recognize my greatness. However, in the midst of this onslaught it is hard to step out of the fog.
Dr Spinners is making life very difficult for me now. Again, your warnings and your work are of the upmost importance to me and are forever our secret.
William is causing more trouble at home. There is something off with that child. You might be right about him, my dear friend.
Arnold
Her hand shook. The writing was the same on both letters, one signed Dr A. Archer, the other Arnold.
Arnold Archer. She had heard that name!
Edward had talked about Arnold from the steps of the Town Hall only a few months ago. He’d said Arnold Archer was his father and he accused William of killing Arnold with a shoelace when he was just a child. She knew she’d heard about the Divided Soul before too! Edward had mentioned it in the same speech – he’d said William’s different-coloured eyes were an indicator that he was a Divided Soul and that meant he was cursed and evil. Violet didn’t believe Edward’s story then. Iris said it wasn’t true either, and the old woman never said anything more about it.
But now there were letters from Arnold to Powick, letters that said there was something wrong with William, letters that talked about the Divided Soul. Violet had been looking for a reason for all of this, a reason why Powick was planning whatever she was planning. Maybe somehow this was it? But how did it all fit together?
Violet’s head went into overdrive as she tried to make connections between what she knew about the Archer family’s history and what was being said in the letters.
Suddenly something knocked against the door. Quickly she stuffed the letters in her pocket and threw everything else back into the box, then stood up and hurried to the corner just as the door clicked open. There was no one there. She inched across the room and gingerly looked outside.
“Quick, come on!” someone said.
The person stood silhouetted a little down the hall, his back to her.
“Boy!” she gasped, trembling with relief. “How did you find me?”
“This way! Now!” he whispered, ignoring her question as he darted forward.
Violet sprinted after him down the stone corridor. Boy seemed very familiar with the place as he ducked behind a carpet-like wall hanging and down a concealed set of spiral stone steps to a corridor on the ground floor. Violet spotted the army of motionless zombies in the courtyard outside as she shot past a window.
Suddenly a door banged nearby. She jumped.
“What’s all that racket about?” a deep voice boomed. She hadn’t time to think as Boy raced back and, without a word, shoved Violet roughly into a dark room. Her nose tickled with dust and she stifled a sneeze.
Her friend remained in the hallway. What was he doing? She opened the door slightly and peered out.
“Have I not warned you about running inside before?” a man shouted.
A small squat figure moved down the corridor towards her friend, a large candle in his grasp. Violet felt sick. Edward Archer? But how could that be? How had he gotten out of his cell in the Town Hall?
As the man moved closer, she noticed his face was heavily lined and strands of neatly combed white hair were pulled across his balding head, as though trying to hide his bare scalp. It wasn’t Edward but someone who looked just like him, only years older.
“I’m sorry, sir,” her friend mumbled, his hands shaking. “I was in haste to check on the troops. They are almost fully charged. I didn’t intend to disturb you!”
“But you did disturb me, boy! Intention or not!”
“I know, sir. I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.”
Violet squinted out at the person who’d helped her, his shoulders slumped and head bowed. She couldn’t see his eyes but she knew his stance. She suddenly understood – this boy wasn’t her friend, this boy was Tom!
“You’re right, it won’t! Now come with me, I need a dummy for the DeathDefier. I’ve been tweaking it all night. Purrs like a kitten!”
“But I…” Tom shuffled awkwardly.
“You dare to answer back, boy? Follow me!” the man ordered, storming towards him.
Boy’s twin cowered, just like a dog Violet had seen once who’d been badly treated.
The stranger thundered past.
“Go home – it’s straight back through the maze to the Outskirts. Evacuate Town tonight! It’s all happening in two days,” Tom whispered quickly to the air, before following after him.
She waited, breathless and stunned. Who was that man? What was the DeathDefier and why was Tom trying to help her again? She knew for sure now, he had to be the one who’d left the note.
But what was happening in two days? Violet needed to get out of the castle, find Boy and get home! Whatever it was, Town and everyone there was in danger!
As Violet waited to ensure the coast was clear, a green light flashed in the room behind her, catching her attention. She turned around and gasped.
The walls of the space were covered in small TV screens, just like the ones in Powick’s stables in the Outskirts, only way more of them. Each of the monitors had a number stuck to the top left-hand corner. Most of them were blank but about five – the ones marked with tiny green lights – played grainy black-and-white video.
This had to be the control room where Powick could see everything her zombies did.
Violet looked at the nearest screen to her. It was strange to think she was seeing what one of those creatures was seeing. This zombie appeared to be in the maze, moving quickly through the pathway lined with tall trees. She searched every live screen for signs of Boy and was relieved when she didn’t see any. Maybe he’d gotten away?
She snuck from the room and crept along the hall until she found a door to the courtyard and eased it open to peer outside.
The air buzzed with a sound like a thousand bees as the zombies charged in their stations. No other soul seemed to stalk the night.
Silently, she stepped outside. It was cold and clouds of condensation followed every breath. The hum of the batteries seeped through her skin and grated on her mind as she skirted round the edges of the dead, heading towards the main castle gate.
Suddenly a hand grabbed her shoulder and drew her into the shadows of the wall.
“It’s only me!” Boy whispered urgently as she grappled for breath. “Don’t scream!”
She whipped round and glared straight at her friend. His eyes were jet black. It was him.
“How did you get away from Powick?” he asked. “The second zombie chased me. It was fast, much faster than Hugo. It was hard to shake him and when I did, I couldn’t find you.”
“Tom… Tom saved me,” she panted, still breathless.
Tom? Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “A zombie locked me in Powick’s room – she said she was going to turn me into one of her monsters! Tom let me out… Well, I thought it was you, but then this man came and shouted at him and…”
“Slow down, Violet. Tell me exactly what happened.”
Violet filled her friend in – she told him about Powick’s room, Tom’s rescue, the control centre and the strange man in the hallway.
“Who was he?” Boy asked.
“I don’t know. He looked just like Edward. I even thought it was him for a second, until he got closer. But he was old, like Iris-old! Tom was afraid of him. He left to help the man with something called the DeathDefier?”
Boy shook his head. “But why would Tom save you? I don’t understand!”
“Because he’s good, Boy! He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, not really. I’m sure Powick is making him do it
, just like your mam thought! He left that note on my bike, I know he did, and he warned me again just now. He said we have to get out of Town tonight, whatever is going on is happening in two days’ time!” Violet insisted. “And I found these…”
She pulled the letters from her pocket and handed them over to Boy to read, looking around nervously as her friend skimmed the pages.
“Arnold Archer?” he looked up, confused.
“Your granddad!” Violet whispered.
“But I’ve never heard of him before,” Boy replied. “I think somebody would have told me about my own granddad!”
“Well, I only know his name because Edward said something about Arnold at the Town Hall last year, when Tom was pretending to be you. Remember, when he had you locked in the caravan in the Outskirts…”
“Of course I remember, Violet! Why do you keep reminding me of that?” Boy said impatiently.
“Don’t you see though,” she continued enthusiastically, “I couldn’t figure out why Powick was involved, but then I found those letters. Arnold Archer has to have something to do with all of this!”
“Do you think the man in the hallway was him?” Boy’s question was blunt.
“Oh…yes, maybe, it could be. I mean he did look just like Edward but…ahem…” Violet blushed, hesitating. “Edward said he…um… Well, it doesn’t matter, Boy, we need to get out of here before someone spots us!”
“Edward said what?” Boy pressed.
“Look, Iris said Edward made it all up and that it wasn’t true. I didn’t believe him, Boy, nobody really did, honestly,” Violet mumbled. She could feel the red rising on her cheeks. “He was just trying to convince everyone in Town that he was nice and that things were better when Town was Perfect. He wanted everyone to turn against William so that he and George could take back Town, that’s all, Boy. Nobody listened to his story, not really…”
“Violet! What did Edward say? Just tell me!”
“Ahem…he said…he said that William killed Arnold when he was a boy,” she blurted.
“What! He said that Dad killed his own father?” Boy was furious. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because it didn’t seem important then, it was all lies, Boy! Iris said so. Edward was just trying to turn Town against William! Saying all that crazy stuff about the Divided Soul!”
“Tom talked about that too when he kidnapped me,” Boy said, thinking out loud. He paused for a moment then continued, “If Iris said Edward’s story wasn’t true, then did she say where Arnold is now?”
“I-I don’t think so,” Violet stammered.
Boy was about to reply when a zombie jolted beside them. The pair jumped. The battery by its foot read ninety per cent.
“We need to go. We have to get help!” Violet stated. “The zombies are almost charged. Whatever Powick is planning, it’s only two days away, Boy, on your birthday! We’ve hardly any time left.”
Another zombie jerked beside them, its arm hitting Violet. All around them the creatures stirred, jarring and jolting as though their reflexes were sparking up. Deep, almost painful moans and long drawn-out groans filled the air as the mass of gruesome creatures slowly moved their heads, as if waking from a deep sleep. A monster turned and looked straight at them. One of its cheeks was rotten through and Violet could see its back teeth grind together as it growled.
“They’re awake!” she whispered, petrified. “We need to go right now. The main door!”
Violet’s whole body trembled as they snuck along in the shadow of the wall. In the middle of the cobbled courtyard hundreds of zombies stomped their feet and clawed at the air, straining against the cuffs and chains that kept them tethered to the ground.
“You won’t get out that way unless you have a key!” someone hissed as they passed by an iron-barred window.
“Did you say something?” Violet whispered, looking round at Boy.
A bony arm poked out from between the black bars and a long, thin finger pointed to a door behind them.
“That’s the nurse’s workroom. The keys must be hanging up in there somewhere, they have to be! They’re a large set on a ring – you can’t miss them,” the voice croaked. “If you do find them, old chaps, would you mind terribly letting us out before you leave?”
“Who are you?” Violet asked curiously.
The ghostly face of an old man appeared at the bars, his sunken eyes and hollow cheeks made worse by the shadows of the torchlight on the wall beside his cell.
“Dr Joseph Bohr…” he replied.
“You’re one of the missing scientists?” she gasped, “Your walking stick. I found it in the house. I knew there was a link. I knew you had to be with Tom!”
She glanced at Boy.
“Oh my cane, I wondered where that had gone. I must have lost it as those brutes dragged me here, those…”
“We haven’t time.” Boy pulled Violet away towards the room the old man had indicated. “We’ll come back for you, I promise,” he hissed.
The nurse’s workroom was unlocked. Boy turned the iron handle and peered inside.
“I’ll keep watch at the door while you search for the key,” Violet said urgently.
The space was dark and freezing cold. The light from the courtyard reached inside and Violet could make out four wheeled steel tables in the middle of the room. One of the tables was empty but laid out on the other three were decomposing figures just like the courtyard zombies. The steel frames had not been attached to these bodies yet and somehow this made them more human. She retched.
“Have you found the keys, Boy?” she whispered, itching to leave.
“Not yet, it’s hard to see properly,” he said from somewhere in the darkness.
Suddenly a shrill cry cut across the night. Violet jumped and peered out round the door frame. Powick was across the courtyard in her white apron and was heading their way. Violet quickly shut the door.
“She’s coming here, I think!”
“Hide!” Boy panicked.
He stumbled in the darkness towards the back of the room, knocking against tables. Violet followed his sound, stopping by a rickety free-standing cupboard.
“In here,” he stuttered, yanking open one of the long double doors.
Quickly she shuffled after him and the pair squashed together in the cramped space, pulling the door shut just as the nurse pounded into the room.
“Tom, Tom!” Priscilla Powick screamed.
Long fluorescent lights flickered, blinked and burst to life, illuminating the chilling space. It must have been the only place in the castle that had electricity, or at least the only one Violet had seen – everywhere else seemed to be lit by candle or torchlight. She peered through a tiny gap in the cupboard doors, afraid to make a sound.
“Tom, come here now!” the woman hollered angrily.
A solid square figure darkened the doorway.
“Oh, Arnold…” Powick’s voice changed. Now she was almost whimpering.
Violet’s heart thumped wildly. It was the man she’d seen earlier.
“Stop screeching, woman! I can hardly concentrate with all that racket. Between you and those creatures waking up outside, this place is a madhouse! Can’t you calm them down!?”
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were up, Arnie,” Powick said, softly wheedling. “Your genius needs rest.”
Violet had never seen the nurse this way. The hard lines that usually edged her eyes and divided her forehead had all but vanished, along with her scowl.
“Rest? Rest! How could I rest now, when I’m on the cusp of greatness!”
“But everything is ready, Arnold, there’s no need to fret. The army is almost primed, prepared to march. We’ll take Town tomorrow and set up the scene for your heroic entrance on Monday morning, when you’ll become living history!”
Violet grabbed Boy’s arm, squeezing tight as the words sank in. Tomorrow? They were planning on attacking Town tomorrow? But why had Tom said it was happening in two days
?
“Don’t rush me, Priscilla. You’re always pushing.”
“But…you know time is precious, Arnold.” Powick’s softness was now tinged with urgency. “This moment won’t come again. It has to be now, when Tom passes from a boy to a man. The world needs to witness your genius!”
“And the world will, Prissy, but I won’t be rushed. Right now, the DeathDefier still needs a little tweaking. When all of this comes together, the science must be undeniable. The world will scrutinize my machine! I won’t be left red-faced, not again!”
“But the twins’ birthday…” Powick insisted. “The Elixir of Life can only be made then. There’s no other way, otherwise the curse… This is our divine destiny! It’s what we’ve been working towards, sacrificing our lives for all these years. Don’t you want to claim what’s rightfully yours, Arnold?”
“What’s the elix thing?” Violet whispered.
Boy shook his head angrily, silencing her.
Arnold Archer clenched his fists in tight angry balls. Powick moved closer and softened her voice even more. She was taller than him and stooped a little, as if conscious of their height difference.
“It’s just nerves. Those on the verge of greatness always falter before the last hurdle. There has never been a greater mind than yours, Arnie. Forces outside of this world have conspired to give you this moment. A perfect storm. The curse, coupled with your DeathDefier, will enable you to bring Spinners and then the army back to true life, to claim your place in history and be the first scientist to conquer death. Those non-believers, those mockers, they will watch and weep and then they will cower before us and beg for mercy when they see the strength of what we’ve created. That’s why I’ve dedicated my life and my work to you! I am your devout disciple.”
“You’re right of course, Prissy,” he muttered. “Everything’s coming together nicely. I’m just on edge. We’ve gone over the plan, I know. You’ll let out those idiot sons of mine, George and Edward, then secure Town with the Watchers tomorrow and begin setting the stage for the big day. Which is when I’ll march in with our glorious army and give everyone a show they’ll never forget! Using your elixir, I will raise Dr Spinners from the dead – the idiot who mocked me most, brought back to life by his ‘lunatic’ friend! And it will all be broadcast far and wide so that the world will be my witness! I can picture the faces of my naysayers now. They thought it couldn’t be done, jeered me from the hallowed halls of Hegel as I revealed my invention. Well, I’ll show those spineless excuses for scientists! They’ll rue the day they ever ridiculed me. And remember, Priscilla, you must ensure you’re not seen – people aren’t ready to embrace what they don’t understand. It must look like my science alone has conquered death!”
The Battle for Perfect Page 8
