The Doctor

by Lisa Stone

  Alisha shook with fear. There was no point in denying it. He knew. Thank goodness she’d been switching off the CCTV when Emily had visited. ‘I get lonely sometimes and phone her,’ she stammered.

  ‘Lonely! You’ve got that idiot child to take care of. Have you been visiting her too?’

  ‘Only that once when you told me to go so she would stop asking.’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘You’d better be telling me the truth.’

  ‘I am.’

  ‘Has she ever been here?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘So she doesn’t know what we’re hiding upstairs?’

  Alisha shook her head and swallowed hard.

  He paused, as if considering the likelihood of this being true. Then reached for the telephone and perched on the coffee table just in front of her. ‘You’re going to phone her now, and tell her everything is fine and that you misdialled her number.’

  ‘But I haven’t misdialled her number,’ Alisha said confused. ‘I haven’t telephoned her today.’

  ‘Just do as I say!’ He pressed the button to engage the speaker and handed it to Alisha. Her fingers shook as she keyed in Emily’s mobile number. It rang. ‘If it goes through to voicemail, leave a message saying you are OK.’

  But Emily answered, heavy with sleep. ‘Alisha?’

  ‘Yes. It’s me.’

  ‘Are you all right? I was worried when you phoned earlier and hung up. Is something wrong?’

  Amit glared at her. ‘No. I misdialled. I’m sorry I troubled you. I’m fine.’

  There was a small silence before Emily replied. ‘OK. If you’re sure. I thought you might need some help with Eva.’

  The colour drained from Alisha’s face. ‘No. I’m fine really,’ she stammered.

  ‘Have a good Christmas then, and we’ll speak again in the New Year.’

  Amit thumped the speaker button to disconnect the call and grabbed Alisha by the neck. ‘I thought you said she didn’t know about Eva?’ he hissed in her face and slapped her hard. She cried out. ‘Well?’ he demanded, and slapped her again.

  ‘I might have mentioned Eva once over the phone,’ Alisha whimpered. ‘She hasn’t seen her.’

  ‘Once! You silly cow. Like she’s going to forget!’ His hands tightened around her neck until she began to choke. She was struggling to get him off and gasping for air. He was going to kill her. Then he abruptly let go and threw her backwards into the chair. ‘Stay there, while I think what to do.’

  He moved away and began pacing the room.

  She rubbed her neck, tried to breathe and dared to raise her eyes. He was walking back and forth, agitated, and rubbing sweat from his forehead. He sweated a lot now. She kept still, trying not to draw attention to herself, and hoping Eva was still asleep and hadn’t heard. Suddenly he stopped in front of her. She started.

  ‘How much does the bitch know about what I’m doing?’ he demanded, his face up close to hers.

  She tried to keep her voice even. ‘Nothing. Honestly.’

  He slapped her cheek. ‘I don’t believe you. She’s a nosy cow. She is sure to have asked you what I’ve been doing in my lab. I’ve seen her looking out of her bedroom window.’

  ‘I told her you were trying to find a cure for my disease which you are, aren’t you?’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘And nothing else?’

  ‘What else is there?’ She forced herself to meet his gaze.

  ‘And she accepted that?’

  ‘Yes of course.’

  ‘And you’re sure she’s never seen the girl?’

  ‘No. Never.’

  ‘In that case you will be able to phone her and tell her there isn’t a child, that she died, and you’ve never got over it, so you pretend she’s still alive. Tell her hysterical hallucinations are part of your disease. That will make sure she doesn’t tell anyone else. But before you phone her we’ll just check you’re telling me the truth and she hasn’t been here while I’ve been at work, and neither has anyone else.’

  Alisha watched, paralysed with fear, as Amit picked up the remote control for the television. He brought the menu for the CCTV onto the screen and began rewinding.

  Calm down, she told herself. He won’t find any evidence of Emily’s visits. You’ve deleted them all. But you need to think what you’re going to tell Emily when he makes you call her. Clearly she knows Eva exists. She’s seen her plenty of times and Robbie plays with her. He’s sure to use the speaker phone again and will hear the astonishment in her voice if you tell her Eva is a hallucination. How to warn her not to say something to betray her? She tried to think. It was nearly midnight now. Hopefully Emily wouldn’t answer or she could persuade Amit it was too late to phone, which would at least buy her some time until the morning, for she knew he wouldn’t let it go.

  Alisha watched Amit as he concentrated on the television screen, viewing the recording. His eyes were wide and staring, the green iris even more vivid now. Logic and reason had long since left him and so too had compassion, empathy or any other emotion she might have been able to appeal to. She and Eva were prisoners and at his mercy as surely as if they were bound and gagged.

  She touched her neck again, sore from where he’d tried to throttle her. It was his worst attack yet. How easy it would be for him to make her and Eva disappear. So few people knew of their existence – or cared. Only Emily would worry if they went missing, and what could she do about it? Probably not much. Amit was devious and sly and would be sure to cover his tracks.

  Alisha suddenly jolted from her thoughts. He had stopped the recording and was rewinding it again. He halted it and viewed a short section. Her blood ran cold. Had he spotted something she’d missed? Evidence that Emily had been here?

  She looked at the screen but couldn’t see anything wrong. There were just different views of their house from the CCTV cameras outside. She always deleted Emily’s visit straight after she left and double-checked it had all been erased. She knew how much rested on it. So what was he so interested in?

  He pressed play and continued viewing the recording. She allowed herself to breathe again. He hadn’t found anything. He wouldn’t. But then he stopped it again, rewound it a little and watched that section a second time. Again, she couldn’t see anything untoward. Was he trying to scare her into losing her nerve and confessing to Emily’s visits?

  He moved the recording on and then stopped it again, and scrutinized another short section. He was frowning hard now, his brow knotted as though trying to work out something. But what? She concentrated on the screen and tried to stay strong. There was no sign of Emily, Robbie or their visit. In fact, she couldn’t remember if the days and times where he was stopping the recording were when Emily had visited. Perhaps there was another reason he was viewing these sections a second time.

  A few moments later he stopped the recording and slowly turned to her. She met his gaze, the disparity in his eyes boring into her. When he spoke his voice was low, controlled and cold as ice. ‘When did you learn how to use the CCTV?’

  ‘I don’t know how to use it,’ Alisha blurted too quickly.

  ‘Liar!’ She saw his hand go up and ducked but not quickly enough. She took the full force of the blow on her cheek and cried out in pain. ‘Someone’s been tampering with the recording and it certainly isn’t that idiot child.’ He hit her again.

  Alisha covered her head with her hands and tried to protect herself, but he grabbed her by the arm and jerked her from the chair like a rag doll. Throwing her to the floor, he forced her into a kneeling position, facing the television.

  ‘Watch the right-hand corner of the screen,’ he snarled and forced her head in that direction. ‘Watch what happens.’

  For a moment, she didn’t understand what he meant, but then she saw the digital display clock in the lower right-hand corner of the screen that showed the date and time. He pressed play. Dread flooded through her. The minutes and seconds clicked up, then, to her horror, suddenly jumped forward. The section she’
d deleted – the duration of Emily’s visit – was obviously missing. She’d known the clock was there, but it had never occurred to her or Emily that it could be their undoing.

  ‘See it?’ Amit growled, without taking his eyes from the screen. ‘Here’s another example.’ But Alisha didn’t need another example, her tears were already falling. He moved the recording forward to another section and forced her head closer to the screen. She saw the display clock jump from 1.31 to 3.14. ‘And here’s another!’ he cried with malevolent satisfaction. ‘Someone’s been visiting you regularly while I’ve been at work. Haven’t they?’ he shouted in her face. ‘And I’d bet on the bitch next door. Am I right?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Pardon?’ he yelled, pulling her hair to force her head back to look at him.

  ‘Yes,’ she whimpered.

  ‘I thought so!’ He let go, calmly returned the remote control to the table and turned to her again. His eyes bulged. ‘You’re not bright enough to have thought of that and worked out how to use the CCTV all by yourself. But no worries. You’ve done me a favour. That bitch is going to save me a lot of time and money. I won’t need to fly in my next subject now. Stay there and don’t move if you know what’s good for Eva. You’ve just signed your friend’s death warrant.’

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Alisha stayed where she was on the floor, too scared to move. Amit had been in the study for over an hour now, working on his computer. She could hear the keys tapping. ‘Death warrant,’ he’d said. What was he planning? He’d hit her again and had then gone round the house locking all the outer doors. He had the keys with him. She was locked in. He’d shouted that if she moved he’d tie her up and Eva would starve to death. She hadn’t dared to move, apart from straightening her legs when they went numb. There’d been no need to threaten her with being tied up. Years of being his victim meant she did as he’d told her, the one exception had been her friendship with Emily, and look where that had ended.

  It was quiet upstairs. Eva was either asleep or lying there in petrified silence, too scared to call out. She and Emily were both in danger now – at the mercy of a madman – and because of her. They were her responsibility. She needed to try to think of a way to help them. Amit would have to leave the house at some point – to go to work or his lab. Then she could seize the opportunity to phone Emily or even the police and ask for help. No. Not the police. Amit had told her many times that if the police or social services found out they’d been hiding Eva, they’d put her in an institution and both of them in prison. She couldn’t bear the thought of being parted from Eva and her daughter would never survive without her. She’d phone Emily as she’d been planning to do before Amit had found out. But supposing Emily contacted the police or social services? Could they come to the safe house and take Eva away?

  She started as the door to the study suddenly opened and Amit came out. He looked pleased with himself.

  ‘Oh, you’re still here?’ he said as though he’d forgotten. ‘All sorted and I’ve booked a week off work. You can go to your room now.’

  A week off work. Her heart fell. She went to speak but decided better of it. Pulling herself to her feet, she silently left the living room and went upstairs. What had he ‘sorted’? And why had he booked a week off work? He never just took time off and always worked over Christmas. Was it to guard her and make sure she didn’t escape? He’d never bothered in the past. It must be something to do with Emily finding out.

  Eva was asleep, thank goodness. Alisha sat on the edge of her own bed and in the semi-darkness gazed at her daughter as she slept. She felt an overwhelming need to protect her. Eva was helpless without her. She’d do whatever it took to keep her safe, but how? They were hostages to Amit’s deluded ambition. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, then it would be Christmas, a day like any other for them. Amit wasn’t religious and forbade any of the trappings of Christmas or any other religious festival. He’d said he’d seen inside people on the operating table and knew there was no soul, only meat. The brain was a soulless lump of neurons and synapses – thinking meat, he’d called it. So no Christmas tree for them, no festive decorations or exchange of presents.

  Alisha’s thoughts drifted back to when she’d been well enough to go shopping and had secretly bought presents for her son and then her daughter, which they’d opened after Amit had left for work on Christmas Day. She’d also cooked them a Christmas dinner and they’d pulled crackers. But since she’d been ill, incarcerated in the house, and completely reliant on Amit, she hadn’t been able to do any of that. She was sure Emily would have bought gifts and festive food for them if she’d asked, but asking her without admitting how Amit treated her would have been impossible. On Emily’s last visit she’d expressed surprise that their decorations weren’t up, and Alisha had told her they hung them on Christmas Eve and the presents were wrapped and hidden away. If only.

  Eva began thrashing about in her sleep. Alisha immediately stood and went to her. ‘Sssh Sssh. It’s OK. Mummy’s here,’ she soothed. Not that she was much help, she thought bitterly. She stroked Eva’s forehead until she settled again, then returned to her bed.

  Lying down, she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the few good memories that remained from her past, and not the present or future. Eventually, exhausted, she fell into a fitful sleep, plagued by nightmares: Amit burying dead animals in dark woods, experimenting on live ones in his lab. Then he was dragging Eva from her bed to experiment on her. She could hear her screaming from his lab and see Emily at her bedroom window, but Emily couldn’t see them.

  Alisha woke with a start, the nightmare still vivid. But it wasn’t the nightmare that had woken her. She was sure she’d heard a noise coming from the other side of their bedroom door. Yes, there it was again, a metallic sound. She sat upright. Amit’s shadow was beneath their door again. She looked at Eva; the noise had woken her too. She put a finger to her lips to signal to her to keep quiet. It was dark outside and the bedside clock showed 4.09 a.m. What on earth was Amit doing out there?

  Silence, then another noise, metal on metal. She kept still and listened, hardly daring to breathe. A second later, she heard it again, then the unmistakable sound of a bolt sliding into place. Too late, she realized they were locked in.

  She ran to the door and tried to open it, but it was held fast. ‘Amit!’ she cried. ‘Open the door!’ You can’t lock us in.’ But, of course, he could and had. She heard his footsteps receding downstairs.

  Eva was crying now, small, stifled sobs that tore at Alisha’s heart. She went over and lay beside her on the bed, held her close and soothed her. Eventually she returned to sleep. Thankfully Eva had little understanding of the danger they were in, while Alisha’s own thoughts see-sawed between despair and giving up, and a desperate bid to escape.

  Time passed. The clock hands slowly moved. How long was Amit going to keep them here locked up? Then what would happen when he eventually let them out? What was his deluded brain planning now? There’d been no sound in the house since he’d fitted the bolt. Surely he hadn’t gone to his lab now?

  She slipped from Eva’s bed and, parting the curtains, looked out of the window. It was 6.30 a.m. The lab was in darkness. She sat in the chair watching and waiting, although for what she couldn’t have said.

  Shortly after 8 a.m. the pitch-black darkness of the night reluctantly gave way to the grey of another winter’s day. Eva slept on. No light was on in the lab, so Amit must still be somewhere in the house.

  Alisha hadn’t washed or changed her clothes since the day before and she now quietly crossed to the shower room. Closing the door behind her so she wouldn’t wake Eva, she used the toilet and washed her face and hands. Eva would need a bath later when she woke. Would Amit let them out to go to the bathroom that had been adapted for Eva’s needs? And what of their medicines? They both had to take tablets which were stored in a cupboard in the kitchen. Was he going to let her go down to get them and make Eva something to eat? Or was he
planning on letting them waste away up here without food or medicine?

  Half an hour later, Eva awoke, apparently unaware they were locked in. It was better she didn’t know before she had to, Alisha decided. This room had become her world; she only left it for a bath, so if she kept to her routine she wouldn’t know for as long as possible. Forcing a smile, Alisha gave Eva a good morning kiss, changed her on the bed as usual and then used the hoist over the bed to transfer her into her wheelchair. Eva normally watched children’s television while Alisha made breakfast, so wheeling her over to the television, she switched it on. She placed the remote control within Eva’s reach and waited by her side until she’d put on her headphones and was engrossed in the programme. Eva liked wearing her headphones and Alisha encouraged her to do so, so she didn’t have to listen to children’s television for large parts of the day. Now they would serve the purpose of blotting out the noise as Alisha banged on the door and tried to attract Amit’s attention.

  ‘Amit! We need our tablets. I have to make Eva breakfast. Amit, open the door!’ she shouted.

  She knocked on the door, rattled the handle and called his name for what seemed like ages without any effect. Then, suddenly, the door opened and Amit stood there, his face expressionless.

  ‘Get what you need,’ he said. ‘But try anything and that will be it for both of you.’

  He was still in the clothes he’d worn yesterday, and from the look of him hadn’t slept either. Taking the handrail, she went carefully downstairs; he followed a step behind. As she crossed the hall to the kitchen, she saw the key was missing from the front door and the safety chain was in place. No chance of escape there. She continued into the kitchen and, trying to stay calm and focused, began preparing Eva’s breakfast. Amit stood a couple of feet away, silent, menacing, and watching her every move. Any thoughts she’d had of taking a kitchen knife vanished. He’d see her and overpower her in an instant. She concentrated on making Eva’s porridge. It was important the child ate. Perhaps she could try talking to him – appeal to his better nature. ‘You don’t need to do this,’ she began, her voice slight.