Demon (Kassidy Bell Series Book 3)

by Lynda O'Rourke

  “Don’t tell them anything!” screamed Raven. “They won’t believe us anyway.”

  I stayed still. There was no point in struggling against this dog – not unless I wanted my hand ripped off. I waited. Any minute now, I would be arrested. My mind was no longer on escape. Instead, it ticked overtime in how I was going to blag my way out of a cell.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  I could hear heavy footsteps approaching. I tried to look up. The dog tightened its jaws around my sleeve and continued to snarl.

  “Lay still!” a male voice sounded just above my head.

  I tried again to see who was there.

  “Lay still – lay still – don’t look up!”

  I waited. Another set of footsteps approached beside me.

  “Off!”

  The dog released me. I tried to move but both arms were taken hold of and brought round my back. I could feel the cold metal of handcuffs as they were fastened around my wrists.

  “I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something you later rely on in court,” someone said.

  I was stood up. I looked down to make sure that I still had Father Williams’ satchel. It was still there. My eyes met the stare of the officer who had arrested me. He was in uniform. His face looked stern but his brown eyes seemed warm. I looked away, fearful he could see the truth right through me. Murder. I was being arrested for murder. I felt shaky, sick. My head spun. Which murder was I wanted for? How much did the police know? Had I been framed for what had happened at Cruor Pharma? Had Doctor Middleton been unable to cover up what he had done on Ward 2 and had now blamed us? Was it for the murder of Nurse Jones? Fred Butler? Father Williams? Hannah? The Bishop and Alex? The police? Or was it for all those passengers on the train? The list was endless. I took a deep breath. I couldn’t shake off that sickening feeling of fright that was eating away inside me. I hadn’t murdered those people. But it sure as hell probably looked that way. I was innocent. I tried to go over all the deaths in my head. Innocent, innocent. I ticked off everyone who had been killed with a mental note that I hadn’t been responsible. I couldn’t possibly be charged for murder. I chewed on my lower lip, my heart suddenly weighed down. I had stabbed that passenger in the neck. It was self-defence!

  I was shaken from my thoughts by the sound of more footsteps approaching. I looked to my left and saw Raven and Max. They too had been handcuffed and were now being led back up the hillside. They looked at me with a weary gaze as they stumbled back through the undergrowth.

  “Dave,” the officer who was walking Max up the hill called out.

  “What?”

  “You might want to take a look at this one,” said the officer, nodding his head at Max. “Drugs.”

  “I’ll take a look when I get this one back to the van,” said Dave, leading me through the trees.

  I clambered my way back to the top of the hill, the copper named Dave keeping hold of my arm. I stayed silent. Some of the police cars had already left, leaving just a small vehicle and one big van. I guessed that was where Max, and Raven, and I would be put. The back doors were swung open. The officer holding Max walked him over to Dave.

  “Take a look.”

  They were silent for a few moments before Dave stepped in front of Max, a frown across his face.

  “What drugs have you been taking?”

  “I don’t take drugs,” answered Max, keeping his eyes lowered.

  “Your arms are covered with thick, black veins and you want me to believe that you don’t take drugs?” questioned Dave. He turned his attention to me. “What about you? Your veins are the same. I noticed it when I put the handcuffs on you.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. What could I say?

  “This freak has them, too,” the other officer said, checking Raven’s cuffed wrists.

  “Well?” pushed Dave, his eyes wandered from Raven, to me, then fell on Max.

  Max shook his head.

  “Okay,” sighed Dave, “lets load them in the van. We can talk about this back at the station.”

  The silence on top of the hill was suddenly filled with the static hiss coming from Dave’s radio. He turned away from us.

  “Bravo-Golf-41 to control,” said Dave.

  The voice coming from the radio spoke, “Go ahead.”

  “Got three people under arrest for suspicion of murder,” stated Dave, turning back to look at us.

  “We’ll notify custody,” came the response.

  “Obliged for that,” answered Dave, leaning into his radio which was attached just below his shoulder. “ETA – 20 minutes.”

  The voice spoke again from the radio, “Custody is full. You will have to take them to Carden Police Station.”

  “Carden?” moaned the officer who had arrested Max. “That’s miles away.”

  “Bravo-Golf-41 – will head to Carden – over.” Dave shook his head as if the thought of going to Carden was the worst news ever.

  “Bloody Carden – that’s not too far from Millar’s Dale Bridge. It’s gonna take at least 40 minutes to get there,” groaned the other officer.

  “Can’t be helped, Eric,” said Dave, taking hold of Raven and herding her towards the back of the van.

  “Carden – Millar’s Dale Bridge?” The words had slipped out of my mouth before I realised I’d said them out loud.

  “So you do speak then,” said Dave, turning to look at me.

  I ignored his comment and looked at Max, then Raven. Max stared back, a puzzled look in his eyes but Raven knew what I was thinking. A shine to her eyes told me she remembered.

  “Sylvia,” I whispered.

  “Who?” said Dave. He had now stopped pushing Raven towards the van and stood with his hands on his hips. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing.” I shook my head and took a sideways glance at Max. He winked at me. He remembered, too.

  “Let’s just get them in the van,” ordered Dave. “It’ll be way past lunch before we get to Carden and…”

  “Fog!” I yelled, nearly falling over.

  Max and Raven turned around.

  “Fucking hell, they don’t stop, do they?” said Max. He looked at the two police officers.

  “What’s the problem?” asked Dave. “It’s just a bit of fog.”

  “It’s what’s in the fog that’s the problem,” spat Raven, glaring at Dave.

  Eric, with a smile across his face said, “I know what’s in the fog.” He looked at Dave. “Fog!” He took hold of Max and pushed him up into the van. “Off their heads – bloody junkies.”

  Dave turned back to Raven to load her in but she had already climbed in. “Wish all our arrests were that keen to come to the station.” He looked at me, amused as I pushed past him, desperate to get in.

  “Slow down – slow down or you’re gonna bump your head,” said Dave taking hold of my arm. “What’s the sudden rush? It’s just some fog.”

  “No, it isn’t,” I whispered, staring over his shoulder. The fog was shifting. It weaved its way through the trees like tendrils of floating snakes. It was still slow yet moved a little quicker than I had ever seen it. The Cleaners were in there – somewhere – shrouded amongst the haze. They wouldn’t want us arrested. Not by a police force that wasn’t part of Inspector Cropper’s team. “Please, can we just go?” I looked up into Dave’s eyes. “I know this will sound crazy to you… but…”

  “Don’t say anything!” Raven suddenly screeched from the back of the van.

  “Ignore her,” ordered Dave. “You were saying?”

  I looked down, that anxious feeling biting away at me. If I told him about the fog, would that go against me? Would I be classed as crazy like Sylvia Green and end up locked away in an asylum? But if I didn’t say anything, the Cleaners would get us and these two police officers would end up on the ever-increasing murder list that we were wanted for. I looked back at the fog. It had reached the road.


  “The fog will kill you!” I blurted out. “Please, we have to get away from here… it will get you, too!”

  “That’s what taking that shit does to you,” piped in Eric, looking at me. “Some kind of acid I reckon, Dave.”

  “No, it’s not!” I shouted. “We are gonna die and so will you if you don’t get moving!” I struggled against my handcuffs.

  “She’s bloody tripping, let’s just get her in the van and get going, Dave.” Eric shut one door over and waited for Dave to respond.

  “Please… hurry!” I begged.

  I looked up at Dave. Did he believe me? His warm eyes looked concerned. Was that just because he believed I was high on drugs, or did he think I was telling the truth? He glanced down the road at the fog.

  Not wanting to stand on the road waiting for the fog to reach us, I climbed into the van. Two benches ran down both sides of the vehicle.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as the door was shut, leaving the van in semi-darkness. I sat opposite Raven and Max. Peering out through the small window, I could see the fog lingering across the road. I couldn’t see the trees anymore. They were swallowed up in the dense mist.

  “Come on, come on,” I whispered, willing the two police officers to hurry up and get us off the hill.

  “How near is the fog?” asked Raven, trying to lean forward so she could see out the window.

  “If we don’t get moving, we’re in trouble,” I whispered.

  “Hurry up!” screamed Raven, stamping her feet up and down. “The fog’s coming!”

  A hatch slid open, and from the driver’s cab, Dave’s face appeared. He looked annoyed.

  “Be quiet,” he ordered. “And sit back.” He shut the hatch over.

  I stared back through the window. The fog had floated further towards the police van. “It’s gonna reach us,” I said, yanking on my handcuffs. If only I could get them off. If only I could run away. We had eluded the fog on foot so far, but now, handcuffed and locked away in a static van, we didn’t stand a chance.

  The engine suddenly started and I felt the van rumble into life. It slowly pulled away.

  “Thank God for that!” said Max, leaning his head back against the side of the van. “I thought that was it. I thought it was over for us.”

  “Don’t get too relaxed,” hissed Raven. “We’re not out of trouble yet.” She wriggled about on the bench trying to find a comfortable way to sit handcuffed. “Although… we have got a ride nearer to where we were heading.”

  “Not much use handcuffed and probably heading for a cell,” mumbled Max, peering out through the back window. “It won’t take the Cleaners too long to find us locked behind bars.”

  I sat back, satisfied for now that we had gained some distance from the Cleaners. But Max was right. It was only a matter of time before the Cleaners drifted into Carden Police Station. Then what? I couldn’t see us persuading the police not to put us behind bars.

  “How are we gonna play this?” I whispered, not wanting the officers to overhear me.

  “I don’t know,” shrugged Max. “What can we tell them? We don’t even know what murder we’ve been arrested for.”

  “The ones on the train track, of course,” said Raven, sliding to the left as the van turned sharply on the road. “It has to be. We know the Cleaners have been tidying away what we’ve left behind. That’s how they work – it’s how Middleton wants it to be. But for the first time, the Cleaners didn’t keep up with us. The train put too much distance between us and them and they couldn’t reach that carnage in time before the police were alerted to what had happened.” She slumped back against the side of the van. “Middleton must be pulling his hair out!” Raven smiled underneath her greasy hair.

  “That’s nothing to smile about,” I whispered. “That just makes him more determined to get us back before we spill on him and what he does at Cruor Pharma.”

  Raven sat quiet for a few moments. She suddenly leant forward and whispered, “We should act crazy – insane. When they get us out of this van, we should act nuts!”

  “Why?” frowned Max.

  “Because we’re being taken to Carden,” she grinned.

  “So? How will that help us, except a ride to the asylum,” I glared. “I don’t intend on another hospital adventure from hell, thanks, Raven.”

  “That’s how Sylvia Green escaped the clutches of Cruor Pharma,” hushed Raven, checking that the hatch was still closed. “Middleton wasn’t interested in her when she got sanctioned for being insane. She’s been locked up in there for three months now and he hasn’t bothered with her.”

  “That’s because the VA10 didn’t work on her,” I said. “She was no use to him. Sylvia’s mad rants about Cruor Pharma fell on deaf ears. As far as everyone was concerned, she was insane, and therefore, Middleton had nothing to worry about – no one came snooping around him and his hospital. It was the perfect cover for him.” I looked at Max. “But we’re different. We haven’t gone crazy like Carly, Wendy, or Alex. We’re the perfect hosts for Middleton’s Cleaners and he knows it. He will come for us – and so will Doshia.”

  “Kassidy’s right,” whispered Max. “They won’t leave us alone until they have us back at Cruor Pharma.”

  “But Sylvia might know something that could help us,” pushed Raven. “She was the last one to see your brother. She would know if he had been all right. If he had stayed sane.”

  Max fell quiet. He stared down at his feet.

  “She’ll know if he was heading for Langstone’s for sure,” whispered Raven, peering around at the hatch.

  “We have no idea of her mental state,” I said, nearly falling off the bench as the van hit a bump in the road. “She could be dangerous – like Alex. And besides, even if we did get sent to Carden Asylum, how would we ever find her? We don’t even know how big the place is. Sylvia’s probably locked up – unreachable.”

  “Well, what else do you suggest?” said Raven as she glared at me with her dark eyes. “They’ll probably send us there anyway. Look at the state of us! Veins full of Demon venom, dried blood all down us, and fucking talons that could be classed as an offensive weapon!” She tapped her nails on the side of the van behind her as if to prove her point.

  “We’ll probably be held for questioning at the station for 48 hours,” whispered Max.

  “Long enough for the Cleaners to reach us!” spat Raven. “Whatever we do, we can’t be locked away at the station. I’d rather take my chances at the asylum.”

  “What happens after the 48 hours are up?” I asked.

  “Either they charge us, let us go, or grant us bail, I think,” whispered Max, peering back out of the window.

  “We’d never get bail,” I said, “not for murder.”

  “Why not?” Raven leant forward, “They give bail to all sorts of scum!”

  I shook my head. We wouldn’t be lucky enough for that. And besides, the 48 hours of questioning would keep us trapped long enough for the Cleaners to catch up. What could we do? I didn’t like Raven’s idea of being sent to the asylum. It seemed pointless. It would just be another place to get locked up in and I felt pretty sure that the Cleaners would have no problems in getting to us. Just because they’d left Sylvia Green alone didn’t mean the same would happen to us.

  “Listen,” whispered Raven. “We don’t want to get questioned by the police and the only way of avoiding that is to act crazy. We won’t be fit for questioning, which means the police will have to have us checked over by some doctor.” She peered round at Max. “The doctor will tell the police we are unfit and need to go to a hospital.” She stopped and took a deep breath, her eyes falling on me. “We get inside the asylum, find Sylvia, take her with us, and break out – job done!” She leant back against the van, a smile on her face like she’d just delivered the greatest speech ever.

  “It’s too risky,” whispered Max. “It all sounds so easy but there’s no guarantee that everything you’ve just suggested will fall into place. They might not send us to
Carden – we might end up being sent to the local hospital instead. They might not even send us anywhere! The police might not believe our pretence at insanity.” Max closed his eyes and shook his head, then after a short silence, he looked up and stared at me. “I think we should just tell them the truth… tell them everything that’s happened. What have we got to lose?”

  We fell silent. Only the rumble of the van could be heard. After 10 minutes or so of silence, Raven, who had sat with her head hung low, suddenly sprang forward, almost falling from off the bench.

  “Okay!” she said. “Lets tell them the truth – everything! See how quick we all end up inside the asylum. I don’t care, that’s where I want to go, so I’m up for it! They won’t ever believe such a story. They’ll think we’re all loony!”

  I looked at Max. “As much as I hate to say it… I think Raven’s right. However we play this… it’s gonna end with all three of us in the nut-house. The truth isn’t always believed. I’d find it a hard story to believe if someone told me it – wouldn’t you?”

  Before Max could answer, Raven sat forward and whispered, “So we’re all agreed then? We just tell them the truth and wait for our ride into the asylum.”

  “I guess,” murmured Max. He looked defeated… ready to give up.

  I shifted along the bench so I was sitting right in front of him. I wished I could give him a reassuring hug. I knew what he was thinking. Would he ever get to Langstone’s and find his brother.

  “Max,” I spoke softly. “Don’t give up. We’ll find a way out of this… we will find your brother.” The words came out easy but deep inside, I wasn’t sure if I believed them myself.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  For the rest of the journey to Carden Police Station, we stayed quiet. Lost in our own worries and fears. I wondered about Ben. Was he even alive? Had Jude killed Ben when he’d realised that his real identity had been discovered? What about Quint? He would survive, but without Ben’s body he would be weakened, at least until he’d found a new host to live in. I stared out through the wire mesh that covered the back window of the van. I didn’t want to think about Ben dying so I focused my attention on the outside world. I saw that we had entered a small town. My heart began to race. I looked at Max and Raven.