Demon (Kassidy Bell Series Book 3)

by Lynda O'Rourke

  As I stood quietly with thoughts of revenge and rage churning up inside my head, I was suddenly aware of Raven standing beside me. She gripped hold of the bars. I could feel her tense up as Dave finally found the correct key for Max’s cell.

  “I’m gonna put you over here in this cell,” he said, pointing towards the one next to Jude. “Someone will be down soon to clean up this mess.” His eyes wandered from Max over to Sylvia who had stayed perfectly quiet since attacking the drunk man. I shivered as my eyes locked on hers. She stared in silence and it was the quiet that frightened me. It was threatening – intimidating. For behind that silence, was something terrible. You could see it in her eyes. She was calculating – not just the crazy inmate from the asylum who didn’t know what she was doing. No, she was working things out – checking us all out – planning her next move. I didn’t want to take her with us but something in me said I needed to.

  I was shaken out of my thoughts by Max, his voice echoed through the cellblock.

  “What about her?” Max asked, staring at Sylvia. “Who’s gonna clean her up?” His gaze drifted up to the blood around her mouth and down to the red clumps of flesh stuck to her hospital gown.

  “No one here.” Dave grimaced. “I should imagine the Sergeant will have her carted back to the asylum as soon as that Inspector has spoken to her.”

  “What Inspector?” Jude suddenly piped in.

  “Inspector Cropper – the one who’s interested in you lot,” answered Dave.

  I saw the worry in Jude’s face at the mention of Cropper. We were all worried by the thought of Inspector Cropper, but of course, it would mean a lot more to Jude if he truly was Doshia. I smiled to myself at seeing his discomfort at the possibility of losing the lead in gaining us for the Cleaners. If Cropper got us, then we would be taken back to Cruor Pharma and Doctor Middleton would be the winner in all this. But would that make Jude more dangerous, knowing that he was running out of time? Would he do something more drastic?

  “Must be mad himself if he thinks he’s gonna get any answers from her,” I heard Dave say. He stood and looked at us. “That Inspector reckons he’s been trying to get her released for the last three months for questioning – just like the Sarge.” He paused for a moment and slowly shook his head. “I don’t know what you lot have been up to in Holly Tree, but Eric reckons that Inspector was desperate for us to keep you held here until he could get to Carden.” He took a deep breath, key poised in front of the lock on Max’s cell. “For what it’s worth, I don’t see how you lot could have caused so much carnage down in that train tunnel.” He stopped talking and stared at us as if waiting for some kind of explanation. When nothing was offered up, he shrugged and pushed the key into the lock.

  I almost felt bad knowing what Max was going to do and hearing Dave not believing that we had been responsible for all those deaths made me feel guilty – guilty for what was about to happen. For if he thought we were innocent now – he wouldn’t soon.

  The key turning in the lock sounded through the cellblock over-riding the constant fall of rain against the windows. I could hear Raven muttering under her breath – urging Dave to hurry up and open Max’s cell. The tension was unbearable. We all seemed to take a step back – breaths held.

  The cell door opened and Max stepped out. Could he overpower Dave? Max’s frame, although toned, was not muscular, not like Dave’s who was thick-set and a couple of inches taller. Not to mention that Dave had probably been trained in some kind of self-defence and ways to restrain criminals. He wore a belt with all sorts of equipment that could aid him in keeping hold of a prisoner.

  I watched closely as Dave wandered down past the cells, until he stopped outside the one next to Jude. My eyes darted nervously back to the door leading into the cellblock. Would Eric suddenly walk in and make an appearance? Turning back, I caught Max’s eyes. I gave him a reassuring nod as I could see the doubt in his stare. “You can do it,” I mouthed silently at him.

  Dave unlocked the cell. “In you go.” He stepped aside.

  Max hesitated. He knew too well that the moment he stepped into that cell would be the end of our escape, but how was he going to tackle Dave front on? Raven must have realised Max’s predicament as she suddenly called out.

  “Hey, Dave,” she said, trying to get his attention away from Max. She suddenly leapt on me and started screaming. “I’m gonna fucking kill her!” Before I even had a chance to realise what was going on, Raven had toppled me down to the floor and was pulling at my hair. She screamed and yelled in my face, fistfuls of my hair screwed up tightly in her hands.

  In the struggle, I caught sight of Dave, his attention no longer on Max but staring wide-eyed at Raven and me. His back was now turned towards Max. This was our chance – Max’s only opportunity to attack Dave and get him locked away inside the cell.

  Dave opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Max had swiped a small canister from Dave’s belt. As Dave swung around to confront him, Max pressed down on the top of the canister and sprayed some of the contents of the bottle. A fine mist shot directly into Dave’s face. He waved his arms around as if trying to disperse the spray, but it was too late. He started yelling and coughing. His hands clawed at the skin around his eyes.

  “Get him!” shouted Raven, letting go of me and jumping back to her feet. She clung onto the bars. “Push him into the cell – do it!”

  Max lunged forward, grabbing hold of Dave by the shoulders and pulled him towards the cell door.

  “Take his radio,” ordered Jude. “And get those handcuffs on him.”

  “Knock him out!” snarled Raven. She jumped up and down on the spot, her knuckles white from the grip she had on the bars. She looked like a spectator at a boxing match.

  I clambered back to my feet. I could hear Max gasping as he tried to use all of his weight to pull Dave into the cell. Dave staggered forwards but not enough. He tipped left and right just in the doorway, his hands rubbing franticly at his sore eyes. His breathing was laboured like he was having an asthma attack. I glanced back at the door leading into the cellblock, fearful that Eric would come running in from all the noise. The tension inside me leapt from my throat and I hollered, “Come on, Max, come on!” I jumped up and down alongside Raven, shaking the bars.

  “I’m trying!” gasped Max, squeezing around Dave and coming at him from behind. He shoulder-barged Dave, knocking him further into the cell. I watched as Dave fell forward onto his knees. Max bent down and pulled the baton from off Dave’s belt. He raised his arm, hesitated briefly, shut his eyes, and brought the baton down over the back of Dave’s head. I cringed at the sound of impact. Dave fell to his side, toppling over and lying still in a heap.

  “Take the radio!” shouted Jude again, waving his arms between the bars.

  Max reached down and yanked the radio free. He passed it through the bars to Jude. Then bending down again, he removed the handcuffs and quickly secured them around Dave’s wrists behind his back. He stood up, gasping. Satisfied that he had done what was needed to be done, he ran from the cell and closed the door, turning the key in its lock.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  “Open the door!” I yelled, my heart racing. I clung onto the bars and shook them. Raven pushed up behind me, desperate to get out.

  “Come on!” she yelled, watching Max drop the keys as he fumbled around with them.

  “I’m trying!” he said, looking flustered. He bent down and snatched them up. “Which key?” He held the metal ring up, which had a dozen or so different keys hanging from it.

  “Just try any one,” I said, feeling sick. My heart pumped fast and I could feel that sickly movement of VA20 shifting in me.

  The first key didn’t work. Neither did the second or the third. I heard Raven gasp in frustration as the fourth and fifth didn’t turn either in the lock.

  “Fucking hell!” hissed Raven. “Hurry up!”

  I could see Max’s hand shaking. He was a bundle of nerves. Reaching through
the bars, I grabbed hold of his hand and said, “It’s all right, you’ll find the right one in a minute, nice and calm.”

  Max nodded his head and let out a deep sigh, like someone preparing to cut a wire attached to a bomb but not really knowing if it was the right one. He slipped the sixth key in and it turned. The sound of metal clicking in the lock was like heaven.

  Raven and I pushed open the door and joined Max. He then went to where Jude was locked up. Unsure as to whether he should let him out, he looked at me, waiting for my response. I nodded my head. He pushed the first key in. Again it didn’t work. After the fourth try, the lock came undone and Jude walked out.

  We stood and looked at each other, not really knowing what to do. Then as if it suddenly all dawned on us that we didn’t have time to just stand about, we kicked into action.

  I reached down and snatched up the canister that Max had used on Dave. I pushed it into my pocket. Max tucked the baton down the inside of his jeans and Jude slipped the radio into his trouser pocket.

  “Everyone remember the way out?” I asked, my stomach knotted up. How we were going to get through the Custody Suite without being seen, I had no idea.

  “Yes,” answered Raven.

  The silence in the cellblock was suddenly broken. Dave’s radio hissed into life. The voice on the other end sounded muffled. Jude pulled it out from his pocket.

  “Dave… come in, Dave… where are you?”

  “Eric,” I whispered, afraid that I could be heard coming through the radio.

  “Dave… you still in the cellblock?”

  “Someone needs to answer,” I pushed, looking at Max and Jude. “Or he’s gonna come looking in here for Dave.”

  “We don’t sound nothing like Dave,” whispered Max, holding his hands out as if in need of help.

  “Well, don’t look at me,” said Jude. “Neither do I.”

  “Dave… come in, mate… is everything all right?

  “Stop fucking about and one of you answer,” I snapped, panic eating my insides up.

  “Do it!” hissed Raven, towering over the lot of us.

  Jude pushed the radio towards Max. Max pushed it back.

  “Give it to me!” Raven snatched the radio and pressed the button on top. “I’m fine… thanks, Eric,” she spoke deeply into the radio. She didn’t sound like a man at all.

  We stood huddled together, waiting for Eric to respond. The radio hissed.

  “I’m on my way down to the cellblock.” The radio cut off.

  Holding her thumb over the button, she pressed it down and spoke again. “No need… I’m heading out now… going to… to… the dog unit.”

  “Dog unit?” questioned Jude, screwing his nose up. “Do they even have a dog unit here?”

  “How the hell should I know?” hissed Raven. “It was the first thing that came into my head.”

  “He’s not responding,” I said, looking at the door. Any minute now and Eric would be walking into the cellblock.

  A low moan came from the cell where Dave was locked in. I stepped away and leant up against the bars. “He’s coming round… he’s gonna yell this whole place down.”

  “Go back in there and knock him out again,” snapped Raven, pushing Max towards the cell.

  “No way – I’m not doing that again,” argued Max, his eyes wide at the very thought. “I don’t want to kill the guy.”

  “I’ll do it then,” hissed Raven, snatching the keys from Max.

  “No!” I shouted. I curled my fingers around the metal ring and pulled the keys away from Raven. “We haven’t got time, Raven. Eric is on his way and…” Before I could finish the sentence, I was pulled back violently. My head hit the bars. Two hands with bloody fingertips snaked their way around my neck and gripped me by the throat. I had been too preoccupied with our escape to realise that I had backed myself up against Sylvia’s cell. I instinctively threw my hands up to my throat, my fingers trying to prise Sylvia’s grip away from me.

  I was suddenly crowded around by Jude, Max, and Raven as they tried to release me from Sylvia. Her hold was too strong. I tried to pull away, but each time I strained forward, Sylvia would yank me back, smashing my head hard against the bars.

  “Snap her fingers back,” I heard Max yell at Jude as he tried to prise his fingers in between my neck and Sylvia’s hold.

  “I’m trying!” struggled Jude. “Her fingers are too bloody… I can’t get a good grip.”

  I gasped in a mouthful of air as the pressure against my throat loosened momentarily. I had to get her off. Bringing my arms up above my head, I bent them back and pushed them between the bars. My hands waved about, snatching at nothing but air until my fingers found the sides of Sylvia’s head. I grabbed a handful of hair in each palm, clawing my fingers through the knots until I reached her scalp, then pulling forward with all my strength, I bashed her forehead into the bars, over and over. She still wouldn’t let go.

  “Mind your head!” Max suddenly shouted. Before I could even blink, Jude pulled my head to the left. The baton just missed me as it was shoved through, smacking into Sylvia’s crazy face. Max pulled it back out and then again, holding it with both hands, like he was holding a snooker cue. He forced it at speed back into Sylvia. I stumbled forward as her bloody fingers fell away.

  I leapt up and spun around. Sylvia staggered about in her cell, dazed and stunned.

  “Let’s get out of here,” urged Max, tucking the baton back inside his jeans.

  “Wait!” shouted Raven. “What about her?” She pointed at Sylvia. “We need her.”

  “We don’t need that kind of shit!” argued Max. “Are you out of your mind?”

  “We do need her,” said Jude. “If we don’t take Sylvia, then she’ll either end up locked away in the asylum forever, or worse, she’ll be another body for the Cleaners to take. That’s not good for us.”

  I eyed Jude. I knew what he was up to. Of course he didn’t want to leave her behind. But it wasn’t for our benefit – just his. My mind felt scrambled. Ben had got her out – so she must be important. I could see that if we took her with us, it would stop Middleton from having her…but what about Jude? I paced up and down. My mind felt stretched in so many ways and not having time to think it through properly didn’t help. I had to make a quick decision.

  “We can’t take her!” argued Max. “The moment you let her out, she’s gonna go on a killing spree… us being her first victims!”

  A sudden gust of wind rattled the cell windows, making the rain fall against the glass like someone had just thrown a bucket of water against them. Dave moaned again. We fell into silence, almost afraid of waking Dave fully.

  “I say take her!” whispered Raven.

  Max looked around at each of us, his body tense, eyes edgy. “I say you’re out of your fucking minds!”

  “Well?” Jude looked at me.

  Before I could answer, the sound of footsteps clumping down the corridor just outside the cellblock had us all turning around. We watched as the door handle slowly turned.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  We scattered. Pushed up against the wall on either side of the door, me with Max one side, Jude and Raven on the other. I gripped the canister in my hand and watched Max slide out the baton. I prayed it was only Eric and he hadn’t alerted any of the other officers. We could handle one easily.

  I waited. The door opened a gap. Two voices broke through. I felt my heart flutter at the sound. We could handle two – couldn’t we? I took a deep breath. It was definitely Eric I could hear. The other voice belonged to a female. It was probably Grace who I had seen in the custody suite when we had first been brought in.

  The door opened fully.

  “Dave?” Eric stepped in, Grace right behind him. We stood frozen to the spot. Any minute now, they would turn, catch a glimpse and see us. The door swung shut behind them.

  “The cells have been opened!” exclaimed Grace, taking another step forward. “Where are the prisoners… where’s Dave?”
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  Jude didn’t wait to be spotted. He leapt out from his hiding spot and threw himself onto Eric. I heard Grace scream. She reached for her radio. I flung myself onto her back. Max swung the baton, knocking the radio from her hand. Wrapping my legs tight about her, she toppled left, then right. Raven came charging across the floor. She barged into Grace, throwing her off balance. She fell sideways into the bars of a cell, the both of us hitting the floor together. As Grace tried to get up, I snatched at her face, my nails slicing through her skin. As Raven and I struggled to keep Grace down, from the corner of my eye, I saw Eric take a blow to the side of his head as Max swung the baton down. Eric wobbled slightly but still remained standing. I continued to struggle with Grace. She wriggled out of my grip and kicked out her legs, taking Raven down in one swipe. As she threw herself across the floor, her arm outstretched for the radio, I clambered to my feet. I kicked the radio like I was scoring a goal. It flew up into the air, smashed into the wall, and broke apart. The pieces fell to the floor. I turned my attention back to Grace. She was pulling out her baton. Raven whipped around behind Grace and wrapped her arms about her. She held her tight around the neck in an arm lock.

  “Do it!” screamed Raven, staring wide-eyed at me. Her eyes had that red mist clouding them again. Grace wriggled and tried to free herself from Raven’s hold. “Hit her!”

  “If you hit me…” gasped Grace, “then you’ll be in even more trouble for assaulting a police officer!” Her eyes bulged as Raven tightened her grip.