The Stone of Madness
Page 51
In spite of everything he had done for Pearly, it was typical that he had chosen him, Abel Strange, to dispose of the body; why not Frankl or Aurelia? Neither of them would have given it a second thought, yet here he was performing a task that Pearly knew he would find utterly abhorrent. Maybe it was Pearly’s way of showing displeasure at the hesitation he had shown moments before Price’s death. Pearly was charismatic, yes, but also ruthless in a most terrible way.
Strange lifted a hand as he reached the final step, and following a quick, instinctive gesture, an eerie alchemical phosphorescence leached from the pores of his exposed skin, surrounding him in an ethereal halo that cast the windowless room in a sickly green light. Despite his glasses, he could barely see more than a few feet ahead, and he fumbled blindly across the vault’s slick, stone flags with his arms outstretched.
As he approached the spot where Price had been slain, his stomach lurched; foreboding, he supposed. He slowed to a snail’s pace and caught a glimpse of the intersecting lines deeply etched on the surface of the vault’s floor. He squinted in the unearthly light at the star-shaped pentagram, and within it, the rumpled mass that lay there. He halted, unsure of whether he really could go through with the task Pearly had assigned to him, but then his body jerked spasmodically into life, inching forwards like an automaton, coerced by the knowledge of the fate that awaited him should he falter.
He reached out tentatively for the woollen fabric lying on the floor. The cloth felt surprisingly light as he picked it up, and he turned it vacuously through his hands. It was the coat Price had been wearing when he had arrived in the vault and was still wearing when he had collapsed under Pearly’s fatal dominion. It was also the coat that had been draped around Price’s lifeless body when Pearly had called on him to check for signs of life.
Now, weighing the garment in his hands, Strange’s mind emptied like air rushing from a punctured balloon. He stared slack-mouthed at the empty space on the vault’s stone slabs, unable to grasp the reality of what should have been glaringly obvious. He turned his head like a whirling dervish, first one way and then the other, half expecting and half fearing to find Henry Price standing there behind him. He paced agitatedly back and forth, searching every last vestige of the enclosed space until the unmistakable truth dawned on him—in the time since he and the rest of Pearly’s followers had vacated the vault, Price’s body had inexplicably disappeared.
The story continues in The Quantum Engine
As an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, I will donate a proportion of the proceeds from the sale of this book to Saving Faces, the only charity in the United Kingdom (UK) dedicated to research aimed at reducing the incidence and improving the treatment of facial injuries, disorders and diseases.
Saving Faces works in partnership with the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS) in running and funding the world’s only National Facial and Oral Research Centre (NFORC).
Over 300 surgeons around the UK collaborate to lead research for Saving Faces ensuring that studies are completed as quickly as possible while keeping research costs to a minimum due to surgeons giving their time free of charge.
The following are some examples of the work undertaken by Saving Faces:
• Supporting research into head, neck and mouth cancer, and the treatment of facial disfigurement, jaw joint problems and facial pain
• Managing the National Head and Neck Cancer Audit in the assessment of cancer patients throughout hospitals in England and Wales to determine best treatment and hospital performance
• Collecting data through two UK National Facial Injury Surveys to explore the causes and treatment of facial injuries
• Carrying out National Tobacco and Binge Drinking Prevention Projects within schools
• Funding for PhD students undertaking facial injury, stem cell, psychological effects and cancer genetics projects
• Running an Expert Patient Helpline to demystify treatment for new patients
• Providing a Diagnostic Advice Service for Medical and Dental Practitioners to speed up the referral of cancer patients to the appropriate surgeon
• Hosting public information events on topics such as face transplantation
Each year the work of Saving Faces costs £650,000. If you would like to learn more about Saving Faces or help financially, please go to www.savingfaces.co.uk/support-us/ways-to-donate