Heathen/Nemesis

Eighty-Eight

The corridor beyond the door was less than six feet wide and it stretched about twenty feet ahead of them. The walls on either side were bare. Unlike the hallway, it was lit only by two wall lights, one at either end of the corridor. The far end boasted another closed door. The man they’d seen must have come and gone via the door ahead. There was nowhere else for him to go.

Donna wondered how big the place was. It didn’t seem this big from the outside.

Where the hell was everybody?

Apart from the smartly dressed man, they’d not seen nor heard a living soul.

Heard nothing apart from that low breathing.

Julie looked into the dark corridor with trepidation.

How much longer was this going to go on? She feared that the end would be signalled by their deaths.

Donna moved into the darkened corridor, stepping cautiously, as if she were walking on squeaking floorboards, not carpet-covered concrete.

The wall lights didn’t seem to be powered by anything more substantial than forty-watt bulbs. The glow they cast was a sickly yellow light that barely illuminated the narrow walkway from one door to the other.

The two women moved cautiously along, Donna keeping her eyes ahead, Julie occasionally glancing at the door behind.

Donna put out one hand as if to steady herself against the wall.

Something moved beneath her fingertips.

‘Jesus,’ she hissed, moving away from the wall and looking down.

‘What is it?’ Julie wanted to know, her eyes wide with fear.

Donna didn’t answer. Instead she carefully replaced her hand on the wall where it had been seconds earlier.

She felt it again. Once more the sensation caused her to pull her hand away, as if she’d received an electric shock.

Was she going insane?

She touched the wall again, but left her hand there until she was sure beyond any doubt.

The stonework, the very plaster, was throbbing gently, as if the bricks and mortar contained some kind of pulse.

Donna could see no movement but she could feel the slow, even thudding against her hand.

Dashwood’s words came flooding back to her:

Organic life can exist, can be made to exist, anywhere and within anything. Within the bricks and mortar of a house.’

Donna raised the barrel of the .357. Using the blade foresight as a tool, she drew the sharp fin across the wall.

‘Oh God,’ whispered Julie.

Blood oozed from the mark on the wall.

It welled thickly in the narrow mark Donna had made, then dribbled down the paintwork.

She repeated the action on the other wall.

The same thing happened.

She closed her eyes for long seconds, praying that when she opened them the blood would be gone.

It wasn’t. The thick crimson fluid ran down the wall in rivulets.

Donna swallowed hard and moved forward, towards the door at the end of the dimly lit corridor.

One of the lights flickered.

They froze momentarily as the bulbs went into a kind of stroboscopic dance before flaring full on for a few more seconds.

Then they went out completely.

The two women were plunged into total darkness.

Julie backed up and touched the wall, feeling the pulse in it, scarcely able to stifle her scream of terror. She bit her fist to muffle the sound.

Donna gripped the .357 tightly and moved towards the door at the far end of the corridor.

‘Let’s get out now,’ hissed Julie.

Donna’s answer was to shoot out a hand and grab her sister by the arm, pulling her along with her.

The end of the corridor couldn’t be more than about six or seven feet away, she reasoned.

The lights stayed off. Darkness wrapped itself round them like an impenetrable shroud.

They moved forward in the gloom, nearer and nearer to the door.

The light at the far end of the corridor flickered briefly and Donna saw they were a couple of feet away.

‘Come on,’ she whispered, trying to reassure herself as well as Julie. Her own breathing was heavy now.

She touched something cold and realized that it was the door handle. No light showed beneath. She could only guess at what lay beyond it. More darkness?

The lights flickered again and went out. Flashed on.

They enjoyed a few seconds of light, then blackness returned. But at the far end of the corridor there was illumination.

The two women were relieved to see light, until they realized that the door through which they’d entered was slightly open.

Had someone slipped into the corridor behind them while the lights were out?

Donna pushed Julie aside and raised the pistol, sighting it at the far end.

She could see nothing. No dark shape moving furtively in the shadows.

Nothing.

It appeared that they were alone in the corridor.

She turned back to face the next door.

Gripping the gun tightly, Donna took the handle and twisted it, pushing the door open. She stepped through.