Blood Water

CHAPTER 19

Emily Rees reached a very important decision as she staggered down towards the high street in the rain. She could go home, collapse into her family’s arms, tell them she loved them, then die in front of them in a horrific manner, or she could get as far away as she could and die somewhere no one would find her. Her family would still be traumatized, but at least they would never see her final, appalling moments; they would not be left with that awful memory.

She reached the bottom of the hill and saw cars everywhere, some parked on the pavement, others backed up all the way along the high street. Their owners had obviously abandoned them and sought refuge elsewhere. About halfway down there appeared to have been a collision, but there were no emergency vehicles present: no doubt they were more urgently needed elsewhere. The torrent surged through the jam of vehicles and Emily didn’t like the idea of climbing over them, only to slip and injure herself. Looking to her right, she saw a path that led away from the town. It meant crossing a stream that would inevitably be flooded, but it might still be safer. She turned and jogged along it, sending up cascades of muddy water with every step.

As she ran she fantasized about heading home instead, seeing the lights on, someone moving about inside. If she got close enough to the house she might be able to hear the television, maybe even her kids… She shook her head. No, she mustn’t allow herself to succumb to the temptation. She shrugged the thoughts away and continued along the path that led to the swollen brook. When she reached it her heart sank. It was almost twice its normal size and the stepping stones that normally allowed access from one bank to the other were now completely submerged. She stared at the raging water and shook her head. This was as far as she could go.

Behind her, somewhere in the town, she heard a loud splash – she didn’t know it, but it was the sound of the small public toilet block collapsing into the river. She gazed deep into the swirling torrent. She wasn’t ready to die. Not yet. She backed away from the water and found a spot by a tree where she could sit and watch the patterns in the dark, angry brook.

She remained there, for an eternity it seemed, waiting for the pain to start, then for the end to come…

Waites was relieved to find the door to the cupboard still closed. He pressed an ear to one of the doors. He could hear nothing to begin with, but just as he was about to move away… a hoarse, tired voice:

‘Is that you, Daniel?’

Waites froze. It was certainly Titus, although he sounded strained and in pain. Knowing that something foreign could be inside the headmaster, controlling him, Waites found the words chilling. He didn’t answer, but kept his ear to the door, curious to hear what the thing said next. The four words were repeated, then there was a cough followed by movement. Whether this was the creature trying to make itself more comfortable or to find a possible means of escape, he couldn’t be sure, but it seemed to be having difficulty. He sat down and kept his ear to the crack in the door, wondering what the creature was prepared to say or do to secure its freedom. He heard grunting and panting, and what sounded like another exclamation of pain.

‘Whoever is out there’ – the voice returned, clearer now than before, and more authoritative – ‘would you kindly tell me what on earth is going on? What am I doing in here?’ Waites remained silent. ‘Hello?’ The voice was angrier, more impatient now – Titus was in his element, Waites thought. There was a pause, then the headmaster started banging on the door in frustration.

‘I’m not unlocking the door,’ Waites said firmly.

The banging stopped. ‘What?’

‘I said I’m not unlocking this door.’

‘Do you mind telling me why, Daniel?’

‘You know why.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t.’

‘Yes, you do,’ Waites replied, shaking his head. ‘This is crazy,’ he muttered to himself. He hadn’t been trained to deal with alien parasites, or whatever this thing was. Unruly pupils were bad enough, but this thing was a killer.

‘Look,’ the headmaster began, ‘if this is something to do with Emily… I’m not sure what happened. She attacked me. I tried to throw her off and then… I don’t know what happened. I must have hit my head.’

‘What do you want?’ Waites asked, ignoring the explanation.

‘What do you mean?’

‘What was worth killing them for?’

‘Killing who? Are you daft?’

‘This is pointless.’ It was. It was useless trying to get anything out of this thing. It clearly wasn’t stupid: like any prisoner it would deny everything until it had an opportunity to get away.

‘My head really hurts, Daniel. I think it’s bleeding.’

Waites didn’t respond. This new tack was to be expected. It was trying to get sympathy now, appealing to his sense of humanity, his compassion. It would no doubt exaggerate its pain and misery until it got the result it wanted. Except that moment would not come. Waites wasn’t going to give in and allow the creature to kill again.

‘Did you hear what I said, Daniel?’ The voice was almost pathetic, most unlike the headmaster’s normal manner. It was just the two of them in the school now. With the rain refusing to let up and the emergency services no doubt already stretched to the limit, it was likely to stay ‘just the two of them’ for quite some time. Oh God, Waites thought. This is going to be a long night.

‘She could be anywhere,’ James said, spitting out rainwater.

‘I know, but…’ Already Sean could see the futility of trying to track down the teacher. Who knew where she had gone? He heard people shouting and turned to see three men wading through the water, which had now completely swamped the road where the first few shops began. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Sean turned back to James to see a look of deep concentration on his face.

‘What is it?’

‘Oh, I was just thinking… Maybe we should go back to the study centre.’

‘What? The road there was bad enough earlier on; it’ll be worse now.’

‘I know, but if there’s a way of stopping that thing, the answer might be there.’

‘But it’s locked up in that cupboard now. As long as it stays there until we can get help, we should be all right.’

‘Yeah, but help is a long way off. Look at all the water. It’ll take ages to sort things out. The town flooded before, remember? It took a while to recover from that, and this is worse.’

‘Well, maybe we should just go back up to the school then. Make sure Mr Waites is OK before we do anything else.’

‘Yeah, all right.’

‘Better phone Mum and Dad again too,’ Sean said. ‘They’ll be worried.’

‘What was the black thing?’ Titus asked after another long pause.

‘What black thing?’ Waites responded noncommittally.

‘The thing that came out of the tap. I… I saw it. Like a big slug or something.’

‘That’ll be you,’ Waites told him.

‘Me?’

‘The "big slug". That’s you.’

‘Have… have you lost your mind?’

‘You got into Titus’s head and now you’re controlling him.’

‘That’s ridiculous, Dan.’

‘Is it? You did the same thing to Nigel and that doctor – who is now dead too, incidentally. You certainly made a mess of him.’

‘That thing is not inside me! The last I saw of it, it was crawling into James’s mouth.’

Waites didn’t reply. This could so easily be an attempt to confuse him or plant doubt in his mind. If he were the creature, wouldn’t he do the same thing? And yet the possibility couldn’t be completely discounted. He and Sean had reached the headmaster’s office after the switch had occurred. Emily had said it was ‘in him’ – which could have meant either Titus or James. Waites felt more and more unnerved as he began to realize the implications of his discovery.

‘What is it, Daniel? What is that thing?’ Titus asked, sounding tired, confused and frightened. ‘It looked hideous and… it seemed to have a mind of its own.’

Waites said nothing; he was trying to think.

‘Look, Dan, whatever’s been going on here, I swear to you, that thing is not inside me.’

‘I’m not listening,’ Waites insisted.

But he was. Of course he was.