Blood Water

CHAPTER 28

Waites knew that tracking down the dog wasn’t going to be easy. However, as far as he knew, all the doors were closed. As for the windows, the dog would find it difficult to get through them, even though it was now no ordinary dog.

He moved quietly, listening for any sound that betrayed its whereabouts, checking behind every now and again. He wondered what the creature’s plan was. It obviously wanted to survive, just like any other creature on earth, but it was intelligent, so was it planning on doing more than just surviving? If so, what? Now that it was stuck in the body of a small animal, its efforts would surely be hampered. Waites felt sorry for the dog, but if he was able to catch it, he would kill it without hesitation, along with its detestable passenger.

He suddenly heard a sound – a crash upstairs. Something was moving about up there. He went quietly up the stairs, careful not to give away his position. At the top he had a good look around. It was dark, but he didn’t want to turn on the main corridor lights in case he startled his target. Creeping forward, his senses on high alert, he wondered what plan the creature had already hatched. If it wanted to get out of the centre, why had it come upstairs?

He padded along the hall until, glancing into one room, he saw that a large bird cage on a stand had been tipped over. Feathers, bird seed and droppings lay scattered around. At first Waites assumed the occupant of the cage was dead, but a flap of wings and a chirp confirmed that the bird was still OK. He peered around the room without actually crossing the threshold. He stood there, listening, barely breathing as he strained to hear the dog. Impatient, he finally went in, switching on the light and looking for clues that it had been there. Suddenly he heard a sound – a loud sniff – from under the bed. Waites was sure it was canine.

‘I need to lie down,’ Sean said in a weak voice.

‘You can lie down all you like soon. First we’ve got to take care of that thing and…’

‘What?’

‘Nothing. Look, let’s get you back to the office. You can sit down and I’ll get you some water. Don’t worry about what’s happened. Like you said, it wasn’t in you long; it probably didn’t have a chance to infect you.’

But all Sean could do was worry. It wasn’t just the taste of the thing lingering in his mouth that bothered him, it was the feeling it had left behind. The feeling of invasion, of control. The thing had wormed its way up into his brain. The thought of it oozing around up there nearly drove him mad. And what of the infection? Was it already taking hold? He would have an agonizing wait to find out.

As he staggered down the corridor after James, Sean’s head throbbed, and a horrible metallic taste suddenly overwhelmed his senses. He retched.

‘Are you all right?’ James asked, stopping.

Sean took a few deep breaths. ‘Yeah, I’m fine, just a bit woozy. Come on…’

James supported his brother back to Sally Cooper’s office. There was still a damp patch in the corner where the headmaster had been lying. Again Sean was filled with pity for him. He hadn’t deserved anything like this. He had been put through a terrifying ordeal only to face an agonizing death. At least it had been fairly quick. At least his body had been so far gone that it couldn’t fight the inevitable for long. Still, what would Sean say to people who asked what had happened to Titus? What would he say to his family? Assuming he lived to tell anyone anything of course. He slumped in a chair and rubbed his head.

‘Do you want me to find you some painkillers?’ James asked. ‘I think there are some in one of these drawers—’

‘No,’ Sean said. ‘I don’t want anything else in my head. I’ll just put up with the pain.’

‘OK,’ James said, wondering what to do next. He wanted to help Waites track down and destroy the dog, but there was no way he was leaving his brother alone. Not now when he really needed him. Then they both heard a cry from what sounded like a long way off, though it must have come from inside the centre.

‘What was that?’ Sean asked.

‘I don’t know. Maybe it was Mr Waites.’

Their minds started looking for explanations for the muffled outburst – none were to their liking. Sean looked up at James, and they both knew they had come to the same conclusion. The situation had changed, priorities had altered. If Waites was in trouble and needed help, they couldn’t just ignore him.

‘Close the door behind me,’ James said. ‘Here…’ He opened one of the drawers and produced a key. ‘Lock it and don’t open it until I come back.’

‘How will I know it’s you?’ Sean asked, taking the key but not wanting his brother to go anywhere.

‘You’ll know’ – James turned and opened the door – ‘because if it does get me, I promise you, it won’t reach this room.’ With that he left, closing the door behind him before he had a chance to change his mind.

Sean, still stunned, rose from the chair and locked the door, shaking more than ever now from shock and apprehension.