Blood Water

CHAPTER 36

‘Run!… Run!… Run!’ The echo continued to travel through the network of caves as Sean and James moved away from Waites’s body. Sean had the torch now, and he took his brother’s hand as they made their way through the passage Sean had seen Waites emerge from earlier. James was still gagging and spitting salt water as they went, his head pounding, his vision blurred and his thoughts in chaos.

‘Sean—’

‘Come on, we have to move. What happened in there? In the water?’

‘It wanted to join them.’

‘So what went wrong?’

‘They weren’t interested.’

‘Why?’

‘Because they exiled it thousands of years ago. They cast it out because it wasn’t like them. It was bad. But I don’t think it’s going to be bothering them or us for much longer though.’

‘Why?’

‘I think it’s dying. It’s been exposed to too much salt.’

‘That mixture I gave you?’

‘No.’ James spat again. ‘It had already taken a lethal dose in the pool.’

‘The pool was salt water?’

‘Yes. I think that’s why it had such a reaction to salt before. It associated it with the rest of its kind and what they did to it.’

‘Did you say they "exiled" it? How?’

‘I’m not sure. It couldn’t remember. It was so long ago. But I sensed the thoughts of some of them. I got the impression it was like a criminal and they had to remove it to stop it poisoning the minds of the others. That’s why it was found alone in a separate pool. They found some way of casting it out.’

‘And it was hoping they’d join it in taking over the world?’

‘Yes. But instead they gave it death – the punishment for returning.’

‘So why did it jump to Waites if it was going to die?’

‘Because it’s angry. It wants someone to blame, someone to punish. So it’s going to punish us. It’s going to do as much killing as it can before it dies—’

And then, perfectly on cue, they heard a dreadful roar from somewhere behind them, like that of a feral beast.

‘But what about the disease?’ Sean asked. ‘It was inside you for so long.’

‘Maybe the salt does something to it. We’re both still alive, aren’t we, with no lasting after-effects? Let’s worry about that later.’

‘What about Waites?’

‘Well, I don’t know. If we can get that thing out of him he might be OK, provided it doesn’t make him fall to his death or get lost for ever down here. But that’s the problem: even if we survive, we still have that creature to worry about. It won’t stop until it kills us or kills itself.’

‘How do you feel now?’ Sean asked as they stopped at a junction to decide which way to proceed.

‘I feel like death.’

Waites – or more accurately, the thing inside him – felt so angry, so resentful and so cheated, that it wasn’t thinking clearly. It wasn’t taking enough time to make rational decisions. It felt the increasingly agonizing pain from Waites’s ankle, but it kept on running regardless. It knew it didn’t have long now. It had discovered far too late that the beings it had dreamed about for so many years were not really like it at all. They were the same species, but that was it. They didn’t think the same way, they had no interest in power; to them it was an evil force that had to be expelled. The creature was experiencing the extremes of sadness and fury. The cruel rejection had left it feeling more alone than ever. It roared its frustration and tears fell from Waites’s eyes as it shook his head. It pushed on, using the man’s memories to trace the trail back through the caves, praying it would catch the two brothers before they found a way out. It had plans for them – plans that didn’t involve them leaving the caves alive.

Sean had the terrible feeling that the monster was getting nearer. They had taken a couple of wrong turns and it felt like the creature could sense them, smell them. Every now and then they heard its roar, and each time the sound was closer. James bent over with another wave of nausea and was relieved to see that Sean hadn’t noticed. Now more than ever he had to be the strong big brother and ensure that they both escaped. The residue of the salt was everywhere – in his mouth, his nasal passages, his stomach. It had probably saved his life, and yet the creature’s hatred of it must have lingered, as it felt like poison in his system. He spat out a mouthful of salty saliva and pressed on, checking Sean was OK, and then they both felt a cold blast of air and saw moonlight.

It was almost upon them. The faster it went, the hungrier it got, or was it the other way around? It couldn’t be sure any more. But it could almost smell the vapour they left behind them as they ran, processing it to gauge their state of mind, their state of health. They would soon be in sight, and it would tear them apart, destroying their world. Just like its own world had been destroyed. Utterly.

It limped on faster and faster, ignoring the pain from Waites’s ankle. It hoped that he would die – another victim in its new war. But until that moment, until its host collapsed, it would destroy every bit of life it could find.

The fields around the lake and the cave system were now almost completely water-logged. In front of them, the long ridge of high ground had become an island in a vast, shallow sea. In many places the water was only a few centimetres deep, but in the darkness it seemed like they were looking out over a huge black ocean. How had things got so much worse in the time they’d been inside the caves?

‘Which way is the centre?’ Sean asked.

James was about to answer, but then realized that everything looked different; though he knew the general direction of the study centre, he didn’t recognize his surroundings. But there was no time for hesitation: they had to keep moving.

‘I think it’s this way. Be careful though.’

They splashed their way across the small channel and up the rise. From here they could just make out the centre beyond the trees below them. But the path was nowhere to be seen, and they had to slip and struggle their way down the muddy slope.

‘How are we going to get back to town, James?’ Sean asked his brother. ‘Waites’s car’s wrecked, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, we’ll have to take one of the others at the centre.’

‘Do you know how to hotwire them?’

‘What? Of course I don’t. There’s a car that belongs to the centre that people borrow from time to time. I noticed it earlier. I’ll get the keys from reception.’

They pushed on, unaware that their pursuer was already emerging from the mouth of the cave.

Sean’s shoes were full of water – there wasn’t a dry patch of material anywhere on his body. He was shivering and fantasizing about being dry and warm at home. He cast his mind back to that morning, lying in bed, stir crazy. It seemed like days ago.

They splashed across the car park and into the study centre. James went behind the reception desk and retrieved the key.

‘Here we go. Right, come on, let’s get out to the car. I don’t know how we’re going to get back to town, but we’ll manage it somehow,’ he said.

They staggered back out into the night.

‘The car’s over there,’ James said, pointing. ‘I hope it works – it’ll need to—’ He stopped dead.

Waites was standing in the middle of the car park, staring directly at them, his expression showing both pain and fury, his hands clenched by his side. The brothers were rooted to the spot in terror.

‘Sean…’ James said, turning the keys over in his hand.

‘Yeah,’ Sean whispered back, trying not to move his lips.

‘When I say "go"…’

‘I don’t know if I can.’

‘You have to.’

They could hear Waites’s breathing now – almost a hiss – but he just watched them, waiting for them to make the first move. Then he spoke.

‘You think you’ve won…’ The unfinished sentence hung in the air, then: ‘But it’s already over. Don’t make it difficult.’

‘Look,’ James replied. ‘We just want to get home.’

‘Yes!’ There was a laugh. ‘Home. You have a home. What joy.’ It came towards them now. The two boys tensed, ready to run, but it stopped again. ‘I had a glimpse for a while. A glimpse of what home meant. To belong, to be safe and loved.’ A shake of the head. ‘I don’t hate you because of what you are, because you’re different to me. I hate you because you’re happy, because you are not alone. Because you have everything that I do not. And while others of my kind may feel guilty, ashamed of such feelings of jealousy and hatred… I do not.’

‘That’s right,’ James said. ‘That’s why they cast you out. You’re a freak, a monster… Even to them.’

‘Yes.’ It was smiling now. ‘A monster… That’s exactly what I am.’ Then it looked up, opened its mouth and roared, charging towards them… And all at once everything shattered.