Dean Carter - Blood Water

‘Sean,’ Phoenix said weakly. ‘Come here.’ Sean went and sat on a nearby sofa. ‘Sean, that thing has to be stopped. It’s scared and angry. Whatever it wants, I have a horrible feeling something bad will happen if it finds it.’

‘How are you feeling?’ James asked, changing the subject.

‘Bloody terrible,’ Phoenix answered, coughing. ‘It’s like a bad case of the flu. Everything feels tender and swollen. I’m bunged up and—’

‘We’ll get you to the hospital as soon as the weather eases a little,’ James said. ‘It’s still too dangerous to go out now.’

‘Come on,’ Sean said, tugging James’s sleeve. ‘We need to tell Mr Titus and the others what’s going on. We won’t tell them everything. We’ll just say that Dr Morrow’s gone mad and needs to be restrained.’

‘Titus’ll think we’re mad,’ James told him. ‘We should try and deal with this on our own.’

‘But we can’t. That thing’s too dangerous.’

‘Waites,’ Phoenix said. ‘See if he’s in his classroom – he usually stays on after school to catch up on paperwork. If he’s here he’s more likely to listen to you than Mr Titus. Titus is such an idiot.’ He coughed again.

Sean and James nodded, then turned and reluctantly left the teacher to go downstairs, wondering if Morrow and the thing inside him were already back inside the building.

‘Oh God,’ Phoenix whispered once the boys were out of earshot. ‘What the hell is happening to me?’

Most of the pupils had already been picked up by parents, and incredibly one of the school buses had managed to make it through to collect the students – the driver said there was still a relatively safe route back to the depot twelve miles away. In the hall Mr Titus, Mrs Rees and the few remaining children were sitting or standing near the huge windows, watching the rain and the pools of water that had formed outside.

‘It’s just ridiculous,’ Mrs Rees muttered.

‘I dread to think what this is doing to the town,’ Mr Titus said. ‘Remember the floods we had before? It took months for some businesses to recover. Some of them never reopened. The cinema has been refurbished at least twice because of floodwater. It’s amazing how much destruction can be caused by just a few hours of rain.’

‘Yes, well, I hope it stops soon. I don’t want to be stranded here all night. I’m sure the kids don’t either. Right, I’d better go back to the staff room to check on Nigel. I’ll be back in a second.’

Outside was a wall of water. Cold water. The creature inside Morrow was content to wait, at least for now, for the right opportunity to present itself. It didn’t feel the cold like its host did, and it couldn’t understand why he was shaking so much and making that odd sound with his teeth, but it realized that these human beings were afraid of being cold and wet. It could hurt them. So it wasn’t going to stay outside for long – just long enough. It could feel that some of the man’s bones had been broken. There was pain, but it buried this, kept it locked away so that it could concentrate. Luckily the injuries didn’t impede movement.

It had already crept around most of the school buildings looking for signs of life inside, and so far had only spotted one person apart from the three it had left upstairs in the staff room. They had been sitting in a classroom and had been a prime target, but there seemed no point in changing bodies at this point, not while this one’s memories hadn’t yet been thoroughly plundered.

And it wasn’t an easy task either. Morrow seemed to guess that the creature was looking for something, and was trying to block it, to hamper its efforts by thinking completely random and meaningless thoughts. It would learn what it needed to though. Whatever that was. And that was really the problem. It knew it had lost something at some point, a long time ago, but it couldn’t remember what it was. Whatever it was, the secret wasn’t in Morrow’s mind, but he might still have a clue as to who did possess that knowledge.

What is it? the creature demanded in frustration within Morrow’s mind. What is it that I need to know?

Although it was unaware of it, a moan issued from Morrow’s lips. It was a moan of helplessness and distress – though it was completely lost in the dark and the rain. But the moan was less to do with Morrow’s sorry state, and more to do with what he had seen inside the building. He recognized the woman. He’d seen her earlier. His thoughts were in a mess, jumbled up and blurred. The entity in his head was clouding his memory as well as governing his mind. Then he felt it squirm. It had seen her too, and it made him move towards a point of interception. Morrow couldn’t bear the thought of another helpless person being infected. Please – the thought, weak, drifted somewhere through his war-torn subconscious – stop this now… Whatever it is you want to know, I can’t help you. That woman, leave her alone. No more. Please, no more…

Mrs Rees had half expected the head to chastise her for leaving Mr Phoenix unattended, but he was clearly preoccupied with the environmental calamity that was unfolding outside. She strode up the corridor towards the annexe and passed the reception area, now empty as Mrs Evans had decided to take a risk and drive home in the rain. She was about to go up the steps leading to the staff room when she heard the main doors open.

In the staff room above, Phoenix coughed up blood for the third time. He’d been expecting as much, even though he knew little about what was really going on within him. His insides felt like jelly, his muscles were limp and barely responsive, and his eyes hurt. He was very thirsty too, so he tried to first sit, then stand up so he could go and get a glass of water. His stomach was instantly attacked by cramps and he doubled up in pain. He clutched his sides, then bent over and vomited dark blood onto the carpet, his eyes bulging in shock as he watched the cascade from his insides flow out of his mouth. The blood was specked with black dots and he wondered what was happening to his system – and what the creature had left inside him. He shook his head and started to panic. The pain in his stomach grew; he now had a splitting headache too. He staggered backwards and steadied himself against the wall before vomiting again, even more than before.

Afterwards Phoenix was overcome with dizziness, so he fell back into the chair and waited, praying for the nausea to pass. But it didn’t, it simply changed form, the waves of pain and sickness washing over him in unrelenting assaults. Blood was now seeping from his nose, and small cuts that had recently healed were now red and raw once more. He didn’t know if he was more embarrassed or terrified by the fact that his trousers were now soaked through with something horrible.

Phoenix sobbed as the rest of his insides tried to force their way out.

Mr Waites was indeed in his classroom, as Phoenix had guessed. When Sean and James burst in, he jumped and had to steady himself on his chair.

‘Bloody hell, don’t you two know how to knock?’ He put his pen down and scowled at them.

‘Sorry, sir,’ Sean said, ‘but we need your help.’

Waites stood up. He was just over six foot, in his early forties – though he looked younger – fit and strong enough to put Mr Cole, the PE teacher, to shame. His hair was long and dark, and he wore small, round, wire-rimmed glasses.

‘What sort of help? Is it to do with the rain?’ Although he’d been too absorbed in his work to pay much attention, Waites now realized that the weather must be causing havoc.

‘Sort of,’ Sean said. ‘It’s a parasite.’

‘What is?’ Waites looked from Sean to James, whom he vaguely recognized as Sean’s brother.