Shaun Jeffrey: Dead Man's Eye

This time, there would be no stopping him.

He glanced at the clock on the wall; knew that Lincoln could wake at any time and usurp his control. That’s why he needed the drugs. If he didn’t think it too risky to his human host, he had considered taking an overdose to put him in a comatose state, but he didn’t know what it would do to Lincoln’s body, and he didn’t dare risk harming it, not after it had taken him so long to find the right human.

He wasn’t going to jeopardise it now.

What was taking Kaidi so long?

He should have gone himself. But what was that old human euphemism, why buy a dog and then bark yourself.

But now he was straining at the leash, his patience wearing thin.

With the meeting planned for midnight, he didn’t want to risk Lincoln waking. He needed to show his brethren that he was in control. That he was fit to lead them into battle. And to do that, he had to get those drugs.

Impatient, he stormed out of the room and stalked the corridor. The dispensary could be anywhere, so he stopped a hospital orderly to ask the way and then followed the directions.

Although the people he passed couldn’t see him for what he was, he knew they must sense something as they parted before him like the Red Sea. He liked having that power. It imbued him with renewed purpose. It was a feeling he wanted to feel all the time.

At the end of the corridor, he was about to turn left when a strange sensation washed over him. It felt akin to grubs crawling beneath his skin.

He stopped and looked around. Something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t place what it was.

That’s when he saw Joanna’s boyfriend, Stephen, walking down the opposite corridor. Although he needed the drugs, he knew that he also needed to find Joanna. Through whatever means she had, she could see him and his cohorts for what they were.

With this a perfect opportunity, he changed direction and followed Stephen.

He recognised the path that Stephen took, and frowned when he saw him open the door to the basement. About to follow, he watched as another man in blue overalls beat him to it and disappeared through the door.

Despite his strength, he was loathe to tackle them on his own as he didn’t know how many more might be down there, so he quickly turned around and headed back to obtain Kaidi’s help.

As he neared the dispensary, he heard a commotion, a woman’s voice raised in anger and he increased his pace. What was Kaidi messing about at now?

A small crowd of people stood blocking the corridor further on, and even without turning, they appeared to sense Malachi’s presence and stepped aside to allow him through.

Up ahead, he saw Kaidi with her hands around a man’s throat, and a nurse shouting at her to stop. Glass littered the ground, the reinforced dispensary window smashed. Blood trickled from cuts on the man’s face.

“Stop it,” Malachi shouted.

Kaidi immediately released her grip and stepped back. The man she had been strangling doubled over at the waist and clutched at his throat, face red, struggling to catch his breath.

Malachi gave Kaidi a withering glare. He couldn’t believe how inept she had been. This was the last thing they needed.

Security would no doubt be hurrying to the scene, and although Malachi and Kaidi could dispatch them without breaking a sweat, snapping necks like kindling would alert people to their presence and hamper their plan.

Malachi approached Kaidi and whispered in her ear. “Basement. Stephen Cook’s there.”

Without another word, Kaidi turned and ran, barging through the small crowd. To cover her escape, Malachi had to provide a distraction, so he grabbed the stump of his arm, cried out and collapsed on the ground, pretending to writhe in agony.

The nurse rushed across and knelt down beside him. “Are you okay?”

Malachi gritted his teeth. “She fucking banged my arm.”

“Calm down,” the nurse said.

“It fucking hurts.”

“Sir, please, just calm down.” She placed a restraining hand on his chest.

Malachi milked the situation for all it was worth, making sure that he had everyone’s attention, writhing and groaning.

Even the man that Kaidi had been throttling seemed to forget his own discomfort to offer support.

“It’s alright,” the man croaked. “She’s gone. You’ll be alright. I owe you one. I thought she was going to strangle me. She kept trying to get drugs from me, but I wouldn’t let her have them, so she smashed the window. I couldn’t believe it. She must be on something, pcp or something like that, to break that window. Then she bloody well pulled me through. Scared me to death. Thought I was going to die.”

Malachi suppressed a laugh. Humans were such weak, inadequate things.

Their conquest would be easier than he imagined.

After another couple of seconds of playacting, he staggered to his feet and caressed the nub of his missing arm. “I’ll be okay. She just caught my arm, that was all.”

“What’s going on? We got a call that there was a problem.”

Malachi stared at the police.

“A woman tried stealing some drugs,” the nurse said.

“Where’s she gone?”

“She ran that way,” the man Kaidi had been throttling said, pointing along the corridor. “I think she’s on something, so you’d better be careful.”

As the police took down Kaidi’s description, Malachi slipped away and headed towards the basement.

He only hoped Kaidi hadn’t acted rashly. He needed Stephen alive to tell him where Joanna was, which meant sending Kaidi to the basement might not have been the best course of action.

Malachi increased his pace.

As he descended the basement steps, he listened for any sounds of commotion or screams of pain, but heard nothing.

When he reached the room, he entered to find Kaidi waiting for him.

“There’s no one here,” Kaidi said.

Malachi looked around. “Are you sure?”

Kaidi nodded. “I’ve looked everywhere. If they were here, then they’re not now.”

The news was disappointing, but Malachi had something else to deal with. He glared at Kaidi. “Now about those drugs…”

Joanna stared at the countryside as they sped along the road in Stephen’s car.

With the name and address of the other cornea recipient in their possession, she had decided they should talk to her, hoping that she could back up Joanna’s story. They still had plenty of time before midnight, and if the woman could help in any way – if she had seen anything unusual – then it would help strengthen their case, perhaps proving that Joanna wasn’t going mad.

The silence in the car seemed like a physical presence, a wall that split the vehicle in two. The blur of trees and hedgerows flashing by made her feel sick, so she closed her eyes for a moment.

The other cornea recipient’s name was Margaret Jones, and she lived in a small town about an hour’s drive away, probably a lot less the way Stephen was driving.

“Slow down,” she said. “We don’t want to get stopped for speeding.”

Stephen eased off the accelerator. “Sorry. This is just doing my head in.”

“How do you think I feel?”

Stephen put his hand on her knee and squeezed. “We’ll get through this. I promise.”

Joanna wished she could believe him, but the way things were at the moment, she didn’t see how they could get through it at all.

The countryside eventually gave way to urbanisation, trees making way for sprawling housing estates that all looked alike, a Minotaur’s labyrinth of concrete and brick.

With the aid of the car’s GPS system, Stephen navigated a path through the maze, the woman’s monotone voice informing him when to turn.