Carved in Stone: Monochrome Destiny (28 page)

It
was Andrew that spoke.  “Two hundred years ago?”

“The
symbol on the graves: the
Triskele
.  It’s on
every one of those graves I told you about.  The first time it shows up is
in 1840.  Remember what you told me it meant?”

“The cycle of life.”

“Yes. 
I think that the people of
Porthmollek
believed that
those people would rise from their graves.  They believed it because they
knew what killed them, or should I say who killed them.”
 
Robyn looked around the room.
 
Only Andrew looked as if this was new to him,
the others all understood her immediately.
 
“They put that symbol on their headstones because they thought that they
were cursed, afflicted with a demon that made
them
drink the blood of their kin.
 
The
Triskele
was their way of stopping that curse from
spreading.
 
They wanted the spirits of
the deceased to move on.”

Andrew
said nothing.  The room had fallen into complete silence.  She only
hoped that what she had to say next would grant them their freedom.

“You
think that you are evil, cursed, but you’re wrong.  There is nothing
demonic or fantastical about what is happening here.”

“Shit,”
Sanger swore from across the room.

She
ignored Sanger’s outburst and continued.  “You’ve got a form of
sideroblastic
anaemia.  It might not be curable but it
is treatable.”

Only
the crackle of the fire in the hearth and the ticking of the carriage clock on
the mantel indicated that time
was
passing as Robyn
looked from one face to the other.  Her stomach sank.  Only one
person in that room was shocked, Andrew.

“You
already know.”

Robyn had been
researching
sideroblastic
anaemia on the internet
when they were taken.  From what she had seen, some of the people in the
town had all of the symptoms, especially Stuart
Yelland
. 
It all then made a sick sort of sense.

The
genetic illness was unlike other forms of anaemia.  The illness didn’t
occur due to lack of iron, but rather an inability to absorb it.  Onset
was at puberty and the patient would be lethargic, pale and gaunt, just as
Stuart
Yelland
had looked when he had collapsed onto
her laboratory floor.  The usual treatment was a bone marrow transplant,
but that didn’t stop the build-up of toxic iron in the blood.  Patients
usually succumbed to liver, kidney or heart damage, leading to early death,
normally before sixty.  Robyn had seen some of the members of staff at
school popping pills during break time and the medication fit her theory.

In
this insular little town, the disease had been thriving as local married local
in a tight gene pool.  A large proportion of the town’s people were
affected, especially judging by the numbers they had seen at the abattoir and
they were treating themselves. 

What
she and Andrew had seen in those bottles was probably pig blood and bone
marrow, extracted from the herds that surrounded
Porthmollek
. 
Robyn knew that pigs were a close genetic match to humans.  Pig products
had been used medicinally for years.  Insulin, heparin and thyroxine were
but a few of the hormonal replacements that had been produced.

Robyn
couldn’t say why the people of this community could ingest their treatment, why
the elixir seemed to either bolster or fully replace their own damaged bone
marrow, but it was working.  The people here were living quality lives of
a similar length to those undergoing more conventional treatments.  If it
hadn’t been for their determination to keep hidden, the people of
Porthmollek
would have made an interesting study.

It
was the
Triskeles
together with the blood in the
bottles that had plagued her.
 
Her subconscious
had known that the symbol showed that this had been going on for many years and
had historically been a lot more macabre than it was now.
 
The people of
Porthmollek
now treated themselves with extract from pigs, but in their past they had
killed for their medication.

 “Get
the others.” James commanded Sanger and he rushed from the room without
hesitation.

‘The
others’ could only mean Derek Ellis, but Robyn was more concerned with what was
unfolding before her eyes.

“How long?”

“We
didn’t know, not for a long time.  It’s only in the last twenty years that
genetic research has been public enough for us to work it out.  It was
Sanger who gave us the definitive diagnosis.”

“But
why do you still hide if you know you can get treatment?”

It
was Jane who snorted.  “If you know so bloody much, then you should have
worked that out already.”

Robyn
shook her head.

“You’re
not as smart as you like to think are you?”  She moved away from Andrew
and stood in front of Robyn instead.  “Would you want it known that there
were a lot of murderers in your past?  Would you want people digging into
your, not so pleasant, family history?”

Robyn
stiffened.

“No,
I shouldn’t think you would if you knew what they’d find.  Everyone in
this community has an ancestor that killed, murdered, to survive. None of us
would be here if we hadn’t.  Can you imagine what would be said about us,
done to us, if the world found out?”

“You
aren’t to blame for the past.”

Jane
laughed.  “Of course we aren’t, but the media can be vicious and what a
story they’d have.  You can imagine the headlines, can’t you, Robyn. 
‘
Porthmollek
, A Town full of
Vampires.’
  They’d have a field day.  They’d destroy us and
everything we’ve built here.”

James
moved to stand beside Jane.  “We made a decision long ago to continue as
we were.  If medical science discovers a better treatment than we already
have then things will change, but as long as what we have is at least as good
as what we can otherwise receive we would rather remain a quiet, peaceful
little community.”

“And
not forgetting how lucrative this is for you.” Andrew seethed.

“Don’t
judge me.  How do you think I paid for all the private schooling, the
trips, the house you live in?” James turned to lean over Andrew. 
 “They pay for the blood that keeps them alive and for the tablets that Dr
Sanger manages to get without going through the system.  The house, the
money, everything is tied to this town and its secret.”

Of
course
,
Robyn thought,
the gravestones
.  The Truscott family headstones had
been steadily increasing in grandeur in the graveyard since the late 1800s,
indicating that the wealth of the family had been increasing over that same
period.

“My
ancestors have always owned this land, but they fell on hard times and
struggled to make it pay.  When Edward Truscott, my direct ancestor first
discovered that pigs could be used to treat us just as well as humans, he did
this community a favour.  The killing stopped almost overnight.  He
filled his fields with animals.  Those same fields still provide both the
treatment for the disease and an economy for the town.  Why shouldn’t the
Truscott’s get rich off of it?”

Andrew
must have realised that there was indeed some truth in that statement. 
The gravestones depicted a gruesome scene.  The sick people of
Porthmollek
had killed people, couples and sometimes entire
families in order to keep themselves alive.  The town’s history was bathed
in blood.

“You
can lie to yourself all you want, but to make money off of the misfortunes of
others is immoral and you know it.”  Andrew was clearly disgusted.

“I’m
not ready to give this up, Andrew. Not for you or anyone.  I owe it to my
ancestors to see that this family keeps thriving.”

“Don’t
even try to convince me that you care about your ancestors.  You’re doing
this for yourself and you know it.  It’s always been about money and
power.”

Robyn
could feel the tension building between the two and she worried that Andrew
would once again lunge and be
Tasered
.  Her
thoughts were stopped as the door opened.

David
Rowe entered, followed by a huge man, rippling with muscle and taller than even
Andrew.  Sanger followed.

“David,
please come and see what your choice of staff member has discovered about
us.”  James narrowed his eyes.  “I thought I gave you specific instructions
to keeps an eye on her?”

The
Head Teacher cleared his throat.  “She’s done nothing in the last couple
of weeks that would concern me, I assure you.”

“Then
how do you explain her knowing everything?”

David
gulped and Sanger smiled.

“I
did tell you not to appoint a Biochemist with her background.  She was
bound to put it together eventually.”

David
turned on Sanger.  “Will you stop trying to make yourself look
better.
  I had little choice in the matter and you know
it.  She was the best I could get on short notice and she fit the
criteria.”

The
larger man had walked behind Andrew whilst this exchange was occurring and now
he had his heavy hands on Andrew’s shoulders.

“What
criteria did I meet?”  She had a terrible suspicion but hoped she was
wrong. 

It
was Jane who answered.  “Why?  That you had no family of course.”

Blood
began to drain to Robyn’s feet.

“They
chose you, because you could disappear without anyone asking questions.” 
Andrew spoke Robyn’s fear.  Both she and Kat had no-one that would come
for them.

“But,
you tried to make me leave, the visitors, the things left at the house.”

“We
are usually very persuasive.  But there’s always some who need a firmer
push.”  Jane smiled mirthlessly.

“Is
that where Derek fits into all of this?  Is he your persuader?”

James
looked at her curiously while Jane giggled.  “You really want to know
everything, don’t you?”

“Robyn,
we run this town and keep its secret.  David and Jane watch the children
closely to catch the early signs of the disease, George here,” he nodded to the
brute behind Andrew, “owns the abattoir, and Douglas is paid very well for the
tablets that he has shipped in under the radar.”

“And for poking into private medical
files.”
 It had to be Sanger who had alerted them to her prior depression and
suicidal thoughts.

Sanger
merely smiled.  “You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?”

James
looked to Andrew ignoring Sanger.  “Our elixir is most beneficial, but it
cannot undo the organ damage that our particular complaint causes, but we are
working on that now.”

“And
you all get free treatments I bet.”  She couldn’t mask her scorn.

“Except for Douglas of course.”

“Except Douglas?”

“Yes,”
James said as Douglas laughed. “Douglas does not share our affliction; we found
him, accidentally, shall we say.”

Robyn
looked at the doctor “You don’t have
sideroblastic
anaemia?”

“No.”

“Then
why would you be involved in such a conspiracy, you’re a doctor, you took the
hypocratic
oath, you’re meant to help people.”

“James
made me an offer that I literally couldn’t refuse.  And besides, I am
helping people.”

“Money,
that’s all it took?” Robyn was disgusted.

“No. 
I didn’t want the money, I don’t need it.  James offered me more than
money.  He offered me a chance to indulge in my passions.”

A
knot tightened in her gut.  The way Douglas said ‘indulge in my passions’
sounded so sickeningly psychotic that she knew she did not want to know what he
meant.

“And
so you keep your secret, a secret that you will do anything to keep.”  Andrew
sighed.

“Yes,
Andrew, now you’re getting it, anything.” James took a step towards him. 
He bent forwards and spoke directly to Andrew, their faces only inches apart,
“You know a little about secrets don’t you?”

The
look between the two of them was intense.

“How many?”
  Andrew
spat the question and Robyn realised with horror what he was asking. 
She’d known, in fact, she’d known for a long time, but now she was certain.

“Over the years?
 
A lot.
 
Recently?
One.”

Robyn
buckled.

A grotesquely
sickening smile lingered on Sanger’s face as he spoke.  Robyn watched his
thin, colourless lips draw back over discoloured stalactite teeth.  She
didn’t want to listen, but he had her attention, willingly or not.

“She
was wonderful wasn’t she? 
So vibrant.
 
You’ve been watched from the very beginning and I must say, for my part, it was
a pleasure, but she became a liability the minute she ran out of that line of
trees that night.  She wasn’t supposed to see anyone at the abattoir.”

“She
didn’t know anything.” Tears streamed down Robyn’s face and the words were but
a sob.

“We
didn’t know that, and when she went to the train station the next day, we had
to act.  We couldn’t risk her getting away, telling someone outside of
town.”

Robyn
froze,
her tears halfway down her cheek.

“Rowan
was following you that day and he had to think fast.  He got on the train
with her, intending to bring her straight back to
Porthmollek
for questioning.  And didn’t she make it easy.”  Sanger paused,
smiled and stepped closer, leaning down to face her.  “Did you know that
she got off the train at the very next stop to go to a hotel with him?  It
seems Rowan had quite an afternoon before he called me.  She was drugged
and unconscious when I got there to pick them up.”

Robyn
felt like her body was closing down.  She stared at Sanger, but she no
longer saw him.  Sanger closed in further and breathed his stench over her
face but she was moving far away now.  She was drifting to somewhere where
Kat lived.

Cold
fingers grabbed her jaw and lifted her head but she didn’t fight.  She
couldn’t feel the pain of his touch from her safe place.

“Oh
no, I’m not letting you hide away from this.” A distant voice uttered. 
“Shock will not save you from feeling every touch.  I will have you fully
conscious before I have my fun.  It’s better that way.  Your friend
was a fighter, she never gave up.”  Sanger gripped her hander, his nails
digging into her flesh.  “Katherine fought till the end.”

The
mention of Kat’s name drew Robyn back.  Pain accompanied her move to
consciousness and anger replaced her fear.

“Don’t
speak her name.”  She stared at Sanger and spat her words.

“Ah,
there she is. I was so afraid that you were going to disappoint me. 
There’s no fun if the patient is catatonic.” Sanger grinned.

“Doctor, stop toying with her.”
James
Truscott’s voice boomed.

Robyn
couldn’t see him, eyes locked as they were on the psychotic mad man in front of
her.

“Ah,
but James, a heavy dose of fear makes the harvest so much more. . . .
potent
.”  The sickly, nausea inducing breath clouded
over her face as Dr Sanger spoke.  “You want to get the absolute best out
of this one don’t you?  I mean, the last little bitch gave a fantastic
batch after all.”

Robyn
heard Andrew draw in a deep breath as she realised the meaning of the words
that had left Sangers lips.

“
You.
. .  harvested. . . . Kat?” her voice dripped with
rage but was tinged with horror.

“Of
course I did,” Sanger replied, smiling, “That little bitch fought like
hell.  Kicking, spitting.  She even knocked down George here at one
point.  I thought that I was actually going to have to sedate her.”

“You
didn’t sedate her?” 
Oh God, oh God
, her brain repeated over and
over as she said the words, not really wanting to hear the response.

“No,
like I said,
it’s
better when they are frightened,
makes a better batch, more potent somehow.  Besides, that’s the fun
part.  It’s not like anyone can hear the screams,” he sneered, inches from
her face.  She couldn’t look away.  She looked into the beady little eyes
and saw no trace of remorse, no realisation of the horror that he was
inflicting unnecessarily. He thoroughly enjoyed what he did.

“The
church crypt,” her voice was steady but detached.

Sanger’s
head tilted but it was Jane who spoke, “
Jesus,
is
there anything she doesn’t know?”

Sanger
grinned, exposing his long teeth and Robyn tried to pull away, but he dug his
thin fingers into her jaw and drew her closer instead.  Unable to look
anywhere but into the magnified beady, grey eyes, she sat mesmerised as he told
her what he had done.

“That
little bitch tried to escape.  Do you know what would have happened if she
had managed?  The trouble she could have caused?  It was blind luck
that we caught her running across the bank.  A total fluke that the sea
was calm enough for George to hear the glass smash as he pulled the boat up the
beach.  She was running around trying to make a call when we grabbed
her.”  Sanger gave a small laugh at the memory.  “God knows where
she’d stashed that phone but her efforts were futile.  Silly girl, there’s
no mobile phone signal anywhere near that beach.  She soon gave up when I
punched the wind out of her.” 

Robyn’s
breathing was ragged.  Her body shook as anger fought with fear and
devastation.  “No.”  She shook her head from side to side, refusing
to believe what she was hearing.

“After
causing that trouble, I wasn’t going to waste anaesthetic on her.  After
all, thanks to that great bank, no-one can hear anything from the church
crypt.”

“Waste
anaesthetic?” Andrew repeated, as if confirming the awful truth to
himself
.

“Yes. 
It was exhilarating when her screams echoed off the walls.  She struggled
like mad against the straps.”  Sanger’s eyes didn’t leave Robyn’s. 
They fixed intently on her, watching for every nuance, every emotion. 
“Have you been in the crypt, Robyn?  Did you notice the rings in the
floor?  Did you see where we tie
them,
face down,
on the stone sarcophagus, with the old leather straps?”

“Leather
straps?” the words came as a barely audible murmur, “Rings?”  She’d
tripped over something in the floor but her focus had been taken by the
harvesting needle and she’d forgotten to look for what she had tripped over.

Robyn
looked up at Sanger, who had a gleeful smile and glint in his eye.  He was
using his right hand to rub himself through his trousers.

“I
had fun for hours with her there, lying naked on that cold stone.  It
wasn’t just the harvesting needle I stuck into her.  It won’t be just the
harvesting needle that I stick into you either.”  His hand pushed roughly
up her leg as she wretched.  He pulled her knees apart.

“No,”
Andrew cried but was quickly silenced.

Robyn
had no choice but to look directly at Sanger as his fingers gouged her skin,
but as she watched, she raged.  Robyn let her anger boil and she stilled
under Sanger’s intruding touch.

His
smile wavered for just a second before Robyn spat in his face.

“You
sick bastard.”

Sanger
smiled tauntingly.  “No, not sick, Robyn.  I am free.  I am
Libertine.”

“Enough
Douglas, you can have your fun, later,” James boomed. “Step away.”

“And
such fun it will be,” Sanger said before stepping back and releasing her. 
She looked across see Andrew held firmly in his chair by George’s large hands
and Jane’s stun gun.

“I
just thought that she should know,” Sanger shrugged unapologetically. “I
thought she should know what I did.  I thought she should know that
Katherine forced our hand by getting on that train.  That had she not gone
on that journey we would have had time to figure out that she knew nothing,
that perhaps we wouldn’t be here now.”

The
faint beat from Robyn’s forlorn heart disappeared, the last little pump ebbed
into non-existence and she was left with an empty chasm inside her chest. 
A wail let loose in the room.  Robyn’s cry was so anguished and tortured
that even Jane flinched when she heard it.

Robyn
could hide from the truth no longer.  Kat left because of her. 
Without the spat that they had had over Andrew, Kat would never have
gone.  Robyn knew that.  Kat got on that train because of her. 
She was dead because of her.  Kat was dead because Robyn wanted Andrew and
Robyn hadn’t been able to keep away from him.  Grief took over.