Carved in Stone: Monochrome Destiny (29 page)

They’d taken him
and Robyn hated that she knew why.  Andrew had been dragged out of the
room by the four men with Jane holding the threat of the stun gun over him as
they went.  Whatever it was that James wanted from Andrew, whatever he had
agreed to give him weeks ago, he would be getting it soon.  Robyn only
hoped that they didn’t hurt him in the process.

Left
alone, the room was strangely quiet.  The fire had been left to burn down
to glowing embers, but light now came from outside as thin slivers of sunlight
fought to get through the thick curtains.

Robyn
didn’t struggle with her bonds.  She knew that it was futile and she had
lost the will to try.  Resigned, she awaited the inevitable.

When
the door drifted open and James Truscott walked in, Robyn didn’t turn to him.

He
held a glass under her nose. “Drink something, Robyn.”

“Do
your manners help you to live with being a murderer?”

“I
don’t see it as murder.  I see it as helping others.” He walked to the
fire and put the glass on the mantel.

“Helping? 
Helping who?  Helping you to retain power?  Helping you to make
money?  I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to kill.”

“We’re
not harvesting you for that.  We’re, disposing of you because you know too
much, that is true.  But your death can mean something.  We need your
bone marrow, Robyn.  We need human bone marrow.”

She
couldn’t believe that he was trying to make her feel that her sacrifice, Kat’s
sacrifice, Andrew’s sacrifice, was for the greater good.

“We
looked at the old papers and journals that I have locked away when we first
suspected a genetic disease.  We were trying to look at family links,
prove our theory correct but we found something much more interesting,
Robyn.  Our ancestors were much stronger than us, they didn’t appear to
suffer the same amount of lethargy or side effects of the iron build up as we
do.”

She
didn’t want to hear this, but there would always be that scientist part of her
that was hungry for answers.  She looked up.  “They were healthier?”

“They
were happier.”  James stared back at her and paused.  “It was only
when they converted to pig’s marrow that their health deteriorated.  We
realised that human bone marrow was the key.”

“It
shouldn’t work at all, either of them.” Robyn muttered.  The cells should
not be able to survive digestion, let alone manage to find their way into the
bloodstream whole.  Yet, Dr Jenkins had said that bone marrow was full of
stem cells.  Robyn frowned.

“I
can tell that you’re intrigued.”  He rested a shoulder against the
mantelpiece.

“I
think that you’re able to utilise the stem cells in the bone marrow, convert
them into healthy blood cells.  It would take research, but I can’t think
of any other way that your ‘treatment’ could possibly work.”

James
smiled.  “I’d heard that you were smart.  Dr Sanger has had a similar
theory but he has not the knowledge to test it.  You do though, don’t you
Robyn?”

She
ignored the interest that had suddenly sparked in those dull grey eyes of his.

“What
I can’t understand, is how you ever came up with the idea in the first place.”

James
stilled, thought about it and then walked casually to the chair opposite
her.  He sat, made himself comfortable and looked at her.  “We thirst
for it, Robyn.”

They
were indeed like the vampires of myth that they would be accused to being
should this secret get out.

“And
human bone marrow works more proficiently than pig marrow?”  Robyn was
thinking out loud but James nodded slowly.

“We
do not thirst for pig marrow.”

“So
you started killing people?” she sneered, sighed and looked away again. 
It was not a puzzle she needed to solve.

“No, not for our treatments.
  We’re not
murderers, Robyn.  We just decided that when someone has to be eliminated,
to keep our secret, we might as well utilise the opportunity.”

She
wanted to laugh in his face, but the situation was too dire for mirth even if
it was sarcastic.  “How does that not make you murderers?”

“Our
people have never been vicious killers.  It’s all there in the
archives.  They only killed what they needed.  They fed when they
needed to.  They chose the weakest, the ones unlikely to survive
anyway.  And they were always thankful to those who had saved them,
ensuring proper burials with the utmost respect.”  James paused, got up
and walked to the fireplace where he had left his pipe on its stand. 
Robyn saw him look at it longingly but he left it where it was, turned around
and continued.  “We do the same now.  People are only killed if we
can’t warn them off, if they get too close and know too much.  We don’t
kill to treat ourselves; rather the treatment is a side effect of the necessary
killing.”

“Necessary killing?
  Can you
hear yourself?  None of the killing is necessary, you could all come clean
and get conventional treatments.”

“You
may think that you know everything, but you don’t.  There are aspects to
this disease that haven’t been mastered yet.  What would you have us
do?  There are hundreds of people here.  They rely on us, rely on me,
and only a handful of people have had to be eliminated.  The balance is
right in my books.”

“It’s
not the finances that you’re trying to balance, its people’s lives.  Do
you find more people to eliminate when you need treatment?  Do you judge
them as a problem sooner, because you want to drink their bone marrow? 
Are your motives as pure as you believe them to be or are you fooling yourself,
James?”

“We
are very careful, Robyn.  Killing is always a last resort.  Nothing
has changed since we discovered this new information.  We only kill to
protect ourselves, there is no other motive.”

“Is
that why you killed Kat?  
Just because she ran past the
abattoir?
  She didn’t know anything.”

“No,
Katherine, as it turns out, was a mistake.  Dr Sanger was a little eager
to get his hands on her and perhaps preyed on our fears to get permission to
organise the kidnap.  Unfortunately, that mistake has now brought you and
my grandson into this and for that, I am truly sorry; but my family has been
charged with this job for many generations and I make decisions for the greater
good.”

“Sanger
persuaded you that Kat needed to disappear?”  So it was Sanger. 
James gave permission but it had been Sanger’s idea.

“Yes,
I shouldn’t have listened to him but Jane was certain that Katherine was
snooping around and I couldn’t take the risk.  I’m very sorry, I should
have realised that Douglas and Jane had ulterior motives.”  James stood in
front of her.

“That
they are both psychos you mean?”  She met his gaze defiantly.

“Well,
it’s not the way that I would put it, but yes.  You see Dr Sanger was in a
little, trouble, when we stumbled onto him.  We knew that we could control
him, in a manner of speaking, and we desperately needed a medical professional
who could be relied upon.  Jane, on the other hand, is the epitome of one
of our issues.  The constant drinking, the illness and the resulting way
that we lead our lives, has driven her a little mad.”

“A little?”
Robyn almost
laughed at the understatement.

“Yes,
but she hides it very convincingly.  We only see the real Jane here. 
She does wonders at her job, no-one has the slightest idea what she is like
beneath the surface at school and she has a husband and two children that have
no idea what is going on.  You see, he is an outsider, and the girls did
not pick up the gene.”

“Jesus.”
How Jane could keep up the charade at work as well as home when she was so
clearly nuts, Robyn couldn’t fathom.

“We
have to resolve some issues before I can allow medical involvement.” 
James moved back to the chair and sat down again.

“What
things?  Medical treatment would give you all the benefits that you get
from ingestion of human bone marrow.  Whatever
pack
of lies you’ve spouted to the others you can save it.  It won’t work on
me.”

“You
would have thought that was true wouldn’t you, but unfortunately it doesn’t
appear to be the case.  There have been some unexpected side effects to
our drinking human tissues,” James shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
  “We are not only stronger and healthier, with fewer complications
to our illness, but we live longer.”

“And
you think that justifies murder?”  She was trying to hold back the rage
and not scream at him.

“Get
off your high horse, Robyn.  You don’t know the lengths to which you will
go to prolong your life until you have to.  I’m sixty nine, I should have
died long ago, but thanks to our discovery, not only am I alive, but I’m
healthy.  You ask a cancer patient or someone awaiting a transplant what
they would do to
live?
  You may be surprised by
the answer.”

He
was right.  She didn’t know exactly what she would do in either of those
situations because she’d never been in that position, but she knew that killing
wouldn’t be on her list of options.

“Why
are you telling me this?”

“You’re
a smart woman, Robyn.  You’ve managed to work so much out in such a short
time and your background could be useful to us.”

She
gaped at him.  “If you think that I would ever join you, to save my own skin,
then you are very much mistaken.”

“I
know that you are intrigued by us.”

“Never.”

He
stared a while before shaking his head.  “I predicted your response but I
had to try.”

“Where’s
Andrew? What have you done with him?”  She needed to know that Andrew wasn’t
dead.  She needed to know that there was hope for him.

“Ah Andrew.
  That boy
has been such a disappointment to me,” James sighed.  “Andrew is currently
keeping a bargain.  He has something I want, no, I need, and I have waited
long enough for him to give it to me.  Douglas is, let’s just say,
persuading him to hand it over.” 

Fear
twisted her insides. “Don’t hurt him, please don’t hurt him.  This was all
me, he tried, he really tried to stop me, but I just wouldn’t listen.  He’s
your grandson.  Andrew is your family.  Please don’t hurt him, not
because of me.”

“You
really care for him don’t you? 
If you only knew.”
 A knowing half smile pulled at his lips.  “Once I have what I need
from Andrew, I will no longer need you.  Douglas can have you then and
finally I can get on with more pressing matters.”

“Like
hiding your precious secret, murdering innocents and torturing your own
grandson.”

James
only smiled at her outburst.  “Come now, Robyn, I thought we were having a
polite conversation.”

“You smug son of a bitch.
  You
fucking bastard.”  She spat the furious outburst, unable to keep her rage
in control any longer.

James
rose, stepped forwards and bent to put his face in front of hers. “You think
that you hurt now?  Wait until Douglas gets his hands on you. 
Not long now little girl.”

Blood
coursed like hot lava through her veins.  “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“You’ll
fucking kill me?” James shouted, “You little bitch, I’ll put pay to you.”

James
backhanded her, hard.  An explosion went off in her right cheekbone and
the chair tipped over.  Her head crashed to the floor with a loud bang
ringing in her ears as blood flowed freely from a cut on her face where James’s
ring had connected with her skin

Robyn
lay on the carpet, arms
tied,
legs tied, face against
the floor and cried.  Pain sliced though her head and her cheek burned.

Backlit
by the fire, James stood in front of her and she watched, unable to do
anything, as he swung his foot and kicked her in the stomach.  The air
burst from her lungs as pain exploded in her abdomen and she was dragged down
into the dark.  Once Robyn had thought about embracing the dark, but as
she slid into its caressing blanket, she realised that she wanted to live.

When Robyn resurfaced
she could feel the hard wood of the chair pressing into the soft flesh of the
backs of her knees and she knew that the chair had been set upright
again.  Her legs were numb and heavy from lack of circulation and her arms
ached from the cut of the cable ties, but overwhelming all those hurts was the
acute pain burning her abdomen.  It made her want to moan, but Robyn
forced herself to be cautious.

The
fire was crackling again with new wood and Robyn could feel tape over her
mouth.  The thick material dug into her cheeks.  Robyn could also
sense that she was not alone.

Opening
one eye, knowing that her slumped head and long hair would hide her, Robyn
looked around her.  She saw two feet, not far from her position.  She
had a guard.

As
she looked up, Robyn sighed.  Sat in the comfortable chair opposite her,
watching her closely and clearly in league with James, was Ellie.  Robyn
was crushed.

Ellie
stood and switched on a lamp to examine the gash on Robyn’s cheek.  Robyn
pulled back from Ellie’s touch.

“Hush,
I won’t harm you.”

Ellie
glanced to the door but Robyn’s eyes were fixed upon her face.  Was she
really going to do her no harm?

Ellie
reached out for Robyn’s gag and that’s when Robyn saw it.  Hidden in her
sleeve, Ellie wore a delicate gold charm bracelet.  Robyn could see the
little charms swinging from their mounts.  There was a heart, a mouse on a
piece of cheese and most importantly a delicate design of four interlocked
leaves held in a circle.  It was the Witches Knot.

Robyn
met Ellie’s gaze.

“This
is going to hurt.”

Ellie
ripped off the gag and pain burned across Robyn’s mouth.  Robyn gasped but
did not scream.  Even the small noise she had made alarmed her and she
looked to the door.

“It’s
alright,” Ellie gave her hand a gentle pat.  “We’re alone, there’s no-one
else here to hear you.” 

“Oh Ellie.”
  Robyn
couldn’t convey her relief.  Ellie was going to save her.

“This
is a predicament.” Ellie dropped back into her chair and took both of Robyn’s
hands in hers.  “You should have minded your own. I thought I could help,
but now it’s just out of my hands dear.”

Robyn
tightly closed her eyes and inhaled.  She had to get out of there. 
She had to find Andrew.  Ellie was her chance.  She needed Ellie to
see reason.  “It was you.  You gave me the Witches Knot.  You’ve
been protecting me haven’t you?”

“In my way.
 The old
ways are dying out but there are those of us that still practice.”

Robyn
shook her head. “Ellie, they’re going to kill me because I know the truth.”

“Yes
dear, I fear they are.  I tried to stop you.”

Christ,
how could she call her ‘dear’ and then confirm her fate in the same breath.
“Are you really going to let them do this Ellie?”

“I
wish you’d given me a choice Robyn, but once you found out, you sealed your own
fate dear.  We cannot let our secret out.”

Robyn
couldn’t believe how deep this secret was ingrained.

“They’re
lying to you, Ellie.  They were going to kill me anyway. Dr Sanger has had
plans for me for a long time.”

Ellie
shook her head.  “Why would you think that?  No, you’re only here
because you just wouldn’t leave it alone.”

“Ellie,
I’m here because James has discovered that drinking human bone marrow gives him
longevity.  They’ve been killing in order to live longer, not in order to
keep your secret.”

Ellie
let go of Robyn’s hands and sat back.  She was shocked but that shock
quickly changed to denial.  “Oh, no dear, that can’t be true.  No-one
has taken from a human in nearly a hundred years.  We are very proud of
that fact.”

“And
you are also sick and dying young.  How do you think James has reached
sixty nine?  How do you think he has kept his health?”

Ellie
simply stared.  “It can’t be true.”

“Why
do you think I was gagged Ellie?”  Robyn watched the older woman’s eye’s
fill with unease.  “They didn’t want you talking to me.”

Ellie
thought about it but eventually shook her head, her dismissal complete. 
She wasn’t going to listen.  In desperation, Robyn blurted out her next
words.

“He
raped her.  He raped Kat.”

Ellie’s
eyes widened.  “James would never do such a thing.”

“Not
James, Dr Sanger.  He’s a psychopath Ellie.  He . . .” Robyn’s voice
cracked from grief, but she forced the words to come.  “He raped her,
sodomised her and tortured her.  Ellie, he took great pleasure in telling
me every graphic detail because he gets off on it, on the pain, the misery,
the
memory of what he does.”

Ellie
sat in still silence but Robyn continued.  “He’s done it before, to
countless others. 
Girls, young girls, Ellie.
 
James doesn’t abuse them, but he knows what Sanger is, what Sanger does. 
He doesn’t care.  He lets Sanger do it.”  Ellie had gone all but
catatonic. 
“Ellie.
  He’s going to do that
to me.  Please, Ellie.”

“I
have a granddaughter.”  Her voice was the whisper of something far
away.  She probably wasn’t even aware that she had spoken out loud.

“Ellie?
  Please
listen to me.  Sanger is dangerous.  He tricked James and the others
into killing Kat.  She didn’t know anything, he just wanted her.”

Ellie
leaned forwards, took both of Robyn’s hands in hers and scrutinized her
carefully.  Robyn watched her frown as she concentrated hard over
something.

“Please
don’t let Sanger take me.  Please.”  Robyn stared into her former
friend’s eyes imploring her to see the honesty in what she had said, desperate
even.  Ellie just sat still, as if she wasn’t hearing.

Tears
flowed down Robyn’s cheeks and dripped onto the shirt that she wore, Andrew’s
shirt.

Ellie
blinked and squeezed Robyn’s hands.  “You’re telling the truth, I can see
it.  I can feel it in your touch,” she whispered, her eyes focussed once
more.  She turned away from Robyn in shame before letting out a long, deep
sigh.  “I’ve helped them Robyn.  I’ve watched people and reported
back.  I told them everything about our conversations.  I tried to
get you to settle, to let things alone but when you wouldn’t, I told
James.”  When she turned back her eyes were wet with tears.  “My
granddaughter was always afraid of Dr Sanger.  She used to hide her
ailments from her parents when she was ill, she would rather have suffered than
go to him.  She knew.” Ellie shook her head.  “She always was gifted
that way.  I should have noticed.”

“Please
don’t let them kill me.”  Robyn could feel her hands trembling in
Ellie’s.  She hated that she was weak, begging, but what else could she
do?

Ellie
shook her head, let go of Robyn’s hands and rifled through her handbag. 
She pulled out a pair of nail scissors.  “No, there will be no more
killing and there will be no more abuse.”

“You
have to tell the others.” Robyn rubbed her wrists and blood began to flow
through her now free limbs.

Ellie
finished cutting Robyn’s legs free and straightened.  “We have to get you
out of here first, come.”

Robyn’s
legs were numb.  God only knew how long she’d been tied to that chair. But
she hefted herself up, despite the pain that sliced through her stomach, and
stood on shaky legs.  Ellie took her arm and together they hobbled out.

They
walked out into a familiar hall, and Robyn almost sighed to see the big front
door at the other end of the passage.  Squinting in the bright lights,
Robyn, with Ellie’s help, staggered to the door.  Each step brought her
more stability and strength and by the time they reached the exit, she could
stand on her own.

“Put
this on,” Ellie grabbed a thick woollen coat, “You’ll catch your death.”

Robyn
quickly obliged.

“Ellie?
  Where’s
Andrew?”

“They
took him to his house. 
Don’t worry
, James won’t
hurt his grandson.”

“Yes
he will, especially as Andrew has something he wants.”  She wrapped the
oversized coat around her torso and glanced into the drawing room that she’d
entered with Andrew not so long ago.  She could see the impressive
fireplace, with its vases and pipe on the mantel.

Robyn
turned to Ellie.  “Go, get out of here, I’ll be right behind you. 
You have to tell others, as many as you can.  This has to be stopped,
tonight Ellie.”

Ellie
nodded, her face solemn, but she didn’t argue.

Robyn
ran into the drawing room.