Dark Season: The Complete Box Set (40 page)

Dr. Penfold

Ennis Penfold, my grandfather, was most certainly a murderous old bigot, but he was also the man who sat me on his knee, told me stories about his life, and taught me to hunt. He was in many ways a good and decent man. To those he loved, he was true and loyal. He would have given his life to save me, or to save my mother. So although he had his bad sides, he was very much a product of his time. He went too far, obviously, when he lynched those men. But despite all of that, despite everything that the history books say... He was
not
a bad man, and I feel a burning rage at the thought of John Tarmey tarnishing his good name.

“
Any sign of the child?” asks a voice from behind me.

I turn suddenly, midway through pouring myself a glass of whiskey. I had no idea there was anyone else in my office. But he's here. He's standing in the corner, his features hidden by the shadows.

“Not yet,” I say. “I've sent her off for some treatment at another clinic. Electro-shock therapy”.

Silence for a moment. My visitor, though familiar, chooses to remain in the shadows so that I can't see his face properly. “How's that gonna help?” he asks eventually. He takes a sip from his own glass of whiskey. Nice. Obviously he helped himself to the contents of my drinks cabinet while he was waiting for me.

“If it unblocks her amnesia,” I say, trying to explain everything clearly, “it could help us to discover where she left the child”.

I hear laughter from the darkness. “Dr. Penfold, I don't think we're going to have much luck even if we
do
track the child down. Not at first, anyway. I think you know why”.

I take a sip of whiskey. “Patrick,” I say.

“He's dangerous,” says the voice. “He's unstoppable. Well, not completely unstoppable. I stopped him, once, but he managed to get going again. But if he's got that child, we sure ain't gonna be able to just waltz in and take the little angel”.

“
So what's your plan?” I ask. “If you don't think you can do anything to stop him, or to take the child, what's the point of all this?”

There's silence for a moment. “If we can get that child, we can use it as the seed to start a new race of vampires. No need to cut it up and figure out how it works, we can just breed it with humans and wait for our little army to arise. Benjamin has everything all figured out. He just needs the baby”.

“And that's really what you want?” I ask. “A new race of these... creatures?”

“
Of course, doctor,” says the voice. “It's been decades since the vampires were wiped out. It's high time we got ourselves a new generation, only this time they won't be skulking around in the shadows. They'll be the dominant species on the whole damn planet, and that's when we'll be able to control everything”.

I pour another whiskey, and then I glance at my watch. It's almost lunchtime. Sophie should be almost finished at the other facility by now. The van should be ready to bring her back, and then we can see how the electro-shock therapy went. “You want to create a new race of vampires, just so they can be your slaves?” I ask.

“Nothing wrong with slaves,” says the voice. “Your grandfather liked slaves, didn't he, Dr. Penfold?”

I drink the glass of whiskey in one gulp. “John Tarmey mentioned Patrick today. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but then I realized there must be a link. What's going on?”

“Tarmey's a piece of the puzzle,” says the voice. “An unimportant piece, but a piece nonetheless. You'll see. His time's nearly up anyway. His job's nearly done”.

The phone on my desk rings. I pick it up. “Penfold,” I say.

“Dr. Penfold, it's Malcolm Armitage from Stevenage,” says the voice on the other end. “Your patient hasn't arrived yet, I just wanted to check if you're still sending her”.

Instantly, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “They should have been there over an hour ago,” I say.

“So they're still coming?” Armitage says.

“
Yes,” I say. “Let me check up on them. I'll call you back”. I disconnect the call, and then I dial another number. After a while, with no-one picking up, I put the phone down.

“
Problem?” asks the voice.

“
Sophie should have reached the other facility more than an hour ago,” I say, "but there's no sign of her. And the van drivers aren't answering their phone”.

There's more laughter from behind the curtain. “Sounds like the vampire's got a few things to say about your plan, Dr. Penfold. I hope you've got a back-up, 'cause I'm gonna be very unhappy if you start making mistakes”.

“No-one's made a mistake,” I say. "It's just not possible."

“
Then where's the van?” the voice asks. “Where's the girl?”

“
They're on course,” I say. “I have this all planned out. They're just a little delayed, they probably had a flat tire or something”.

“
You really believe that?” asks the voice, starting to sound angry. “The only thing you had to do was get the girl to answer our questions before the fucking vampire turned up. You couldn't even do that. Your grandfather would be ashamed of you. He knew how to make someone talk when it mattered”.

“
It'll be okay,” I say. “And don't you dare talk about my grandfather”.

"You need to cut down on the righteous anger," the voice replies, "and focus on doing your job. The Watchers have sent a lot of money your way. I'd hate for them to get angry if you don't deliver, but I'm afraid their reaction is entirely out of my control."

I try to call the guards' van again, but there's still no answer. “I'll send someone to check on them,” I say. “One way or another, this is still going according to plan”.

Sophie

After about twenty minutes, I stop banging on the sides of the van and sit back. There's no point wasting energy now; I might as well wait to see if there's any chance that I can escape once we get to wherever we're going. Besides, I feel like a fool, raging against something that seems totally inevitable. I glance over at the small window that opens into the front cab, where I can just about make out the four guards who have been assigned to accompany me on this journey. The fact that there are four of them seems a little excessive, but I guess I'll take it as a compliment. They sure seem determined to get me where I'm going.

Eventually, I find myself starting to fall asleep; although I try to stay awake, I sit in the corner and my head starts to droop. I haven't been sleeping properly lately, and the rhythm of the van's movement is quite pleasant after a while. As I start to sleep, I find myself dreaming of a simpler time when I used to visit Patrick and Vincent in their underground home, when Vincent would open his old books and tell me some arcane story while Patrick would skulk about nearby. It's hard to believe that Vincent's really dead, and I can't help feeling that Patrick has changed since that terrible night. It's as if Vincent kept Patrick calm and made sure he made good decisions. Lately, Patrick has seemed more willful, more determined, more... dangerous.

Suddenly there's a loud bang and the van skids to a halt. I fall onto the floor and bang my head against one of the other seats. Sitting up, I hear animated discussions taking place in the drivers' cab.

Eventually, I hear one of the front doors open, then slam shut, and footsteps make their way slowly along the side of the van. I go to the back window, and after a moment I see that one of the four guards is out there, checking to see if the van has been damaged. He keeps glancing off into the woods by the side of the road, as if he's not sure what we hit. We seem to be out in the middle of nowhere, still quite close to the hospital's remote grounds.

“
Is everything okay?” I shout.

He just looks at me and carries on walking around the van. I follow the sound of his footsteps as he walks along the other side, but there's a sudden loud bang and the whole van shakes, then there's another bang, then a cracking sound, and then I hear what sounds like someone climbing onto the roof. I stare up at the ceiling, listening to footsteps walking about up there. Did the guard go up to take a look? Suddenly there's a sliding sound, and as I look at the back window I see something fly off the roof and land on the road. I walk over and look out.

Crumpled on the ground, about ten meters from the van, is the body of the guard. Someone just threw him off the roof. There's a patch of blood under him, and he's clearly dead.

I look back at the other end of the van as I hear the front door open again. Another guard has come out to see what's happening. Almost instantly, there's another loud bang, as if something has been slammed against the side of the van, and then there's silence.

I hear the other guards trying to start the engine, but it won't engage. They sound pretty frantic. Finally, I hear the front doors open and then I hear the sound of them running around to the back of the van. I go to the window. One of them is running as fast as he can down the road, jumping straight over the dead body of his colleague, while the other is trying to open the back door to get me out.

As I watch, the one who's trying to get me out is suddenly lifted up into the air. I look up at the roof, and I can hear what sounds like a fight up there, culminating in some more banging and then, finally, another cracking sound. After a moment, another dead body falls off the top of the van and lands in the road.

I listen as someone walks slowly across the roof of the van.

“
Patrick!” I call out.

No reply

“Patrick!” I'm sure it's him. It
has
to be him. Who else would – who else
could
– do something like this? And why's he here? Why did he kill those three guards and let the other one escape? Is he here for me? Is he here to stop them taking me to the electro-shock therapy? Or is he here because he wants to do something to me himself?

“
Patrick!” I shout for a third time. “I know it's you! Let me out!” I go to the back door and shake it. “Let me out, Patrick!”

I wait. Silence. Then I hear a creak up on the top of the van, and I know he's still there. What's he doing? What's he waiting for?

I grab a box from the corner of the van and throw it up against the roof. I figure I've got to get his attention somehow.

“
Patrick!” I shout. “For fuck's sake, Patrick, open the fucking door!”

Silence.

I wait.

Nothing.

Usually, when he's being quiet, I can at least see his face. I can at least work out what he wants, and to some extent what he's thinking, by looking at his eyes. But I can't even see him this time. All I can tell is that he's obviously angry, and... I look out the back window at the two dead bodies on the road. I'm pretty sure he killed at least one more guard as well. I've seen Patrick kill before, but never... Did he have to kill those men? Couldn't he have just let them run off?

A sudden chill rushes up my spine. What does Patrick want with me? Why is he here, and why is he delaying coming down to see me? Is he trying to avoid something?

“I need to talk to you!” I shout.

Nothing. I know he's still up there; I don't know how, I just know. I can sense him.

“You have to tell me what happened!” I shout. “You owe me that! Why was I missing for a year?”

There's a slight creak as he moves a little up on the roof. I grab the box and throw it up against the inside of the van again, to get his attention.

“You can't just ignore me like this!” I shout.

Nothing.

And then -

The sound of him jumping off the roof and landing on the road beside the van. I listen, and after a moment I put my hand on the inside of the van wall.

“Talk to me!” I shout.

After a moment's silence, I hear a rustling sound as he walks away into the forest.

I step back. Looking down at my hand, I see that it's shaking. I'm not sure why... Anger? Fear? Maybe a little of both. I walk back to the van wall and start banging on the side. “Come back!” I shout. “Patrick!”

I turn as I hear a noise nearby. Going over to the little window, I see a car has stopped further back, and someone is checking one of the dead guards. I guess they must have scared Patrick off. He would have come down and listened to me, wouldn't he? He owes me an explanation for what's been going on. And why did he attack the van, and kill the guards, only to then walk away and leave me once again at the mercy of Dr. Penfold and the staff at the psychiatric hospital?

The back door of the van opens and Dr. Lucas stares in at me.

“
What the hell happened?” he asks, shock written all across his face.

“
Patrick,” I say.

“
No kidding,” he replies. “All the guards are dead. Who did that?”

“
Patrick,” I say again.

“
This isn't...” He pauses. “This isn't supposed to happen”. He looks around at the forest. “Where is he?”

“
You believe me?” I ask.

“
I have no fucking choice,” he says. “There are four dead guards on the road”.

“
Three,” I say. “One of them escaped”.

Lucas nods. “We'll find him, but first we have to get out of here. Come on”. He reaches a hand out, waiting for me to take it and follow him.

“No,” I say. “I'm staying here to wait for Patrick”.

“
If he was here, he's gone," Dr. Lucas replies. "Come with me”.

I shake my head. “You scared him away. If you leave, he'll come back”.

“And do what?” Lucas asks. “You think he came to save you? Then why
didn't
he save you? Why are you still standing here?”

I open my mouth to argue back, but the truth is: I don't know what to say. I have this dark, sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me Lucas is right about this.

“If he's real,” Lucas continues, “then you pose the biggest threat to his secrecy. Do you really think he wants you wandering around, telling everyone about him?”

“
He wouldn't hurt me,” I say.

“
For fuck's sake, Sophie, you've got to come with me!” He stares at me, and I can't help feeling that he actually cares. He's not like Dr. Penfold, who seems determined to just keep on doing the wrong thing at every step of the way. I don't trust Dr. Penfold, but there's a part of me that thinks I can trust Dr. Lucas.

“
Patrick would never hurt me,” I say. “Never in a million years”.

“
You want to risk that right now?” Dr. Lucas replies. “Do you want me to drive away, and leave these doors wide open? You want to wait until it gets dark, and see if he comes back for you? And even if he does, are you really sure you want that?”

Slowly, reluctantly, I climb out of the back of the van. Dr. Lucas wraps his coat around my shoulders and guides me over to his car. Once we're inside, he starts the engine. As he turns the car around, I look out at the dark woods. Am I
really
scared of Patrick? Do I really think he'd hurt me? After everything we've been through together, I want to say that I have total faith in him. But I can't.