Janus the Arrival (The Janus Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

That
evening, Janus admired his new surroundings, having just moved into the
furnished apartment in Putney, which overlooked the River Thames. He then
stripped off his clothing and lowered himself into the waiting bath that he’d
poured a little earlier before gazing from the window. As soon as his body
settled in the water, he immediately concentrated his mind on the burning
candles. Within a matter of minutes his spirit was free and souring high into
the night sky. It gazed down at the twisting silver snake that formed part of
the river below, while he marvelled at its iridescent beauty, as the moonlight
reflected off the rippling waters. A series of white clouds sped by, in what
looked to be a group huddle, only to disappear into the background and be
replaced by an eerie, shadowy darkness. Something was wrong, and this certainly
wasn’t supposed to be happening. He suffered the unsettling sensation of being
dragged around, and before he had time to react, Janus found himself spiralling
uncontrollably back down towards the ground at speed. Panicking slightly, Janus
didn’t quite know how it happened, but everything suddenly stopped dead. He
knew that he’d landed as he could feel the ground quite firmly beneath his
feet. Feeling a little safer now, his eyes swiftly adjusted to the change in
light. He wondered what strange realm he’d appeared in, as the landscape spread
out before him was absolutely barren for as far as the eye could see. Yet on
taking a few steps forward, Janus was caught completely unprepared as the earth
suddenly opened up and the ground dropped away from under him. Once again,
which was surprisingly starting to become something of a nasty habit, he was spun
around again, before coming to land in a dishevelled heap at the bottom of a
long sandy slope. Getting to his feet once more, Janus gazed somewhat
cautiously at his unfamiliar surroundings. He immediately noticed that he was
in a large cavern of immense proportion, before sensing another presence close
by, just before a female voice sounded from somewhere in the shadows.

   
‘Janus! You and your kind have cheated on
me for the very last time. The Dra-Na-Zee caused their own genocide through
extreme cruelness. They also destroyed their home planet because that’s exactly
the sort of creatures they were. So now, I am asking you Janus. What’s next?
What’s the next thing you plan to destroy? Janus recognised the voice from
somewhere. He desperately tried to put a face to it as it continued to accuse
him with another bitter onslaught coming forth, with a voice full of venom.

   
‘I’ll tell you exactly what’s next you evil
bastard.’ It screeched. ‘You seek to use the Earth as a breeding ground to
rebuild your evil race and you don’t give a damn about the amount of human
lives that will be lost by the wayside in the process.’ She paused for a moment
as if to catch her breath before adding.

   
‘You can’t deny this can you? Your long
term plan will involve the extinction of the entire human race and you really
don’t care at all.’ Just then, a hooded figure stepped from the shadows and
turned to face Janus. He was thinking fast. It was impossible for anyone else
apart from himself to have known of these plans, unless this being was also
able to read his mind. Yet as he looked up, human hands appeared from beneath
the spectre’s gown as they gently pulled back the hood. Janus was absolutely
speechless. His jaw dropped and almost hit the ground. Standing before him as
bold as could be, stood a ghostly but very beautiful vision of Vicky.

   
‘But you’re already dead!’ exclaimed Janus.
‘I killed you with my own bare hands. I know I did.’

Vicky
stared accusingly at him, and Janus felt a chill go right through his body as
she instantly replied.

   
‘My body may no longer walk upon the earth,
but my soul still lives on inside you
.
In
pledging myself to you and your people, I somehow extended my existence to this
sphere of life. Therefore, as a consequence of that, I cannot transcend to the
next stage of accomplishment until you are well and truly dead. However, I do
plan to stop you and your evil race from achieving your goals, and I’m warning
you right now that I shall do everything in my power to ensure that I succeed
.
’ Without warning the apparition
transformed itself into a white spiral of smoke. It rose upwards towards the
huge cavernous roof and then came shooting back down towards Janus. It knocked
him straight to the floor and caused him to scream out, as the entity pierced
his body. It then joined with him as one, just before he passed into
unconsciousness.

   
The eyes of the motionless body in the bath
suddenly sprung open. The head jolted swiftly upwards and the mouth gasped
desperately for air. Janus had found the journey back to be extremely hard, and
he’d only just managed to reach his human form, moments before it expired. He
now understood the cause of the recent problems and why so many things had not
gone according to plan. Vicky’s presence was rooted somewhere deep inside him
for some unknown reason. Janus therefore knew that it was only a matter of time
before she’d try to reach out again, as based on his understanding of their
encounter, having managed to partially glimpse into her mind, it appeared that
she had been, and still was, becoming stronger and stronger with each passing
day.
 

   
Therefore he wondered who would ultimately
gain full ownership of the mind and body that he currently possessed. He was
certainly not going to allow a mere human to thwart his long term plans under
any circumstances, and was definitely not planning to fail his people,
especially as it was
he
who was The
Chosen One.

Dana
sat staring blankly through the recently cleaned window of her second floor
flat, which had a pair of fine, white net curtains adorning it, making it look
pretty at the same time. This was something she seemed to do whenever she felt
depressed or felt uneasy about the ways things appeared to be going at the
time. The exception being, that this time around, the hurt had gone very deep
as far as she was concerned. It had been a long time since she’d felt so awful,
even though her troubles were nothing compared to so many other ones that she
knew existed in the outside world.

 
  
Despite the fact that Roehampton was
classed as a fairly rough area to live in by most peoples standards, Dana felt
relatively comfortable in her surroundings. This was mainly due to the fact
that she’d lived in the area for such a long time and become used to it. She’d
never really had any bother, and the people living there were no worse than any
other place.

   
Concrete Jungles were never deemed
picturesque, having been spawned during a housing shortage in the 1960's. They’d
originally been seen as a temporary fix due to their cheapness, along with
their take up of very little land space. Unfortunately, due to their ever
increasing popularity at the time, many local area-housing authorities jumped
onto the bandwagon, therefore the inevitable cycle of the cloning process
began. Yet as far as the police were concerned, these large estates were
notorious breeding grounds for crime. Most had been designed with a maze of
underground garages and alleyways that made it so easy for the criminals to
escape undetected. The designer’s intentions may have been seen as a good idea
at the time, but in effect, all they’d done was create a villains paradise
.

Following
an attempt to read the diary she had with her, Dana thoughts were shortly
distracted by a gang of kid’s messing about on the grass below. They appeared
to be taking it in turns at showing off on a moped that they’d most likely
nicked earlier. Under normal circumstances she would have contacted her
colleagues, but today she felt completely drained and just left them to get on
with it. Just as she expected, it wasn’t long before one of the boys, who only
looked about ten years old, lost control of the bike. As she peered down, she
watched helplessly as he was propelled over the moving vehicles handlebars,
only to land with a sickening thump onto the uneven ground below. Even from two
floors up Dana could have sworn she heard the sound of cracking bones, but just
to add insult to injury, the vehicle caught the top of the poor boys head and
opened up a gaping wound. This subsequently caused him to lose complete
consciousness, which made his friends burst into absolute hysterics. With the
most perfect timing, an angry parent suddenly arrived on the scene, and then
started hollering at the children, who immediately ran for cover just as an
ambulance appeared around the corner.

   
Having worked incredibly fast, the
paramedic crew eventually lifted the crumpled heap up onto a stretcher and
placed him in the back of the ambulance. Once the doors had been fully secured
and they’d climbed back in at the front, they swiftly set off in the direction
of Queen Mary’s University Hospital with blue lights flashing and sirens
wailing.

   
After contemplating her next move, Dana
moved across to the sofa and grabbed up one of the pillows. She began to cry
into the softness against her face and wondered how her father could have kept
such awful fears to himself. As the tears continued to trickle from her eyes,
she knew she needed to get a proper grip on herself. His diary had expressed a
great deal of his innermost feelings at the time. It detailed things that she
never even knew existed. This, she fully understood, was due to his
stubbornness and his ability to keep so much hidden. Yet now, after a second
reading of the extremely well written text that lay before her, Dana could
finally understand her father’s true reasoning behind some of his actions. It
also explained some of the things that had been nagging her for ages, but much
of this could only have been deciphered by someone who really knew the true man
behind the mask.

   
The diary had been very honest, and really
portrayed much about his ongoing fears and concerns. Yet the hardest part about
reading it was the fact that he’d known he would either die or end up very
close to death if he continued to pursue that Janus character. Why had he not
confided in her? It could have been the ideal chance for them to have worked
together as a father and daughter team, especially as their love for each other
would have pulled them through the whole ordeal in one piece. Despite the odd
arguments that would have no doubt occurred, the respect between them had
always remained very special as of late. She thought of all the things that
she’d still wanted to tell him, and now she simply wished that the window of
opportunity hadn’t been closed so prematurely.
 

Wiping
her eyes with a tissue she’d fished out of her pocket, Dana decided to wash
away the horrors that continued to haunt her. On entering the bathroom, she
sluggishly removed her clothes. She then dumped the discarded items into the
plastic washing basket before stepping under the shower that clung to the wall
right above her head. Strong jets of water fell upon her delicate, silky skin.
As a result, they rubbed the exposed areas of her naked flesh, massaging her in
the process. Gradually soaping herself from head to toe, she casually rubbed
her hands over her aching limbs and kneaded her tensed up body until she felt
the stiffness gradually subside. This reduced the pain for a while. Then she
stood with her face to the water and took in the moment while she had a chance.

   
Having finished and then dried herself
thoroughly, Dana searched for some suitable clothes. Having sorted through them
and rejected quite a few, she eventually settled for her favourite suit, before
catching sight of her reflection in the wardrobe mirror. Even she had to admit
that she looked pretty damned hot at certain times, before giving herself a nod
of approval. It was at that point that Dana decided she’d finally pulled
herself together enough to carry on. The time for self-pity was finally over.
It wasn’t her style anyway, and she desperately wanted to find out exactly what
Mr Storm was hiding.

The
interview had been a formality as far as Janus was concerned. The Stones had
provided knowledge above and beyond any conceivable human understanding of the
new occupation he was about to embark on.

Fortunately,
one week later the letter arrived through the door with the following words:

THE CARING HANDS FERTILITY CENTRE

512c
HARLEY STREET

LONDON
WIN 1BF

11/03/2003

Dear Mr Dayne,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been successful in meeting our
requirements and would like to offer you the role of Assistant Embryologist at
the Harley Street Clinic.

Your start date will be Monday 17th March at 09.00 and I have enclosed
a starter pack with full instructions including all necessary terms and conditions
for your perusal.

Please contact me directly if you have any concerns .I look forward to
seeing and working with you.

Yours sincerely

Professor G. Edwards FRCS, FRCOG.

Suffering
the typical hustle and bustle of his first ever London underground journey,
packed like sardines in a metal tube, Janus stepped off the circle line train
at Great Portland Street Station. As he walked along the windy pavements of
Park Crescent, he laughed inwardly, as he compared the primitive transport
system to the ones he’d witnessed when studying the Stones.

Reaching
the address he was after, Janus entered through the main door and stood in a
very ornate oak panelled reception area. It looked very impressive indeed, and
as he stood waiting, he studied the photographs of those who he assumed to be
the staff, which adorned the walls. Just as he located one of the Professor, as
it had his name inscribed below, he was suddenly greeted by a very pretty blonde
haired receptionist who introduced herself as Rebecca. She looked him straight
in the eye and explained that she’d been asked to provide him with a guided
tour of the establishment. It appeared that
‘The
Prof’
as everyone referred to him,
would see him at ten thirty in his office.
    

   
Janus thanked her and noticed her blushing
a little. She’d been looking forward to this moment ever since she’d managed to
sneak a look at the photo attached to his CV. She deliberately swung her hips
to and fro in her short alluring skirt. Rebecca was sure that he was taking it
all in as she led him around the building and chatted to him whenever she had
the chance. She loved playing these games, and she was pretty certain that
she’d just added another handsome man to her list.

Replacing
the telephone handset, Dana felt a little more positive than she had earlier.
She hoped she had a lead, because the diary had detailed a conversation her
father had had during a meeting with Janus Storm at a pub in Putney. This had
also been ever so close to the death scene and the same page had mentioned that
he really adored the surrounding area. Knowing that much of the trail had gone
cold since then, she’d scanned through a load of old post office records and
luckily managed to locate the whereabouts of his empty flat in Wandsworth. In
visiting the place, she’d discovered it had been thoroughly cleaned from top to
bottom, leaving not a single trace of its previous tenant to be seen. So,
having then talked to a few of the neighbours, who seemed more than happy to
share what they knew, she decided to switch to the only other option left open
to her. This basically meant tracking down his ex-girlfriend if she could.
Finding a number proved fairly easy, much to her surprise, but during a rather
strained phone call, Debbie Green, who appeared to sound quite stressed, had
told Dana that she had absolutely no idea of his whereabouts. As far as she was
concerned, he could rot in hell,
if
he wasn’t already. It also transpired that she’d recently given birth to his
child, even though he hadn’t even bothered to turn up to witness the actual
event. Having decided that she’d probably hit a brick wall in her bid to locate
his latest dwelling, Dana started the whole investigation again from scratch.
It was
something she tried in the past and it had
tended to work on a couple of occasions. Dana put the feelers out on the street
by getting in touch with her usual contacts, which was the hardest part of all,
due to the amount of waiting involved. This usually hinged on one phone call
that would either be a complete waste of time or with a bit of luck, provide
the break she’d been waiting for. As luck would have it, the call came three
hours later. It came from a worker in a Post Office sorting department who’d
been scanning the mail as per her instructions. She’d noticed a letter
addressed to a Mr Janus Dayne whose name was amongst their new addressee’s in
the Putney area and decided this was a good possibility. It was the only
reference to a Janus that they’d come across, but as Dana studied the address
she had a very good feeling about it. The adrenaline buzz that she’d missed for
so long was finally reignited and that was literally all she needed at that
point. There would certainly be no stopping her now. She was finally back on
the trail and she was pretty sure of it this time.

Debbie
had been trying her best to forget about Janus. In fact she’d been making
fairly good progress up until that damned phone call from the lady detective.
Now her mind recalled the details of the birth that had been a very difficult
one. A whole series of complications had set in and the whole event had ended
up with forceps having to be used. At the time, it had seemed as if the baby
was being awkward almost on purpose. It felt as if it had been trying it’s
hardest to cause her as much pain and damage as possible. Even the midwife on
duty had remarked how unusual the birth had been, then continued going on and
on about what a shame the father hadn’t been around to help.
That really hadn’t helped matters at
all, and Debbie hated hospitals at the best of times. She was extremely
grateful to see her parents standing by her bedside at long last, plus they’d
arrived with a bag of clean clothes for her to change into. As she did so, she
couldn’t help but listen as they chatted away and confirmed the fact that both
she and the baby had been officially discharged. They were now allowed to go
home at long last, which was a real godsend as far as she cared. Although she
was feeling incredibly tired from the whole thing, Debbie remembered how
overjoyed she’d been at hearing this news. She was therefore even more excited
as they walked together towards the baby’s cot.