Blood Water (8 page)

'Headmaster,' said Mrs Rees as she spotted Mr Titus in
the hall. 'Could I have a word please?'

'Of course.' From her expression it was clear that she
needed to talk in private, so the headmaster took her off
to the other side of the hall, away from the remaining
pupils. 'What's wrong?'

'I didn't want to tell you this in front of the students
because it's quite . . . distressing, but . . . Nigel is dead.'

Titus knew instantly that she wasn't joking: there was
a horrible earnestness in her eyes. But there was clearly
more bad news to come.

'I think it might have been something this odd doctor
fellow did to him. He came in with a pupil and his brother
earlier, behaving very oddly. All of a sudden, after speaking
to this man, Nigel became very sick, and I'm worried
that the doctor had something to do with it.'

'Good Lord. Where is this man now?'

'He's in the boys' toilets near the staff room. He looks
extremely ill.'

'And what did you do with . . . with Nigel?' The
headmaster glanced around at the pupils, who were still
chatting idly; he wondered how his day could possibly
get any worse.

'He's still in the staff room but he's— Oh God, it's
horrible!'

'We should call the police. Not that they'd be much
good at the moment but . . . we'd better call them
anyway.' Titus went over to Waites and told him he
would be in his office if there were any problems, then
left with Mrs Rees.

As he closed his office door, he noticed that Mrs Rees
had a rather strange expression on her face.

'Are you quite all right, Emily?'

'Yes, of course, headmaster,' she said as she moved
closer.

James had been watching Mrs Rees since they'd left
the staff room; now he decided to follow her to the
headmaster's office to try and eavesdrop on their conversation.
Something about her behaviour hadn't been
quite right, and although he knew he was probably
being paranoid, he had to have peace of mind. He
approached the door of the office and put his ear to it.
The voices were muffled, but he could tell that something
was wrong. After a second or two he heard Titus's
voice raised, then a shuffling and footsteps, then Mrs
Rees, more placating than panicked. He tried in vain
to make out the words. Then he remembered that the
office window looked out onto the grounds. If he went
out into the rain he might be able to look in and see
what was going on.

Retracing his steps, he went past the stairs and ducked
outside through the double doors, straight into the unrelenting
downpour. Almost immediately his clothes
were drenched once more. He tried keeping to the side
of the building, but there was no cover anywhere. Soon
he was trudging through a water-logged flowerbed
just outside the headmaster's office. He peeked carefully
through the window, ready to whip his head back
should the occupants turn round. At first all he could
see was Mrs Rees's back, moving in a strange fashion;
then, as more of the room was revealed, he realized that
she was hugging the headmaster, a fierce, determined
expression on her face. Mr Titus looked more confused
than scared, wondering what on earth had come over
her and trying to detach her without causing offence.
Then, as James wondered what he should do – stay and
watch or go and find the others – he saw something
odd in the small washroom that was attached to the
headmaster's office . . .

The creature would have infected Emily Rees if she
hadn't knocked herself out. But as it wriggled onto her
body, it had decided that it needed someone stronger;
someone who could help it find the answers it sought.
It needed something – something it had been seeking
for a long time – and it was sure the key to it was in
this school somewhere . . . But where? It had slid away
from the teacher's inert body and oozed up to the basin,
squeezing itself back into the pipe. It had heard voices
mention a headmaster. In Phoenix's mind it had come
across this word too. It referred to someone in charge,
in control. And from Phoenix it also knew the location
of this individual's office.

James made up his mind: he ran back round into the
building, then along to the headmaster's office. He burst
in to find Mrs Rees crying on the shoulder of the headmaster,
who was consoling her as best he could.

'James?' he asked when he saw the boy.

'It's in there . . . in the basin!' James pointed to the
small washroom.

'What is?' the head asked, detaching himself from
Mrs Rees.

'The thing! The specimen from the study centre!'

'The what?'

'It can't be,' Mrs Rees insisted. 'It's inside me. It attacked
me. Oh God, what's going to happen to me?'

'But . . .' James was confused. 'But it can't be. You
wouldn't be in control of yourself if it was.'

'But it was on me, in the staff toilets. I could feel it on
my face before I passed out.'

'I saw it through the window,' James insisted. 'It's in
there.'

'What's in there?' Titus asked, sounding like he
was losing patience with the whole matter. He went
into the washroom, switched on the light and looked
around. 'Well?' he asked, turning back to James. 'There's
nothing—'

At that moment it dropped from the skylight above
them, partly because its target was in exactly the right
spot but also because the light had startled it. It dropped
onto Titus's face and slipped effortlessly into his mouth
before he could do anything about it. He began thrashing
about and making choking sounds, staring wide-eyed at
the other two, imploring them for help.

Sean was wondering where James had got to and was
about to ask Waites, when the teacher went over to talk
to three remaining pupils, who were huddled around a
mobile phone, reading a text message.

'Listen, guys, you'd better go home now,' he told
them.

'But it's pouring, sir!' the boy said. 'We can't go out
there.'

'Yeah. Besides, me and Steve live out of town,' said
one of the two girls, 'and Emma's still waiting for her
dad to get here. Mr Titus said we had to stay here
because it wasn't safe to go outside.'

'Yes, well, we have a situation here now that means
you'd be better off taking your chances outside. Is there
a friend's house you can go to until you can get lifts
home?'

'We could go to Stacey's – she lives in town and said
we could go there if we couldn't get home.'

'Fine,' Waites said. 'Go to—'

His last words were cut off by a loud and horrifying
scream. He quickly shared a knowing and anxious look
with Sean, then turned back to the three startled pupils
and said: 'Go! Now!'

'What the hell was that? What's—?'

'Just go,' Waites ordered.

They scooped up their bags and coats and headed for
the exit, exchanging confused and frightened glances.
Waites and Sean rushed out into the main hallway,
then down the corridor towards where they thought the
scream had come from. There was no one around, but
Sean had the distinct feeling that something awful was
very close by, possibly watching them at that moment.
Then came a loud bang, like a heavy object being
knocked over, and they turned in the direction of the
headmaster's office.

Suddenly everything went quiet again. They looked
at each other before proceeding, neither really knowing
what to expect. Could James be in there with Mr Titus
and Mrs Rees? Sean wondered. He didn't like to think
what might have happened. As they approached the
door, they heard what sounded like scratching on the
other side, then saw the handle being twisted.

The door burst open and a very pale-looking Mrs
Rees lurched towards them. They parted to avoid her,
and watched in shock as she crashed into the window
behind them. Neither Sean nor Mr Waites knew what
to do; they just stared as she turned round, crying with
fear and shaking her head in disbelief.

'It's in him now . . . Oh God.' Then she turned and
ran down the corridor towards reception.

At first Sean and Waites were too stunned to move.
They looked back at the office door, which was still ajar.
Through the gap they could see only a sliver of window
and the rain beating down outside.

'Come on,' Waites said. 'There's two of us. We can
do this.'

'She said "him",' Sean muttered as though to himself.
'Did she mean Titus or . . . James . . . ? Where
is
he?'

'I don't know . . . But we have to stop this thing . . .
somehow.' Waites carefully reached out and pushed
the door open, trying not to make a sound. They could
see papers, books and stationery strewn around; on the
floor were shards of glass and a mound of dirt where a
photograph frame had smashed and a plant had been
knocked over. It was only when they were over the
threshold that they caught sight of James standing over
Titus's body in the far corner.

Oh no
, Sean thought.
Please . . . No . . .

'We need to lock it up,' James said, still staring at the
body slumped in the corner. He turned to look at Waites
and his brother, who were still standing in the doorway.
'We need to do it while he's unconscious.'

Waites and Sean hesitated. The determined but scared
look in James's eyes suggested he was still untouched,
but how could they be certain? They approached
him cautiously, and Waites helped him hoist Titus to
his feet.

'Careful,' James whispered, as though worried the
creature might hear. 'It might come back out at any
second.'

'What happened?' Sean asked as they supported the
unconscious headmaster by draping his arms around
their shoulders.

'I was watching them from outside when I saw
that . . . thing coming out of the tap. I ran in here to
stop it but . . . I was too late. Once it was inside him,
I pushed him and he fell against the wall, banging his
head. I don't know if he'll be out for long, but we need
to get him locked away before he – or rather it – wakes up.'

They dragged the headmaster out of the office and
into the corridor, past the windows overlooking the
school playing fields. Sean groaned inwardly. The rain
seemed to be coming down even harder than before.
How was that possible? How could there be so much
water in the sky? It looked like night out there too, even
though the sun wasn't anywhere near setting yet.

'Where are we going to put him?' Sean asked.

'How about the cupboard in the chemistry lab?' James
suggested. 'We can lock him in there.'

'Yes, but there's too much dangerous stuff around,'
Waites said. 'And there's a window too. He might
escape. I know, we'll put him in that cupboard in the
hall where the chairs are kept. It's secure and there are
no windows.'

They turned and carried the headmaster back towards
the hall; his feet banged against the steps leading down.
When they had crossed the hall, Waites tutted angrily,
realizing he'd done something stupid.

'We haven't got the key,' he said.

'I know where it is,' Sean said. 'The caretaker keeps it
in a mug on his desk. I saw him get it out when I had to
help him set up for assembly once. He doesn't keep it in
the locked cabinet with the others because he uses it so
often. I'll go and get it.'

'OK. But hurry up. I don't like to think what might
happen when our friend here wakes up.'

Sean nodded, turned and ran out of the hall, then up
a small flight of stairs to the caretaker's office.

Emily Rees was beyond distraught. She'd already seen
what had happened to Nigel Phoenix, and could only
assume that the same was going to happen to her. She
couldn't stop crying, and her thoughts, rather than
dwelling on her inevitable fate, were now centred on
her husband and children. Mark would still be at work,
but her children would be at home, probably watching
television or doing their homework. She realized she
wasn't going to see them again, and the thought horrified
her.

She suddenly heard a deep, painful coughing from
the boys' toilets. She had a good idea who it was, and
wanted to keep as far away as possible, yet she had a
powerful urge to know what to expect, so she went in.
She saw him straight away, slumped against the far wall;
his hands lay in his lap, covered in blood. He looked up
at her, his face pale, pitiful. She approached carefully,
unsure of what he might do in his condition.

'Are you OK?' he asked.

'No,' Emily replied, cringing at the sight of his
sunken, bloodshot eyes. 'I . . . What's happening to me?
It was inside my head.'

'Probably the same thing that's happening to me. The
same that happened to Nigel. I'm sorry,' he said, looking
away.

Emily stood there staring at him, eyes imploring,
waiting for some words of hope.

'It's best you stay here,' Morrow told her. 'Just in case
whatever's happening to your body is infectious. I don't
think it's airborne; I think it's something only the specimen
can put in your system, but I could be wrong. It
could be highly contagious, so we need to remain here
until the authorities arrives. Besides . . . do you really
want your family to see what's going to happen to you?'
It was callous but it had to be said. He coughed and spat
a wad of red mucus onto the floor.

Mrs Rees gazed at him in horror, her stomach turning.
'I . . . I can't. I'm sorry.' She started to back away. 'I have
to see them. I have to see my children before . . . You
understand?'

'No!' he shouted, leaning forward with one hand outstretched,
before arching his back in a spasm of pain. He
groaned as the agony consumed him. 'For God's sake,'
he cried, his eyes closed at the agonizing sensation in
his spine. 'You can't leave! You can't leave, do you hear
me? You could have a disease inside you! You could end
up killing everyone!'

But Emily Rees was gone.