Dark Woods (3 page)

Cal felt as though someone had lit a gallon of petrol in his brain and cracked him over the head with the empty container. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a wooden ceiling, rough planks of pine nailed together to form a pitched roof. He was lying on a bare mattress, a thin pillow beneath his head. Gingerly rolling onto his side, he saw that the floor was also made from pine and the walls were constructed from rows of sawn timber. Although he found it hard to think straight, it was obvious that he was in some kind of log cabin.

He tried to sit up but immediately lay down again as his body gave the distinct impression that it was trying to slide up the wall, across the ceiling and back down the other side.

He moaned into the pillow and closed his eyes again. His temples felt tender, as though something had been rubbing against his skin.

‘Are you OK there, buddy?’ said a voice. Cal opened one eye to see a man in check shirt and combat pants leaning against the wall in the far corner of the room. As Cal searched through the wreckage of his mind he remembered that there had been some woods, a girl, and something about a dog. The man unstuck himself from the wall and poured some water into a glass.

‘Here,’ he said. ‘Drink this.’

Cal remembered something else then; the odd-tasting lemonade, the sky sliding away and the man opening the doors of the van.

‘Get away from me!’ he spat, flinging his arm out and hitting the glass so that it slipped from the man’s grasp and rolled across the floor. He watched the man calmly bend down and pick it up again, the wood soaking up the spilled water as though it was as thirsty as he was.

The man set the glass back on the bedside table and poured some more water as though nothing had happened.

‘You should really drink something,’ he said. ‘This heat’ll dry a body right out.’

Cal looked at the man standing innocently by his bed like a doctor on his rounds, and remembered that his name was Jefferson. He tried to retrieve some memories from the fire that was raging in his head.

‘Where’s Eden?’ he asked, sitting up and rubbing his temples. ‘What have you done with her?’

‘I haven’t done anything with her. She’s sleeping, is all.’

Cal glared at him. ‘You put something in the drinks, didn’t you?’

Jefferson shrugged.

‘I needed your help.’

‘So you drugged us?’

‘You wouldn’t have come otherwise.’

Behind the pain in his head, Cal felt a stirring of fear. A man who could drug two people just to get help was undoubtedly capable of worse. He looked around for possible escape routes and saw that the windows were single-glazed without locks. Through the one next to his bed he could see a small clearing with a bench-table in the middle, surrounded by the pale circles of a dozen tree trunks, sawn down to ground level. Cal guessed that Jefferson must have used the trees to build the cabin. Beyond the clearing, partially hidden by trees, was what appeared to be a much larger building, constructed from concrete blocks with solar panels on the roof. Apart from that there was nothing but a dense wall of trees, shadows hiding behind pine-needle skirts.

‘What are you thinking?’ asked Jefferson, as though everything was perfectly normal.

‘I wasn’t thinking anything.’

‘Yes you were. You were wondering how to get away from here, weren’t you?’

‘Can you blame me?’ said Cal. He saw no point in trying to deny it. He guessed the longer he kept the guy talking, the longer it might postpone any unpleasantness he had planned.

‘I’m not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I just need your help with something, that’s all. And when you’ve helped me, you can go.’

‘What if I want to go now?’

Jefferson shrugged again.

‘Well, then, I guess I can’t stop you. I never lock the doors anyhow. But you should know that this place is a long way from anywhere. I decided a while back I needed a place where folks wouldn’t bother me. A person walking through these woods who didn’t know their way around could get pretty darn lost, in my opinion.’

Cal looked at Jefferson, standing with his arms folded, discussing the situation in such a calm, matter-of-fact manner, and his heart sank. If what he said was true, then the chances of anyone finding them were remote.

If he could just find Eden, maybe they could figure out a way of getting back to the campground before the guy took an axe to them or whatever else he had planned. But for now it was just a case of keeping him sweet while trying to survive the mother of all headaches.

‘Come with me,’ said Jefferson, getting up from his chair. ‘There’s something I want to show you.’

Cal tried to stand and immediately sat down again, still weak from whatever it was Jefferson had put in his drink. But he didn’t want to appear unwilling, so he took a deep breath and got to his feet.

‘Yeah, it’ll do that to you.’ Jefferson nodded and smiled. ‘Should wear off in an hour or so.’

He opened the door and led Cal through what appeared to be a living-cum-dining area. To one side there was a hardwood table with four chairs around it, although Cal guessed that three of the chairs probably never got used. On the table were piles of paper and a number of unwashed coffee cups, together with a jar of honey and half a loaf of bread.

In the centre of the room was a faded blue sofa with a crocheted blanket thrown over it, of the kind you might expect to see in a home belonging to an older person. There was a small kitchen at the far end, separated from the main room by a breakfast bar. On the top of the breakfast bar were more papers and a mug containing half a dozen pencils.

Jefferson liked to keep himself busy, that was for sure.

But busy doing what?

‘As you can see,’ said Jefferson who had noticed Cal looking around, ‘I like to live a simple life. But,’ he added, his eyes flashing defensively, ‘don’t go mistaking me for some backwoods hicky-boy with a brain in my backside. I went to college, you know.’

‘OK,’ said Cal, not knowing why Jefferson felt it important to tell him this.

‘And not just any college, either. I was at Harvard. You know what they wrote in my high-school yearbook?’

Cal shook his head and looked at the black and white photographs on the wall of a boy with his mother, a boy with his dog. ‘No. What did they write?’

‘Underneath my photograph they wrote:
The boy most likely to succeed
.’

Jefferson nodded.

‘And I did succeed, Cal. But that’s the trouble when you’re surrounded by idiots. They can’t see the truth even when it’s staring them in the face.’

Cal allowed himself a sideways glance at Jefferson and saw that his eyes were bright with anger. He made up his mind that, for now at least, he would do his best not to upset him. He would take his time, work out where he stood and then do everything he could to put as much distance as he could between himself and the madness that bubbled up in Jefferson’s brain.

‘Now it’s important we all stay calm,’ said Jefferson. ‘I don’t want anyone freaking out, right?’

‘OK,’ said Cal, thinking if he was going to freak out he’d have done it when he woke up to find himself stuck with a madman. But then he guessed you couldn’t depend on mad people to make a whole lot of sense.

‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ asked Jefferson as they stood outside the door of what Cal assumed was another bedroom.

‘Sure,’ said Cal, although he was probably further from OK than he’d been in a long while. ‘Why not?’

‘Good,’ said Jefferson, pushing the door open.

Although the shades on the window were down, the room was dimly lit by an eerie green glow. Underneath the window on the far side of the room was a bed, and on the bed was a body covered with a white sheet. But the face was uncovered, and Cal realised that he was looking at Eden. Attached to her temples were two circular metal plates and on each plate was a small green light which stuttered and blinked. Stacked along the wall beside the bed were rows of computer towers and on the front of each one were corresponding green lights which flickered in synch with the lights on Eden’s head. There was just one monitor, a single red light flickering on the side of it as if signalling some unseen exchange of information.

‘I told you not to freak out, remember?’ said Jefferson as Cal swore and took a couple of steps back.

‘I’m not freaking out,’ said Cal, fighting to remain calm.

‘Then come in and close the door.’

Cal hesitated for a moment, then did as he was told. He was relieved to see the rise and fall of Eden’s chest beneath the sheet, but as he wiped sweat from his palms he guessed that her well-being was not Jefferson’s main concern.

‘Is she OK?’ he whispered, nervous of breaking the silence.

‘Of course she’s OK,’ said Jefferson irritably, walking across to the monitor. ‘She just drank more lemonade than you did, that’s all.’ He pushed a button on the side of the monitor and beckoned to Cal. ‘Come and look.’

Cal stood beside Jefferson and stared at the screen. At first all he could see was a grey mass, colourless as a November sky. But as he watched, the mass became more defined, its edges glowing with colour. It began to dissolve and separate, forming into distinct images: a cot, a doll’s house, a wooden rocking horse. Cal realised they were staring into a child’s bedroom.

As they watched, the point of view changed so that Cal felt as if he was looking down at the room from somewhere up on the ceiling. He could see into the cot and there was a small child, tucked up beneath a blue blanket. On top of the blanket was a small teddy bear.

Cal heard a whimper and turned to see Eden reaching for something in her sleep.

‘Well, it’s nicer than her last dream,’ said Jefferson. Cal waited for him to explain, but he simply nudged Cal before adding, ‘OK, watch this.’

In front of the monitor was a keyboard and mouse. Cal watched as Jefferson moved the cursor across the screen. When it was on the teddy bear, he clicked the mouse and the cursor drew a box around it. The word ENLARGE? appeared on the screen with the options YES NO beneath it. Jefferson clicked YES and an image of the teddy bear filled the screen. Cal saw that the fur on the top of its head was worn smooth and that one of its eyes was missing. Jefferson clicked on it once more and this time the options CUT & SAVE and SELECT NEW OBJECT appeared. Jefferson clicked on CUT & SAVE and the image of the bedroom returned to the screen. Only this time there was no sign of the teddy bear.

In the corner of the room, Eden began to whimper once more.

‘Is she OK?’ asked Cal. He glanced at the monitor and saw what appeared to be dark shapes moving through the shadows of the child’s bedroom.

‘She’s fine,’ replied Jefferson, hurriedly pressing the button again so that the images shrank to a white dot and disappeared.

‘Maybe I should wake her,’ said Cal.

‘Not yet,’ said Jefferson.

Cal looked at Eden and saw that she was quieter again. Jefferson opened the door and daylight flooded into the room.

‘There is something else I want to show you.’

Cal followed him through the living room and wondered whether he should make a run for it. But then he remembered what Jefferson had said about being in the middle of nowhere and guessed he was better off waiting until he could take proper stock of the situation.

Sooner or later the world would present him with another chance to move on.

Then he could run away and leave it all behind, same as he always did.

As they crossed the clearing, Cal felt the sun burn his neck and guessed it was probably mid-afternoon; the sky was cornflower blue and the air shimmered in the summer heat.

When they reached the concrete building, Cal was surprised at the size of it. It reminded him of the storeroom at the back of the supermarket where one of his foster mums used to work. But that was stacked with enough groceries to feed a small town for a week. What possible use could Jefferson have for such a place?

Jefferson took a bunch of keys from his pocket, selected one and pushed it into the lock.

Cal remembered what he had said about never locking the doors to the house and wondered why this building should be any different.

‘I built it myself,’ Jefferson said, as if Cal was a prospective buyer who had asked to be shown round. ‘Took me the best part of five years.’

The door swung open and as he stepped into the corridor Cal smelled damp, stagnant air. His T-shirt stuck to his back and he shivered as Jefferson closed the door. For a moment they stood in total darkness and Cal imagined he heard whispers from somewhere at the end of the corridor. Then Jefferson flipped a switch and a neon light flickered into life. The walls were rough, unplastered breeze-block and Cal saw that there were several doors at regular intervals along the corridor, each smooth and windowless. He looked at Jefferson, his face pale beneath the artificial light, and listened to the whispers. Was this what he did for fun? Kidnapped people and kept them locked up for months, years, maybe for ever?

‘What are you going to do?’ he asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

Jefferson saw the way Cal stared at the doors, wondering what lay behind them.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘As long as you help me, you’ll come to no harm.’ Then he unlocked the door in front of them, pushed it open and turned on the light.

In the centre of the room was a large metal cage.

Along the far wall was another bank of computers, their lights flickering brightly. High up in each corner were what appeared to be four satellite dishes. In the middle of each was a thin glass bulb, tapering to a point, and all four were aimed at the metal cage in the centre of the room.

‘What do you think?’ asked Jefferson. ‘Pretty impressive, isn’t it?’

Cal stayed silent, wondering whether he could move fast enough to run outside and lock Jefferson in. But Jefferson had put the keys back in his pocket and as Cal looked at his muscled arms and the rough calluses on his hands, he realised he must have spent years cutting down trees and manhandling concrete blocks in order to build this place. The work had made him strong, and Cal knew he would be no match for him in a fight.

The door of the cage was padlocked and as Jefferson unlocked it he turned to Cal and smiled.

‘Works every time,’ he said, pushing the door open. ‘Go ahead. See for yourself.’

As Cal stood nervously at the entrance, Jefferson noticed his unease. ‘What? You think I’m going to lock you in?’ He turned and kicked the padlock across the floor into the corner.

‘I ain’t gonna lock you in.’

Cal walked into the cage and picked up the small teddy bear lying in the centre of it. Its left eye was missing and there was a worn patch on the top of its head. He could see right away that it was the same as the one he had seen on the computer monitor.

‘I don’t understand,’ he said, handing it to Jefferson. ‘What do you want with me?’

‘I already told you,’ said Jefferson, ‘I need your help.’

As he closed the door Cal thought he heard the sound again; a faint whispering, coming from the end of the corridor.

‘Is there someone else here?’ he asked.

Jefferson shook his head and pushed Cal out into the sunshine.

‘It’s just the wind in the trees,’ he said, turning the key in the lock.

But the air was still; there wasn’t even a breeze.

Cal sat at the table in the middle of the clearing and saw that the sun was lower in the sky now, just above the trees.

‘You must be thirsty,’ said Jefferson. ‘You want something to drink?’

Cal nodded.

‘Not lemonade,’ he said.

He watched Jefferson walk back inside and wondered what he thought he was doing, bringing them out here like this. Did he really have some weird plan? Or was he just a lunatic, playing games until he grew tired of them?

And then what?

Cal didn’t like to think about it. If he made a break for it now, at least he’d have a chance of escape. He tried to tell himself he hadn’t known Eden that long, that it was her idea to find the dog, that it was better if at least one of them got away.

But no matter how he looked at it, he knew he couldn’t leave her. He would just have to try to figure out a way of getting them both back to civilisation in one piece.

And if it meant playing along with Jefferson and whatever crazy schemes he had, then that was exactly what he would have to do.