The Doctor (13 page)

Half an hour went by and the room was beginning to get quite warm with the three of us shut inside. I was just sitting on the floor sifting through another huge pile, wishing there was a window I could open, when the boys stumbled across something.

‘Jack,’ Daniel said uncertainly. Jack looked up from the paperwork he was flicking through and moved to where Daniel was standing by an open filing cabinet, his hand suspended around one of the files.

‘You found something?’

‘This has my name on it.’ Daniel said, starting to pull out the case file, which seemed to be quite full. He was about to walk away with the file when he stopped suddenly.

‘What’s wrong?’ Jack asked, frowning.

Daniel looked like he was trying to say something but the words weren’t coming out. He glanced up at Jack and pointed into the filing cabinet. Curious, I went a little closer so I could see what the boys had seen in there.

Jack pulled out the case file Daniel had been pointing at. It was very thin, it looked like it was empty. Before he could open it, Daniel pointed again to the name on the file.

‘Bethany Leyland’

‘No,’ Jack said in astonishment, staring at the file in his hands.

‘Jack, that’s Beth’s name…’ Daniel croaked, his voice barely audible.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jack

‘Tez’s Rule #16 - Never underestimate werewolves. Or serial killers.’
 

That was certainly an unexpected turn of events. I hadn’t seen anything in Beth to suggest she was also one of the Doctor’s victims, but then my attention had been focussed on suppressing Daniel’s wolf to stop him from attacking everyone in the vicinity at the time.

‘Who’s Beth?’ Sarah asked.

I turned sharply towards her. ‘You can understand him?’ She hadn’t been close enough to read the file in my hands, so she must have heard Daniel’s voice.

Sarah nodded unsurely, her eyes never straying from mine. I stared at her for a moment. Daniel’s features were beginning to return to human form, that was true, but I could have sworn he was still communicating with me via my connection and not verbally. Frowning slightly, I decided I must have been mistaken. I was tired, and it was an easy mistake to make.

‘Interesting,’ I said, ‘that must mean the werewolf is disappearing more quickly than I thought. That’s very good news.’ I nudged Daniel who was staring at the case file like the world was going to end. Okay, better get this over with.

Opening the file in my hands, there was only one piece of paper inside.

‘Since the incident with Subject 152, all new subjects must be paired with an observer. Bethany Leyland: Paired with Subject 245.’

I read it aloud twice and turned the piece of paper over in my hands. There was nothing else.
 

‘Well that explains everything,’ I said trying to lighten the mood, ‘I wonder what happened to subject 152.’

Sarah looked like she was about to say something, but then thought better of it.

‘Open your file Daniel, I suspect you might be subject 245,’ I said, gently taking hold of his arm and guiding him to a nearby table. I made some room so he could lay the thick file down. He opened it up and started to flick through the pages, before stopping at one page in particular.

I read a section over Daniel’s shoulder. The writing was scrawny and hard to read, but it was still legible. Just.

‘…Once I had completed the procedure of transferring the werewolf into the subject, I had to ensure monitoring protocols were in place. For that I needed a additional subject who could host the connection between their mind and mine. It had to be someone close to the subject…’

Daniel flicked through a few more pages, his eyes swiping over the text so fast he had to steady himself against the desk.

‘…Subject has chosen my host. During observation, subject spent the most time with Bethany Leyland….’

Luckily a chair was waiting as Daniel’s legs gave way beneath him. He slumped in the chair, but didn’t let go of the papers. With a trembling hand he turned the page and continued to read. I had to move around him so I could see the writing. Sarah seemed to be looking through the drawers on the other side of the room, but I had the uncomfortable feeling she was glancing over at Daniel instead of looking through the files. I shrugged off the thought and read on. The entry on the next page was written much later than the others.

‘…There has been a delightful turn of events. This has been one of my most successful pairings to date. As the subject is becoming accustomed to the werewolf taking over, the host is having increased nightmares. I believe this could become a permanent exchange once the werewolf takes full control…’

I looked more closely at the entry. ‘This entry was dated only ten months ago,’ I said, more to myself than anyone else. The Doctor was monitoring his creations much more closely than I had anticipated.

‘What have I done?’ Daniel said, putting his head into his hands and dropping the papers, ‘Jack, what do you think it means by permanent exchange?’

Pulling his head up to look at me, he said, ‘Will Beth be trapped in these nightmares? What if she already is? The wolf has been in control for a while now.’

I put my hand on Daniel’s shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly, ‘Let’s not jump to any conclusions. You’re working on getting the wolf under control, and you know Tez is with Beth. She’s in safe hands.’

Sarah walked across the room to us, ‘There’s nothing here that will help us defeat the Doctor. These old notes tell us about his victims, but nothing about him.’
 

I watched her carefully. She sounded frustrated but... Perhaps I had been mistaken, but I could have sworn a smile had passed across her face at Daniel’s last words.
 

‘So what’s the plan now then?’ Sarah asked.

I really didn’t know. When I woke up this morning I hadn’t expected to be running right into the Doctor’s hands, and so far nothing had come to mind. I had an idea that I might be able to trap the Doctor in his own head if I could get close enough, but it was risky. The Doctor had shown some advanced techniques. If I didn’t catch him off guard I could be the one that ended up locked inside their own head. It wasn’t something I particularly fancied.

‘I vote we go searching for the Doctor,’ Daniel said. I had to admit the clenched teeth and narrowed, amber eyes made him look quite formidable.
 

‘And what are you going to do when you find him?’ I asked, crossing my arms. He raised his eyebrows at me. ‘I’ve already explained that I believe the Doctor is a telepath. If you go storming up to him then you, or the werewolf, won’t last more than a few seconds. You certainly won’t have time to tear him from limb to limb which I’m guessing is your plan?’

I took the glare to mean yes.

‘Daniel, I promise you we will get him, but we have to do it properly if we want to make it out of this place alive.’

Something triggered in my mind. If the Doctor was a telepath then there was a good chance that was how we got here, to this island. Which would mean this whole thing was a projection created by the Doctor, convincing us that we were really here, when in fact we were—physically at least—still back in that old house. It would also explain how I’d seen my missing mother—or an image of her at least—in the forest when we arrived. But how would the Doctor know who my mother was? I hadn’t felt him rooting around in my head, but then I hadn’t been looking for him as I probably should have been. I cursed inwardly as I realised I had severely underestimated my opponent.
 

Minutes ticked by as I ran through the options in my head. The other two stood there in silence, clearly waiting for me to come up with some amazing plan to get us out of here in one piece. I wished I could. My mind had gone blank.

Then I spotted her again. Just through the open door, my mother walked by so casually, glancing into the room at the last minute. I thought that door had been shut. In fact I could have sworn I shut it once we were all in the room. I ducked back, pulling the other two with me, ignoring their whispered enquiries as to why we were hiding behind a desk. Luckily she didn’t return to the room. I wish Tez were here now. For starters he could shut the door without me getting up and looking out into the corridor. I shuddered and knocked my knuckles on my head hoping to find some sense rattling around inside.
 

‘Right,’ I said finally, pulling myself to my senses, ‘I think we should head back to the Doctor’s study. I only had a quick look on his computer and there has to be more information on there somewhere. Plus I’m getting hungry again, and there’s food in the kitchen we can have.’

Both Daniel and Sarah seemed to perk up at that suggestion. It didn’t look like Sarah had been fed particularly well during her time locked up here.
 

‘Let’s go then,’ Sarah said enthusiastically, looking entirely unconcerned with our situation, as she got up from behind the cabinet and brushed the dust off her hands.

I was beginning to get suspicious of her, but I had to be sure. I needed to stall for time whilst I worked out whether I was right.

We left the storeroom and headed to the kitchen, trying to retrace our steps without getting lost. It was difficult navigating these corridors when they all looked so similar. Sarah seemed sure of where she was going, however. She’d told me that the Doctor had used her as his play thing, making her run time and time again trying to escape, only to turn up at the last second and capture her again. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how scary it must have been for her, not to mention frustrating. She did seem to have a remarkable grasp of the building layout though.

It didn’t take long before we were back in the kitchen eating the remnants of the casserole, which was still gently bubbling away on the cooker. I was beginning to feel very uneasy about everything now. Where was the Doctor? He clearly hadn’t been in the kitchen since we had last been there, and we hadn’t seen or heard anything of him. I knew he had to be here, but the question was where. And if he knew we were here, why was he hiding?

The study also looked just the same as it had before. The torn pieces of the photo looked untouched, suggesting no one had been in this room either since we’d last been there.

Sitting down at the computer, I navigated through the many documents, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Now was the best time to do it, while it looked like I was concentrating on the computer. Sarah was glancing through the papers at the end of the desk, looking interestedly at them. Or at least pretending to.

I tried to press into Sarah’s mind without her noticing. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t feel comfortable around her. Something just wasn’t right. Despite my attempts, I wasn’t able to access her mind. She was blocking me. But how could she be, she didn’t even know I was a telepath. Unless…

Suddenly I felt the connection with Daniel splinter.
No.
I flung myself around the desk towards him, my eyes wide, as I realised what was happening.

‘Dan, I don’t know what’s going on,’ I said desperately, ‘I can’t suppress him any more.’

‘What do you mean?’ The look of panic on his face was terrifying.
 

I grabbed hold of his shoulders roughly. ‘Dan, listen to me, you can control the wolf. I’ve seen you begin to take control already, you just need to focus on what you’ve been doing.’

‘Jack, I can’t…’ he faltered. I could see the snout beginning to grow back on his face. ‘He’s too strong.’

‘No he isn’t, you’re the strong one. It’s all in your head Dan, you are the one in control. Please, focus.’

It wasn’t working. Now his teeth were lengthening right in front of my eyes. This was a little close for comfort. His hot breath fanned across my face and I flinched at the growl that came from him. I stayed there only a minute longer trying to reason with him, trying to gain entrance to his mind and suppress the wolf again, but it was too dangerous now. I didn’t understand, why couldn’t I reach him? This had to be the work of the Doctor.
 

Giving up, I moved quickly towards the door. I grabbed Sarah’s hand as I yelled, ‘Run!’

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Daniel

‘Did I ever mention that I really hate werewolves?’
 

My nightmare had returned. I had become so used to Jack holding the wolf back that I had forgotten how powerful he was. I felt him slam me back inside my prison as he came full force to the front, growling in fury at being held down for so long.

I thought I was getting a hold on the wolf, starting to gain some level of control, but clearly it was just Jack who had been doing the hard work. I felt so guilty letting the wolf back out, but how could I fight him? Jack had told me stories of the Doctor’s other victims. Of the few that returned to their human form, most ended up dead in one form or another, but none had managed to control their monsters. He hadn’t told me exactly, but I could only guess what had happened to those caught alive. They couldn’t be let back out into society. I assumed they were locked up somewhere; I guess that was what awaited me when I got out of here. If we ever managed to get out of here alive that was.

The wolf sniffed the air carefully. Jack and Sarah had run off and started what promised to be a great chase. I just had to hope he wouldn’t find them. Not that the wolf had ever had a problem tracking people before, but I had to believe they could get away. I couldn’t bear to watch a repeat of the incident at the adventure park. Even though that could have ended a lot worse, there was still at least one person who didn’t walk away from it. I still couldn’t believe Rex was gone; I had to hope the others had all recovered now, physically at least. I couldn’t let that happen to Jack and Sarah.

The wolf stretched and shook his fur. He wasn’t in any rush; we were all trapped in a building together, so it wasn’t like his prey were going to get very far. If he gave them a head start then it might actually turn into an interesting chase.

Stalking across the room, he sniffed around, picking up the scent of Jack and Sarah. His great paws crashed onto the desk so hard, it bowed under his weight. The computer mouse came sliding towards his paw and he hit it away angrily. He swiped at the papers on the desk and sent them flying across the room. So much for keeping everything as it had been so the Doctor didn’t notice we had been sniffing around. Though I was pretty sure Jack suspected the Doctor knew what we were up to. I just didn’t understand why he hadn’t confronted us yet; we must be easy prey wandering around his own building unarmed and unprepared.