‘It probably leads to the house or something,’ I said. ‘Let’s just carry on.’
Gina pointed the camera at the continuation of the tunnel to our right, and fired off another flash. As we were about to head into the opposite tunnel, the hatch was thrown open and a shaft of light penetrated the open chamber. I saw the barrel of a shotgun, and moaned.
‘I can see you! Don’t move or I’ll kill you both!’
Gina swore; I just hung my head and sighed.
This will never be over
, I thought.
Never
.
He crept slowly down the steps, the gun never leaving his target. His hair was bedraggled, his face pale and haggard. A torch was tucked under one arm, allowing him to hold the gun with both hands. Like me, Mather had been through some pretty rough moments in the last few hours. He looked like a vampire, drained and deathly, as he dropped into the water with a splash.
‘So, you thought you were out of here, eh? I’m afraid I can’t allow any happy endings. In fact, the end is going to be particularly unpleasant for both of you.’
‘Where’s the mosquito?’ Gina fixed Mather with an evil stare.
‘She is otherwise engaged right now. I’ll deal with her presently.’
‘I think
she’s
going to be dealing with
you
,’ I said. ‘That’s if she can handle the dragonfly.’
‘The dragonfly will also be taken care of, don’t worry about that. Besides, if it were capable of doing anything, it would have done it by now.’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure.’
‘You know nothing, Mr Reeves. Absolutely nothing. It’s a real shame that the operating theatre is no more. I had some really exciting plans for you.’ He turned his attention to Gina. ‘I would have had an enlightening evening with this young lady too, if you hadn’t so rudely interrupted us.’ He smiled. ‘No matter. Perhaps there are things I can do with this,’ he said, waving the shotgun, ‘that can provide some amusement. Now then,’ he went on, moving to the side of the steps. ‘Up we go.’
We couldn’t believe it. Just when we thought we’d been given a second chance at freedom, Mather had thwarted us again. Our luck seemed to have deserted us completely. We emerged into the living room of that hateful house. Mather ordered us to stand against the fireplace. There was no sign of the Ganges Red, but I figured that if the living-room door and window were closed, there was no way it could get to us.
‘Well now, who shall go first? The journalist or the photographer? I suppose the lady should go first, although as she’s a photographer, she may appreciate the artistic splendour of death at close hand. Eh, Mr Reeves?’
‘Go to hell,’ Gina said.
‘It’d be a short trip,’ I remarked. ‘But you’ve been very sloppy over the past few hours. Pretty soon there’ll be police officers all over this island.’
‘Well yes, I realize that now. But they’re not going to have an easy time of it. Once the Lady has calmed down I shall persuade her to stick to our original plan.’
‘Which is?’
‘If they come . . . we kill them.’
‘All of them?’ Gina looked incredulous.
‘Well, as many as possible before the odds become too overwhelming. I think we’ll be able to plough through a good many first though – she with her fatal bite and me with my good friend here.’
‘Do you want me to state the obvious?’ My eyebrows were raised in barely controlled disbelief.
‘And what would that be?’
‘You’re mad,’ Gina said for me.
Mather laughed. ‘Oh I see. Well, madness is subjective.’
‘Not in this case,’ I said.
‘Yes, well, enough procrastination – I think we should get on with it.’
Just then there came a curious sound from a dark corner of the room, the one to the left of the door. Gina and I looked in that direction. Mather, who was facing us, clearly wanted to look, but couldn’t take his eyes from us. It had sounded to me like the high-pitched whine of a small motor, straining to turn something that was just too heavy for it. It continued for about fifteen seconds, then stopped. We then heard a soft vibrating sound, like rapidly beating wings. Mather was trying hard not to show it, but I could tell he was scared, quite possibly terrified. And he had very good reason to be. The sound had to come from one of two creatures, and Mather was on bad terms with both of them. He seemed to be shaking.
‘You’re in trouble now.’
‘Perhaps,’ Mather said. ‘But I’ll deal with that when I’ve blown you into little bits.’ He raised the shotgun to eye level. I closed my eyes.
In what could have been my final seconds, I started praying fast and hard that something or someone would intervene and save us. Instead of a shotgun blast there was an odd whizzing sound. Opening my eyes, I saw a small shape fly from the shadows like a sleek, silver dart and skate across Mather’s balding scalp before disappearing back into the shadows. There was a chance that Mather could have pulled the trigger in a reflex action, but thankfully he just span round, intending to face his attacker. He aimed the weapon at various places around the room, but couldn’t find what he was looking for. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something and wheeled round to face the window. There it was.
Now that it was in the light I could see that the Yemen dragonfly was mainly grey in colour, with the odd sparkle of silver. Its wings were huge and the head, with the large segmented eyes, seemed to radiate a sharpness, an intelligence. Mather clearly wasn’t interested in examining the creature, as he quickly unloaded the shotgun at the window. Amazingly, the dragonfly was gone before the first pellets impacted on the glass. There was a wide, gaping hole in the window now, but no sign of the insect.
Mather cursed. ‘Damn! Where did it go?’
‘I don’t know, but you’re a pretty lousy shot,’ Gina sneered. It was as though the shotgun didn’t worry her in the slightest.
In response Mather pointed the weapon at her. ‘I don’t always miss my targets, young lady.’
‘No,’ I insisted. ‘Please don’t do it!’
‘Of course’ – he aimed at me again – ‘I forgot what I was doing for a moment. You were first in line, weren’t you?’ I was staring down the barrels of the shotgun once more.
‘That’s a double-barrelled shotgun,’ Gina said. ‘So you’ve only got one shot left. I’ll get you before you reload.’
‘Oh, I don’t think so. I’ve still got my dagger. Goodbye, Mr Reeves. It really is a shame to waste you like this.’ He was adjusting his aim, perhaps for the last time, when the Ganges Red flew through the broken window and fastened itself to Mather’s forehead, before plunging its feeding tube directly into his right eyeball.
XVI: EXTERMINATION
The shotgun fired, blowing a large chunk of plaster out of the ceiling. Through the cloud that descended, Gina and I could see the ordeal unfold. Mather was waving his hands around in agony, while the mosquito made all sorts of wild noises. It sounded furious. As we watched, shocked and repulsed but too stunned to turn away, the flesh around Mather’s eye bubbled and melted apart. Everything I’d heard was true. The Ganges Red really was as lethal as the legend had claimed. Soon the rest of his face was suffering from the effects of the toxic saliva. He kept on yelling his agonized protest, not letting up until he’d screamed himself hoarse. Steam rose from his head, adding an utterly detestable stench to a truly abominable sight. From the hissing skin below the eye, blood began to pool, landing on the carpet in small red circles.
The mosquito moved from Mather’s forehead and attached itself to his neck, making considerably less noise now. It positioned itself comfortably, despite Mather’s continuing frenzy, and proceeded to drain the blood directly from his jugular vein. Its wrinkled abdomen began to stretch and inflate as it gorged itself on the warm red liquid. As it grew, reclaiming its vitality, its wounds seemed to disappear. Glancing at the window, I could see that the dragonfly had returned. It was hovering in the hole created by the shotgun blast.
Gina had seen it too. ‘Come on,’ she whispered. ‘Let’s leave them to it.’
There was a huge explosion which could only have come from the research centre. Perhaps the generator’s fuel tank had blown. Gina tugged at my arm, then pulled at the hatch. I helped her hoist it up and swing it over. Looking around, I saw Mather’s torch lying on its side. After I’d grabbed it and switched it on, I couldn’t help but take one last look at him. His face was already unrecognizable. There was a deep hole where his eye had been and parts of his forehead and right cheek had been reduced to a vile yellow substance. Perhaps it was my imagination playing tricks, but I could swear that in that instant his remaining eye turned to stare at me. I was about to scream when Gina grabbed my sleeve and pulled me down into the darkness of the tunnel, the trapdoor slamming behind me.
We waded across the subterranean chamber to the other side where the tunnel continued. I still had no idea where it headed, but it didn’t really matter as long as it led away from the island. With the torch to illuminate our way, we made good progress. My limbs felt so heavy it was an effort to keep them responding to simple commands.
‘Well,’ Gina said as we hurried along, ‘at least that maniac won’t be bothering us again.’
‘It’s not him I’m worried about.’
‘Well, unless that creature can eat through the trapdoor in the forest, I think we’ll be safe.’
‘But we didn’t close that trapdoor.’
‘Oh God, don’t worry about it. We should concentrate on getting to the other end of this tunnel.’
‘If she knows about that entrance, and it’s open, she can get down here.’
‘We haven’t got time to worry about it. Besides, that dragonfly’s still around, isn’t it? It attacked the mosquito before, so maybe it’s going to finish the job.’
‘Maybe. But we can’t rely on it. The Ganges Red has proved herself to be pretty resilient – I can’t believe what she just did to Mather.’
‘You’re not feeling sorry for that freak, are you?’
‘No, of course not. He got what he deserved.’ I could only imagine what was left of Mather by now. It was hard to wish that sort of death on anyone, but it was also difficult to believe he didn’t deserve it. The pain in my ankle was getting worse and worse. I wanted to yell at Gina to slow down, to give me a break, but it wasn’t an option. We simply had to get away from there as soon as we could, pain or no pain. Gina looked up and down the tunnel, a slight look of unease on her face.
‘Why was that thing so interested in you anyway? You weren’t serious about it wanting your blood so it could become human . . . were you?’
‘Yes. Although . . . I’m not sure now. Maybe it was the bang on the head that did it after all.’
‘But you were convinced you could communicate with it. Mather talked to it as well.’
‘Yes, well, we’re finally getting away, so who cares, right?’
‘Right.’
We maintained our speed for about half an hour before we heard something behind us. We stopped, looking at each other, our lips trembling. Gina pointed the torch back down the tunnel. The whining sound was growing in volume, but we could see nothing. We couldn’t move, let alone run, so we had to simply wait to see what happened. I saw it first. Its startling size was matched only by the dazzling red glow of its body. It seemed to be absorbing the light from the torch, becoming brighter, more intense.
‘Oh God,’ I said. I think we both knew that it was pointless to run, so we stood our ground. The mosquito would be upon us in seconds. Instead Gina drew the torch back behind her head, preparing to strike. I didn’t think it would do much good. One or both of us was going to die – I could feel it. The mosquito slowed down, then stopped to hover before us.
I have run out of patience. Give me what I want now . . . or suffer the same fate as Mather
.
Gina gritted her teeth and glared at the creature. I stepped forward slightly, feeling a sudden surge of strength.
‘All right. Take it.’ It was hard to say the words. The terror inside me had already fuelled my imagination, bombarding my thoughts with all manner of horrific pictures. But I saw no other option. If I continued to resist, I’d only push the Ganges Red into taking what she wanted by force.
Yes. That’s it. It will be over before you know it . .
.
She flew forward again carefully, ready to move out of the way at the slightest hint of an attack.
‘No, don’t do it,’ Gina said, backing up slightly. And then she slipped on something, dropping the torch as she did so. In a flash the Ganges Red was upon me. She attached herself to my head and I went crazy.
What surprised me most was the heat she generated. It felt as if she was burning up. Even though I knew I’d done the only thing I could have, I was overwhelmed by the desire to throw her off me.
‘
Nooooooo!
’ Gina screamed somewhere behind me. ‘Get the hell off him!’
The mosquito crawled around my head, then without hesitation pierced the back of my neck, sucking with an awesome, tear-inducing power. This time I did scream.