His dressing gown fell open and he saw drying blood covering his penis. The sight made him draw a sharp breath. What the hell had happened? He gingerly wiped the blood away with a tissue from the box beside the bed and checked himself, but found no signs of a cut or abrasion. The question as to where the blood originated bounced around inside his head, and with no answers forthcoming, he really did think he was going mad. Surely he couldn’t have just forgotten what happened, could he?
Needing reassurance and answers, he pressed the call button beside the bed and a moment later, a dark haired nurse entered the room. She glanced at the bed, and then looked at Lincoln with an expression caught between fear and respect.
“Yes,” she said.
“I need to see a doctor.”
“Is there something wrong?”
“Look, I just want to talk to a doctor.”
“The doctor’s busy at the moment.”
“Well there must be more than one doctor available.”
“I’m afraid not.”
Lincoln felt anger bubbling through his body. “I want to see a doctor,
“I’m sorry, it’s not possible.”
“Then I want something to stop me sleeping. Whenever I wake, I dunno, things have changed. Things have happened. Things I can’t remember.”
“I can’t prescribe anything like that.”
“Then what fuckin’ good are you?”
“I’d suggest you calm down.”
“And I’d suggest you get a goddamn doctor in here now, right this minute, before I get really angry.”
The nurse folded her arms below her chest. “No doctor is going to be able to help, that I can assure you.”
Lincoln felt the hairs bristle on the nape of his neck. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just calm down. Relax. Have a nap.”
He took a step forwards and the nurse backed away. “I want to know what you mean,” he said.
“I mean, if you don’t desist, then you’ll have to be restrained for your own good, which wouldn’t be a bad idea anyway. I might have to suggest it.”
“Suggest it! Suggest it to who?”
“It doesn’t matter. Now this is your last warning. Shut up, calm down, and just enjoy the time you have…”
“The time I have what?”
The nurse glared at him and then walked across the room, pushed him onto the bed and held him down with more strength than he would have thought possible from anyone, never mind someone with such a diminutive stature.
Lincoln stared up at her green eyes, and for a brief moment it looked as though blackness oozed within her sockets, the effect extinguished as she blinked.
“I haven’t got time for this. Now just behave like a good little boy and everything will be fine.”
She released her hold, but gripped by an unnatural fear, Lincoln didn’t move until she left the room.
When he did sit up, his hand was shaking, breaths coming in short little bursts.
Something was going on, and whatever it was, he needed to get to the bottom of it, and quickly too if he was to retain any sanity at all.
CHAPTER 17
“So what do we do now?” Stephen asked.
Joanna stared at the statue of Christ, hoping for some inspiration, but none seemed forthcoming.
A cold chill permeated the church, the wooden pews of which felt even colder, but Joanna suspected they were safe within the holy structure, giving them time to work out their next move. But in the space of almost an hour, they had done little but bicker quietly between themselves, too afraid to raise their voices for fear of aggravating the priest any further.
“Well, we can’t sit here all day,” Stephen said. “My arse is going numb.”
“And where can we go? I don’t even know who we can trust.”
“Okay, let’s think about it. Whatever these things are, for some reason, you can see them. The most probable reason is that it’s got something to do with your corneal graft.”
“But how can we prove it? How can I prove what I see?”
Stephen stroked his chin and poked his tongue out. “You only had one of the donor’s corneas, which means there’s someone else out there with the other one. Perhaps they can see what you do and corroborate your story for you.”
“Even if that’s true and we could find them, what good will it do?”
“Well, for one thing, it will prove you’re not crazy.”
“No, it might prove that two of us are nuts instead.”
“I’m only trying to help.”
Joanna grabbed Stephen’s hand and squeezed. “I know. I’m sorry.”
Stephen shrugged. “At least I can’t say dating you is boring. I can find out from the hospital records who received the other cornea.”
“I guess it’s better than nothing.”
“
Joanna kissed him on the cheek. As she pulled away, an idea blossomed. “I’ve just thought of something else. When Lincoln was in the basement, I heard him arrange to meet the others back there at midnight.”
“And?”
“Well what if we hid down there and videoed them. A recording of the conversation, especially if it contains anything that gives them away, might help prove our case. And I might get Nina on it too, to show she’s still alive.”
Stephen frowned. “I dunno. It’s too dangerous. You’ve seen what they can do.”
“Exactly. That’s why we’ve got to stop them – if we can.”
Before Stephen could answer, the church door banged open, the sound echoing around the room.
Joanna turned and stared along the aisle. She let out a sharp gasp.
“What is it?” Stephen whispered, as though too afraid to speak aloud.
“They’ve bloody found us.”
“Who?”
“The demons.” Even the word was enough to strike fear into her heart.
“Shit!” Stephen said.
Joanna thought that about summed it up nicely.
“And isn’t that… My god, it’s Nina!” he said.
Although a little blurred, Joanna recognised her old friend and her heart turned to ice, pumping cold blood through her veins.
She stood, scared that her legs would buckle.
“Can I help you?” the priest asked, his voice echoing through the church as he approached the newcomers.
“Joanna,” Nina said. “Don’t even think of running, because there’s nowhere to go.”
“What do you want?” the priest asked.
“Her.” Nina pointed at Joanna.
The priest blocked the aisle. “I will have to ask you to leave.”
“Leave,” Nina barked. “We’ve kept you in business for all these years, and you ask us to leave. Without us,
