Doc Mortis

For a few long moments Ameena remained defiantly rooted to the spot. Then, although she didn’t step away, her shoulders slumped and she broke eye contact with the man in the white coat.

Keeping his arms folded, the doctor side-stepped her and carried on along the corridor. He didn’t even glance in my direction when he passed.

‘Family?’ Ameena asked as we watched him go. ‘What family?’

I laid a hand against the corridor wall, steadying myself. The paintwork was pleasantly cool to the touch, and I realised my insides felt like they were boiling. I’d gone from freezing in the cold to almost choking in the heat. I wanted to press my head against the wall and smother the fires that were burning there, but I didn’t. That would’ve taken time, and I was beginning to feel that time wasn’t something I had a lot left of. Besides, I’d have looked mental.

‘Nan,’ I croaked, letting go of the wall and forcing myself to stand up straight. ‘We have to go see Nan.’

I’d only been to the nursing home a couple of times since Nan had gone to live there, but I knew more or less where it was. We’d caught the bus. Ameena had paid for the tickets using money she got from who-knew-where, and then had half led, half dragged me to a seat somewhere near the back.

The journey went quickly, helped by the fact that I kept falling asleep. Every time I did I’d be greeted by a vision of the Crowmaster, or one of the enormous flesh-eating birds he’d sent after me.

Mum had sent me to stay with her cousin Marion for a few weeks, hoping it would help me escape from the horrors I’d encountered recently. I’d agreed because I thought it would keep her safe. I thought it would help keep everyone safe.

It didn’t.

As she left the train station, Mum had been attacked and almost murdered by the Crowmaster. I later found out he was Marion’s imaginary friend from long ago, but I didn’t find out in time to save Marion. She was dead. For all I knew, Mum might be too. I thought I could protect them all.

I couldn’t.

Ameena had nudged me awake as the bus rattled to a stop. I’d told her where we needed to get off as soon as we’d taken our seat, knowing full well I’d sleep through most of the journey.

As we stepped down from the bus the evening wind rushed to meet us. Its icy fingers snaked and probed through my dirty clothes, but my skin was so hot I barely felt their touch.

With a low rumble and a whiff of burning diesel, the bus rolled away, leaving Ameena holding on to me on a deserted residential street. A row of neatly kept bungalows stood on either side of the road. It was only early evening, but already lights were on in most of the windows, preparing for the long, dark night ahead.

‘Where to now?’ Ameena asked. Her voice was right by my ear. I could see one of her hands holding me under the arm, but I couldn’t feel it.

‘Thish way,’ I slurred, staggering onward a few steps. Ameena took my weight, probably stopping me falling. Good old Ameena. I’d only known her for a couple of weeks, but I had no idea how I’d cope without her.

‘Did you just call me “Good old Ameena”?’ she asked.

I focused my eyes somewhere in her general direction. ‘Did I say that out loud?’

‘Yes. “Good old Ameena”,’ she repeated. ‘What am I? A faithful pet dog?’

I arranged my face into something I hoped might pass for a smile. ‘Trusty sidekick, remember?’

We were moving again, shambling slowly along the pavement in the direction of the nursing home. With every step I seemed to sink further and further into the pavement.

‘Yeah, well this trusty sidekick thinks you need to sit down,’ she said, steering me towards a low garden wall.

‘No!’ I snapped, with more venom than I intended. I yanked my arm away and immediately wished I hadn’t. The sky seemed to slide sideways away from me, even as the ground raced up to meet my face.

This time I did feel Ameena’s hands. They caught me round the waist and chest. She couldn’t stop me hitting the ground, but she slowed me enough that it didn’t hurt too badly.

‘Good old Ameena,’ I mumbled, letting my head rest against the rough stone of the pavement.

She rolled her eyes, but flashed me a brief smile. ‘Woof. Woof.’

‘Help me up,’ I said.

‘Don’t you think you should wait a minute? You need to get your breath back.’ She looked me over. ‘Well, what you probably need is a blood transfusion, but a bit of a sit-down is going to have to do.’

‘No time,’ I told her, struggling to push myself up from the pavement. Try as I might, neither it nor I appeared to move. ‘Need to find Mum. Nan will know.’

‘What if your nan’s not there?’ Ameena asked. ‘You think of that? You’re killing yourself to get there, and she’s probably at the hospital already.’

‘They don’t like her being out at night,’ I said. I heard my own voice trail off and realised my eyes were closing. I forced them wide open. ‘And the doctor said they’d informed the family.’

Ameena shook her head, not understanding what I meant. ‘So?’

‘So if they had to inform her, that means they moved Mum when Nan wasn’t there. Only place she’d be is the home.’

‘Maybe, but—’

‘Ameena,’ I said, and the mention of her name cut her short. ‘Please. Help me up.’ She hesitated, still holding on to me, even though I had nowhere else to fall. ‘Please,’ I whispered.

With a sigh, she adjusted her grip and braced her legs. ‘Fine,’ she said, ‘but if you die before we get there, don’t go blaming me.’

Some time passed. I don’t know how much. The sky grew darker and the well-kept bungalows became badly neglected blocks of flats. Ameena was doing almost all of my walking for me now. Was I even moving my legs? I couldn’t say for sure. Fire burned in my head and in my throat and in my chest, while pain ravaged my brain and through my bones.

And through it all I could feel the itch on my scalp, where the Crowmaster’s claws had broken the skin. It was growing worse, and I knew that whatever he had done to me was responsible for the way I was feeling now. I thought I’d beaten him, but maybe he’d have the last laugh after all.

‘Dead yet?’ asked Ameena, not for the first time.

‘No.’

‘Good stuff. How much further?’

‘Not far,’ I told her, hoping this was the truth. The buildings looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t really be sure how close the nursing home was.

‘Thank God, you weigh a tonne,’ she said. ‘And you’re sweating like a Mexican wrestler.’

I turned my head to attempt an apologetic smile, and that was when I heard it.

‘What was that?’ I frowned.

Ameena stopped, and by default I stopped too. ‘What was what?’

I listened for a moment, and heard the sound again.

‘There,’ I said.

‘Where?’

‘Can’t you hear that?’