Janus the Arrival (The Janus Trilogy Book 1), page 19
Later, as she was being shown to the door, Dana made certain that she advised Rachel, that she and Danny would be placed under constant police surveillance from that day forth. Therefore, it was imperative that they maintained their usual daily routine as much as possible, in order not to raise any suspicions. Both women shook hands as they parted, and before long Dana was sitting back behind the wheel of her car heading off towards the Netherwood Sanatorium.
The place was located in the beautiful rural area of Little Milton near to Oxford. It was surrounded by 500 acres of agricultural land with extremely well maintained forests, plus it commanded superb views over the adjacent river. This stretched right across to the remains of an old rustic windmill, which stood all desolate looking, but only added to the glory of the picturesque backdrop, which never ceased to be jaw dropping to most admirers. Stone from a nearby quarry had evidentially been used during the construction of the main building, which had also made life a lot easier in many ways for the builders. This had taken just over eight years to complete, due to the complexity of its intricate design, along with the endless red tape and paperwork that went with such large projects. The Sanatorium was considered a true work of art by those in the know, and as a result, it had also been home to many noble English gentry in times gone by.
Dana parked in a visitor’s space close to the front of the building and stepping from the vehicle gracefully, she swiftly walked across to the entrance marked ‘Reception’. Once inside she was immediately greeted by a rather starchy faced receptionist, who didn’t come across as very friendly, but pointed her towards a set of chairs that were partially secluded by a large array of plastic plants. As Dana sat down beside them, she started to think about the woman she’d just come to visit. From what she knew, Rebecca had been dismissed rather unceremoniously from The Caring Hands Fertility Centre not long before Dana had called in at the Harley Street clinic to meet Janus, so therefore the two women had never actually met in person. It had been Linda, one of the clinics more experienced receptionist’s, who’d initially decided to contact Dana to express her concern about the woman’s declining state of health. She had particularly emphasised that this was both mentally and physically from what they could make out so far. During their conversation Linda had explained how she’d dropped in on Rebecca at home one evening and they’d then sat talking quite happily about normal everyday girlie things at first. Yet as soon as she’d mentioned the disappearance of Janus, Rebecca had gone totally berserk. She’d started running around the house like a complete lunatic, until Linda had had no other option but to call in an emergency doctor. On his arrival it appeared that he’d used a concoction of drugs to calm her down, although it hadn’t taken too long afterwards to diagnose that Rebecca was so stressed that she’d finally lost contact with reality. Basically, the poor woman was suffering from some form of psychosis. While Linda had been informing her boss about the results, Professor Edwards had mentioned Dana’s call, soon after Janus had failed to turn up for work. Therefore Linda, having already known about Dana’s line of work, wondered if she could assist in getting Rebecca to recover from her zombie like state. She really couldn’t think of any other solution at the time.
Unfortunately for her, Linda was not around, due to some sort of family sickness that day. Therefore, a very sullen looking porter led her down a long, dull grey corridor, where a scream from one of the rooms suddenly startled her, just as they were walking past. The noise didn’t sound human at all, but the porter hadn’t flinched one bit and just continued on. Dana found herself almost running just to keep up with the man as he hurriedly disappeared around the corner into an adjoining hallway. Having reached their destination in due course, he then muttered something about returning in half an hour the fetch her back. He then lifted his finger and pointed at a big red emergency button, before walking out, shutting the door and sliding the huge security bolt firmly into place from the outside. It made a very raw scraping sound as is did so, and sounded so clear-cut in its purpose. The room itself appeared very dimly lit at first, but Dana’s eyes soon accustomed themselves to the surroundings. She glanced over at a cracked washbasin with a dripping tap in the corner just before noticing the figure that was all huddled up at the far end of the room, sitting on a somewhat tatty looking excuse for a bed. Rebecca’s once shiny blonde hair, hung all matted and greasy over her shoulders. Dana noticed that she wore a soiled white gown, which exposed her buttocks slightly in certain areas. She sat cradled with her knees really pressed close up against her chest, whilst humming a few mismatched notes, which she repeated over and over again without pausing for breath. This may have been comforting for the poor girl, but within a few minutes of listening to that insane drone, Dana was already beginning to wonder if she was simply wasting her time even being there. Almost as if she was reading her thoughts, Rebecca suddenly stopped, turned and lifted her face to her visitor, who took the invite for what it was, approached the bed and sat down beside her without delay.
Dana immediately studied her up close. She felt quite saddened that the innocence that she knew had once existed in the young girl’s eye’s, had most likely been replaced with a fear that lurked in a hidden region, somewhere deep inside. This was set in the background somewhere behind the blank expression that was currently etched on this sad, lost looking face.
‘Hello Rebecca,’ she uttered gently, not exactly sure how it would be taken, yet not wanting to sound condescending at the same time.
‘My name is Dana, and I’m a friend of Linda’s. You worked with her at the clinic. No response was evident at that point, but Dana continued to try and get through. She really didn’t want to walk away without anything at all.
‘I was also the girlfriend of Janus.’ She added. At the sheer mention of that name, the poor girl went absolutely rigid beside her. Dana was just bracing herself for Rebecca to go berserk in some way, when she suddenly became animated and seemed to be stretching out her arms to her in a desperate plea for help. Dana reacted instantly. She moved nearer and held the frail figure as close as she felt she should. However, she was completely caught off guard when the young woman spoke and a question was whispered very softly in her left ear.
‘Why?’ It was all she’d needed to say on this occasion. In response, Dana did the only thing she could possibly do in the short amount of time she knew she had left. Cutting out certain parts of the story that she felt would be far too distressing for her, Dana told Rebecca the truth.
The porter was totally taken by surprise when he returned and opened the door to find both women sitting and chatting away like two old friends. Quick to react, he immediately shut the door again and hurried off down the corridor to find a doctor. He desperately wanted to be the first person to tell them the good news.
Doctor Dale was beaming with great excitement when he entered the room just five minutes later. What he discovered, was Dana busy cleaning Rebecca’s face with a damp cotton handkerchief, as they stood by the small wash basin set over in the corner. She was tending to her very gently and seemed determined to make her look presentable.
‘I’m so sorry about the awful state of this room Miss Sorbus. Patient’s such as Rebecca become so violent at times, and sadly, we cannot afford to place them in decent surroundings for fear of the room getting wrecked.’ Studying his face, Dana could see that the Doctor was in fact being quite sincere. Therefore, she immediately warmed to the old man in the white jacket who now stood before her.
‘I really have no idea what you’ve said or done to our dear Rebecca, but it sure as hell worked, that’s for sure. Maybe we should send you in to some of our other patients.’ He joked. They walked much slower than before, back through the corridors together, while Rebecca was hurriedly whisked off to the showers to be cleaned and dressed, having already said their goodbyes. Once they were back in the reception area, Dr Dale thanked her very gratefully for her help in setting one of his more difficult patients, back on the road to recovery. He then showed her out through the main doors, before waving as she walked across to her car.
CHAPTER 18 - Pagos
He stood close beside the bedside lamp. The light appeared to send out a blue translucent hue, just about everywhere into the room. Approaching the woman from behind, while she sat in anticipation with her back towards him on the bed, the atmosphere was intimately filled with a mixture of both their needs and expectations. Carefully sitting down behind her, he gently threaded his hands beneath her arms and traced the outline of her beautiful body until he finally reached the flimsy material of her bra. With this achieved, he then manoeuvred it up, then cupped and manipulated each of her warm breasts in turn, until they fitted more than comfortably into the palms of his hands. Just as expected, her nipples began to respond with a certain amount of anticipation, and they slipped with great ease between his fingers. Consequently, he toyed around with them for a little bit longer, until they eventually stood fully erect, just as he’d hoped. Working his fingers down over her well-toned stomach, they continued to edge across the leather exterior of her short, and very sexy mini skirt, then momentarily came to a halt at the upper part of her long, stockinged legs. Taking a deep and much needed breath, he then allowed them to search the silky confines of her inner thighs. Dana moaned out loud. She gasped with sheer delight as his rough manly hands explored the patch of bare flesh just above her stocking tops. Right at that exact moment, she simultaneously felt the moistness of her womanhood starting to erupt in her black laced panties. Reaching out with trembling hands, she fervently pulled his trousers down from his waist, and was extremely pleased to find him totally naked and ready for action beneath. With his enormous erection already gazing longingly at her, she quickly shifted him into the position she required, and after slipping her clothing to the side she immediately started to straddle him. It was all going so perfectly well at first. The penetration was wonderfully deep and her love juices flowed relentlessly as she lifted herself up and down the full length of his shaft. Yet the moment she looked down at the man beneath her, with his knees facing directly towards the ceiling, she screamed out in sheer horror. Part of his appearance had physically started to alter once again, into the familiar shape of Vicky. This time however, it was different because only the facial features had transformed at first, before the process continued and turned into that of a man shaped reptile with large snakelike eyes. Fearing the worst, and unable to do anything about it, she glanced down to find that she now rode an enormous, green scaly organ. Then, just as she was about to panic, she felt a hot spurt of fluid being ejaculated, which shot its way deep inside her cervix. At precisely the same instant, a pair of razor sharp fangs latched straight onto the side of her neck, embedding themselves deep into her bare flesh. It all happened incredibly fast and skilfully severed the jugular vein along with the temporal and carotid arteries at the same time.
Dana became aware of the warm sensation as her own blood trickled down between her fully exposed breasts. She gasped desperately for precious mouthfuls of air and realised that she’d be dead within seconds, just as the horrendous vision finally blurred into a dark red mass.
Her bed sheet was totally soaked with perspiration as she gradually woke from her nightmarish sleep. The duvet lay sprawled on the floor, having been kicked into touch by her flailing legs, at some time during her torment. Dana had never been so pleased to wake and see daylight again. She climbed exhausted from the damp bed and reached down to gather up her dressing gown, which she quickly draped around her nakedness in order to stay warm. Sixteen minutes later, having showered and feeling much more refreshed, she gazed towards the hallway as she heard a noise. She relaxed, knowing that this was due to her letterbox making its usual attempt to snap off the poor postman’s fingers as he did his rounds. Reaching the door soon after, she carefully bent over and retrieved the letters that lay on the mat. Yet, after sorting through the usual quantity of junk mail that tended to be a daily event, she found that the only two worth looking at, would more than likely be bills. It was certainly nothing to get excited about. Walking off and filing these, in what she classed as her well organised letter rack on the kitchen work surface, she then turned around and filled the kettle. Dana relied heavily on the successful infusion of those dried leaves in their little white bags for her favourite beverage each morning, and she always needed at least two whole cups worth, before being anywhere near capable of facing whatever waited for her in the outside world.
As she sat on the sofa drinking from her favourite mug, Dana suddenly shivered. A chill shot straight down her spine, as she recalled every last detail of the dream she’d suffered. Thinking about Rebecca’s frightful experience, that must have been one hell of a personal nightmare for her, and one which had ultimately caused the poor young woman to be shut away in the sanatorium. The outcome had nearly ended with her whole life having been destroyed, and that had all been down to that damned creature known as Janus. Dana had already gone ahead and made the decision without even consulting the FBI agent’s, despite knowing that it ran completely against the ethics of her profession. She’d totally convinced herself that this had been very firmly based on a need-to-know basis. They certainly didn’t need to know any more than she’d already given them for the time being.
Having waited until Tim had finally emerged and then left the house, which now sat in complete darkness, Dana cruised around for a further few minutes before deciding to park in a different place. She really didn’t want to raise too much suspicion, plus it was never easy to tell who may be watching in these tight-knit communities. Having gotten out of the car and walked back in the direction of the house, she was well aware of the intensity looming deep inside her. It was struggling to break free, and the large amount of butterflies she could feel, were currently shooting around in her stomach. Having decided to approach the house from the side alleyway, she casually reached over the gate, then gradually moved her hand around from side to side until she finally felt the cold metal catch beneath her fingers. With a little more feeling around, followed by a sudden heave to the left, the bolt eventually slipped sideways. This freed the gate from its bounds, and as it sprung open, she couldn’t fail to notice that the garden had apparently been untouched for what must have been a long, long time. The grass was dry and very yellow. It was completely overgrown and reached well above Dana’s knees in some places, but knowing that she had to be extra careful not to do any damage, or leave any signs that she’d been there, Dana slowly ploughed her way through it, even though she found the going to be quite hard at times. When she finally reached the back of the house, she wondered if she was maybe playing it a bit too cautious.
Basically, Dana had failed to notice a row of milk bottles standing by her feet at the time, as she’d already been busy peering through some heavily draped windows. Therefore, after clumsily scattering them all directions, she realised that she’d pretty much managed to make enough noise to wake the dead. Breaking and entering was definitely not her strong point, that was for sure. On the positive side, at least she now knew the place was empty, because after hiding behind the shed for a couple of minutes as a matter of precaution, nobody had appeared from the house in order to see what the hell was happening. Fortunately, the garden was not overlooked by any neighbouring houses, although she could definitely hear the sounds of children playing somewhere in the distance. This was probably coming from the playground that she’d driven by earlier, and that was located near the end of the road, from what she could remember. It was only by luck that Dana happened to try the handle of the backdoor, and to her amazement it slid open to reveal a modern looking dining room inside. The interior of the house definitely seemed far better than the outside. Relying entirely on her police skills, and combined with a certain amount of intuition, Dana worked her way methodically around the house, starting with the downstairs first. Most of what she found told her that the house had probably been rented out on a short term basis, although this obviously hadn’t happened for a while. This would also explain the reason for the inhabitant’s lack of interest in the overgrown garden at the back, but with a need to keep the inside up to a reasonable standard. There was also a distinct feeling of sadness in the atmosphere that surrounded the place. It almost seemed as if the house itself was a living entity, that longed for a decent family to come and live inside, and bring some sort of life back to the place. In the meantime, back downstairs, Dana came across another door that when opened, led down a set of steep stone steps and into a darkened cellar. The vibes from this room were not very good at all, and after locating the light switch on the wall at the top, Dana started to search the place inch by inch. After a lot of patience, she finally found what she sought, and her instincts told her that she was absolutely spot on with her detection skills. What she’d discovered was situated in a small crevice in the floor. The black carbonated deposits were just as her father had described in his diary, and now Dana was absolutely sure that young Jamie Green had been held here against his will. She had already worked out that Vicky must have finally disposed of him, and as far as Dana was concerned this was all the proof she needed. This confirmed that despite what Vicky thought or said, she was just as dangerous as Janus. Consequently, these creatures, or whatever they were, were basically murderers, and in no uncertain terms they should be treated as such. On her return up the steps, Dana turned as she suddenly heard a noise just ahead of her. She stood rooted to the spot for an instant, before finally letting out a huge sigh of relief as a black cat suddenly appeared from the shadows. It gazed down at the intruder with accusing eyes, having obviously been upset that its territory was being invaded by some unknown stranger. The truth of the matter was that it wanted her to leave and let it have the run of this peaceful place, just as it had for a while now.
