Blood Water by Dean Vincent Carter

of the time effective if
you know what you're doing – a bit like this creature.'
    'Ha.' Morrow laughed, despite the situation.
'Yes . . . Ignoring manufacturers' recommendations.
Perhaps that accelerates the process of destruction set
in motion when the creature enters a host.'
    'Yeah,' James said, 'and when you push a computer
too hard it either shuts itself down . . . or burns out.'
    Emily could hear voices from the direction of the staff
room. No one was screaming, so perhaps things were
under control. She stood up and moved closer to the
door in an attempt to hear more. Suddenly there was a
strange sound behind her, apparently coming from the
wall. She waited and heard the sound again, lower down
this time; it was like twisting metal. What was it? She
forgot about the voices from the staff room temporarily
and nearly jumped as the sound came from behind
the toilet itself. Something was moving about in there,
but what? She didn't want to open the door – but she
didn't want to stay in the cubicle now either. Something
was now splashing about in the toilet bowl, and she
panicked, opening the door and inching away from the
cubicle towards one of the hand basins. She stood there,
still listening, still wondering what was going on.
    The creature had already mapped the pipe-work of
this part of the building in its memory. It could sense
the woman's movement; could hear her breathing and
could guess where she was now. Even as Emily Rees
leaned against the basin in confused panic, the creature
was working its way up around the system towards the
tap; this time it moved soundlessly, its body squeezing
smoothly along the pipes.
    Emily stared at the cubicle door, waiting to see if
anything emerged – unaware that something black and
slimy was oozing out of the hot water tap behind her.
    There was a splash, then another, and as Emily turned
round to see what was going on, she was overcome by a
feeling of dread. And then she saw it: a horrible, wriggling
slug-like thing. She stared in disgust at it, then
flinched as it coiled itself up and sprang towards her
face. She stumbled backwards, slipped and fell to the
floor, jarring her spine and banging her head against the
cubicle partition. She blacked out.
    Waites looked down at the floor, trying to process
everything at once.
    'This is too much. It just doesn't make any—'
    'Please,' Morrow said. 'Is there a toilet I could use?'
    'Yes, of course. Might be best to stay away from Mrs
Rees if she's scared of you. You can use the boys' toilets
downstairs.'
    Waites ushered Morrow and the two brothers down
the stairs. 'I'll go and check on Mrs Rees,' he told them.
'You boys wait here for me a second.' He turned and
went back up the stairs.
    'If I remember anything crucial I'll come and find
you and Mr Waites,' Morrow said. 'I really need to be
on my own right now though.'
    'We understand,' Sean said. They watched him go
into the toilet, wondering how long the poor man had
left to live.
    Waites almost bumped into Mrs Rees as she came out
of the staff-room toilets.
    'God, Emily, are you—?'
    'Ah, er, Dan . . .'
    'Come on, let's get you to the hall with the others.'
    'Yes.'
    'We have a crisis – it's best if you're not on your own
right now.'
    'Oh yes, of course. That doctor . . .'
    'Yes, I'll explain it all, come on.' He ushered her
through the staff room and down the steps. 'We all
have to be very careful, Emily. There's a creature here
in the school, something from the study centre. It's
extremely dangerous. Nigel and Dr Morrow have already
succumbed to its infection and we need to make sure it
doesn't infect anyone else.'
    As they all headed towards the main hall, Sean wondered
what awful thing would happen next. The whole
town could be submerged, judging by the sheer volume
of water that had fallen on it, and if this bizarre parasite
kept jumping from person to person, then dozens of
people might be dead by morning. That's if