Blood Water by Dean Vincent Carter Page A

they hadn't
all drowned first.
    It was as they passed the entrance doors that the full
extent of the deluge became clear. Water from higher
up the hill had been streaming down the road for some
time, but now it had spread out and was coming into
the school. Dark tendrils of water streaked across the
floor like tentacles seeking something to grab hold of.
They all stopped to watch in shock as the wide, slow-moving
wave saturated the carpet and spread round the
corner out of sight.
    'Come on,' Waites said. 'Let's go.'

CHAPTER 16
    'Headmaster,' said Mrs Rees as she spotted Mr Titus in
the hall. 'Could I have a word please?'
    'Of course.' From her expression it was clear that she
needed to talk in private, so the headmaster took her off
to the other side of the hall, away from the remaining
pupils. 'What's wrong?'
    'I didn't want to tell you this in front of the students
because it's quite . . . distressing, but . . . Nigel is dead.'
    Titus knew instantly that she wasn't joking: there was
a horrible earnestness in her eyes. But there was clearly
more bad news to come.
    'I think it might have been something this odd doctor
fellow did to him. He came in with a pupil and his brother
earlier, behaving very oddly. All of a sudden, after speaking
to this man, Nigel became very sick, and I'm worried
that the doctor had something to do with it.'
    'Good Lord. Where is this man now?'
    'He's in the boys' toilets near the staff room. He looks
extremely ill.'
    'And what did you do with . . . with Nigel?' The
headmaster glanced around at the pupils, who were still
chatting idly; he wondered how his day could possibly
get any worse.
    'He's still in the staff room but he's— Oh God, it's
horrible!'
    'We should call the police. Not that they'd be much
good at the moment but . . . we'd better call them
anyway.' Titus went over to Waites and told him he
would be in his office if there were any problems, then
left with Mrs Rees.
    As he closed his office door, he noticed that Mrs Rees
had a rather strange expression on her face.
    'Are you quite all right, Emily?'
    'Yes, of course, headmaster,' she said as she moved
closer.
    James had been watching Mrs Rees since they'd left
the staff room; now he decided to follow her to the
headmaster's office to try and eavesdrop on their conversation.
Something about her behaviour hadn't been
quite right, and although he knew he was probably
being paranoid, he had to have peace of mind. He
approached the door of the office and put his ear to it.
The voices were muffled, but he could tell that something
was wrong. After a second or two he heard Titus's
voice raised, then a shuffling and footsteps, then Mrs
Rees, more placating than panicked. He tried in vain
to make out the words. Then he remembered that the
office window looked out onto the grounds. If he went
out into the rain he might be able to look in and see
what was going on.
    Retracing his steps, he went past the stairs and ducked
outside through the double doors, straight into the unrelenting
downpour. Almost immediately his clothes
were drenched once more. He tried keeping to the side
of the building, but there was no cover anywhere. Soon
he was trudging through a water-logged flowerbed
just outside the headmaster's office. He peeked carefully
through the window, ready to whip his head back
should the occupants turn round. At first all he could
see was Mrs Rees's back, moving in a strange fashion;
then, as more of the room was revealed, he realized that
she was hugging the headmaster, a fierce, determined
expression on her face. Mr Titus looked more confused
than scared, wondering what on earth had come over
her and trying to detach her without causing offence.
Then, as James wondered what he should do – stay and
watch or go and find the others – he saw something
odd in the small washroom that was attached to the
headmaster's office . . .
    The creature would have infected Emily Rees if