Round Two. Ghostbusters.
The look of shock on Tom’s face doesn’t improve his gaunter-than-usual appearance. He attempts to close the door again, and I shove my boot in the way.
“You need to leave,” he says. “Someone died here!”
“That wasn’t my fault! I had nothing to do with him.”
Another guy appears in the door behind, tall, shaggy-blonde hair and a hostile look. “You need to go.”
Taking a huge swallow of my pride, I say, “I need your help.”
“We don’t want to help you.”
“With Rose.”
Tom’s hand drops a little. “What’s wrong with her?”
The guy pulls at his arm. “You heard what Grace said about them. Come on.”
“About who? Grace was fine with me last night!”
I was really pissed off last night when I discovered Grace was a spy for the ghostbusters, but that’s a tiny blip on my fucked-off-with-the world radar now. Still, she was with us a few months, why didn’t Lizzie or I notice something was odd?
They slam the door in my face, and I hesitate as the two guys argue over letting me inside.
“You need to help Rose, Tom,” I call.
When the voices quieten and the door remains closed, I walk away.
Chapter 26
ALEK
When I get home, Lizzie is sitting on the front step outside, peeling the flaking paint from the front door with her fingernails. She looks up as I approach, flicking the paint on the floor. Beneath her black winter jacket, she’s wearing her nurse’s uniform.
“Where’ve you been, Alek?” she asks.
The bouncing curls and round friendly face are Lizzie, but I know she isn’t. “No point disguising yourself now,” I tell her.
“But it’s fun!” grins Lizzie. “Besides, I need to go to work to look after those poor sick kiddies.”
I shake my head, ignoring the undertone of her words, and make to step past her. She stands between me and the door. “No. You have to come with me.”
“Where?”
Lizzie tips her head, “Seriously, Alek? I said yesterday your time was up. Come on.”
I look around. “Come on to where?”
“Hospital. The doctor would like to see you.” She giggles.
The possibility of running or locking myself in the house with the Shades crosses my mind, but what I’m dealing with is bigger than her. Demons, angels, and whoever the hell this doctor is are out of my league. I fooled myself into believing I could escape the fate I chose, that I could live happily in my new state. Instead, the fear of constantly hiding and the ache of loneliness was all I had. Closed down for years, I saw hope from meeting Rose. Her arrival was the beginning of a life change I didn’t want, and now that chance has gone.
Doctor. I know that whatever is happening centres on the hospital, but I didn’t expect them to be brazen enough to take on positions of power. It’s one thing to sneak around interfering in whatever way the Dark do, but it’s another to orchestrate plans that include deaths and go unnoticed.
We arrive at the hospital, and I stare up at the huge grey building, at the rows of ward windows. I’ve stood outside this place many times recently, and I don’t want to go inside. I know I don’t intend to harm people, but I also know I will speed along the death of anyone I get close to. I swallow hard against the thought Raven might take me to the Children’s Ward.
As Lizzie, she uses her security card on a lanyard to pass from floor to floor and offers breezy hellos to people she passes. I shift my jacket around and keep my look to the tiled floor. In the elevator, a porter wheels in a patient on a bed, and I detect the death hovering around the elderly man. Closing my eyes, I attempt to detach my senses and hold my breath. As if that’ll do any good.
Eventually, we reach a wooden door with a black and silver nameplate: Julian Granger. Lizzie knocks, immediately opens the door, and then leans in
“Hello! We have a guest!” she says, the usual annoying glee in her voice.
A man looks up from the desk. He appears middle-aged, brown hair. Of course he’s attractive; not to me obviously, but I imagine his charming smile and clean-cut looks help him get what he wants. He sits in a large chair, making notes in manila folders. A bookshelf is covered in medical textbooks, his qualifications hung on the wall. Two other seats face his desk where patients meet the heart consultant and discuss their prognosis. Ordinary. Every day. Unlike him.
The door clicks shut behind.
“Alek! Thank you for agreeing to see me. I’ve been waiting for you to get in touch.”
“I’m only here because of Rose. Lizzie…Raven says if I help you, you’ll release her.”
The man smiles and gestures for me to sit in one of the comfortable, upholstered, grey chairs opposite his desk. “Release her? You make us sound so barbaric! We didn’t send her there; you know that.”
I sit. Yes, Finn did, but was Rose’s disappearance arranged by them? “Can you get her out?”