Death in the Black Wood by Oliver Davies (epub read online books .txt) 📕

“It knows we can’t. If we start breaking laws like that, we’d be as culpable of interference as they are. You humans have to work it out for yourselves. That’s why the enemy are here. To prevent you from getting that far.” The Companion sounded coldly angry in its own quiet way. “As for the powerful, don’t you think a lot of them have been taken? How else would you explain the endless wars and suffering on this planet? I think you should gag it. It’s only trying to confuse you, make you doubt your purpose.”

Damned right it was!

I squeezed the trigger and was rewarded with a wash of approval as the two electrodes flew out and struck my captive in the chest. I gave it the full five second burst as it collapsed sideways and lay prone, muscles contracting uncontrollably. That should keep it unable to react for a few minutes. I unlocked the cell door.

“Give it another burst, just in case. Better safe than sorry.” My Companion was right, and I did so gladly. It wasn’t hard to force a bundled cloth into its mouth before quickly taping over it. There. The sneaky bastard wouldn’t be able to trouble me any more now.

Distraction summarily dealt with, I locked the door again and went to sit down at the table. The new set of markings I was to use was proving difficult to memorise, and they’d need to be smaller and neater this time. I was practising my work on those with a piece of belly pork and a craft knife.

“What do they mean?” I asked curiously.

“It’s a message, and it doesn’t concern you. You wouldn’t understand it, anyway. Just keep trying. You’re doing very well.”

I didn’t like it, but I did as I was told. I was pretty sure that I’d lost time again yesterday and I wasn’t too happy about that either. The Companion rarely seized control of my body for itself but we both knew that however reluctantly it occasionally did so, it wouldn’t let its finer feelings stop it from performing its duty. It wasn’t at all the same as what the enemy did, stealing memories and destroying the host entirely. Necessity could be a cruel master and I knew that our kindly allies felt they had been tainted by their struggle on our behalf over the years. The Companion probably hated inhabiting my flesh far more than I disliked it doing so. Holding a grudge would be ungrateful, to say the least. I’d volunteered, hadn’t I? I was pretty sure I had, even if the details had become rather fuzzy.

“Of course you did! And it was one of the happiest moments of my existence when you agreed to help us. You are such a treasure to us all! Now, please stop thinking about things that upset you before I have to intervene again.” We certainly didn’t want that!

“Alright, talk me through what I need to do on Tuesday night again. I don’t want to risk making a mistake.”

Our captive seemed to have decided to stay on the floor. Even after I knew it had recovered from the shocks I’d given it, there was no sign of it trying to sit up again. Now and then, as my instructions were repeated, I could have sworn it made some little choking noises, like an upset human would do… or an alien that had only just realised that it was going to die.

Well, the real Chris Arnold had been dead for some time and that thing had been living his life, playing with his children, perhaps even fucking his wife, which was revolting to even think about. Our adversaries would do whatever they had to in order to convince everyone that they were who they were pretending to be. They cared only for their own kind and you couldn’t compare their emotions to human emotions. At least I’d saved the man’s family from any more of that sort of vile manipulation. Let them grieve their loss, as they rightly should, even if they never discovered how long the man had already been dead for.

For myself, as I made another series of careful cuts in the pigskin and listened, again, to my instructions, I couldn’t help but feel my impatience growing. Yes, the work was both vital and necessary but if I was being honest with myself I knew that I cared more about the reward I would be given, once I’d completed my work satisfactorily, than anything else.

After last time, I could hardly wait to feel such intense pleasure again.

Thirteen

Caitlin

A little after Area Commander James McKinnon had left, Conall came out of his office and called us all together.

“Alright, people, we have a new priority job on the Chris Arnold case. Walker, you’re teaming up with Mills. Collins, you take Bryce. Caitlin’s with me. Here are your lists.” He handed out sheets to Walker and Collins. I thought I’d heard his printer running a few minutes ago. “You’ve got electronic copies in your inboxes too. The lists detail the names, addresses and phone numbers of some of the van owners whose vehicles match the dimensions of the one seen at the scene of Chris Arnold’s disappearance on Monday morning. They are all single occupancy dwellings, and we need to speak with every one of those occupants face-to-face. The addresses have been divided geographically, to minimise travel time between calls.”

He perched on the edge of my desk and gave us all a long, hard look. “When you speak to these people, be on the alert for any sign of strange behaviour. You’ve all had training in spotting signs of mental illness so make sure you’re still familiar with what to look out for. Brush up on that before you head out if you need to. Assess their physical fitness as best you can and bear in mind that our culprit needs to be capable of lifting