in the opposite corner of the room with his notebook out and he was jotting down notes. The Doctor approached Grace and his tanned face cracked like wood as he smiled down at her. His teeth were as white as the tiles in the room and Grace had to stop herself from coughing from the strong scent of too much cologne.
“Do you have any persisting heart conditions?” Doctor Clancy asked Grace.
Grace felt a chill run along her spine, what the hell was this mad man going to do to her she thought as she felt her skin crawl under his gaze. “Why?” Grace said.
“The procedure can be tough on even the strongest of men. Its good to know these things ahead of time,” The Doctor said and turned and walked over to the table. He put his leather bag down on the floor close to the drain and whispered something in Tulimak's ear.
“What are you sick bastards going to do,” Grace shouted at the two men. She strained at her straps, arching her back again and again as she thrashed about. Her head slumped on her chest as she sucked in lungfuls of air. Even if I broke free I don’t think I could run more than a few steps before I collapsed she thought as her throat burned.
“Don’t wear yourself out you have a long day ahead of you,” Tulimak said. He cracked his knuckles and walked back over to Grace. The Doctor opened his bag and started to take out medical implements and place them on the metal table. Tulimak looked down at Graces sweat stained face and said, “I think the doctor is about to begin. If you try to look away from the Doctor while he is working I will have young Slattery over there cut off one of your fingers, maybe this one”, he said tapping her on the index finger of her right hand. “If you continue to look away, he will,” he paused and looked over at Slattery and said, “what would you take next?”
“An ear,” Slattery said without even looking up from his notebook.
“You can see how this goes. It’s in your best interests to enjoy the show,” Tulimak said and then stood beside her so as not to block her view from the horror show about to unfold.
5
Nathaniel
T he man stood at the edge of the forest and looked at the house across the perfectly manicured lawn. Two bikes lay in the middle of the grass on their sides. The house was a large structure of wood with big windows that looked out onto the forest. The lawn was divided by a small stream which ran the length of the garden and past the house. On the opposite side of the stream was an identical cabin style house. If the bikes weren’t lying in the grass of the house straight ahead the houses would have looked like near perfect mirror images of each other. Movement at a large top floor window caught his eye. A young boy was gesticulating wildly while an older woman bent and listened to him. She had her hand on his shoulder and looked like she was trying to calm the boy down.
The man heard a noise in the forest and he moved back a few steps and lowered to a crouch. A young boy came running jogging out of the woods behind the opposite house. He stopped as he was half way across his lawn when he spotted the woman and boy standing by the window of his neighbours house. The young boy turned and ran and built up some speed. When he hit the edge of the stream he leapt effortlessly across the gap and ran to the back door of the other house. He opened the door and the man could see him climbing the stairs and heading towards the other people. The two boys hugged and then began pointing back at the wood and talking at a rapid pace. The man could see the woman glance repeatedly in the direction of the tree line. The three of them ran downstairs and the woman picked up a phone and dialled it while talking to the boys.
The watching man turned back into the forest and headed back to his people. Men will come soon he thought to himself as he moved swiftly making very little sound. We have to run and hide until we are stronger. As he walked back he tried to
Yvette Hines, Monique Lamont