The Books of Blood - Volume 1 by Clive Barker

Author:Clive Barker [Barker, Clive]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Horror
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2013-03-11T07:00:00+00:00

"Henessey dead?" said Leverthal, head still down as she wrote one of her interminable reports. "It's another fabrication. One minute the child says he's in the Center, the next he's dead. The boy can't even get his story straight."

It was difficult to argue with the contradictions unless one accepted the idea of ghosts as readily as Lacey. There was no way Redman was going to try to argue that point with the woman. That part was a nonsense. Ghosts were foolishness; just fears made visible. But the possibility of Henessey's suicide made more sense to Redman. He pressed on with his argument.

"So where did Lacey get this story from, about Henessey's death? It's a funny thing to invent."

She deigned to look up, her face drawn up into itself like a snail in its shell.

"Fertile imaginations are par for the course here. If you heard the tales I've got on tape: the exoticism of some of them would blow your head open."

"Have there been suicides here?"

"In my time?" She thought for a moment, pen poised. "Two attempts. Neither, I think, intended to succeed. Cries for help."

"Was Henessey one?"

She allowed herself a little sneer as she shook her head.

"Henessey was unstable in a completely different direction. He thought he was going to live forever. That was his little dream: Henessey the Nietzschean Superman. He had something close to contempt for the common herd. As far as he was concerned, he was a breed apart. As far beyond the rest of us mere mortals as he was beyond that wretched–"

He knew she was going to say pig, but she stopped just short of the word.

"Those wretched animals on the farm," she said, looking back down at her report.

"Henessey spent time at the farm?"

"No more than any other boy," she lied. "None of them like farm duties, but it's part of the work rota. Mucking out isn't a very pleasant occupation. I can testify to that."

The lie he knew she'd told made Redman keep back Lacey's final detail: that Henessey's death had taken place in the pigsty. He shrugged, and took an entirely different tack.

"Is Lacey under medication?"

"Some sedatives."

"Are the boys always sedated when they've been in a fight?"

"Only if they try to make escapes. We haven't got enough staff to supervise the likes of Lacey. I don't see why you're so concerned."

"I want him to trust me. I promised him. I don't want him let down."

"Frankly, all this sounds suspiciously like special pleading. The boy's one of many. No unique problems, and no particular hope of redemption."

"Redemption?" It was a strange word.

"Rehabilitation, whatever you choose to call it. Look Redman, I'll be frank. There's a general feeling that you're not really playing ball here."

"Oh?"

"We all feel, I think this includes the Governor, that you should let us go about our business the way we're used to. Learn the ropes before you start—"

"Interfering."

She nodded. "It's as good a word as any. You're making enemies."

"Thank you for the warning."

"This job's difficult enough without enemies, believe me.

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