Contagion - Plans of Deception - Book One.

For some weeks Elaine’s nightmares had eased, the constant supervised sessions with one of her doctors had managed to bridge the gap of fear and reality, at least enough to allow her some restful nights. It was Amander that brought the next sequence of events together, that were in time to play a major part in their lives.

At Elaine’s request, Amander appeared one night in her bedroom with another of the fossils that she was still looking after. It had been far to heavy for Elaine to lift on her own, it was Peters birthday in two days time, Elaine had wanted this to be a surprise present, knowing how much he had enjoyed the one that she had given him, while he was still in the hospital.

Both girls carefully hid the fossilised lizard under her bed; it was a chance remark by Amander that gave rise for the Nightmares to return. Each time Elaine would re-live the events in her mind, only this time she acquired a taste of blood in her mouth. It was then that she remembered a hand been placed over her mouth, and she had found it difficult to breathe and had frantically fought for air, and of digging her teeth deeply into the abductor’s hand.

After that it was still a haze of mixed memories, it was her father who with patients and love, had gently encouraged her to talk. Elaine confided to him that she missed her mother, and had wanted the family to be back together, to her surprise her father informed her that he prayed every night, and that his wife would recover from her illness, and that he knew it was the alcohol that had made her turn against them. Explaining gently to Elaine that he not only forgave her, but also had himself to ask for her forgiveness.

As he had realised no business, wealth or power, is worth paying the price of loosing the ones that you love the most, and that he truly prayed that she would want him back, and that they could once again become a family.

This thought encouraged Elaine, as she wanted that more than she knew how to put into words. On Peter’s birthday, Elaine led her father blind folded, into the living room, there on the table carefully wrapped was her present to him. As he undid the wrapping he was soon to realise again the value of such an item, this time he realised that his daughter had not been kidding and that it was now very probable, that she did have a secret supply of rare and beautiful fossils.

Peter had originally failed to believe her due to her constant remarks about her friend Amander, and the doctors had informed him that it was perfectly normal for a child who had gone through so much, to invent an invisible friend. One who could take the pressure away, and help her come to terms with reality, in truth he had thought one of the nurses had somehow brought the item in for the child, to enable her to give it to him for a get well present.

Now with this evidence before him, he realised there was possibly more to the story than met the eye, without exception he was more than pleased with his gift. He decided to wait a while and watch more closely to see if he could discover whom this mysterious friend was.

It was only the very next day when he observed Elaine playing in the garden, she had just sat on the garden swing, when it appeared to pull itself backwards, and shaking his head he was sure it must have been a trick of the light. None the less it actually gave him a cold shudder as he felt as if, someone had just walked over his grave.

That evening he guided the subject back to fossils, and over the coming week had managed to reassure his daughter that no matter what she had done, that under no circumstances would he be angry with her, nor forbid her from seeing and playing with her friend.

It was a Saturday evening, when Elaine sat down, and decided to tell her father the full story of how Adam had taken them to Weymouth and in time how she had come to know Amander. Peter was a wise man, and had himself seen and spoken with his dead mother when he was in jail, one night he had woken with a heavy blackness turning over in his mind, that his daughter was in trouble. He had not known at the time that it was the day she was attacked and left for dead. During that night, as Elaine had slept, to weak to even move, her father had sensed her danger; and his mother had appeared to him in a vision, and assured him that all would be well. When he awoke the following morning, he was unsure if it had been a dream, or if it had really happened.

It was this very knowledge that drove him forward to accept the child’s story. “Can everyone see your friend”? He asks her, “or is it only very special people who she knows she can trust?” Elaine looked at her father, and was quiet for some minutes. “Would you like to meet her?” she asked him, as casually as any innocent child would. “Yes, very much, anyone who has saved my best girls life, and even helped to look after her, will always be a friend of mine.”

Elaine smiled and hobbled over and hugged her father, “I will ask Amander the next time I see her.” For the rest of the night Peter was unsure, just what he had let himself in for, he knew one thing for sure. That was he meant every single word that he had said to his daughter, that anyone who put themselves out to save her life and stay with her in her times of need, would always be welcome in his home.

The mornings mail brought a ray of hope into both of their lives, Christine had unknown to them been discharged and had managed for the last six weeks to have kept herself dry from drinking alcohol. The Social Services had given her a half ways house, and had even assisted her in finding a position of employment.

To Peter’s surprise, his wife was now living in Weymouth, and had asked if he would like to visit her, as in truth she still loved them both, and went on to explain in her letter, of feeling ashamed, and that what she had done, that it was wrong, and had expected to be punished for her actions, also not asking for reconciliation, but only forgiveness and an opportunity to see both Peter and her daughter again.

Christine had fought a hard and humiliating battle, in accepting her drinking problem, and in having realised that it had taken control over her life, that she had allowed it to come between her and her family. Deep within her heart was shame for her actions and had sort with great difficulty, to rebuild her life.

It had been far from an easy road for her to walk; in addition, a constant nightmare had haunted her both day and night since her child’s abduction. Realising that not only had she destroyed her own life and that of her husband, but had also allowed her child to suffer such unimaginable emotional as well as physical pain.

Christine had since that day sworn to rebuild her life, and if possible rebuild her relationship with her daughter and if ever possible, to be there when her daughter needed her, and never once felt that Peter would have it within him to forgive her.

Peter put the letter down and was silent; Elaine noticed he had a tear in his eye. “What’s the matter daddy?” Elaine asked him, Peter called her over and read the letter to his daughter, as he felt she was old enough to be included in such decisions. With the typical attitude and outlook on life, to that of a child, Elaine was full of happiness, and enquired why they could not go to Weymouth that very day and all become married and a family again.

In her eyes, it was really as simple as that; there were no complications or stupid barriers that adults sometimes seemed to put in their way. To her, if her daddy really still loved her mother, then that was it, God had answered their prayers, and was giving them another chance.

Peter smiled at the simplistic response from his much-loved daughter, “All right then” he said, “Let’s get our bags packed and get ourselves ready for another holiday.” Elaine was so excited that she had momentary forgot about her friend Amander, it was while she was alone in her room that Elaine suddenly realised Amander was sitting on the bedroom floor crying. “What’s wrong?” asked Elaine, as she put her case back on the bed, and walked over to her friend.

Amander was quiet for some seconds, and then looked up to her friend. “I’m sorry, its just I’m scared once you and your family get back together, that you will no longer want me as a friend.” Elaine sat on the floor next to her friend, and explained in some detail, her conversation with her father, and that how he had reacted to her having told him everything. She went on to assure her that they would always want to be her friend, and that there had been nothing to fear.

Adam had now drained one of his accounts down by thousands of pounds; fortunately for him it was automatically credited from the interest of another investment account every three months. The doctor had informed him that there was a way to remove him from the prison, but it was a dangerous one, and would cost him a mere Twenty Thousand English pounds. The shock had almost killed him, he thought another blow like that and he would not need the doctor, as they would carry him out in a coffin.

He had learnt one important rule, never; never agree without haggling over the price, fortunately for him he eventually agreed on Nine thousand English pounds. It was when he learnt of the doctor’s plan for his escape that is when it really hit home.

The doctor knew of a way to fake a heart attack, and make it look as if he had died, as to a layman it would look as if the heart had stopped beating. The only important factor laid in ensuring the victim received an injection, of what the doctor called his secret formula. On enquiring, what would happen if the injection was not given, the doctor smiled broadly and laughed. “Then my boy you will get to meet your maker sooner than intended.”

That idea caused Adam considerable concern, he eventually came to an agreement with the greedy doctor that if everything went according to plan, and the doctor had safely managed to secure his release, that he would then include a Five-thousand-pound bonus. He felt that was enough to ensure the doctor would not fall back on his word, as he had wanted the Nine thousand pounds to be paid up front, by wire transfer, into the doctor’s bank.

It was another two days before the doctor was ready, and with everything in place, it was now up to Adam to ingest the prepared mixture and wait for the desired effect. It was Adam who kept stalling, and it was yet another five days before he had gained the courage needed to go through with the plan. It was imperative that the doctor was near by, when the potion was digested, as the longer he was left untreated the greater the danger in been unable to revive him.

Everything was agreed; the doctor had called in an unscheduled visit, and had acknowledged Adam while walking past his room. Once the potion had been taken, Adam could feel his mind drifting between reality and hallucination, at least he hoped it was hallucination’s, as if what he could see was real, then he knew he was in big trouble.

Everything was going according to the doctor’s plan, he could feel himself becoming tired, and it was almost as if there was no air in the room. He could hear himself calling out as he stumbled towards one of the prison wardens, then everything seemed to momentarily go black.

He just lay there unable to move, and his eyes were in a fixed glaze staring upwards. To his surprise, he could hear everything as the wardens and prisoners frantically moved around him. Voices seemed to be coming from everywhere, and then standing over his defenceless body, he could see one of the prisoners, as he started to undress him, and was stealing his clothing.

One of the wardens then appeared with a pair of pliers in his hand, and placed them into his mouth, after some painful seconds he had extracted the one gold-capped tooth that Adam had. To Adams horror he was fully aware of everything that was going on around him, and could even see as well as feel pain, he was just unable to react in any way manner or form.

Unknown to the doctor, Adam had already taken the potion, but as no one had come running to fetch him, he had no choice other than to go on with his rounds. It was not until another twelve minutes, that he realised something had gone wrong.

There was a commotion coming from the yard, on investigation he saw Adams naked body lying on the floor, there were already insects and flies that had started to investigate the body. Quickly he acted, demanding that the body be taken without delay to his vehicle, as the UK Embassy would want to know why he had not been looked after.

He quietly explained to the head warden that there was a good price paid for usable organs and that it was imperative for him to get the body back to his home and placed on ice. Further explaining that if he had been successful in saving the organs that he would ensure he receives 20% of whatever was made.

This was all the incentive needed, within eight more minutes the body was been laid down on an already prepared bed of ice. It took the doctor a further three minutes just to convince the warden to leave, he had wanted to watch the doctor cut open the body and ensure that his investment was in good hands.

As the doctor walked back to the body, Adam looked up at him, his eyes were fixed open and he was still unable to move or respond in any way. A fly had landed on his eye and had proceeded to lay its eggs. For Adam, it was beyond a Nightmare, from everywhere he could feel the very presence of death about him, as if lingering like a vulture, waiting for its prey to die. “I’m so sorry,” the doctor kept saying “I have never recovered anyone from been down for so long before.” He was fighting with his own conscious, not knowing if he could or should revive the person that lay before him.

It was the thought of the additional Five Thousand Pounds, that eventually made him administer the antidote, Adam watched as the doctor prepared to inject a long needle directly into his heart. After that he could feel and see the man as he started manually pumping his heart to encourage the antidote to circulate.

For some minutes, he could sense his whole-body soul and mind, as it drifted in and out of reality, for some seconds he could smell the stench of death all around him, and with screams of agony echoing in his mind, then everything went quiet.

He could no longer see or hear anything, unsure even if he was alive, the silence was almost worst than the multitude of conflicting thoughts and noise. As the light slowly drifted back he realised he could once again hear and see everything that was going on around him. Yet he was still unable to respond in any manner, to no matter how much outside stimulus that he was subjected to, and he could now hear voices, as they argued over the body, then the doctor leaned over him with a needle in his hand and preceded to puncture his eye. “You see the man is quiet dead, there is no reaction at all,” it was only then that Adam realised it was the Prison Governor standing next to the doctor, and that he understood what had happened. The man had suddenly realised his free meal ticket was to be taken away and had wanted for himself to ensure that the man was really dead.

Then suddenly to his surprise, Adam could see and feel himself been lifted into a coffin. It was when the lid was nailed shut that he found himself in a blind panic, but still unable in any way, to physically respond. From within the coffin, he found himself looking out onto the world, through a small glass window, as he was being lowered into his grave. Then he watched the dirt as it was being shovelled back into the grave, it seemed an eternity, until everything had become dark and silent. Before long he could not even hear the dirt settling any more onto the coffin, he just lay there, staring into the darkness.

The doctor was in a panic; he kept praying that he had managed to get enough of the antidote into Adams body, before the governor had interrupted him. There was so little now that he could do, other than to wait until it was dark, and pray that there were no other people who were around. It was then that he made his way back to the cemetery, intending to dig up the body. As he arrived he could hear what sounded like pigs, and to his horror, a group of some six wild bores had dug up the shallow grave, and were frantically tearing at the lid, trying to get to the body that lay inside.

Adam had no choice other than to lie there, he could hear the squealing animals, as they frantically tore away at the coffin lid. On two occasions, one of the beasts had pushed its mouth through a hole, which it had made, and then taken a chunk of meat from his leg. Picking up a shovel the doctor launched into the pack, killing one pig instantly and mortally wounding another, even then the remaining few refused to give up there find, they could smell blood and fresh meat and were been driven on by hunger.

After another too or three blows with the spade, the doctor almost decapitated a large bore. This was enough, the remaining group turned and ran into the cover of the night, and within minutes the doctor had opened the damaged lid, to discover bite marks deep into one of Adams legs. He picked up the body, took it to his car and drove away, he was hoping come morning that the cemetery attendant would think it was pigs that had dragged the body away.