Doctor Who_ Camera Obscura - Lloyd Rose [74]
‘I’m not certain yet. But experiment will tell.’
‘You’re talking nonsense, Chiltern.’
O’Keagh had returned. Chiltern took the heavy padlock and snapped it in place. He stood up, brushing off his knees. ‘Enjoy your new lodgings. A bit less comfortable than your old ones, but you’ll get used to them in time. Or possibly not. You don’t really like close quarters, do you?’
‘How much time? How long do you imagine you can keep me here?’
‘As long as it takes,’ said Chiltern. Then O’Keagh extinguished the lamp and the two men went up the steps, shutting the kitchen door behind them and leaving the Doctor in darkness.
‘Where’s the Amontillado?’ he yelled after them, but it didn’t make him feel any better.
* * *
Chapter Seventeen
The darkness was total. Not that there was anything to see. The recess was nothing but stones and mortar. Unfortunately, as the barred gate was much taller than the actual entrance, the padlock was fastened to it high on the outer wall. The Doctor stretched an arm through the bars and groped as far up as he could reach, but without success.
Abruptly, as if sluiced down a drain, his strength left him, and he fell on his side, his cheek smashed against the stone floor. His heart pounded shudderingly and he shivered so hard his teeth chattered. He could feel every healing wound on his body as if it were fresh, and the empty side of his chest ached and sucked as if It were a vacuum. A whimper slipped from his throat.
He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth in rage. He hated this weakness. Hated it. It was easy to blame Sabbath, but Sabbath had only stolen an already-broken part of his body. And whatever had broken it – infected it, blackened it – was something he had done. Something he would never remember but that would always remember him. Pursue him. Punish him. Perhaps he no longer deserved that heart. Perhaps he was unworthy of it.
Stop this!
He rolled on to his back, took slow deep breaths, tried to will his shivering to quiet. However much he might be unworthy of the heart, he reminded himself, Sabbath was hardly a deserving recipient. He snorted at the very idea. Speaking of which, he hoped Sabbath was quick off the mark tracking him. He didn’t know how long it would take Chiltern to reset the lenses, and it was imperative the machine not be switched on.
The weakness broke over him again, soaking through to his bones. He pulled into a ball, his face in his cold hands. Nausea crawled through him. A good thing he hadn’t eaten for a couple of days. He became uneasily aware of the closeness of the recess walls. Another cramped prison. He told himself it was better than a box, but he still felt a subrational discomfort growing in him. Underground. Buried. His heart sped up. Well, at least if he had a panic fit there was no one around to be embarrassed in front of.
Or was there?
To his extreme dismay, he realised he was no longer alone.
Something was coming through the cellar towards him.
The Doctor squinted frantically into the blackness, cursing his diminished senses. In the old days, he would simply have shifted his vision into areas of the spectrum invisible to human eyes. Unfortunately, for all intents and purposes he now had human eyes. Though maybe there wasn’t yet anything to see. The sound seemed to issue from around the corner, down the passage that led to the time machine. What was it, anyway? A dragging, limping, rustling sound. He’d never heard anything quite like it. Considering all the things he’d heard, that wasn’t good at all.
Did it know he was here? Or was it just out for a little walk? The Doctor was still curled on his side. He thought he’d stay that way. He shut his eyes, even though he already couldn’t see. It might be able to see him, and he’d rather appear unconscious. The sound dragged nearer. Whatever it was, it was either crippled or not originally designed for walking. He heard ragged breathing. It was out of the passage now, coming towards