Doctor Who_ The Banquo Legacy - Andy Lane [104]
And then she smiled. And it was somehow beautiful as well as terrible.
Harries took a lurching step forward, his arms stretched out at us, and Susan stepped back. The Doctor immediately moved between them, although he must have known he could never stop the grotesque form that moved slowly over towards Susan.
‘No, Harries. Think what you are doing,’ he pleaded uselessly. ‘Don’t let her use you.’
‘Think?’ laughed Catherine behind me. ‘His mind is mine.’
Harries brushed the Doctor easily aside and reached out for Susan as he stumbled and fell back.
‘Richard – no… Please.’ She was not actually crying, but her cheeks were studded with tears. ‘Richard…’
He hesitated. A second – no more; but he hesitated. I could see from the Doctor’s expression as he struggled to his feet again that this was the opening he had been looking for.
‘That’s it. Struggle against her mind,’ he shouted. ‘This is Susan – remember Susan. You were going to marry her.’
Harries took another step towards Susan.
‘You loved her!’
He stopped again, and half turned towards where the Doctor stood, defiant, then to his sister as if for help. Finally he looked into Susan Seymour’s eyes, and saw his confusion reflected in her fear and desperation, and his torn flesh in her irises. Harries stopped.
‘Don’t listen.’ Catherine was desperate, as if she sensed his dilemma would give way in Susan’s favour. Perhaps she did. ‘You must kill them. For me.’ Harries stood immobile still. ‘For you. For us!’ She was all but screaming at him now.
Harries lurched forward a fraction, leaning over Susan. His arms stretched out ready to strangle, to embrace. But still he held back.
‘Kill her!’ And this time it was a scream. But Harries made no move to obey his sister. Susan backed away another step – hardly any distance at all, but it was enough. I moved to bar Harries’s way again, as oblivious as the others to the more immediate threat. If Harries was paralysed with emotional confusion, his sister was galvanised by it. Susan was closer to her now and Catherine stepped quickly forward, reversed the revolver she held and made to hit Susan hard across the head with the butt. I leaped towards her, managing to knock her aside, but the blow still glanced off Susan’s skull, making her stagger under the impact.
My immediate reaction was to see to Susan. But before I could reach her, Harries shoved me aside. He followed through the action, bringing his arms up once more and reaching out for her soft white neck, his confusion resolved and his instincts again in control. His fingers closed on Susan’s flesh as Baker and the Doctor both launched themselves at Harries, dragging him back and away from Susan, who sank choking to the floor. I pulled her clear of the struggle. She was unconscious, but her eyelids flickered with life. Stratford eased himself aside while Kreiner helped me rest Susan’s body on the chaise longue.
I glanced up, meaning to thank Kreiner for his help. But he was no longer there. He was rushing to help Baker, as the Doctor was hurled aside.
The sergeant was losing his battle against Harries, who had closed a hand on Baker’s throat. Kreiner hurled himself on Harries, driving him back. But still the creature kept its bloodied hands round Baker’s throat despite Kreiner’s efforts to prise them away. It took me a moment to work out why Baker was fighting one-handed, and before any of the rest of us could move to help him Catherine recovered herself and brought her revolver up to cover us.
She had recovered her breath, although her eyes streamed with the effort as she searched for a clear shot at the men who grappled with her brother’s corpse. It seemed she could not bring herself to risk shooting her brother, no matter that he would not feel the bullet. At last, as Kreiner struggled to distract Harries, Baker managed