Chapter Five (Part Three)

(continued)

Year 1999:
The crowd gathered on the green-acres before Royston Academy was slowly dispersing. The excited graduates and their parents were leaving, perhaps for a cozy familial celebration dinner.

Campbell looked around, trying to spot Landon amongst the few still scattered across the lawn. His son was nowhere to be found.
It had been at least a half an hour since he and Jason went off to find a few other of their friends.
Landon said he would take five to ten minutes. Only five to ten minutes. If he doesn’t show up anytime soon, he would miss the congratulatory dinner Campbell had booked for them at the Grand Hotel.
Walking slowly up the front lawn, Campbell glanced around for Landon once more. Perhaps he’s in the main building. He thought, heading for the flight of stoned steps which would take him up to the main entrance.
Walking through the quiet foyer, the tall glass shelves displaying numerous trophies and plaques stroke a familiar chord in Campbell. The wooden paneling, the carpet, the smell of the school – it hadn’t changed much since his school days.

It was still good old Royston Academy.

Campbell walked through the corridors, his footsteps echoing loudly behind him. There seemed to be not a single soul in the building. He wondered where Landon had disappeared to.

And then he heard it: the unmistaken clanging of locker doors. Somebody was in the lockers area, tucked into a corner located towards the end of the corridor.
Must be Landon, Campbell thought affectionately. He must have left something behind in his locker and went to collect it, probably like a school certificate commending him for his sportsmanship or something. A small smile widen over Campbell’s face at his own thoughts.

‘Landon?’ Campbell called, turning into the corner. His smile froze, then vanished instantaneously. It was Landon alright – locked into an embrace with Jason, their lips pressing wildly against each other’s faces.

‘Father!’ Landon shouted, pulling away from his friend when he saw Campbell standing before him. ‘It wasn’t – We’re not –’

He didn’t have to explain any further; Campbell had already turned to go, his frenzied footsteps pattering noisily down the hallway. He could hear Landon calling after him, but he didn’t care.

The scene just now – everything – just reminded Campbell of his ex-wife. His deceased ex-wife.

Landon wasn’t that different from his freak of a mother after all.

*
This was the only way he could save his son.

Until he finds the perfect cure to correct Landon’s defective genes – ones he must have inherited from his mother – he would have to keep him cataleptic.
He couldn’t take any more chances. The last time he had tried the cure on Landon; the one which wasn’t completely perfect, he had turned his son to be an ever bigger monster.

To the very extent he now had to stay comatose and strapped down, so the beast in him couldn’t be unleashed.

It wouldn’t be long now, Campbell thought, stroking Landon’s cheek with his finger. I’ll cure you soon enough, son, and return you the normal life you deserved.

Campbell’s cell phone rang, jerking him out of his thoughts and emotions.

‘Hello? Campbell speaking,’

‘Doctor Campbell? It’s David. Is everything okay back there?’

Campbell walked to the nearest bin and disposed of the used syringe, together with the empty glass bottles. ‘Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m done in here.’

‘That’s good. You’d better come back to your office then. The journalist’s already here.’

‘Alright, humor her will you, David? I’m on my way back now.’

‘Sure.’

Campbell snapped his phone shut and placed it back into his pockets. Fishing out the magnetic-strip card, he left the room, swiping it twice again on the slot. The green light above the box flickered on.

Assured that the room was securely locked, Campbell hurried towards the stairs, the wheels in his head already turning at full-speed. He had to handle the interview later flawlessly and turn the tables back in favor of the hospital.
Truthfully, it didn’t bother him much. He has had such interviews before, and there wasn’t once he had screwed up.

Charisma and sleekness – those were things Campbell never lacked.

Entering back into main hospital premises, Campbell waited for the lift, checking his reflection against the sliver doors. He looked smart enough.

The elevator hit basement one, its doors pulling open with a slight whirl.

‘Hey there, Doctor Campbell.’

Campbell looked up. ‘Oh hello, Isaiah.’

The young security guard stepped out from the lift, his left hand holding a wrapped sandwich. He was the vigilant one who had alerted him about Matt’s disappearance minutes after it’d happened. Though young and new, Isaiah was certainly not a novice at the job, compared to the old dogs who could take up to a full day, before they noticed a disappearance in the special wards.

‘My lunch,’ he laughed, waving his sandwich around when he saw Campbell looking at it.

Campbell smiled. ‘No time for even a proper lunch at the cafeteria? I hadn’t been working you too hard, have I?’

‘Oh, no, definitely not. Stepping up on the watch is the right thing to do, especially after that blonde-haired patient’s disappearance.’

‘I’m glad we share the same sentiments.’

‘Yep, guess we do share the same interests. I’ve to get back to the security office now, Doctor Campbell.’

‘By all means,’ Campbell replied, stepping aside as he pressed the lift doors opened.

Exchanging goodbyes with the young guard, Campbell stepped into the empty lift, hitting the ‘5th floor’ button that would bring him to his office.

They certainly needed more security guards like Isaiah on the team.

Perhaps then, would his special patients stop going missing once and for all. For the sake of his son, all the missing ones had to be located and brought under control, just in case they screw things up for him before Landon could have the perfect cure.