Mutation (26 page)

     When he arrived at the point VJ and Philip had gone left, he caught sight of them nearing the clock tower building. As he watched, the two mounted the few steps in front of the deserted building and entered through the doorless entranceway.

     "What on earth can they be doing in there?" Victor asked himself. Keeping out of sight as much as possible, he went as far as the entranceway, then paused to listen. But all he could hear was the sound of the falls.

     Perplexed, Victor entered. He waited a moment until his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Once they had, he found just the kind of mess he'd expected to find in the abandoned building. The floor was littered with rubble and trash.

     The first floor was dominated by a large room with window openings over the millpond. Any glass had long since been broken. Not even the sashes remained. In the center of the room was a pile of debris giving evidence of squatters who had probably occupied the place before Chimera purchased the complex and fenced it in. Over the whole scene hung a pervasive smell of rotting wood, fabric, and cardboard.

     Stealthily moving toward the center of the room, Victor tried to listen again, but the noise of the falls was even more dominating inside than it had been outside. He could make out no other sounds.

     Along the side opposite the river was a series of small rooms that opened onto the main room. Victor started at the first and worked his way down. Each was filled with trash, to varying degrees. At either end and in the center of the building were stairwells that led to the two floors above. Victor went to the center staircase and slowly climbed up. On each floor he searched the warren of little rooms on both sides of a long hallway. Each room had its complement of rubble, litter, and dirt.

     Mystified, Victor returned to the first floor. He walked to one of the front window openings and gazed out at the river, the dam, the pond, and then at the empty sluice, closed from the river with its rusted doors.

     It was then that Victor remembered that the clock tower building was connected to the other buildings by elaborate tunnel systems to distribute the rotary mechanical power of the paddle wheels. It was obvious VJ was not in the clock tower building now. Victor wondered if it was this system his son had stumbled onto.

     Victor whirled about, his hair standing on edge. He thought he'd heard something over the roar of the falls, or felt something; he wasn't sure which. His eyes rapidly scanned the room but no one was there, and when he strained to listen, all he heard was the sound of the river.

     Going from one stairwell to the other, Victor searched for the entrance to the basement. But he couldn't find it. He looked again, still to no avail. There were no steps leading down. Stepping over to a window opening on the south side of the building, he looked to see if there might be a basement entrance from the outside, but there wasn't. There seemed no way to get into the basement.

     Victor left the building and walked back to the occupied section of the Chimera complex to visit the office of Buildings and Grounds. Using his master key, he let himself in and turned on the lights. He immediately went to the file room. From a huge metal cabinet he retrieved the architectural drawings of all the existing structures on the Chimera property. Referencing the clock tower building on the master site plan, he found the drawings for it and pulled them out.

     The first drawing was of the basement. It showed where the water tunnel entered the edifice. Within the basement the water flowed through a heavily planked trough where it turned a series of paddle wheels that were mounted both horizontally and vertically. The basement itself was divided into one central room with all the power wheels and a number of side rooms. The tunnel system emanated from one of the side rooms on the east end.

     Victor then looked at the plan for the first floor. He found the stairway that led down to the basement easily enough. It was immediately to the right of the central stairwell. He could not imagine how he had missed it.

     To be doubly sure, he made a copy of the basement and first-floor plans, using the special copy machine that Chimera had for that purpose. He reduced the copies to legal-paper size. With these in hand, he returned to the clock tower building, determined to explore below.

     Victor made his way through the trash on the floor and approached the central stairwell. Standing in front of it, he looked to the immediate right. He even took the copy of the existing floor plan and held it up to make sure he'd read it right.

     Victor couldn't understand what he was doing wrong. There were no basement stairs. He even walked around the other side of the stairwell just in case the blueprints were in error. But there were no stairs going down on that side either.

     Walking back to the location where the plans said the stairway was supposed to be, Victor noticed that the area was devoid of the debris that was scattered over the rest of the floor. Finding that odd, he bent down and noticed something else: the floor planking was wider than it was in the rest of the building. And it was newer wood.

     Victor started at a sound from behind. He turned, but it seemed there was nothing there. Still, he felt there was someone there in the semidarkness. Someone very near. Terrified, Victor tried to scan the surrounding cavernous room. Again from behind he heard or felt a second sound or vibration. No doubt about it: a footfall. Victor turned, but too late. He could just make out the shadowy silhouette of a figure raising some sort of object over his head. He tried to lift his hands to protect himself from the blow, but could not save himself from its power. His mind collapsed into a black abyss.

     After leaving Lowell, Marsha stopped at a roadside concession and used the phone and called the Blakemores. She felt mildly awkward, but managed to get herself invited over for a short visit. It took her about half an hour to get to their home in West Boxford at 479 Plum Island Road.

     As she pulled in, Marsha was glad it had stopped raining. But as she opened the door to her car, she wished she'd taken one of her down coats. The temperature was dropping rapidly.

     The Blakemore house was a cozy structure reminiscent of the kind of houses seen on Cape Cod. The windows were mullioned and painted white. Arching over the entranceway was a latticed wood arbor. Marsha climbed the front steps and rang the bell.

     Mrs. Blakemore opened the door. She was a stocky woman about Marsha's age, with short hair turned up at the ends. "Come in," she said, eyeing Marsha curiously. "I'm Edith Blakemore."

     Marsha felt the woman's stare and wondered if there was something amiss with her appearance, like a dark spot between her front teeth from the fruit she'd just eaten. She ran her tongue over her teeth just to be sure.

     Inside the house was every bit as charming as the exterior. The furniture was early American antique with chintz-covered couches and wing chairs. On the wide-planked pine floor were rag rugs.

     "May I take your coat?" Edith asked. "How about some coffee or tea?"

     "Tea would be nice," Marsha said. She followed Edith into the living room.

     Mr. Blakemore, who had been sitting by the fire with the newspaper, got to his feet as Marsha entered. "I'm Carl Blakemore," he said, extending his hand. He was a big man with leathery skin and dark features.

     Marsha shook his hand.

     "Sit down, make yourself at home," Carl said, motioning to the couch. After Marsha sat down, he returned to his own seat, placing the paper on the floor next to his chair. He smiled pleasantly. Edith disappeared into the kitchen.

     "Interesting weather," Carl said, attempting to make conversation.

     Marsha could not rid herself of the uncomfortable feeling she'd gotten when Edith had first looked at her. There was something stiff and unnatural about these people but Marsha couldn't put her finger on it.

     A boy came down the stairs and into the room. He was just about VJ's age but larger and stockier, with sandy-colored hair and dark brown eyes. There was a tough look about him, and the resemblance to Mr. Blakemore was striking. "Hello," he said, extending his hand in a gentlemanly fashion.

     "You must be Richie," Marsha said, shaking hands with the boy. "I'm VJ's mother. I've heard a lot about you." Marsha felt an exaggeration was in order.

     "You have?" Richie asked uncertainly.

     "Yes," Marsha said. "And the more I heard, the more I wanted to meet you. Why don't you come over to our house sometime? I suppose VJ has told you we have a swimming pool."

     "VJ never told me you have a swimming pool," Richie said. He sat on the hearth and stared up at Marsha to the point that she felt even more uncomfortable.

     "I don't know why he didn't," Marsha said. She looked at Carl. "You never know what's in these children's minds," she said with a smile.

     "Guess not," Carl said.

     There was an awkward silence. Marsha wondered what was going on.

     "Milk or lemon?" Edith asked, coming into the room and breaking the silence. She carried a tray into the living room and put it on the coffee table.

     "Lemon," Marsha said. She took the cup from Edith and held it while Edith poured. Then she squeezed in a little lemon. When she was finished, she settled back. Then she noticed that the other three people were not joining her. They were just staring.

     "No one else is having any tea?" Marsha asked, feeling progressively self-conscious.

     "You enjoy it," Edith said.

     Marsha took a sip. It was hot, so she placed it on the coffee table. She cleared her throat nervously. "I'm sorry to have barged in on you like this."

     "Not at all," Edith said. "Being a rainy day and all, we've just been relaxing around the house."

     "I've wanted to meet you for some time," Marsha said. "You've been awfully nice to VJ, I'd like to return the favor."

     "What exactly do you mean?" Edith asked.

     "Well, for one thing," Marsha said, "I'd like to have Richie come over to our home and spend the night. If he'd like to, of course. Would you like to do that, Richie?"

     Richie shrugged his shoulders.

     "Why exactly would you like Richie to spend the night?" Carl asked.

     "To return the favor, of course," Marsha said. "Since VJ has spent so many nights over here, I thought it only natural that Richie come to our house once in a while."

     Carl and Edith exchanged glances. Edith spoke: "Your son has never spent the night here. I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

     Marsha looked from one person to the other, her confusion mounting. "VJ has never stayed here overnight?" she asked incredulously.

     "Never," Carl said.

     Looking down at Richie, Marsha asked, "What about last Sunday. Did you and VJ spend time together?"

     "No," Richie said, shaking his head.

     "Well, then, I suppose I have to apologize for taking your time," Marsha said, embarrassed. She stood up. Edith and Carl did the same.

     "We thought you'd come to talk about the fight," Carl said.

     "What fight?" Marsha asked.

     "Apparently VJ and our boy had a little disagreement," Carl said. "Richie had to spend the night in the infirmary with a broken nose."

     "Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Marsha said. "I'll have to have a talk with VJ."

     As quickly and as gracefully as she could, Marsha left the Blakemore house. When she got into her car, she was furious. She sure would have a talk with VJ. He was even worse off than she'd thought. How could she have missed so much? It was as though her son had a separate life, one entirely different from the one he presented. Such cool, calm deceit was markedly abnormal! What was happening to her little boy?

11. Saturday Afternoon

     Victor regained consciousness gradually. Through a haze, he heard muffled noises he couldn't make out. Then he realized the noises were voices. Finally he recognized VJ's voice, and the boy was angry, yelling at someone, telling them that Victor was his father.

     "I'm sorry." The words carried a heavy Spanish accent. "How was I to know?"

     Victor felt himself being shaken. The jostling made him aware that his head hurt. He felt dizzy. Reaching up, he felt a lump the size of a golf ball on the top of his forehead.

     "Dad?" VJ called.

     Victor opened his eyes groggily. For a moment the headache became intense, then waned. He was looking up into VJ's icy blue eyes. His son was holding his shoulders. Beyond VJ were other faces with swarthy complexions. Next to VJ was a particularly dark man with an almost sinister expression on his face, heightened by the effect of an eyelid that drooped over his left eye.

     Closing his eyes again and gritting his teeth, Victor sat up. Dizziness made him totter for a moment, but VJ helped steady him. When the dizziness passed, Victor opened his eyes again. He also felt the bump again, only vaguely remembering how he'd gotten it.

     "Are you all right, Dad?" VJ persisted.

     "I think so," Victor said. He looked at the strangers. They were dressed in the typical Chimera security uniforms, but he didn't recognize any of them. Behind them stood Philip, looking sheepish and afraid.

     Glancing around the room to orient himself, Victor first thought he was back in his lab because he was surrounded by the usual bevy of sophisticated scientific instrumentation. Right next to him he noticed one of the newest instruments available on the market: a fast protein liquid chromatography unit.

     But he wasn't in his lab. The setting was an inappropriate combination of high-tech with a rustic background of exposed granite and hewn beams.

     "Where am I?" Victor asked as he rubbed his eyes with the knuckles of his index fingers.

     "You are where you aren't supposed to be," VJ said.

     "What happened to me?" Victor asked as he tried to get his feet under him to stand.