Blood & Magic Read Free Page A

lab, he probably needed help after all. As he moved towards the end of the corridor, Henry noticed a strange noise coming from beyond the security doors that sectioned off phlebotomy. Phlebotomy should have been empty after 5pm, the noise of complaining patients diminishing over the course of the day from the cacophony of 8am, where people queued like cattle, waiting to have their blood taken. What could make such a noise now? Reaching the door, Henry squinted through the glass square, which was reinforced with a chequer of metal wire. The corridor and waiting room were cloaked in darkness and as he reached for the door handle, Henry instinctively paused. Something was wrong. Pressing his face against the glass, he scanned the waiting room beyond.
    There was a roar, deep and animalistic, as the glass pane of the door shattered, a fist beating furiously against it. Pieces of glass showered across Henry's face as the metal grid held in place. He stumbled backward as a face stared at him through the shattered windowpane, crazed eyes burning red for an instant with anger. Fists continued to pound the door, trying to get in and, through the darkness, Henry could see other figures pacing, a pack of sharks waiting for the kill.
    Alerted by the sudden noise, people spilled out from the labs, surrounding Henry. Someone tried to calm the crazed man, but he continued to shout, cursing incoherently. Henry's subconscious took over and before his mind could catch up, he was sprinting down the corridor away from the man at the door. He ran as fast as he could, as if his existence depended on it, past the staff bathroom and to the emergency flight of stairs. Henry skipped as many as he could at a time, desperately correcting himself when he faltered and fell. He ran for his life, although he did not know what from. Nothing made sense.
    He reached the bottom of the staircase and barged open the fire escape, heading across the square of parked cars and ambulance bays. The sound of drunken punters spilling out from the nearby pub was all that disrupted the still night, as moonlight failed to illuminate the street ahead. He had no clue where he was going, but he carried on regardless. Henry heard footsteps behind, chasing him. He did not turn back, pushing himself to breaking point as if his survival depended on his escape. Perhaps it did, or maybe this was just a paranoid fantasy. To suppose that was true would mean he should stop running, that was the only sensible and rational course of action. There was no reason anyone would chase him, let alone want to do him harm.
    Henry kept running.
    There was a sharp prick, as a needle plunged into Henry’s neck. He hadn't seen the man standing amongst the gloom. A warm sensation spread under his skin and his legs gave way without warning. An arm thrust under his shoulder dragged him around the street corner and, taking a firm grip of his lapel, threw him across the back seat of a car. He could hear more running footsteps, closer this time, followed by the start of an engine and screeching tyres. Henry had been kidnapped.

- Chapter 4 -
Torn Tweed
    He was late, but in all honesty, Meyer didn't care. It wasn't as if he was travelling by choice, he was being summoned by a fool. Turning into Greys Inn road, Meyer pulled his collar up against the chill wind that swept around the corner of the street. Small beads of sweat formed across his brow from the minimal amount of exercise he had completed in walking this far; God, he was unfit. He was greeted by pulses of royal blue light, the iridescent hues rhythmically chasing away the dank yellow streetlight as it swept along the road. The source of the light was clear, even without Meyer's thick spectacles which, if he remembered correctly, had been left on the table in the library. In the near distance, a swarm of police cars huddled around the entrance to Greys Inn gardens as blurred fluorescent jackets ran back and forth between the vehicles and the entrance