I pulled into the driveway of the farm, and got out to open the rusty gated that hung precariously from an ancient post. I looked around me in satisfaction at the overgrown hedges and rutted driveway. It looked completely abandoned.
I dragged the gate shut behind me, and turned off the driveway onto an even more rutted double track that led toward the outbuildings a few hundred metres away. Colborne must have sensed that our destination was nearby, and he started to kick against the panels of the van. I braked sharply, and the kicking stopped. I started the van forward again, and pulled up outside the double doors of a massive stone barn. I climbed out, and dragged protesting doors open.
Once I had driven into the barn and shut the doors behind me, I flicked a switch on one of the walls, and four strip lights illuminated the cavernous space. It was almost empty apart from a few wooden worktables on the far end from the door. The dirt floor was dry and littered with old leaves. I counted a few steps from the wall opposite the van, and started sweeping the dirt aside with an old broom that had been propped against the door next to the light. An old ring handle was soon revealed, and I tugged at it, lifting the large wooden trapdoor that lay beneath. The space below was very different to the one above. I turned on the lights to reveal gleaming metal workbenches and a large chair in the centre, complete with leather straps. Various implements, surgical and otherwise, were neatly laid out on the work surfaces. I never had, and probable never would use any of it. Usually just the sight of this room scared the er, faeces, and thus the information, out of whomever I had brought here before. With any luck, James would crumble in a similar fashion, but I was prepared to torture him if necessary.
Yes, it was a sacrifice I was most definitely willing to make.
Rebecca
I stayed at the breakfast table until Marcus came to find me. He smiled reassuringly and led me away to the room he and Fergus had commandeered earlier. I tried not to feel terrified, but I can't have done a very good job, because Fergus took one look at my expression and commanded his brother to wait until he had fetched Julia. Marcus frowned slightly, but nodded. While we waited he explained a few of the experiments and training sessions he had set up, his strikingly good-looking face animated. I smiled at his enthusiasm, but smiled even wider at my reprieve when Julia walked through the door.