He went back to his room and lay on his bed, his head was still in a whirl, he checked the weather forecast on the tele, it said it was going to be fine and he threw the remote on the bed, he wanted some sleep, he needed to sleep to be able to think right, it was just after 9am, he set the alarm clock on the dresser for four hours later, he drifted into a sleep, he dreamt of wolves.

Delyn sat on the sofa, her upper half of her body jerking as she wept, she really could not believe the story that Tony had told her, that she had come into a secret town and they were looking for a way out, and that if she was ever seen she could be in danger, Tony didn’t tell her everything, he didn’t want to, he held her hand as he told her and this time she did not try to take it away, he got her to lie on the bed to try and get some sleep, exhaustion had overtaken both of them and Delyn soon slept, Tony wanted to sleep but he couldn’t just yet, he had to go and try to explain to the family in Hawthorne, and why Peter was not with him,

‘Don’t know what I’m gonna say about this one’ he thought, and a tear came to his eye as he locked Delyn Brown in her prison as she slept.

Eileen, Lily and Nathan did not want to believe it when Tony explained what had happened, Tony tried to put it as positive as he could, but he knew Lily had seen some of it, he never mentioned what happened to Steve Duce, he hoped Lily wouldn’t, he wondered what was going on in her young mind, so much had happened so soon, he was surprised at the mental strength of the girl, her courage and determination would only drive him on.

Lily cursed her father inside own head, she thought he had put himself at risk and now he has left them alone and vulnerable, she wanted to hate him, but she couldn’t, deep down she knew that he was trying to save them, she did not believe he was dead, she didn’t feel it, her father would save her, because that’s what fathers do,

‘What will happen to us now’ asked Eileen who was trying desperately to stop the tears but on this occasion failed as she wiped them from her cheeks, Nathan sat on the sofa and sobbed, Lily went to comfort him, trying to reassure him that his father was safe and he would be back, but Nathan didn’t believe it, he knew what was in the woods and now it had taken his father, he hated those woods, he wanted to kill the thing that was inside it.

‘You will be kept here, Lily is the asset they want’

Lily heard her name being mentioned and came back into the kitchen, shutting the door behind her so Nathan could not here’

‘They aint fucking having me or Ivy’ she stood with her fist clenched, she screwed up her face,

‘I’m not going to let that happen’ said Tony as he put his arm around Lily’s shoulder,

‘Where’s the girl’ Lily asked’

‘She’s safe, come to the car lot tonight and you can meet her, she’s called Delyn, have you got any clothes that would fit her,’

Eileen gave Tony some of her clothes before he left, Tony would put them down the drain when he was sure no one was looking, he still had stuff to do, there was a vacancy as a driver available, and he wanted to make sure he got it, but first he had to see the doctor.

Sandra Skellam stood in the sheriff’s office, wondering why for the first time she was not shaking with fear, she still feared the man that sat before her, but today she was not afraid of him, she wondered if the man could sense that, then she was surprised at her own thoughts as she hoped he could, something had happened today, people had started to fight back, she wanted to be part of that, if there was going to be a revolution she certainly wasn’t going to miss it.

‘So you don’t know if we’ve had any new residents’ said the sheriff after Sandra had told him about the death of Steve Duce,

‘It doesn’t look like it sir, there was no vehicle’,

Allan Herapath cursed, he wanted new residents, and the velocity of the last storm should have brought some in,

‘I want you to search every house’

‘Of course sir, but no one would hide anyone, they know how important it is to have new residents’ she thought she sounded convincing but to her surprise she found that she didn’t really care.

‘Advertise for a new driver and send them to me, and tell that doctor I want to know the cause of death as soon as possible’ he banged his fists on the desk expecting Sandra to jump, she did not.

‘There’s one other thing sir’ Sandra said,

‘What is it ’the sheriff shouted, he had enough bad news for today, Sandra stood her ground at the sound of his voice, she wasn’t going to be intimidated, not today,

‘I had a call sir from 12 Hawthorne, it seems Peter Ford has been missing since last night’

‘Missing, what do you mean missing?’

‘According to his family, he was looking for a way out, they think he went in to the woods’

The sheriff thought about that, he had been feeling well today, he gave it some thought’

‘I’ll send the vicar around’ he shooed Sandra out of his office and Sandra left, feeling a lot better then she had for a long time.

Allan Herapath stroked his chin, he regarded Sandra as his best deputy but two men dead in one night was not acceptable, people shouldn’t be trying to leave Underwood, they should be queueing up to come in was his theory, he may have to look for a replacement deputy.

Tony stood in the doctors surgery looking at the dead body of Steve Duce and he suddenly become full of remorse looking at the man he had killed earlier in the day, Steve Duce wasn’t a likeable man but Tony thought ‘wasn’t he a victim like everyone else?’ he didn’t deserve to die but he knew he had no choice, Steve would have surely taken the young girl to the sheriff who would immediately be put on the production line, Tony couldn’t allow that, Steve Duce became the victim of those particular circumstances.

‘How did he die’ asked Tony to the doctor who was trying to examine the body of Steve Duce who was laid out on a table, the doctor walked over to his desk and slumped in his chair, he was feeling hot and sweaty and he wiped the palm of his hands om his trousers, Tony could see the sweat on his brow.

‘How the fuck am I supposed to know, I’m a GP I got a fucking stethoscope’ he eventually said, he wiped his forehead with his hand.

‘Looks like a heart attack to me’ said Tony with no medical knowledge whatsoever, he was still looking at the body of Steve Duce.

The doctor got up from behind his desk and stood beside Tony, both men were staring at the dead body.

‘And how would you know’ he asked Tony with a hint of sarcasm, not taking his eyes off the body.

Tony turned to look at the doctor,

‘Because that’s the best way’ his stare was hard and the doctor turned to look at Tony he could see the determination in his eyes,

‘What are you up to’ the doctor asked him,

Tony’s expression did not change,

‘So it was a heart attack?’

The doctors eyes went from Tony to the body and back to Tony, he let out a sigh, a sigh that told Tony he didn’t want to do this anymore.

‘That’s exactly what I was going to put on my report’ said the doctor, he walked over to one of his filing cabinets, took out a blue medicine bottle and a packet of syringes and handed it to Tony, his expression had changed, there was a look of contempt on his face, Tony did not know how to deal with it.

‘If taken direct it will kill within 30 seconds’ he paused and there was a smile on his face, ‘however if injected into meat and that meat is eaten, it could be a slow and painful death’

Tony took the medicine and thanked the doctor, they shook hands and the doctor wished him luck, Tony went to open the door to leave the surgery when the doctor called him back,

‘Tony’

Tony turned around his hand still on the door handle, their eyes locked.