trixie guided the canoe to the far shore, and landed it on a little stretch of sand and weeds. daniel could see, through the trees, an old house which he assumed was the old dawkins place.
there were no lights in it that he could see. he saw a broken window, and thought there must be more.
is that the old dawkins place? he asked.
yes, it is. trixie got out the canoe and daniel stood up to follow her.
is it where we are going? he asked. he expected some kind of sarcastic answer, but she just said,
yes, it is.
there are no lights.
there is a basement. that’s where we are going.
oh.
doctor manichee watched on his screen as trixie led daniel up the little patch of beach and through the footpath to the front door.
deep as he was in the basement, he could hear the creak of the door overhead as trixie opened it and led daniel inside.
the doctor had trained trixie to bring him acceptable specimens for his infernal experiments, but his brief glance at daniel made him think that here might be an opportunity for something a bit more.
doctor manichee had sometimes, in odd moments, thought of training a successor, someone who could carry on his work in the unfortunate event that he should be prevented from finishing it himself.
the doctor was no sentimentalist, and would never have thought of a successor as being “like a son” to him. and yet, something about daniel reminded him of his younger self…
now he heard trixie and daniel descending the stairs to the basement and saw a glimmering of trixie’s flashlight on the wall.
now he would get a proper look at this strapping fellow…
he clicked the screen off as trixie and daniel entered , causing the basement to become completely dark.
should i turn the light on? trixie asked.
please do, the doctor told her. he stood up.
trixie flipped the switch beside the entrance and the basement was lit up like times square celebrating the end of a war, blinding daniel.
when daniel could focus his eyes, his first thought was that he was in a combination of an intergalactic war room and a morgue.
the wall behind the doctor was covered with tv monitors. the walls to the left and right were filled with horizontal rectangular drawers that he had seen in a thousand tv cop shows - all large enough to hold bodies.
visible directly behind the doctor’s desk was a spotlessly white operating table, with trays of sharply glittering instruments beside it.
but what daniel most clearly registered was the doctor himself, who had stood up behind his desk to greet him.
the doctor was small and stooped, with thick glasses almost covering his face, and wearing a cheap brown suit with a green tie knotted tightly over a blue pinstriped shirt.
even so , there was no mistaking him….
he was satan’s twin brother!
good evening, young man, the doctor addressed daniel in a soft but clear voice. i am honored that you have chosen to visit me.
good evening to you, sir, daniel managed to answer.
i do not believe we have met, the doctor continued.
no, but i, i have been here before, daniel, recovering his composure, said. when it was the old dawkins place.
oh, but it is still the old dawkins place, is it not? the doctor answered with a little smile. things do not change. do they, trixie?
no, they never do, trixie answered from behind daniel’s back.
that is what i am all about, as you young people say in today’s world, the doctor told daniel. things not changing. never changing at all.
daniel nodded politely.
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