time, the
light-covering electrification grid had been switched off and then
restarted, only rewired to the frame-work of the cell door and how an
escape had been made. But for all the facts he had at his disposal, a
explanation, no matter how irrational, could not be found, by anyone.
ii) Dark side
he
fog crept down, down and filled the concourses and alleyway, cascading
over the street and disguising the chimney-soot blackened grotesque that
was Victorian London.
The slums were
alive - breathing, pulsating filth, ragged curtains over dirty windows,
the grin houses packed to the rafters with the detritus of the town that
formed the backbone of the industrial workforce of the city, feeding
large families that had to compensate for the high infant mortality
rate.
The noise and
shouts from the public houses filled the night air. Hardly a soul moved
on the street, beyond the odd brave rat edging from the stinking
darkness to claim a prize from the rubbish and shit filled
gutters.Another sound. A dragging sound...moving. Detaching itself from
the darkness of the deserted alley came a figure of a man. His back was
severely arched. his left arm hanging limply and lower than it should
have. Saliva pooled at his bottom lip, spilling down the grimy shirt.
Two dark eyes gave up nothing but twin flicking pinpoints of light as
they flicked around the street, making sure that the way was clear so he
could get across the cobbled road and back into the darkness of another
backstreet alley opposite.
The scrape of glass on brick.
The figure scuttled back into the darkness, encapsulated by the shadows.
A young woman
staggered up the road, her right hand holding a black shawl around her
head and shoulders, her left holding a empty bottle that brushed the
wall as she staggered up the street, the reek of cheap booze following
her like a sickly perfume. She was laughing t herself, her wooden soled
boots scraping along the cobbles as she made her way home.
The corner of
her eye caught movement to her right. She turned slowly and squinted
into the dark alleyway opposing her, trying to distinguish anything in
the thick night. Tottering on wobbling legs, she walked over the road.
There was someone watching her…
ix
by six from wall to wall, no barred window. The only source of light
came from a single fluorescent strip that was set in a ceiling, 9-feet
high, recessed by another foot and covered in three inch plasiglas and a
buzzing electrified cage; there would be no suicides or home-made
weapons here.
