When the attendant came to call Sara Jones for breakfast in the morning, she took one look and called the doctor. After a brief check, the doctor sent the others away and closed the door. There was a secret little smile on his face.
Behind him, in a shaded corner of the room, a whisper came: “You have served me well. She was strong, this one.”
“Can’t you just do – whatever it is you do – while they’re asleep?”
“I could, but the energy is more vibrant when they are awake.”
“You feed off human energy, like a vampire.”
“Don’t insult me with comparisons to your earthly fictional creatures. I am a much more pure and efficient being.”
“But still a vampire,” the doctor insisted. “You prey on the living. How many more?”
“Like her? Not many,” was the whispered response. “I sense you are doubting your role in this. Be warned that if you do not continue to serve me, I will dispose of you.”
“And if you… dispose of me, what then? You are only one being. Sooner or later, someone will catch on and find a way to overpower you.”
A crackling sound filled the air and, for a few seconds, the doctor felt like he was surrounded by a powerful electrical current. “I did not come to your world alone, foolish human. There are others. Your people can do nothing to stop us.”
The doctor watched silently as the silvery shadow retreated from the room, no doubt returning to the dark confines of the basement. I’m trapped, he thought. Like Dracula’s Renfield, I have no choice but to obey my Master or die. He wished, once again, that he had the courage to end it all, to take his life and be free. One of these days – maybe…
