Sunday 7 June 2015

"MIND TRAP" Part 3

Ben's car careered off the road and into the woods, coming to a halt in a ditch. Ben looked around him in a dazed state.
"What the hell was that? There was a wall across the road," he stammered. Katie Ryan looked up angrily:
"That was damn weird. As you swerved the car , the wall seemed to fade and vanish."
As Katie spoke, Ben was looking around:
"Where's Kyle? Oh my God, he must have been thrown out of the car by the crash impact." Ben, Katie and Joe jumped out of the car and started to look around:
"Hey Ben, he's here" Joe shouted. Kyle was lying by the side of a tree unconscious, blood on his forehead. Ben rushed up and checked Kyle's pulse:
"His pulse seems ok. He has clearly bashed his head on the tree trunk." Ben pulled out his Operation Delta smartphone and tried to dial the emergency services, however there was no signal:
"Katie, try your phone. Mine isn't working for some reason." Both Katie and Joe tried their phones however there was no signal. Ben was concerned:
"I don't like this. There should be a signal Its not like we are in the Outer Hebrides or something. Looks like we'll have to get to that wretched Eastman place by foot and phone from there. Katie and I will go. Joe you need to stay here and look after Kyle."

Ben and Katie walked along the lane in the direction of the Eastman Research Centre.
"I saw you and Joe getting rather friendly earlier Katie. I'd prefer it if you didn't mix business with pleasure Katie", Ben remarked. Katie gave him an icy look:
"Spare me your lofty self-righteousness Ben. Joe is single. His former girlfriend is dead. We are both adults. Oh and one more thing, mind your own damn business." Ben glared at her:
"I am thinking of your own interests here" he stated. Katie laughed sardonically. They walked on in silence until they came to a large country house set in leafy grounds. A sign by the entrance read: "The Eastman Centre for Extra-Sensory Research and Retreat". A young man and girl stood by the entrance gates chatting. Ben approached them:
"Hello. My name is Ben Chatham. We need to use a telephone urgently as our friend has been hurt in a car accident." The young man, a long-haired androgynous looking youth, stared vacantly:
"Oh how unfortunate. However you cannot telephone from here." Katie frowned:
"Why the hell not?" she spat out.
"Because you aren't the right type. You can't come in here." Ben was furious:
"Now look here. I have verbally articulated to you that our friend is hurt. Therefore either let us in or ask Mr Eastman to come out here and talk to us." The youth and girl started laughing:
"Oh aren't they funny. So uptight. Definitely not the sort of people we'd let in here" the girl said. Katie pushed the gate open with a violent jolt and barged through. As the youth tried to stop her, she punched him, knocking him down. Ben stared down at him:
"I find you rather attractive. However you left Katie with no choice but to deck you. Catch up with me later when you've cleaned yourself up," Ben sympathetically stated.

Walking up to the house, Ben was surprised to see the door was half open and there was the sound of singing from inside. Ben and Katie walked in and saw a large hallway with black and white chessboard flooring and modernist sculptures. They looked into a side room where a group of young people were singing a Joni Mitchell song. Ben was unimpressed. As he turned around he saw a middle aged man with long grey hair and dressed in a white robe-like outfit descending the stairs. He walked up to them smiling:
"Welcome friends. You must be Mr Chatham and his delightful young assistant Katie." He took hold of Katie's hand and kissed it. She jerked it away:
"How do you know who we are?" Katie asked.
"Oh my dear, there are ways of seeing beyond the ordinary senses." Ben stared at him:
"Mr Eastman, our friend Kyle has been injured in an accident. We need to use a telephone urgently." Eastman smiled oddly:
"Oh we don't allow telephones here. People come here to escape the demands of the humdrum and oppressive world around us. Besides, your friend can recover here. Look."
Ben and Katie turned round to see two attractive young women helping a staggering Kyle through the entrance door.

Later Ben, Katie and a recovering Kyle were enjoying a mineral water and organic salad in one of the Eastman Centre's relaxation rooms. Ben frowned:
"Who on earth would choose to come here to relax. They don't allow alcohol. And this salad is horribly bland. Are you sure you're ok Kyle? I'd prefer to get you checked out by a Doctor."
"Look I'm ok Ben. Just a bit dazed like. But yeah this food is gross."
Katie stood up.
"Well I'm not just sitting here eating rabbit food, I'm taking a look around." She tried the door but it was locked:
"Hey the bastard's locked us in." Kyle went to the door and pulled out a collection of keys and bits of wire:
"Time for the expert I recon....." he said grinning. Shortly he had picked the lock and they were walking down a corridor. As they turned a corner they heard the sound of screaming and someone pleading for something to stop. They rushed to a doorway looked inside to see a young man tied to a chair. Two men in white coats stood around him and one was using an electric iron to burn his arm. As he did so again, the second man stared into the victim's eyes:
"You will now feel no pain. Nothing at all......"

............ to be continued.

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