He swings again, his scream echoing amidst the shattering of more glass and the sloshing of wine upon the concrete floor.
“What in the blazes?” Dr Tem-Pest comes down the steps and stops before entering the room, assessing the devastation,the feral look of Fortunato, and the angle at which he wields the sledgehammer.
“I know what the noise is,” Fortunato tells Dr Tem-Pest, saliva foaming at the corners of his mouth, his face cracked with anguish, and his white shirt streaked with dirt. “I know where it’s coming from.”
“What the hell? We’ve been over this. There is no noise. Only you can hear it. No one else. You’re sick. You need help. I will help you, Fortunato, if you’d just let me.”
Der-dun. Der-dun. Der-dun.
“Don’t come any closer.” Fortunato swings the sledgehammer towards Dr Tem-Pest, who freezes and holds his hands up in surrender.
“Look, whatever you think you’re doing, it’s not the way to deal with this,” he says in his best bedside manner, softening his consonants and elongating his vowels.
Fortunato pauses, the good doctor’s words issuing their magic.
“Put the sledgehammer down. Then we can go and talk about this and see if there’s another way to deal with whatever is going on here.”
Fortunato’s shoulders slump, his back loosening as the sledgehammer drops to the floor. “Yes,” he breathes, his chest slowing after the exertion. “You’re right. This isn’t the way.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re coming to your senses.”
Der-dun. Der-dun. Der-dun.
The basement flickers, and the backdrop remains, but the time is different. Fortunato is here on his own, the smashed shelves having been cleared away, the broken glass swept up, and the cracked brickwork patched.
Der-dun. Der-dun. Der-dun.
Fortunato is bent over by the wall, fiddling with something and murmuring to himself.
“The doctor was right. The sledgehammer was never going to work. But this will.”
He’s hunched over, so I can’t see what he’s doing.
Der-dun. Der-dun. Der-dun.
“It’s taken me so long to work out what the noise is and where it’s coming from, but now that I know, I can make it stop. And this is the only way to stop it for good.”
“Fortunato.”
The voice travels down the stairs. The doctor’s voice.
“Fortunato. What are you doing?”
Fortunato doesn’t look up at the sound of footsteps descending the stairs. “What you suggested. I’m putting a stop to it, once and for all.”
The doctor enters the basement and stares at Fortunato. “We talked about you going away for a while. I don’t remember talking about the basement.”
“No, but I know what the noise is. I know what’s driving me insane.”
“What is it?”
Der-dun. Der-dun. Der-dun.
“It’s them. All of them. Behind the walls. Every single person who I’ve put there over the years. It’s because they were alive when I put them there. And they still are.” Fortunato glares at the doctor, his eyes frenzied. “It’s the beating of their hideous hearts.”
He stands, and as he does, Dr Tem-Pest’s eyes go down to the device on the floor.
But it’s too late.
