The room was dark but for one shaft of light that came from an unseen source. Inside that light shaft hung in an upright position was a lone, naked figure, dangling a few feet above the wooden floorboards beneath, arms tied and stretched upwards, legs stretching downwards pulling the body taut.

Red eyes glowed momentarily in the dark. ‘Ah, Nick. I’ve waited a long time for this.’

Footsteps echoed on the highly polished floor as another figure stepped closer to the shaft. This one was clothed in black leather, his dark hair highlighted red. Bradley reached out a thin hand and pushed through the light until he was touching Nick’s naked skin. He smiled at the warm flesh beneath his own cold flesh.

In many ways he had waited a long time to have Nick stretched out before him in such a submissive way, and yet this time he found he was unwilling to act in the way he had always dreamed.

‘Come, Nick, wake up.’ Running his hand up and down Nick’s body, Bradley let out a long and deliberate breath of air, watching the hair on Nick’s chest move ever so slightly. His hand stopped an inch above Nick’s bellybutton when Nick began to stir. Bradley smiled lustfully. ‘That’s right. Come and say hello.’

Nick opened his eyes and looked around. There was little comprehension in those eyes. Eventually they alighted on Bradley. Once again the eyes closed and Nick let out a moan. ‘Arse.’

‘Don’t be like that, Nick. I have gone to great effort to bring you here. The least you can do is show some gratitude.’

Wearily Nick reopened his eyes. ‘You’re shitting me, right?’

‘Quite the contrary. It was most difficult tracking you down.’

Nick glanced around, squinting through the harsh light, trying to make out his surroundings. Bradley knew that Nick was wasting his time; there was no way that the human’s eyes could penetrate such darkness. The Kuang-Shi, however, were another story.

‘Where am I?’

‘A little place in London. Not too far from where you left me, in fact.’ Bradley smiled the smile of a predator. He reached his hand out again, placing it under Nick’s chin. ‘At first I wanted revenge.’ He traced Nick’s jaw line with his fingers. ‘You really hurt me back then, and that I could not allow.’ His hand continued, slowly moving down Nick’s neck and onto his chest. As he did so Bradley found that he enjoyed the look of alarm on Nick’s face more than he enjoyed touching Nick’s skin.

Nick looked down at Bradley’s hand, and his eyes widened in horror. ‘Where are my clothes?’ he breathed.

‘You don’t need them, Nick. You look much better without them.’

Nick scrunched his eyes shut and then reopened them slowly. ‘You’re like something out of an Anne Rice erotica. Maybe my counterpart was gay, but I’m not. Let’s leave it at that, eh?’

Bradley smiled. ‘Nicholas wasn’t gay.’ He laughed. ‘Well, so he liked to think. Maybe you’re in denial too?’

Nick shook his head, thinking back to Gidi and his night with Cy. He though of the seduction by that young man, how he had experienced the physical union of two men, and how from that he had come to realise that the only person for him was Alf. A woman; not a man. ‘No, I don’t think so. You’re not the first bloke to try and get hold of my body, you know.’

Bradley sneered and stepped out of the light. ‘Perhaps not, but I will be the first to succeed.’ He circled Nick, revelling in the pure joy of causing such confusion in Nick. He had no idea where Bradley was; all he could hear were footsteps on the floor.

‘You won’t be the first to do that, either,’ Nick said softly, but it was not soft enough for Bradley to miss it.

The Kuang-Shi stopped, and cast an appreciative look at Nick’s naked back. ‘A pity,’ Bradley said. Nick tried to twist his head to face Bradley, but with little success. ‘As I said, Nick, after you left me in that coffee bar I wanted revenge on you. To make you pay for what you did to me. But then I started wondering what was it that you actually did to me.’ He reached out and placed his palm on Nick’s back. Nick attempted to pull away. ‘You’re not human, are you? No human has the power you demonstrated that day.’

‘I am human now. I wasn’t for a long time. I was once a god.’ Nick let out a sigh. ‘That part of my life is a closed book. Period.’

‘No, I don’t think so somehow, Nick. In 1986 you showed your true colours. For me that was five years ago, but for you it was… how long? A year?’

‘Yeah, about that I s’pose.’

‘A year.’ Bradley nodded. ‘Yes, and in that time I doubt your powers have gone far. As I said, I thought about revenge, but I have come to realise that having revenge would be useless. But to have you as an ally… Oh yes, that would be good.’

‘No! I would never join you. Never, do you get me? There is nothing in this universe that would make me.’

‘Don’t be so sure. I have not been idle these past five years. I have got myself followers; the ranks are constantly getting bigger. More importantly I have got in touch with a higher power. A power from which my kind first sprung.’

Nick struggled but he could barely move his body. ‘You bastard! All those people you have killed to make them your followers. Can’t you do anything but take life?’

‘Yes. I can give life! Life eternal.’ Bradley walked back to the front of Nick. ‘Not all of my followers are like me, some are still human. They will either join me and my kin or they will become food.’ He placed a hand over Nick’s heart. ‘I can replace that frail human heart, take away that bit of humanity that has plagued you for so long.’

‘No!’ Nick’s response was more forceful than he had intended. ‘I am human, and that is how I intend to stay. I don’t want to be anything else again.’

‘My dear Nick, you really are quite stupid. I am offering you the greatest gift of all. I shall make you immortal.’

‘You’ll make me a killer!’ Nick yelled at the top of his lungs.

Bradley smiled, showing his row of sharp teeth. ‘Yes. I will. You have very little say in the matter.’

Nick swallowed, and set his jaw firm. ‘Well, you’d better be quick. ’Cause the Doctor will find me and he’ll destroy you just like Alf destroyed Nicholas!’

Nick felt a glow of satisfaction as the words rushed out of his mouth. At that moment Nick realised just how much he believed what he said. As much as he had come to terms with the Doctor’s new nature since Yahanis, little doubts had continued to play around in the back of his mind. Now, for the first time in months, he was certain that the Doctor would come.

Bradley stepped away from Nick and the overbearing smug look on the human’s face. Inside, his stolen blood slowed its flow as his heart began to stop. Bradley knew that Nick spoke the truth, a truth that he had not wanted to believe in the five years since Nicholas had disappeared.

In the pitch-blackness Bradley fell to his knees in mourning for his lost brother.