The Dark: A Collection (Point Horror) Page 10

  The treatment that Harry was receiving broke Bianca's heart. Her parents, the Shipleys and Doc were adamant. Harry was a terrible influence, if not the murderer. The nurse was reprimanded for informing Bianca about Harry.

  Bianca questioned Doc. "Can't the doctors give me something to hurry this remembering process?"

  "You could have gone your whole life and not remembered a thing. Maybe you needed to hold a particular magazine in your hands that you were holding the night of the murder. Your chance of holding that old issue would grow slimmer with each year."

  "What made me remember something that night at the theater?"

  Doc shrugged. "Maybe you've avoided the dark too carefully for the past two years. When you went to the movie, it reminded you of the last time you were plunged into darkness and couldn't get away — on the night of the murder."

  "Oh!"

  "The unconscious mind doesn't operate by principles of reason." Doc sat on the side of her hospital bed. "Of course, you don't want to hear what I really think."

  "I always want to know what you think, Doc." She leaned closer.

  "The reason you started to remember at the theater was because the killer was there with you. You saw him and subliminally remembered him. Subliminally means below the level of consciousness. Since then, that memory's been working its way back into consciousness."

  "Harry is innocent!"

  Doc patted her hand. "He's good at this game of subterfuge and deceit. Harry and Mike play it all the time. Mike taught him. Harry's led a life of crime since he was born."

  "You didn't see how Harry went out of his way to help and protect me. People don't give him a chance. They're just prejudiced against him — even the police."

  Doc gazed at her sadly. "You're in denial. Maybe that denial itself is what's blocking your memory."

  He consulted with her more senior doctors, who praised Doc's insights into her condition. It was brilliant that he could deduce Bianca's real meaning when she told him she "really liked" Harry. He could tell by her tone of voice that she was in a state of false dependence and trust. Translation — she'd been hoodwinked and seduced.

  Doc put his hand on her forehead. "You do trust me to know what's best for you, don't you?" He looked directly into her eyes.

  She nodded. She wanted to persuade him to think about Harry the way she did. But when he looked into her eyes like that, she couldn't hold her own for long. She supposed that was natural, since she was no match for Doc.

  "I think a nice, long hospital stay and plenty of bed rest ought to calm you down and make you more rational," Doc explained. "For my part, I promise to pay more attention to you rather than less. I made a horrible mistake telling you that you ought to be on your own. We might be premature by a couple of years, to judge by the state of your nerves."

  She would have been overjoyed to have more attention from Doc a few days ago, before she'd met Harry. Now everything had changed. She was confused about her own feelings. "But—"

  He put his finger under her chin and made her look at him. He was smiling.

  "You know, Bianca, no matter what those other doctors say, you always were my favorite patient."

  He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

  Her lips melted into his as they always had. Worries about Harry seemed far away as she kissed Doc back.

  When Doc's kisses ended with a pinch on the cheek, Bianca did not know what to think. Kissing him didn't feel the same as kissing Harry. She imagined Harry's face if he could see her together with Doc.

  She smiled at Doc and waved as he left her room to consult with a team of psychiatric experts that the Shipleys had hired, though her heart pained her the whole while.

  The Shipleys kept Bianca sane during her confinement in the hospital. They could afford to visit her more often than her own parents, who had to work. The Shipleys lived on their vast global investments. In fact, they were planning to take a big trip soon to check on them.

  Little Katie was lucky, Bianca decided. She was young enough that she couldn't remember anything. Even after she grew up, she'd probably never remember being almost murdered, or kidnapped. The child would play, sitting in the middle of Katie's lap in the hospital bed. She toddled around the hospital room as if nothing were going on. She made Bianca feel better, which of course was why the Shipleys brought her. She made Bianca feel as if she'd gone through this hell for some purpose.

  That meant much more to Bianca than the money that the Shipleys kept on giving her. Not only did Bianca have the original trust fund set up two years ago, but they had also given her the second million dollars advertised on the radio as a reward for rescuing Little Katie from Mike Fellini. The Shipleys had made Bianca Little Katie's godmother, and they said that they were going to change their will and make Bianca Katie's official legal guardian as well in case anything happened to them. The will would take effect as soon as Bianca turned eighteen, right about the time that she was supposed to graduate from high school.

  "That's such a big responsibility!" Bianca was awed.

  "Nothing you can't handle," Mr. Shipley assured her. "You've proved yourself time and time again."

  "It might be too much for Bianca." Doc voiced his concern. "After all, she'll be only eighteen — not twenty-one."

  "We checked with our lawyer." Mrs. Shipley tried to assuage his doubts. "He said Bianca could legally become Katie's guardian at eighteen. In fact, in Georgia there isn't any minimum age. It's up to the judgement of Katie's parents. If anybody contests the will, it's up to the judge. But I don't think anybody will."

  "I gave them my honest, personal opinion, though." The lawyer voiced his own doubts from where he happened to be sitting on the opposite side of the room. "With all due respect to Miss Winters, for she is a very courageous young lady, we don't know what really attracts this killer. It might be Bianca herself. It seems to me that nothing bad appears to happen to Little Katie unless her babysitter is around. Is it wise to make Bianca her guardian?"

  "And we told you that was nonsense!" Mrs. Shipley snapped. "Bad things would happen in any case. Katie's an heiress, after all. Bianca has risked her own life twice now to save her. That's the kind of dedication that money can't buy."

  Doc wasn't happy with Little Katie always toddling around Bianca's hospital room. He insisted that Bianca needed more rest. Once Doc picked the toddler up off the bed and put her in the living-room area of the suite.

  Katie started bawling.

  Mrs. Shipley exclaimed in mock horror, "You're a good girl. You never cry when nice people pick you up. Doc is just saying that you should give Bianca a rest."

  Katie, though only two, was stubborn on this point. Whenever Doc picked her up, she started bawling.

  Katie might give Bianca hope. But she still wished that this nightmare was long past.

  When Bianca went back to school some days later, it seemed that all of St. Simons Island had mobilized itself to protect her.

  Doc, her parents and the Shipleys took turns chauffeuring her to the school in the morning and picking her up in the afternoon. They insisted on marching her up to the door and meeting her in the afternoon in the front office. In short, they were trying to make it impossible for the killer to get to her while Bianca was "remembering".

  Police had regularly stood in front of the school directing traffic. Now they never left. During classes they patrolled the sidewalks as well as the parking lot. A policeman guarded each entrance and exit to the building. There were police stationed in the main office to eyeball everyone who started down the hallway or tried to leave in a hurry.

  The school announced a new policy over the loudspeaker system the first morning Bianca returned to classes. Each person who wanted to enter or leave the building, even parents picking up their children, had to first report to the office to get an official school pass signed by both the building secretary and the police officer on duty.

  "Do you want a policeman to escort you to classes?" Mrs. Shipley asked. "
We could arrange for that."

  "It won't be necessary. The school looks like an armed fortress already," Bianca protested. "I'll be safe."

  No one could protect her from having to see Rick Roscoe, though. She heard kids whispering about her in corners, speculating what would happen next. They talked about Marianna's medical progress in hushed tones.

  The biggest torture was to see Harry. Harry and Bianca could look at each other from across the hallway. But her parents, the Shipleys and Doc had issued strict orders to the school and to the teachers that the two of them weren't allowed to "fraternize". The DA didn't have enough information to prosecute Harry — yet. Many on the island figured that he would soon. The principal had called Harry into the office and warned him that if he were seen "pestering" Bianca, he'd be expelled, less than two weeks before graduation.

  Harry went around the school with a stiff upper lip. He acted as if he didn't care that his brother, Mike Fellini, was written about every day in the newspapers and talked about on the radio.

  Mike was now on trial. Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, he'd stubbornly refused to plead guilty. The eyewitness from across the street had given her account. The handwriting expert had testified that the ransom note was in Mike's hand. The jury wouldn't have to deliberate for even one hour.

  Harry acted as if he were indifferent to the efforts of every newspaper reporter to compare him to his brother and hint that they were a team — his brother the kidnapper and Harry the killer.

  Bianca knew that Harry couldn't be the killer after the long night that they'd spent together. She cringed every time some kid called out, "Hey, Fellini, want to show me your hideout?" or "Where did you stash that gun that killed the maid?" or "What store are you going to knock over next?" or "Who's going to be your next victim?" or "How much of the take does Mike share with his kid brother?"

  Harry's brave example still inspired her. Bianca was ready to go crazy with the stress of having a murderer who'd threatened her still lurking about the island. She feared she'd go nuts with the suspense of memories buried in the murky depths of her unconscious. She felt absolutely miserable with the tension of not being able to talk to Harry and share her problems with him. Then she imagined what Harry and Mrs. Fellini must be going through. She saw how well they were acting. She told herself that she could put up with whatever she had to. In fact, it was her duty.

  When nobody was looking, Harry and Bianca exchanged glances. He smiled at her, tentatively at first, unsure about whether she'd turned against him. When she smiled back, he looked so relieved that he beamed at her.

  Bianca had missed many days of school while she'd been in the hospital. There were lots of exams and papers to make up. No one was sure whether she would graduate with her class. Her parents had given her permission to stay after school so long as either they, the Shipleys or Doc picked her up and she didn't have to walk home. Also, the police department had to be notified ahead of time to have officers on duty until everyone had cleared out and gone home.

  Bianca's English teacher wanted her to stay after school to catch up on an essay. The teacher told her to write about some significant event in her life, almost blushing while she gave the assignment. Everyone on the whole island knew what had happened in Bianca's life. She was to spend forty-five minutes on the essay, then leave the paper face-down on the teacher's desk. She was to note the time she had finished at the top.

  "Sorry I can't stay here at my desk while you finish, Bianca," Mrs. Topley apologized in her deep, Georgia accent. "I must pick up my little girl at day care. Do you think you'll be all right? I mean, the police are still out in front of the school, but you can't be too careful these days."

  "Of course!" Bianca reassured the nervous teacher. "Doc's supposed to pick me up in forty-five minutes. I couldn't be in safer hands. Hey, if he notices anything funny, he'll raise a ruckus. He'll have the police, fire department and ambulance here in the classroom in one minute."

  "Doc's a gem, isn't he?" Mrs. Topley slipped her purse strap over her shoulder. "When I had him in senior English eight years ago, he was the most reliable student in the class. I could always count on him to manage things when I had to leave the room for a few minutes. Everything was in tip-top shape when I returned."

  The lights went out.

  "Oh, I'm sorry!" Mrs. Topley blushed, turning the lights back on. "I must have left my brain in deep freeze today."

  Bianca felt uneasy when Mrs. Topley closed the door to the basement classroom behind her. She was hardly able to concentrate on writing. She kept on hearing sounds that she'd never noticed before. She looked up, panicked. The fish tank in the front of the room was bubbling. A fly was buzzing too close to her ear. The floor creaked, as old buildings do when their foundations are settling.

  She was almost finished with whatever she was writing. She didn't remember what it was about. It was pure gibberish.

  Then the lights went out again. This time they didn't come back on either.

  She told herself to keep calm. It was probably a power outage, though there hadn't been any thunderstorms today, despite the oppressive, humid atmosphere. Maybe some car had run into a pole. When she heard footsteps slowly approaching her from the back of the room, however, she knew she was in big trouble.

  Mrs. Topley didn't walk like that. In fact, nobody she had met walked like that — except one person. Now she remembered for the first time that the nameless, faceless killer walked like that, the one she'd encountered once before on the stairs at the Shipleys' house. Those footsteps echoed through her mind, evoking vivid memories of that night two years ago.

  If only she could remember that face!

  "I'm not very pleased with you, Bianca!" the voice behind her hissed.

  It was that low, whispery hiss that she'd heard in the ladies' rest room in the movie theater! It made shivers go up and down Bianca's spine.

  "What — what have I done wrong now?"

  How had this goon gotten in here? The police were outside. Doc was probably pulled up to the curb in his car waiting for her, watching everybody enter and leave the school. The building secretary, Mrs. Higgins, had been instructed not to let anyone enter or leave without showing identification. You couldn't get into the school without passing by the building secretary's desk. Mrs. Higgins had eagle eyes, and there was always a police officer with her.

  At this time of day all the other entrances and exits were locked since the recent kidnapping of Little Katie Shipley. Policemen were guarding them as well.

  If the killer was one of the students, such as Rick Roscoe, how did they dare to attempt this? The district attorney was ready to pounce as soon as he had a scrap of additional evidence against him!

  "Isn't it obvious what you've done, Bianca?" The voice whispered. "I don't like reading those descriptions in the paper that you gave to the police. I don't want to hear about dark eyes, big hands and loud footsteps."

  She hadn't had any choice. They had bombarded her with questions. Doc had persisted until he'd wrung every last little memory out of her.

  Bianca had to come up with some explanation, any explanation, to get out of this fix. "I — I didn't really mean what I said. It sounded good, and I had to say something."

  "Now, Bianca, you can lie better than that!"

  The soft, silky purr hissed next to her ear. "Those descriptions are too close to the truth, and you know it."

  Part of her was glad to know that. At least she hadn't been hallucinating. Her memories were genuine. The more genuine they were, the more dangerous it was for her, though.

  "I don't like reading about the night of the murder — what happened first and what happened second. Soon you'll remember everything. Then it will be curtains for you."

  She swallowed hard.

  "I've got to teach you a lesson, Bianca."

  It sounded as if he were putting on gloves. She could feel his finger tracing its way down her neck. She shuddered. The hands of darkness were reaching out fo
r her.

  Something flashed in front of her face. It looked just like a gun.

  Bianca's nerves snapped. She stumbled around, banging against desks and chairs until she was out of the room and racing down the hallway.

  She screamed as she nearly ran right into Rick Roscoe. Where had he come from? Had he been the creep in the room? Rick whispered something she couldn't quite hear. Then he went to his locker and seemed to be getting books out. He glowered at her in warning.

  Bianca darted into the first room she came to. The lights were out. She didn't know where the switch was located. The floor sounded as if it were wooden and no longer tile. She banged into something big and leathery at about waist level and climbed over it.

  Suddenly she realized she was in the gym. That was the "horse" that they used to vault, run and jump over. She was banging into equipment scattered about in the gymnasium.

  She ran up against something long and narrow, and jumped up on to it. It was hard to hold on to. She didn't know how she was supposed to walk on this. She crawled, realizing at the last minute that she was on the balance beam. Every minute she was conscious of someone following her. She could hear heavy breathing. It sounded as if someone were breathing down her neck he was so close.

  Her hands were so sweaty she could hardly hold on to the wooden beam. She didn't dare fall. She would be a goner. The guy grasped on to her ankle and pulled her backward. She leaped off the beam. She fell clumsily to the floor and scrambled to her feet.

  Bianca ran into something so big she couldn't get around it. She had to climb up on to it instead. She was scrambling across it as it sagged down in the middle and swayed from side to side. The trampoline! The guy leaped down on top of her. The impact made them bounce up and down together as he got his big hands encased in gloves around her neck.

  "You'll learn, Bianca!" the guy hissed.

  The darkness itself had reached out to strangle her. She screamed.

  Somehow Bianca managed to get away from the freak. She ran smack into a wall. There was a door. She turned the knob. She emerged into another room, a big, cavernous one. Her footsteps echoed against concrete. It was so dark that she didn't know where she was until she plunged headlong into the deep end of the high school pool.