Blood Games (24 page)

    She kept her eyes on the job.

    Until she came to the far end of the sofa.

    In the gloom between Abilene and the wall, some five feet away, she saw a chair. She’d noticed the chair earlier. Hidden in a dark corner as it was, however, she hadn’t realized it was a wheelchair. Nor had she noticed that it wasn’t empty.

    Something was in the chair.

    A bundle of blankets topped with a small, gray orb that almost resembled a head.

    Her heart gave an awful lurch.

    She stared at the thing. It didn’t move. It didn’t make a sound. The head really didn’t look much like a head, at all, more like a shriveled grapefruit perched on a stalk above the blankets. But it seemed to have a face.

    A dummy? A mannequin? Maybe one of those inflatable sex dolls.

    ‘Hey,’ she gasped. ‘Over here.’

    ‘What is it?’ Finley came up beside her. ‘What is it?’

    ‘I don’t know.’

    ‘We’ve gotta get out of here,’ Vivian said, hurrying over with Helen to see what they’d found.

    Finley pulled a flashlight out of a pocket of her coveralls. She switched it on. She aimed it at the thing in the wheelchair.

    The small head was hairless, the color of wet, dead leaves. Its face looked like something that a careless child might’ve formed out of papier-mache: lumpy, ragged flesh; eyes holes poked by fingertips; a couple of quick pinches to make the nose; a slit for a mouth; a tiny knob of chin.

    ‘It… it isn’t a corpse, is it?’ Helen whispered.

    ‘Christ, no,’ Finley said. ‘It’s just a dummy. A homemade dummy, at that.’

    ‘It’s hideous,’ Vivian muttered.

    ‘Maybe that bastard has some Halloween spirit, after all,’ Finley said. ‘Hold the flashlight. I’ve gotta get this.’

    She gave the light to Abilene.

    Then she raised her video camera, turned around for a slow pan of the trashed living room, and pointed her lens at the ghastly thing in the chair. ‘Say cheese,’ she said.

    It said, ‘Cheese.’

    The slash of its mouth spread open and it said, ‘Cheese,’ the word rolling out slow and deep like a voice on a record player at low speed. A tinny, scratchy voice. A voice that resounded as if spoken in an echo chamber.

    Finley gasped, ‘Fuck!’

    Helen made a high, whiny noise.

    Vivian gagged.

    Abilene wet her pants.

    The four girls didn’t stop running until they reached the convenience store. Cora, as planned, was waiting outside its door.

    ‘I got away from that bastard quicker than… What’s the matter with you guys?’

    She was answered with shaking heads as the girls struggled for breath.

    Helen removed the noose from around her neck, and pulled off the sheet. Crumpling it, she slumped against the store wall. ‘He didn’t catch you, did he?’

    Vivian shook her head. She was bent over, hands on knees, in his house,’ Abilene gasped. ‘He had… a guy. Someone. In a wheelchair.’

    ‘It didn’t look human,’ Finley blurted.

    ‘Like a dummy. Something. Horrible.’

    ‘Its face,’ Vivian murmured.

    ‘What was wrong with him?’ Abilene gasped.

    ‘What was right with him?’

    ‘Never… seen anything like it,’ Vivian said. ‘God. I’m gonna have nightmares forever.’

    Abilene met Cora’s eyes. ‘You’re really lucky. You didn’t see him.’

    ‘Oh, come on. He couldn’t have been that bad.’

    ‘Oh, yeah?’ Finley asked.

    Back at their apartment, Finley inserted the tape cassette in the VCR. She fast-forwarded past the skirmish with the four teenagers…

    Then the living room of the house was on the television screen. Eggs splattered everywhere. Thick curls of shaving cream on the coffee table, the sofa.

    ‘Boy,’ Cora said, ‘you done good.’

    Abilene couldn’t watch the rest. She stood very still, itchy in her damp corduroys, and watched Cora.

    Cora’s eyes went wide. ‘Holy shit,’ she said.

    When the thing said, ‘Cheese,’ the color left her face.

    Finley shut off the tape.

    ‘Maybe that’s why the man was such a creep,’ Vivian said. ‘I mean, he lives with that. Takes care of it. Maybe it’s… one of his parents, or something.’

    ‘We shouldn’t have trashed the place,’ Abilene muttered. ‘Oh God. How could we?’

    ‘We didn’t know,’ Finley said. ‘I’m gonna tape over that part. I never wanta see that thing again. I don’t even wanta think about it.’

    

    

    A tickle on her shin roused Abilene from sleep. A moment later, she felt the tickle moving. She bolted upright, saw a spider scurrying toward her knee, and whisked it off. Squirmy with goose-flesh, she inspected her legs and arms. Nothing else seemed to be on her. Except for a film of dew, which made her skin feel clammy and had dampened the front of her blouse and skirt.

    She stretched and yawned. The morning air was pleasantly warm, not yet hot. Though no sunlight was on her, she saw paths of dusty gold slanting down through the trees.

    Probably no later than seven o’clock, she supposed.

    She’d slept very well. It looked like a beautiful morning, and she felt wonderful until she remembered the task that awaited her and the others: returning to the pool and searching for the keys.

    
Won’t be so bad in daylight
, she told herself.

    
Then we’ll be out of here.

    
If we find them.

    Ought to wake up the rest of them and get it over with.

    On the sleeping bag next to Abilene, Finley continued to sleep. Helen’s bag was flat against the ground. She’d crawled into it last night, in spite of the heat.

    But she wasn’t in there now.

    Abilene scanned the clearing. Cora and Vivian continued to sleep. There was no sign of Helen.

    With a flutter of worry, Abilene decided that she must’ve gone off. To take a pee, or something.

    Her blouse and Bermuda shorts were still spread out on top of her sleeping bag. But her swimsuit was missing. So were her shoes.

    She must’ve taken the suit with her, Abilene thought, to put on after she finished.

    She’ll be back in a minute.

    Abilene waited, sitting motionless, listening. The forest was noisy with birds. There were rustling sounds. Buzzes and hums of insects. But no heavy, crunching sounds. Nothing that might indicate a person moving about.

    How far did she go, anyway?

    Helen was really too timid to go wandering off alone.

    Wasn’t she?

    It passed through Abilene’s mind that someone might’ve found the encampment and taken her. But that seemed very unlikely. Why would anyone just grab Helen? And how could that happen without a struggle that would’ve disturbed the rest of them? Besides, nobody abducting her would’ve bothered to take her swimsuit and shoes.

    No, she’d gotten up and left of her own free will.

    In her swimsuit.

    
Good God!

    No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t dare go back to the lodge by herself. To go swimming and look for the keys.

    She’d offered to go in and search for them last night. Not alone though.

    But what if she woke up just a while ago? Already daylight. Everyone else still sleeping. And she’d decided to go ahead and find the keys and return and surprise everyone.

    Any minute, she might come tromping through the woods, all wet and grinning, holding up the key case, saying, ‘Look what I found.’

    She might be in the pool right now.

    Maybe not alone. Maybe struggling, this very moment, with the guy who’d thrown their things in the water last night.

    Sick with worry, Abilene shook Finley awake. As the girl groaned and mumbled, she twisted around and shook Cora. ‘Wake up. Quick. Everyone. Helen’s gone.’

    ‘Huh?’ Finley murmured. ‘Whuh?’

    ‘She’s gone! I think she went to find the keys.’

    Abilene slipped into her moccasins as the others stirred and sat up.

    ‘Holy shit,’ Cora said.

    ‘We’ve gotta go after her. Quick.’

    ‘Helen’s gone?’ Vivian asked.

    ‘When did she leave?’ Finley asked.

    ‘I don’t know! I don’t know! I just woke up. She wasn’t here. She took her swimsuit.’

    ‘She must’ve gone to the pool,’ Cora said.

    On her feet, Abilene turned slowly and scanned the woods. When she turned toward the east, she saw the lodge. It had been out of sight, last night, only because of the darkness. Now, bits of it were visible beyond the trees. It was no more than a hundred yards away.

    ‘My God,’ Abilene said, ‘it’s right there. She must’ve gotten up and seen how close we were.’

    ‘I can’t believe she’d go without us,’ Vivian said.

    ‘She sure went somewhere,’ Finley said.

    Cora called, ‘Helen! Helen!’

    No answer came.

    Abilene rushed into the trees. As she dodged trunks and ducked under low limbs, she heard the others following. Soon, she left the trees behind. She raced through the high grass and weeds of the field. Vision jarring, she scanned the length of the lodge, its windows and porch and doors, the driveway and garage area off to the right. No Helen. No one at all.

    Straight ahead, the front of the Wagoneer came into view. She ran toward the car. The springy foliage gave way to concrete that smacked her feet through her moccasins. Abruptly, she slowed, knowing that if she took the slope at full speed, she would probably tumble headlong. With short strides, she hurried down alongside the car.

    And stopped behind it. There, resting on the pavement, was a cardboard box. One that they’d left in the car last night. The box contained packages of cookies, potato chips, crackers and cheese puffs.

    Cora, halting beside her, looked at the box. ‘This explains plenty.’

    Finley, huffing, said, ‘What’d she do? Stop by for a snack?’

    ‘Looks that way,’ Cora said.

    ‘Someone else might’ve done it,’ Abilene suggested.

    ‘Must’ve been Helen,’ Vivian said. ‘God, we should’ve just let her eat what she wanted.’

    ‘If she came here for food,’ Finley said, ‘where is she now?’

    ‘I still think she went to find the keys,’ Abilene said. ‘I mean, why the swimming suit?’ Without waiting for a response, she made her way down the steep pavement. At the bottom, she scanned the rear grounds. Seeing no one, she peered around the corner of the lodge.

    Near the edge of the outside pool were Helen’s sneakers. Propped up between them was an open plastic bag.

    She stepped over the flowing water of the drain channel, then followed it to the small pool.

    The bag was a package of taco-flavored tortilla chips. It was half empty.

    Squatting, she gazed through the archway. The interior pool was murky with shadowed light. A pale mist hung above the water.

    ‘Is she in there?’ Vivian asked.

    ‘I don’t see her.’ And all that Abilene could hear was the soft, hollow sound of lapping ripples. ‘Helen! ’ she yelled. She stood, kicked off her moccasins, then leaped off the edge. The hot water tossed her skirt up, clutched her body, splashed her hair and face. Pushing her skirt down, she trudged toward the opening. Her heart thudded painfully. Her bowels felt cramped.

    She didn’t want to go in there.

    What if Helen’s dead? Floating face down…?

    Behind her, someone plunged into the water. She looked back and saw Cora. Still in her tank top. Hadn’t bothered to undress for this.

    Her eyes were wide and scared. Her face was pale.

    Let her go first?

    No. Helen’s my responsibility. She wasn’t sure why she felt that way but, ever since that first week at Belmore, Abilene had seen herself not only as Helen’s friend but also as her protector.

    She took one more step, passing through the archway. Then she stopped.

    She swept her eyes over the surface of the pool. And saw only water below the gently swirling veils of mist. No floating body. No dark form suspended beneath the surface. Gazing through the white vapors, she scanned the walkway at the far side of the pool. Then the clear area off to the left. And the stools, and the bar.

    ‘Nothing,’ she said. Her voice reverberated through the silence.

    ‘She isn’t here,’ Cora called back. ‘Nobody’s here.’

    ‘Where is she?’ Abilene whispered, moving away from the entrance.

    ‘God only knows. She must’ve been here, though. She must’ve come for the keys, just like you figured.’

    ‘Are you coming back?’ Finley asked. ‘What are you doing?’ Cora turned toward the opening. ‘We’ll scout around for a minute. Are you two staying there?’

    ‘I guess so. Vivian’s still nervous about getting in the water.’

    ‘I will if I have to,’ Vivian said in a quiet voice as if speaking only to Finley.

    ‘That’s all right,’ Cora said. ‘Just stay put.’ To Abilene, she said, ‘We oughta see if the keys are still here. They shouldn’t be too hard to find if they fell out of her pocket.’

    ‘She might’ve already fished them out.’

    ‘Yeah, but maybe she didn’t. Who knows? We’re here. We might as well look.’

    ‘Okay. Over this way.’

    Abilene in the lead, they pushed through the water toward the center of the pool.

    The mist parted around them like smoke stirred and tattered by the mild breeze of their movements.

    Peering down through the water, Abilene soon located the dark, barred mouth of the hot spring. As she stepped closer to it, she felt the hot currents roll against her legs and rub her panties. ‘I picked up the shorts right near here,’ she whispered.