Darling (31 page)

Karen laughed.

He ignored her and walked through the courtyard. The nymphs fondled their breasts as he passed, moaning while the satyrs laughed.

Don’t you want us anymore, Michael?

He stumbled through the doors and to the elevator. The box was crowded with no one. They whispered and joked and pressed Mike into the corner. A woman who didn’t exist brushed her hand against his crotch, her perfume clinging to his face like a shroud. He closed his eyes, head swimming, body rocking back and forth.

The doors opened and he maneuvered out. He crashed into his apartment, the door banging hard against the wall. Dennis stood at an open window, the cold rain invading the room with every gust of wind. A small puddle formed at his roommate’s feet, but Dennis didn’t seem to notice.

“What...” Mike almost toppled over. He leaned against the arm of the couch with his good hand, closed his eyes, tried to right himself. “What are you doing?”

“Your sister always liked dancing in the rain.”

He couldn’t make sense of what Dennis said. His sister? He needed to rest. He fell into his room, collapsing onto his bed. The walls undulated around him, the room pitching back and forth like a ship at sea. A cold wave crashed against the hull, spilling ice water in through his window. He shouldn’t have been able to see the supermarket from his bed, but his window pitched upward until it was fully in view.

The parking lot was white, vivid, every color and shadow accented with a dozen busted and filthy yellow lights. Every lamp was lit. How?

Margot slid into bed next to him, her cold hands running up and down his body.

“Where have you been?”

She smiled. Her open mouth held an endless void. “Don’t be silly, Michael. I never went anywhere.” She kissed him and his lips went numb from the cold.

“You’re dead.” He didn’t know why he said it, but he knew it was true.

She laughed. “Of course I am.”

He sat up. His room was empty.

He was alone.

His window was closed. The walls were stable and still.

“...what the fuck is happening?”

Covered in sweat, his skin felt like it was on fire. He climbed from his bed and stepped over to the window. He fought it open with his good hand and let the cold wind crash into his face. He looked out on the tall grass dancing in the field, out onto the supermarket.

All of the parking lot lights were still on. How could that be? He thought he had hallucinated it, but there it was. He leaned out, the rain pummeling the back of his head. The doors stood wide open, long shadows dribbling out onto the sidewalk like wretched vines gasping for sunlight.

I need you in me, Michael. Oh, God, I need you so bad.

“Darling,” he whispered.

* * *

Eileen had driven through the sudden rainstorm down Emory Highway. She hated driving in the rain and, when the wind threatened to push her car from the road and into a ditch, she decided to stop at a Subway and wait out the storm.

She sat in a corner booth, the “Anomalies” binder open in front of her. She nibbled on a sandwich as she flipped through it, her mind losing the battle of deciphering Jack’s strange electrical readings. If she were to trust her first instinct, the readings seemed to indicate that the elevator had been functioning without power being driven to it for the past year. But that, as well as the other little oddities she thought she read, was impossible. That was just too bizarre, too much of a leap past the simple idea of ghosts and into the realm of fantasy.

She flipped a few more pages in until she stumbled upon a series of hand-written notes scrawled across the pages in a rainbow of inks. These were almost as difficult to decode as the electrical readings. She flipped to the last page and saw what Jack had scribbled as she stood in his workroom:

Some girl here. Having the nightmare about fountain. Have to mention to Margot whenever she gets back.

The
nightmare? Have others had the same dream that she did? She flipped a few pages back.

More whispering from radio. Ones from the roof sound like soldiers issuing marching orders. Ones from the basement sound like children singing a lullaby. Ones from laundry room sound like two people screwing.

She flipped a few more pages in. Newspaper articles were taped to the pages. There were several on the Crossroads Killer. That didn’t surprise her. But there were others, scores of articles dating over the past twenty-five years. Put together they were a litany of disappearances, suicides, accidents, and crimes of passion. She had taken a Statistics of Criminology class last semester and knew that so many violent crimes in one place weren’t statistically possible. Even in areas of high gang violence, the pattern here wouldn’t have made sense.

“Eileen?”

She looked up, half expecting to see Dennis. It was Jason. She quickly closed the binder. “Hey. How’s it going?”

“Not bad. Just grabbing a bite to eat. You?”

“Just had to get in from the storm.”

“Yeah. It’s a little hairy out there. If it weren’t for my Jeep, I don’t think I would drive in it, but that thing handles like crazy. Mind if I join you?”

She shrugged and moved her things out of the way. He slid in across from her and unwrapped his sandwich.

“What are you working on?” He pointed at the binder.

“Uh...Just some Statistics homework. Nothing exciting.”

“Definitely sounds dull.”

She shrugged again.

“Excuse me for asking, but are you alright? You seem kinda down.”

She didn’t like to talk about her personal problems, especially with someone she didn’t know very well, but she felt oddly comfortable with Jason. “Dennis and I just broke up.”

“Oh. Shit. I’m sorry to hear that. By ‘just broke up’ you mean...?”

“Like, half an hour ago.”

“Damn. I’m sorry. You wanna talk about it?”

“What’s to say? I caught him cheating on me.”

“Karen, huh?”

Eileen just stared.

“I’m sorry. I...well, I’ve seen them together a couple of times and—”

She held her hand up. “I don’t want to know.”

“Yeah. Of course. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Actually, do you mind if we talk about something else?”

“Sure. What would you like to talk about?”

“Ummm...let’s see...” She smiled. “I dunno. How about your band?”

“Okay. What do you wanna know?”

She asked perfunctory questions about how the group had met, how long they’d played together, what cities they’d played in, and he answered with long and funny stories. When they were done eating he walked her to her car. She was about to ask him to call her sometime when she saw that her tire was flat. She knelt to get a closer look and almost broke into tears.

“What is it?”

She stood and slammed her fist down onto the wet roof. “Someone slashed my goddamn tire.”

He knelt to get a look himself. “Jesus.”

“Shit!” She kicked the hubcap.

“Do you have a spare?”

“No. I let Kirstin use it the last time she got a flat.”

Jason looked around. “Tell ya what. I’ve got AAA but, like a dumbass, I don’t have the info with me. Why don’t we ride up to the apartment, I’ll give them a call, you can have a glass of wine and relax a little and then we’ll get this whole thing sorted out.”

“I couldn’t.”

“I insist.” He smiled.

She smiled back. “Thanks.”

* * *

Dennis stared out the window as the storm grew more and more furious. Was he still dreaming? He had a hard time telling these days.

The weather report, if it was indeed real and not something sprouting from his subconscious, said that the storm looked to be one of the worst in the last ten years. Flash flood warnings were springing up all over the Valley and a tornado watch was in effect. He didn’t care. He was too busy watching Allison dance.

She swirled under the tree, her shirt soaked through, Karen’s hair hanging wet in her face, dancing in tiny circles, smiling and waving.

Headlights fired up the hill, cutting through the low branches of the willow and setting Allison on fire. She stopped dancing and stared as a Jeep drove past. It pulled into the parking lot and screeched to a halt. Allison raised Karen’s hand, index finger extended, pointing at the Jeep, her eyes locked on Dennis.

He followed her finger and watched as one of his neighbors (he couldn’t remember his name) climbed from the driver’s side, walked around to the passenger’s, and opened the door.

Eileen stepped out.

The two of them darted through the rain and toward the building.

—She’s going to fuck him.

She’s been fucking him,

taking his cock deep inside of her

when you’re not around,

laughing with him about you,

thinking of him when she’s been with you.

He shook his head. Looked back down to the tree.

No one was there.

He turned and glanced at the television. A weatherman stood in front of a shopping mall as rainwater flooded the parking lot. Dennis closed his eyes. His head felt filled with cotton. He shook it clear, looked down at the Jeep again.

This was no dream. He was awake now and Eileen had gone into the building with that guy.

Allison slid Karen’s cold, wet hand down his cheek.

—He’s sliding her pants off as we speak,

lover—

“...no...”

—Oh, yes.

Make them suffer for mocking you—

She turned his face to hers and kissed him with Karen’s lips.

—I would never do that to you, would I—

“No. You wouldn’t.”

—But she is.

He’s sliding his cock inside of her

right this second,

asking her to tell him

how much better a fuck he is than you.

It’s shameful.

Disrespectful—

“What should I do?”

—Go, my darling.

Go earn your respect—

Chapter Sixteen

Michael. I need you.

I’m afraid.

I know. Everyone is, at first. But there’s no reason to be.

I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.

I forgive you, just like I forgave Dennis. Come join me. Margot’s here, too. She wants you with us.

What happened that night? Why did you do it?

You know what happened.

Not everything.

I was pregnant. I had known for about a week. I told Dennis and he said he couldn’t handle it. That I should get an abortion.

I didn’t know.

It wasn’t his fault. He was young. Confused. That’s what Dad and I had been fighting about when I came to your door. Dad refused to let me do it. He was going to force me to have the baby, said I could stay until it was born, but then he wanted me to move out.

Oh my God, Allison. If I had known that’s what you were fighting about—

Would you have opened your door then?

…

You were young, too. We all were. We were children dealing with too much. I probably needed to be on anti-depressants.

Dad would never have let you.

I know. That’s why I never saw a doctor about it. I suppose it was inevitable I’d do what I did. I’m only sorry that you had to be the one to find me.

There was so much blood...

In here, there is no blood. There’s no flesh to cut, no tears to shed. There’s no pain. Only cold. Only black.

I feel like I’ve lost my mind.

You have.

I’m still so scared.

It’s okay. I’ll help you through it, darling.

What should I do?

You know what to do.

Chapter Seventeen

Eileen sat on Jason’s couch and sipped from a glass of Merlot. She watched the rain pound against his window as he crashed around in a drawer behind her, the light of his candles fluttering across the walls. She had never seen a man with so many candles. It was a little odd. Surely he wasn’t gay? No. It was obvious that he was coming on to her.

“Having a hard time finding it?”

He laughed. “A bit, yeah.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“You ever notice anything weird about this place?”

She heard the drawer slam and another open. “What do you mean by weird?”

“Well...um...this is going to sound crazy, but...
supernatural.
”

“You mean like ghosts and stuff?”

She took another sip. “Yeah. I guess.”

“I used to find this place strange. Sure. I mean, it’s different from anything we’ve ever been taught, anything that we’re used to. Ya know?”

“Yeah.”

“But when my darling whispers to me at night, it’s so beautiful, so perfect.”

“Your darling?” She turned around, but he had gone around a corner. She heard him rummaging inside of another room.

“Yes. She’s my muse, really. I give her what she needs and she inspires me. Satisfies me. Provides for me.”

Eileen was confused. Who was he talking about?

“Have you heard her yet?”

“...who?”

He walked back into the room, a large combat knife hanging from his hand. “No. I suppose you haven’t.”

“Um...look, Jason. I don’t mean to be rude but you’re not making any sense. What’s with the knife?”

He glanced down at it and laughed. “Sorry. This is probably a little unexpected, huh?”

She laughed back. “Yeah. I’d say so.”

He walked over to her, smiled again, and grabbed a handful of her hair. He wrenched her head back, the glass of Merlot spilling onto the floor. She started to scream but the cold blade at her throat killed all sound. “Now, I hope I’m not going to have to use this. Yet.”