Dark Realms (46 page)

“What do you do for fun?” I asked.

“I read.” Her eyes lit up. “We have a
wonderful library with thousands of books.”

Now
that
was intriguing. “Can I see it?”
I asked.

She smiled and stood up. “Of course, let’s
go.”

I followed her down the hallway through
several doorways until we entered a part of the house that
literally took my breath away. With the finely carved capitals,
cool antiques, and large fireplace, it looked like something out of
an architectural magazine.

“How?” I asked, spinning around the
dark-cedar library, trying to figure out if I was caught up in some
kind of bizarre dream. “This just can’t be real.”

The massive, round room was lit up by
skylights, and because of its size, the fact that it was located in
this particular house was unexplainable. I mean, it was larger than
the one at my high school!

And the books – there had to be tens of
thousands. They lined the curved walls, and went up four levels,
which you could access by using the winding spiral stairway.

She grabbed my hand. “Come with me.”

I nodded and let her drag me all the way to
the very top. When we reached the highest level of the library, she
showed me a doorway.

“What’s in there?” I asked.

“My bedroom.”

My heart began to race. She was inviting me
into her bedroom. I’d never been in any girl’s bedroom before.

She opened the door and stepped inside.

I licked my lips. “Um.”

She turned back to me and held out her hand.
“Come inside.”

“What if your dad finds out?”

“My dad isn’t here.”

“I…”

She smiled. “I just want to show you
something. Don’t be nervous.”

“Okay.”

“Did you think I was going to try and seduce
you or something?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

I shook my head, vehemently. “No, no…not at
all.”

Who was I kidding? Of course I’d hoped she
would. From the look on her face, however, it wasn’t going to
happen.

I stepped inside of her bedroom and was
shocked, once again.

“Do you like it?” she asked, smiling.

I would if I was a five-year-old girl. Her
bedroom walls were decorated with pink and green flowers, rainbows,
and hearts. At the foot of her bed, which looked like an enormous
princess carriage, sat an oversized white toy box with fairies
painted along the outside.

“Wow, well, it’s interesting,” I said,
staring in wonder at the shelves lined with china dolls, Barbies,
and stuffed animals.

She opened up the toy box and pulled out a
large ship. “What about this? Do you think boys like to play with
things like this?”

I nodded, touching the sails on the toy.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

She nodded. “Good. I want to make sure
they’ll like it. It’s new.”

“Who would like it?”

Her hand flew up to her lips as if she’d
said something wrong. “I...”

“What?” I asked.

She cleared her throat. “Nothing. Let’s go
back to the library.”

“Okay,” I said, liking that idea. Her room
was beginning to creep me out.

“
I have a book I want you
to see,” she said, closing the toy box. “It’s really
beautiful.”

“Sure,” I said, turning towards the door. As
I was about to walk out, a shiny glint of light caught the corner
of my eye. I turned around and stared curiously. “What’s that?” I
asked, pointing towards a large, black pot near her bedroom
window.

“Oh,” she said, waving her hand. “Just a
pot.”

It was then that I heard it.

Whispers.

“Do you hear that noise?” I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. “What?”

I took a step towards the pot and the sounds
grew louder.

Shannon grabbed my arm. “Stay away from it,”
she said.

The whispers stopped. “Why?”

She bit her lower lip. “You can’t touch
them.”

“Touch what?” I asked, wondering why she was
suddenly trembling.

She sighed and then released my arm. That’s
when the whispers started again.

“Tell me you don’t hear that?”

Shannon’s eyes filled with tears.

I looked down and that’s when I noticed
them.

The gold coins.

“Are these real? “ I asked, sticking my hand
into the pot. I pulled out a coin and rubbed my finger over it.

“Put that down!” she hollered.

I stared at her incredulously and dropped
the coin back into the pot. “Shannon, settle down.”

Her face seemed to crumple before my eyes.
“You must never touch, them, Trent,” she said, tears running down
her cheeks. “They could get hurt.”

I touched her shoulder. “Shannon, it’s okay.
They’re just coins.”

She shook her head. “No, I have to protect
them.”

“Is it really gold?” I asked. There had to
have been hundreds of coins.

She didn’t answer the question, instead she
grabbed my wrist and squeezed. “A child should be kept closest to
the heart,” she whispered, her eyes shining brightly. “Do not
squander what is innocent to gratify that which is wicked.”

“What?”

She released my arm. “Go, you must go now.
I’ve made a horrible mistake.”

“Shannon –”

Pushing me out of her bedroom, she said,
“Quickly. We must get you out of here before he returns. If he
catches you…”

I stopped in my tracks and turned back to
her. “Wait, what are you so afraid of?” I asked. “Does your father
hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No, never. But if he
catches you here, he’ll kill you.”

Chapter Five

That night I sat in my bedroom and stared
out the window towards Shannon’s house. I couldn’t stop thinking
about her warning. Was her father dangerous and would he actually
kill someone?

“Trent?”

I turned to my mother, who was standing in
the doorway. “Yeah.”

“I’m leaving for work.”

I looked at the clock, it was almost
ten-thirty at night. “Okay.”

“Could you do me a favor and crush all of
those cans in the garage? I forgot that I’d promised to give them
to Mr. Schneider and he’s stopping by in the morning to pick them
up.”

“Sure.”

“Are you okay?” she asked.

I stretched my legs out and yawned. “I’m
fine, why?”

“You’ve been sitting here in the dark for
the last couple of hours, staring across the street at the O’Darby
house.”

I smiled. “You noticed?”

“Yeah, several times. What’s going on?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. Just have some
things on my mind.”

She put a hand on my shoulder. “Honey, if
you ever want to talk…”

“I’m fine, mom.”

“But…”

“Seriously,” I said. “I’m fine.”

She sighed. “Okay. I’ll be home in the
morning. Keep the doors locked when you’re sleeping, and if you
need anything, call me.”

“Yep.”

After she left, I checked on Ben, who was
sleeping. I then closed his bedroom door, grabbed my iPod, and
headed out towards the garage.

“Crap,” I said, staring at the large box of
cans that needed to be crushed. There had to be almost two-hundred.
My mom and her diet soda.

I pulled the box closer to the can-crusher
on the wall, plugged in my iPod speakers, and began crushing. After
the first fifty or so, I started getting thirsty and walked over to
the mini-refrigerator in the corner of the garage. As I bent down,
the music stopped playing.

I groaned.

Cheap-ass
speakers
.

I reached for the bottle of water when I
heard a loud mewling noise coming from outside. Thinking it was a
cat, I walked outside and looked around.

Nothing.

Sighing, I turned to go back into the garage
when I heard a choked sob, coming from across the street. I ran
back into the garage and grabbed a hammer, then stepped back
outside.

Only fools investigate
trouble without a weapon. Not me, hell no. I wasn’t going to be a
victim
.

A flash of light near O’Darby’s garage
caught my attention. Seconds later, Mr. O’Darby himself stepped
from around the back of the garage and went inside.

My heart started pounding when I thought of
the way he’d glared at me the other night, through his daughter’s
window. The malevolence in those eerie eyes still gave me the
chills. And the way they’d glowed, what was up with that?

I needed to watch this guy.
Shannon had basically admitted he was dangerous. Was it possible
that he really was responsible for those missing children and that
Ben was right? Crap, what if he
was
right?

Trying to stay calm, I moved towards the
shadow of the bushes in our yard, which actually gave me a better
view of O’Darby’s garage, and crouched down. After a short time,
Mr. O’Darby stepped out of the garage, mumbling to himself, clearly
upset.

“Fools,” he growled, pacing back and
forth.

Fools?

After walking back and forth several times,
he disappeared into his garage once more. This time I noticed
flashes of light coming from his garage.

What in the heck was he doing in there?

There were windows on the other side of his
garage, away from the door. If I could get to those windows before
he stepped back out of the garage, I could see inside.

Before I could work up enough courage, he
stepped back outside of the garage, this time struggling with a
large army-green duffel bag.

It was bigger than he was and I imagined him
to be four-and-a-half feet tall.

After a few more seconds of struggling, he
set it down and began dragging it towards the house. When he
reached the steps to the porch and began pulling it up, I heard a
strangled cry.

Shit, it was coming from the bag!

O’Darby ignored the sound and disappeared
into the house with the duffel bag. I stood up and raced into the
house to call the police.

***

“We checked the entire house,” said Matt, my
mother’s boyfriend. “There was nothing, Trent.”

“Did you find the duffel bag?” I asked,
frustrated.

“Yes, he showed it to us. The only thing in
the duffel bag was camping gear.”

“I heard someone crying,” I said. “I swear
to God, Matt.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” he said.
“We couldn’t find anything at all.”

“Did you check out the library?”

“Of course. We checked the basement cellar,
the kitchen, all of the bedrooms. There was absolutely
nothing.”

I sat down at the kitchen table and put my
head in my hands. “I don’t understand. What about the garage?” I
asked, lifting my head.

Matt sat down across from me. “Yes, of
course.”

“This is bullshit. He’s hiding
something.”

Our phone started ringing and Matt answered
it. “Yes, everyone’s fine, Mira,” he said into the phone. “False
alarm.”

I frowned. It wasn’t a false alarm. The
crazy old man got rid of the body.

Matt smiled and nodded.
“It’s okay, babe. The guy
was
a little weird. Not a child-slayer, obviously, but
strange. Okay, love you, too.”

“Is she mad?” I asked, when he hung up.

He shrugged. “A little. She says you and Ben
have been a little spooked lately. I don’t blame you, though. Not
with those missing kids.”

I sighed.

“Well, I got to go,” he said. “Do me a
favor, will you?”

“What?”

“Stay away from O’Darby. He may not be a
killer, but he’s pissed off as all hell that you’ve been sniffing
around his daughter and spying on him.”

I folded my arms across my chest and sat
back. “Is that what he said?”

“Pretty much.”

“He’s crazy,” I said. “He doesn’t let her go
anywhere, not even outside.”

Matt raised his eyebrows.

“Seriously,” I said.

He patted my shoulder. “I spoke to her and
she seemed pretty well-adjusted. Listen, get some sleep, now. I’ll
see you on Sunday. Mira’s invited me for dinner.”

“Okay.”

After he left, I checked all of the locks
and went upstairs to get ready for bed. I kept my light out and
went to the window, to shut the blinds. As I reached for the cord,
my eyes were once again, drawn to O’Darby’s house.

My heart stopped.

Standing on the lawn, in the darkness, stood
O’Darby, staring up at me, his eyes glowing brightly and a dark
smile spread across his pale face.

“Oh crap,’ I gasped, backing away from the
window.

Suddenly, something slammed against the
window and I almost expected to see O’Darby hovering in the
darkness, trying to break the glass. But instead, there was
something that scared the hell out of me. Glowing brightly on the
outside of the window was a clear message that chilled me to the
bone –

Ben

Gripped with fear, I rushed out of my
bedroom and down the hallway to my little brother’s bed, relieved
to find him still sleeping soundly. I stared at the way his thick
eyelashes fanned across his cheek and clenched my fists. He could
not have my brother.

No way.

I grabbed one of his pillows, slid to the
floor and stayed awake for the next three hours until exhaustion
finally consumed me and I fell asleep.

Chapter Six

“That’s crazy,” said my mother. “In fact, I
went over and spoke to Mr. O’Darby myself and apologized profusely
for your actions, Trent.”

I’d just relayed the previous night’s
activities to my mother the next morning but she refused to believe
that he was a murderer and had basically threatened Ben’s life.

“He’s after Ben,” I protested. “You
shouldn’t be apologizing to that guy, mom. He’s a lunatic.”