The Dark: A Collection (Point Horror) (12 page)

The guys held him
while Rick socked Harry again.

"No!" Bianca
shrieked. She couldn't get away. Marianna wouldn't let her.

"It's time for
our chicken roast," Rick announced.

The toughs stripped
Harry's shirt off. They rubbed him down with oil and grease. Then
they dumped chicken feathers from their pockets all over him.

"Stop it, Rick!"
Bianca screamed.

"That's all up to
you." Rick lighted a cigarette. He held it until the hot, orange
ashes appeared. He held it over Harry's chest. "Will you forget
about Harry and share that dough with me?"

"Rick, you're not
going to do it, are you?" Bianca was horrified.

"Don't let him
bully you, Bianca!" Harry called. "Don't agree to anything he
says no matter what!"

Rick ground the
cigarette into the middle of Harry's chest to put it out. Harry
winced.

Rick lighted another
cigarette. "I've got plenty more where this cigarette comes
from." He glared at Bianca. There was a maliciousness in his eyes
that she'd never suspected when he'd picked her up for their
date.

"Marianna says you
were tattletaling to Harry about creeps stalking around in the dark
two years ago near the Shipleys' house. Well, I don't want you
telling the police that you remember anything about me! Is that
clear?" Rick stared Bianca down.

Bianca eyed Marianna.
She could picture the girl putting up her CLOSED sign at the
concessions counter just so she could listen to everything that she
and Harry said in the employees' lounge.

Rick snuffed out
another cigarette against Harry's chest. Harry grimaced. He didn't
cry out, though his chest was getting scarred with red marks.

"I don't
understand anything that anybody's talking about," Bianca cried.
"But I'll promise anything you want. Just stop this craziness!"

"That's not very
convincing, Ricky," Marianna sighed. "Bianca needs a lesson that
she'll never forget."

Marianna started
tugging Bianca toward the freshly dug grave that she'd stumbled
upon before. Bianca hadn't realized that they were still so close
to it. Marianna shoved her closer to the edge.

"Bianca's scared
of the dark, isn't she?" Marianna teased. "This ought to teach
her!"

"No!" Bianca
clutched Little Katie. Dark hands reached out of the grave to drag
her down. Her head spun around.

"Let her go, you
bitch!" Harry gave a sudden lurch and broke free of the two toughs
who were holding him.

Rick lunged at Harry
and socked him. Harry hit him back. The two toughs joined in the
fray.

Marianna took
advantage of the moment while Bianca was distracted by the fist
fight. She slapped Bianca across the face, forcing her backward
toward the yawning black pit.

"Look who's
chicken now!" Marianna cried. "Maybe you'll learn not to tell
any more stories about my Ricky."

Bianca couldn't put
up her own hands to defend herself, or she'd have to drop Little
Katie. She dared not shield herself with the child's body. Just as
she was on the brink of the pit, a vivid memory flashed through her
head:

The killer was near
the stairs instead of an open grave. I was holding Little Katie,
trying to defend myself. His hands were strong like Marianna's. . .
His hands felt like Marianna's. . . The killer's eyes looked like
hers. It was pitch black in the house that night. I saw them glowing.
. .

"C'mon, let's
move it!" Marianna hissed. "The grave is waiting."

Just before I ran
down the stairs and tripped over Mrs. Ingersoll's body, I heard the
killer's voice. The hiss was low, though I can't remember what he
said. It sounded like Marianna's hiss. . .

Bianca screamed and
screamed and screamed.

Marianna's hand
fell away from Bianca's cheek. She lost her footing. It was she —
not Bianca — who fell into the grave with a bloodcurdling screech.

"What happened?"
Rick raced over to the grave. He gaped down into the black pit,
unable to believe his eyes. Marianna's body was lying motionless.

"What have you
done!" Rick turned on Bianca.

"Marianna just . .
. fell." Bianca clutched the child to her.

Rick gaped at Bianca
tongue-tied. He couldn't believe what had happened to his
ex-girlfriend, his partner in their plan to extort all the money they
could out of Bianca.

Rick and the toughs
jumped down into the grave to drag Marianna out. Bianca, holding
Little Katie, ran into Harry's arms. She was helping him take off
the chicken feathers and put his shirt back on when Rick and the
toughs surfaced with Marianna.

They laid Marianna
flat down on the ground. She still wasn't moving. Her leg was
resting at an odd angle. There was a red bump on her head.

"Marianna!" Rick
shook her by the shoulders. "Jesus! Talk to me!" He slapped her
on the cheek.

Bianca took one of
the chicken feathers that they'd stuck on Harry. She approached
Marianna's silent form that Rick was shaking so hard. She stooped
down and put the feather under Marianna's nose. It was hard to tell
for sure. It didn't look as if the feather was moving much.

"Marianna's
dead!" Rick hollered. "You murdered her!" Rick looked at Bianca
in amazement. He couldn't believe that Bianca, the coward who was
scared of the dark, had it in her to kill someone.

"She kept on
slapping me in the face, backing me up toward the grave. Then she
lost her balance and fell. It was an accident," Bianca insisted.

"Jesus! We've got
to get her to a doctor." Rick picked up Marianna. The bully looked
helpless. His eyes were big and round with fear. His face was pale in
the moonlight. He looked as if he might cry.

"My house!"
Bianca tried to pull herself together. "It's right beyond the
fence. Doc said my parents and the Shipleys are there. There are sure
to be police, lots of them. They can take Marianna to the hospital."

It was hard for
Bianca to feel anything for Marianna after what she'd almost done.
She'd almost killed her and Little Katie. It could have been them
lying in the black ditch.

"This way!" Harry
pointed in the direction of the back fence to the cemetery. He could
hardly walk. Bianca had to support him against her shoulder.

"Now wait a
minute!" Rick looked anxiously from Harry to Bianca and back again.
"This isn't a trap, is it? You're not going to pin what
happened to Marianna on me. You're just as guilty as I am!"

"I don't think
the police are going to see it that way," Harry scoffed. "You'll
have to take your chances, I guess, Roscoe."

"Nobody's going
to believe a lowlife like you!" Rick pointed at Harry.

Bianca guessed that
was true, sadly enough. Especially after what his brother had done,
everyone would think Harry was guilty. She could picture them
bursting into her parents' living room with conflicting stories.
Rick might be a creep, but no one would know it, even if he'd been
secretly aiding Mike. Harry would be the one to go to jail.

They found a break in
the fence through which Rick could carry Marianna and Bianca could
drag Harry. All the way back to her parents' house, Rick sniped at
Harry. Rick never stopped telling him in excruciating detail what he
was going to do to him if he ratted on him and his buddies.

Rick whispered in
Bianca's ear about how she had better watch out. If Bianca said
anything against him, Rick was going to inform the authorities that
he'd seen Bianca fighting with Marianna. He was going to let them
know that Bianca had pushed her opponent to her death. He was also
going to tell them lots of other things, such as how Bianca and Harry
were a crime team. Marianna had heard them smooching it up in the
theater, planning their next move. He was sure the theater manager
would back him up.

Bianca tried not to
listen to Rick for fear it would make her even sicker. She kept
putting one foot in front of the other, though the darkness was
closing in on all sides.

Bianca's house was
lighted up like a Christmas tree. There wasn't one window through
which she didn't see people moving about. Police cars out front
were parked the whole length of the block, though it wasn't quite
morning. She saw the Shipleys' silver-gray Bentley parked out front
in her driveway behind her parents' station wagon. There was an
ambulance with its lights flashing and two fire trucks. A news truck
with live-cam reporting was pulled up across the street. Anything to
do with the Shipleys was big news. They were the richest family on
the island.

"Remember what I
told you, Fellini!" Rick growled as they were about to reach the
yard.

"Let's go around
the back," Bianca said when she saw that the front door was guarded
by two policemen.

Harry clutched Bianca
around the waist and gave Rick a dirty scowl. The last thing Harry
said to her was, "Chin up!"

There was mass
pandemonium as soon as Bianca struggled up the basement stairs and
through the living-room doorway clutching a sleepy Katie, who refused
to let go of her toy bear. Behind her limped Harry. Behind him
stumbled Rick carrying the still form of Marianna with a bump on her
head, her leg hanging at a strange angle. The two toughs that Rick
had paid off to beat up Harry had mysteriously disappeared.

Cameras flashed in
Bianca's bleary, bloodshot eyes and made her wince. Her mother
shrieked. Her father shouted. Mrs. Shipley came charging for Bianca
with open arms, crying, "Katie! Katie darling! Your Bianca's an
angel. She's found you again!" Mr. Shipley was pushing through
the crowd, proclaiming to Bianca that they were so profoundly
grateful.

The medics went to
work on Marianna on the sofa. They were trying to give her CPR and
mouth-to-mouth.

Reporters were
thrusting mikes into Bianca's face. Police were trying to elbow the
reporters aside to ask her questions. The noise was so great that no
one could hear her. She mumbled to the reporters her wooden, made-up
explanation for what had happened tonight.

Bianca was trying to
tell anyone who would listen that she, Harry, Rick and Marianna had
been to the movies together. They'd heard about the kidnapping and
had gone to look for Katie. She told them that Marianna had fallen
into an open grave in the cemetery. They hadn't been able to see
where they were going. She was inventing the tale as she was going
along. She hoped it made sense.

Doc burst into the
living room with policemen following him. He pointed at Harry, then
at Rick. "They're the same ones who were causing trouble at the
movie theater tonight. They're part of Mike Fellini's gang. Mike
was trying to kidnap Little Katie. Harry and the others were trying
to do away with Bianca because she's starting to remember the past.
I wouldn't be surprised if Harry is the murderer of Mrs.
Ingersoll."

"You don't have
any proof of that!" Harry shouted, making himself heard over the
crowd.

"That one there is
the worst of the lot. He's the brother of Mike Fellini. He was
trying to lure Bianca into a trap," Doc persisted.

"Liar!"

"Ernie McCollough
doesn't make unfounded accusations of such a grave nature. I have
all the evidence I require. Bianca told me everything I needed to
hear tonight," Doc announced.

Bianca stood there
with her mouth open looking at Doc with big, questioning eyes as the
policemen handcuffed Harry and dragged him away.

Rick shouted, "No!"
as they handcuffed him. The police led him to the waiting squad car
with the flashing lights — behind the medics who carried Marianna
on a stretcher with a sheet pulled up to her chin.

"You've always
trusted me to do the best thing for you, Bianca, haven't you?"
Doc gazed into her eyes.

"Yes!" Bianca
nodded. "I've always trusted you to do the best thing, Doc.
But—"

He raised his finger
to her lips and smiled. "No buts."

Chapter 10

Bianca found herself
a patient at Brunswick Memorial Hospital for the first time since the
slaying two years ago. The Shipleys insisted that she have the best
room, the one reserved for VIPs and dignitaries.

She had her own real
bed, not one of those hospital beds with cage-like bars that went up
and down. She had a sitting room for visitors and a VCR. Her bathroom
had a real tub, not a stripped-down shower with a thin, white curtain
like the other rooms.

Doctors were in and
out, as were the policemen. Doc had told the police that Bianca's
memory had started to come back. They repeatedly asked her if she'd
remembered anything more about the killer.

Reporters were banned
from her room, though she could see them gathered in a group down on
the street beneath her window. They waved up at her and called her by
name. There was even a live TV cam.

What was she doing
here? She shouldn't be locked up because she'd been seen with
Harry Fellini or because her memory had started to come back. It
wasn't her fault if she'd blundered into the cemetery at
midnight, and Marianna had fallen into a hole.

"You're safer
here," the police chief assured her. "Now that you've started
to remember that night two years ago, the killer will be gunning for
you."

"Am I supposed to
stay here until I remember everything?" Bianca asked.

"The longer the
better. We can't provide such good security for you once you leave
the hospital," the police chief explained.

When Bianca glanced
out the window, she noticed that besides the reporters there were
police at every corner. They were also at the entrance to the
hospital, which was two floors beneath her room. The next time the
nurse brought her a meal tray, Bianca saw that there was also a
policeman standing outside her door!

Doc took a leave of
absence from his internship so he could be with Bianca night and day.
He devoted all his time to her, as if she were his only patient. He
sat in her room while she was supposed to be sleeping. He read the
newspapers when he thought she wasn't looking. She caught glimpses
of headlines like: