The Dreamstalker (16 page)

“Karen, good to hear from you. Anything wrong?”

“No, but I have a question. Was it in the paper that Dr. McArthur went off the road backward?”

“No, it looked that way, but there was no way to tell for sure. Why do you ask?”

“No reason in particular. He said he had a recurring dream about that. It came up in a discussion I was having.”

“Our biggest piece of the puzzle is what he was doing, why he was going to town anyway—in the middle of the night.”

“I don't know.” She didn't know how, but she knew. But she would never tell Martin, tell him someone had forced Dr. McArthur to go to town, to get in his car.

Finally she gave up reading. She snapped off the light and lay in bed, thinking, but blocking at the same time.

You know, Karen. He can't stay here with you now that you know. You are responsible for him. You've made him like he is. This is partly your fault. You are the one who has to do something about this.

She fought the fog of sleep that surrounded her. She fought, but she lost.

He beckons to her, motioning for her to come. She shakes her head no. Come on, come on, he insists. No, no. She pulls back. She doesn't want to go. Yes, you do, you know you do. Dress warmly
.

Chapter 19

She is all mine now, but she is confused. I don't Know if I can trust her. I love her so much, but love is not enough. I must be sure that she will always love me, only me
.

Come, Karen. Come to me
.

I know what I have to do, Karen. I'm sorry. I don't really want you to be afraid. But you must come with me. It's the only way you can be mine forever. It's the only way I can guarantee we will always be together
.

Suddenly she was awake. Sitting up in bed, she shivered. It was cold, so cold, but now that she was awake, she'd stay awake. It wasn't safe to sleep anyway. Getting out of bed, she dressed in long underwear and her wool skating slacks. She put on a long-sleeved knit shirt, a wool ski sweater over it, and two pairs of socks.

Softly, she tiptoed downstairs. At the back door she pulled on her snow boots and slipped into her parka. There was a wool knit hat in one pocket. She tugged it on. Mittens peeked from the other pocket. They were warm on her hands.

Her mom's car started right up. It slipped and slid down the snowy roads to the lake as if it had a mind of its own.

At the lake he put on her shoe skates and laced them. “I knew you'd come,” he said. He lifted her over the fence, then pulled her over the bumps. She laughed as her feet jarred, vibrating over the rough ice.

The rink ice was polished like a huge diamond, the surface slick and clean. They flew over it, racing each other at first. He let her win, then grabbed her hands and swung her into position beside him. Around and around and around they whirled, two gliding as one, steps synchronized, matching their perfect rhythms so that no one would have been able to tell, from a distance, who was Kerr and who was Karen. She felt that they were one, that they belonged together. She was glad she had come. Glad he had made her come.

On the corner he made an abrupt move and turned her loose, swinging her around, so that she was halfway across the ice before she could spin turn and look back at him.

He was gone! She stopped, skates rasping with the maneuver.

“Kerr, where are you? Stop that, you hear? Stop teasing me.” Her sudden fear turned to laughter, as she realized he must be hiding.

She zipped back around, aware of the awkwardness of skating clockwise. There was no place for him to hide.

A gust of wind brought her to her senses. She looked around. She was on the lake. She looked down. Skating. How had she gotten over here? She didn't remember coming to the lake. Was she here alone? No, she was here with Kerr. Where was he? She heard the splash before she saw him. “Karen, help me. Come here, help me.”

Skating slowly, as if she couldn't believe her eyes, she headed for the dark hole at the edge of the rink. It was beyond the boundaries of where they were supposed to skate.

She ducked under the rope that marked the edge of the rink. Carefully, she slid forward, closer to the hole.

“How did I get here, Kerr? Did you bring me over here?” She ignored the fact that he was in the water, calling for help.

He held to the edge of the ice. When it broke off in his hand, he grasped it again. “You wanted to come. You know you did.”

“How? Why? I was asleep, Kerr. I was dreaming about you again.”

“Again?” He laughed. “Haven't you caught on yet, Karen? I went into your dream and got you. You wanted to come over here, so I brought you.”

She stared at him. “Am I dreaming?”

“Not now. I can stay in your dream, I can take you into mine, or I can bring you here, like tonight. I thought I'd let you return to your dream, but I changed my mind. I have a new plan, one I think you'll like once you get used to the idea. This afternoon, I wanted to scare you. I wanted you to know what it would be like to lose me like you lost Jesse and Alysia. I no longer want you to be afraid. Come closer. Help me get out of here.” He laughed again, as if it didn't matter, or there was no hurry.

The wind rose, howling through the trees behind them. It whipped and tore at Karen, trying to steal her hat, trying to push her over, into the open water with Kerr. She grasped the fence post that held the rope barrier. Anchored by a circle of concrete, it was secure.

Another icy gust cleared her mind completely. She wouldn't help him until he had answered all her questions.

“You killed Gordon, didn't you?”

“He choked to death. I scared him a little. That was my first experiment. To tell the truth, I only wanted to see if I could do it.” His teeth chattered. “You didn't think it was possible, did you, Karen? You watched that movie and thought it was fantasy. You're pretty smart, but you don't have a lot of imagination, Karen. You didn't want to think I could go into your dreams. I'm in your head anyway. It was an easy step to take. But your dreams are boring, Karen. That's why you don't remember them. So I took you into mine. You know my dreams aren't boring. Didn't they fascinate you?”

“Did-did you kill Jesse?”

“He didn't want to share you, Karen. He was going to take you away from me.”

“And Alysia?” She knew, but she had to ask, had to hear him admit it.

“She hated me. I told you she hated me. I frightened her. I knew that. She always wanted to be with you, but she never wanted me around. We came as a package, though. So what could she do? She tolerated me, but I finally got tired of her.”

Karen shivered and hunkered down, grasping her knees to stop shaking. This wasn't happening. She'd wake up soon. Laugh at this idea. Laugh at the possibility that Kerr could ever do this, much less that he had. “And Dr. McArthur. Kerr, why?”

“I was afraid he would figure out what was going on. Maybe I gave him too much credit. He would never have believed I could get in his dreams.”

“You made him go to town.”

“Sure. It was easy. I told him he was awake. He didn't know how to handle insomnia. He'd never had it before. I didn't want to take a chance on the rest. I didn't want to leave the accident to chance, so I fixed the brakes. He was really scared. It was funny.”

The imagination Kerr said she didn't have was working overtime. But the fact was, her brother was a murderer. He had killed and killed and killed again.

“Karen, I'm cold. I can't feel my legs. Pull me out now.” Kerr struggled onto the edge of the ice. It broke off as soon as he put any weight on it. “Lie down and stretch out your hand. Or break off a tree limb and slide it over here to me.”

She stood and took one step backwards. “I—I can't, Kerr.”

“What do you mean, you can't? Karen, don't be silly. Help me.” The moon shone directly on Kerr, like a stage spotlight. His face started to change as her words sunk in. “You have to come closer. You have to!” He managed to hoist himself out of the water and onto the ice. But it cracked and splintered, the sound unnatural in the darkness, and he was plunged into the water once more. “Karen!”

“I'm sorry, Kerr. I'm so sorry.” Slowly she backed away, still not wanting to believe his words, but knowing it was true. There was no other explanation. As terrible, as impossible as it seemed, it was the truth.

His hand, stretching toward her was naked, his gloves in the water with him. It reached, long fingers bony like the bare limbs of the aspen on the shore.

The part of him that was also in her reached out to him, wanted to throw herself flat and grasp his hand. Even if he pulled her in with her attempt to save him, she had to try.

The part of her that had kept her separate knew she had to back away. She couldn't continue life with him, knowing what he had done. Neither could she tell on him. But would anyone believe her if she did tell them? She didn't think so.

This was the only way.

“Karen.” His voice was weaker. “I can't move. I'm so cold. Karen, help me. You can help me. You've always helped me.”

“No more, Kerr. I'm sorry. No more.” She bit her lip and let the cold wind freeze her heart so that it was without feeling.

She stood watching, as if this was another funeral, a memorial service for another of her friends. It seemed to take forever for his hand to slide under the darkness. With a ripple across the surface, the last finger disappeared, until there was nothing but black water, frosted by moonlight.

“Karen! What happened?” A familiar voice came up behind her.

“My brother drowned. I let him drown.”

“When—how long? You let him drown? I'm sure you couldn't help him. It was an accident. But what are you doing out here this time of night?” Captain Martin stared at the broken ice and the black water.

“He wanted me to come. He wanted me to skate with him one more time. I'm glad I did. I'll always remember it.”

“Take her to the car,” he instructed someone. “Call for help. I'm going to see what I can do.” Martin stepped over the rope.

“What are you doing here?” she remembered to ask.

“We've been watching your house since McArthur died.”

“What for?”

“We didn't know. Just to keep track of where you went, Karen. You or Kerr.”

Karen didn't quite understand that. She let herself be led to the warm police car. Then she sat there and watched.

“I wanted us to live our own lives, Kerr. I wanted to be me and let you be you. I wanted to be separate from you, Kerr,” she whispered as she watched.

But she knew that Kerr had won. She would never be without him now.
You trapped me, Kerr. I had to let you go. Jesse and Alysia were waiting for you. But because I let you go you'll be inside me forever. I can never tell what happened, so the truth belongs only to me. And the truth has made us one
.

About the Author

Barbara Steiner (1934–2014) was an acclaimed author known for her books for children and young adults. Steiner authored over seventy titles, including picture books, early chapter books, mysteries, young adult thrillers, historical novels, and romances. In her lifetime, Steiner visited more than ninety-four countries and all seven continents, and many of her books were inspired by her travels. She lived in Boulder with her family until her death in January 2014.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1992 by Barbara Steiner

Cover design by Mimi Bark

ISBN: 978-1-4976-1147-4

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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EBOOKS BY BARBARA STEINER

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA