The Skull Ring (23 page)

Daddy shook his head. He was wearing a dark robe, just like the others. Except his hood was down. She couldn't see the faces of the other bad people. She was so afraid she almost wet her pajamas, and she hadn't done that in a long time. She was Daddy's good girl who made him proud.

"You can't have her, Lucius," Daddy said to the bad man.

"It's not for me," he said, shaking his fist, his voice growing deeper, scarier. "The Master has ordered it."

"No," Daddy said. "I'm done with it. I want out."

"No one gets out," the bad man said. "You signed in blood. He owns you now, just as he owns this whore Judas Stone."

The other people in hoods moved closer to Daddy.

"
Daddy
!" Julia shrieked.

"It's okay, honey," Daddy said. Then he pulled his hood over his head. She couldn't see his face, and his eyes glowed like the glass eyes of a stuffed animal.

Daddy held out his hands, the sleeves of the robe drooping, full of shadows. "We won't hurt you. I'll take care of you."

She hesitated, afraid to leave her room. Darkness behind her like a long curtain.

"Come on, Jooolia," he cooed, just as he did at play, happy times of crayons and the blue pool in the yard and dolls making dinner and cars and trucks and wooden blocks on the living room floor. Just like normal.

She took a small step forward. Why was Daddy wearing the hood? Didn't he know how scary he looked?

"It's just a little game we play," Daddy said, coming toward her, his hands out. Like he wanted to hug her.

"What's he doing?" came Dr. Forrest's voice, as if from behind a wall. Dr. Forrest didn't belong here. Dr. Forrest belonged back
there
.

But Dr. Forrest was her friend. Dr. Forrest wanted to help her. Dr. Forrest wouldn't let the bad people get her.

"It's just a little game we play," Julia said.

"And he's holding your hand, taking you with the bad people," Dr. Forrest said. "What's happening?"

"Daddy's carrying me. It's nighttime because it's dark and I see stars and it's cold and I'm scared. I dropped Chester Bear somewhere. I smell the wet grass."

"You're in the barn, aren't you?" asked Dr. Forrest. Such a nice lady.

"There are more bad people here, and some smoke that smells funny. Stuff is burning in little pots. There's a big gray rock on the dirt. I can't see the stars anymore."

"Daddy puts you on the rock, doesn't he?"

Julia nodded, confused. She was supposed to be remembering, but she didn't want to.

Because this isn't happening. If you close your eyes, it goes away.

"Don't shut the door, Julia," came Dr. Forrest's voice again. "You're close."

Close. The bad man's breath is on her skin. Somebody takes her pajamas, and she's naked and cold. She tries to move, but she can't. The rock is hard under her back.

The man in the hood bends over her. He has a knife. It glows in the fire, candles all around, something stinks, why are there so many bad people? They all have hoods. Which one is Daddy?

They're singing now, a song that doesn't sound happy at all. She looks up to the other end of the rock, trying not to see the bad man. She sees the goat's head, the ragged threads of the neck dripping blood. She screams.

"That's it, Julia," said Dr. Forrest. "Let it out. Don't let the memory keep you chained anymore."

Something hurts inside her belly, she's crying but none of the bad people seem to notice, they just keep saying the scary words over and over.

Just the way she remembers it.

Just the way Dr. Forrest told her it happened.

And then the rest of it. She can't breathe, why is Daddy letting them do this to her? This isn't just a little game. Because games are fun, and this isn't fun.

Now the bad man has a knife, holding it over his head. The knife flashes like the skull ring.

"What does he say?" Dr. Forrest asked.

"You know," Julia murmured.

"Yes, I know, but
you
need to know. Say it out loud, and you'll kill its magic. It will have no power over you."

"I'm scared."

"I
know
you're scared, Julia. I know this is hard for you. But the only way to get better is to stare down your fears." Dr. Forrest sounded as if she were near tears herself, voice harsh and choked.

Julia recited the words, imitating the chant of the hooded man:

"Highness of Darkness, Satan, Master of the World, accept this offering from your loyal and humble slaves, that you may continue to make us free. So mote it be."

"And the rest of it," Dr. Forrest said, excited.

They said in unison, the bad people, Julia, Dr. Forrest, all combined in one chilling voice, "Lord Master Satan, we offer you this blood in your cursed name, that you may smile upon us and bless us. That you may—"

Julia stopped, caught in the doorway, not sure if she were in the past or the present. She opened her eyes, Dr. Forrest loomed over her, hands holding hers, face rapt, eyes closed.

Dr. Forrest completed the chant. "—that you may take as your bride, this whore Judas Stone."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Julia shivered, more frightened than she had ever been. She was on the precipice of a great gulf, it yawned out black and endless and inviting, a total madness.

"He cut you, didn't he, Julia?"

Dr. Forrest was her only link to reality, the therapist's grip the only thing preventing her from slipping into the abyss.

"He took your blood, and the eyes glowed." Dr. Forrest seemed nearly as faraway and lost as Julia. Even with the warm sunshine breaking through the office window, with the mountains spread bright and golden outside, with the reality of the chair and the floor and ceiling and walls, all the solid things of the world seemed as if they were melting away, swirling down some hidden drain into oblivion.

"The skull ring. You remember," Dr. Forrest said.

Julia couldn't suck any oxygen into her lungs.

"He did it."

Words like nails.

Julia stared into the therapist's rigid, twisted face. Suddenly Dr. Forrest's eyes snapped open, shining like candle fire, flickering.

"Say it, Julia. Don't let him have this last victory."

"He . . . "

"Say what he did."

"He let them—"

Dr. Forrest's lips curled in triumph. "Yes, he did. He had the power. All the power that Satan could offer. How could he resist?"

Julia jerked up from her chair, pulling free from Dr. Forrest. "He gave me to that
Creep
."

Julia wrapped her arms around her chest, sobbing, her shoulders quivering. She collapsed back into the chair. She turned to look outside, to escape from the office, but the world was only a larger prison. Wherever she might flee, her mind would follow.

"I told you so," Dr. Forrest said, calmed by Julia's acceptance. "Now you know. Now we can deal with it."

"No," Julia sobbed. "It didn't happen."

"Julia, your denial has been holding you back."

"Not him."

"Julia, incest is common. So many of our sisters have suffered the same cruelty. And ritual abuse. Would you be surprised if I told you half of my female patients recover memories of Satanic masses?"

Half.

"I share your pain, Julia. I bleed with you."

"You don't understand," Julia said.

"Of course I do. I've been here with you. I've . . . been there before you."

Been there?

"I'm a survivor, Julia. Just as you will be."

"Survivor?"

Dr. Forrest stood, unfastened the bottom two buttons on her blouse. She showed her belly, the raised welts purple against her pale flesh. On Dr. Forrest, the work had been completed, the pentagram fully etched, the horror plainly written onto the page of her body.

"You?" Julia didn't know what to say. What use were words?

Dr. Forrest buttoned her blouse with quick, efficient movements. She smiled, but her eyes were distant, unfocused. Perhaps she was looking through the rooms of her own house, rummaging in secret cellars.

Julia glanced at the wall clock. Two hours had passed. She had given herself away, ripped open her skull and handed her brain to Dr. Forrest. And her spirit had slipped out through the wound, merged with the shadows and was lost.

"We can defeat it, Julia. Now we move forward."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Forrest. I’m sorry it happened to you."

"Don't be sorry. Sorrow is for the weak, the emotionally crippled, those who don't seize what lies before them. We should strive for balance, Julia."

Julia stared with wonder at the wise therapist's face. Dr. Forrest had exposed herself, had opened up her own dark rooms, and now was as calm as if she had commented on the pansies in the window planter.

If this woman, who has endured terror beyond imagining, could become strong enough to help others, it's time I stopped feeling sorry for myself.

But the stinging memory swarmed over her again, and the force of the nightmarish admission blew in like a hurricane. She closed her eyes tight, but all she could see was the hooded man on top of her, his skin hot and sweaty on hers, the skull ring on the fist that held the knife, the twin rubies glowing as brightly as the two eyes under the hood—

"Julia, look at me."

She opened her eyes, shivering, her tears cool on her cheeks.

"It's natural for you to be scared," Dr. Forrest said. "It gets easier. Accepting is the first part of healing. From here on, we go forward."

Julia nodded. Forward.

"Now you're ready to embrace the whole truth. But we'll have to go slowly."

Julia began putting away the memories, the emotional trauma of the session, as if they were notebooks filed in mental cabinets. She needed to gather herself and go meet the demands of reality. She was behind on her work, and the paper's deadline was this evening. And the police were supposed to come by her house to dust for fingerprints.

She bent down to get her purse and stopped with her hand on the strap. "What about the drawing?"

"Let's not worry about the drawing right now." Dr. Forrest walked to stand beside Julia's chair. "I think you have enough to sort out right now without thinking about that. In fact, I believe it would be best if I kept it for you. At least for a week or two, until you're ready to face your recent problems."

Julia clutched the purse into her lap. She wasn't sure she should let the paper go. The police might need it to prove that the Peeping Tom had illegally entered her bedroom. It likely had his fingerprints on it.

But how would he know about the pentagram, about "Jooolia"?

Maybe Dr. Forrest was right. The drawing had caused her nothing but worry. If she were rid of it, maybe she could get on with her healing. Out of sight, out of mind.

She opened her purse and handed the folded paper to Dr. Forrest. The therapist smiled, her gray eyes almost mirthful. "You're going to be just fine, Julia. You're going to be perfect."

Julia closed the purse, the wooden box still buried under Kleenex, hairbrush, wallet, cell phone, and keys. She would keep the ring secret until the next session.

"Time heals all wounds, Julia," said the doctor.

Time, and maybe the band-aids and salve of hope. And faith, if she could find any.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Rick O'Dell came by Julia's desk after lunch, his confident smile a counterpoint to her dark mood.

"So, how was the vacation?" Rick asked. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, his tie carefully askew. He was eating a donut, nibbling it like a fastidious mouse.

"Refreshing." Julia glanced back at her computer screen.

"You look like you hardly slept a wink. Who was the lucky guy?"

Certainly not you, Mr. Stud-In-Your-Dreams. My private life is none of your business.

She controlled her annoyance. "Look, Rick, I'm way behind. I've got four articles to get done by deadline."

"Touchy. Don't you want to hear the latest on my Satanic sacrifice theory?"

Julia's fingers froze over the keyboard. She swiveled her chair, forgetting her resolve to be indifferent to him. "Actually, I was kind of wondering about that."

"You've still got it in you. Once you get a nose for the crime beat, you never lose it."

"Rick, I'm strictly features now. Don't worry about me trying to take your job."

Rick laughed, the confident boy wonder with two press awards on his desk. "I just got a copy of the medical examiner's preliminary report. Ritualistic markings, made with a blade. No fingerprint match, unfortunately. The victim is still unidentified. Autopsy showed traces in the system of morphine and—get this—belladonna."