She stood at the foot of the stairs looking up toward Selena’s room.
“Hurry up, Hannah,” Selena said.
“I’m not going,” Hannah said.
“Why not?” Anna came back inside. “You have to go. You said you were.”
Hannah shook her head. “I just realized. There’s something I need to do.”
“What?” Anna said. “What are you going to do?”
Hannah didn’t say. She was thinking that she couldn’t, not with Selena standing right there. She didn’t have to tell Anna everything anymore. And maybe she didn’t want to.
Anna wondered why Hannah was acting like this. “Why won’t you tell me?”
“Let Hannah stay if she wants to. We have to go. Marcus is picking me up at seven. That’s in …”
Selena’s brain got tangled with numbers until Anna said, “Four hours and twenty-three minutes.” Selena hugged her sister happily and ran back to the car.
“Go,” Hannah said.
“No,” Anna said.
The twins stared at each other stubbornly. The horn honked. Anna went outside and called to her parents, “I’m staying home with Hannah!”
After the sounds of the car had faded, Hannah went upstairs into Selena’s room. Anna followed her. Clothes were everywhere. It looked like whatever was in the closet had burst out and wrecked the room. This disaster was caused by a vain teenage girl who couldn’t decide what to wear.
“Why come in here? Are you going to read her diary?” Anna was thinking that Selena probably hadn’t written in it since she and Hannah read it five years ago.
“No. I’m going to use what’s in her closet to scare her,” Hannah said.
Use it? Did she really think she could control what she would feel in the closet?
“She has a boyfriend now. She won’t want to move back to Brooklyn no matter what you do,” Anna said.
Hannah pushed aside piles of clothes with her foot to clear a path to the closet. Mr. Zimmer had hung a mirror on the door. Now Selena only thought about how she looked. She never considered what was behind the glass.
“You should stop trying to scare Selena,” Anna said.
Anna was right. Hannah should stop. The closet was no place for pranks.
Hannah didn’t agree. “You liked the idea last week.”
“That was before.”
“Before you changed.”
Anna looked down at her shirt, even though she knew perfectly well that Hannah meant something else. “You’re right. Going to the mall was a dumb idea. But so is scaring Selena. Let’s find something fun to do. I know. We can look for Mr. Muffin.”
Hannah shook her head. She grabbed the knob and turned it. Slowly she opened the closet door. She paused just outside, squinting at the darkness, as if she were looking at a very bright light.
She wasn’t, of course. She was looking at a bad place. It wasn’t as dreadful as what lay behind the house, but it was where the terrible events began.
What would happen if she went inside? Would she understand? And even if she did, then what? Would that change everything? Or just her?
Hannah took a deep breath and stepped into the closet.
After she disappeared into the darkness, Anna followed her.
They stood in the center, listening to their breathing. Anna held her nose to keep out the smell. “How long do we have to stay here?” Anna whispered.
“Be quiet.”
Hannah was trying to listen. She really was. There was so much to say. It was hard to describe how everything went wrong. Not without getting angry all over again.
It was wrong to punish one deed and not the other. Letting a little critter die is a crime much worse than ruining a few fancy dresses. Much, much worse. Didn’t people realize that anyone who watches one thing die would gladly watch another?
“Nothing’s happening,” Anna said.
“That’s because you’re talking, so shut up.”
Then Hannah did something she shouldn’t have. She shut the door. Now they were utterly in the dark.
“What did you do that for?” Anna said.
“I need to concentrate.”
The girls found it hard to breathe. There was a limited supply of air—and love. Some people say it’s infinite. But there isn’t nearly enough to make up for the hate. The twins were discovering that—even though they didn’t realize it.
“I’m leaving,” Anna said.
“What are you going to do? Call Georgia?”
Actually Anna was going to call Georgia.
“Are you going to complain that I kept you from going to the mall?”
“You did keep me from going.”
“So?”
“So don’t ask to borrow my flashlight when your batteries run out.”
“I won’t borrow anything of yours ever again.”
“Yes, you will. You always need my help.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t want you here. You’re in the way.”
Anna stumbled toward the door. It was too dark to see the way out. “I can’t find the knob.” Anna’s voice cracked.
Hannah came and found it. For some reason it was stuck.
“It won’t turn.” Hannah pushed the door with both hands. Then she quickly stepped back.
Ah. Her fingers had found the deep gouge in the wood.
“There’s something carved in the door,” Hannah whispered.
Anna felt her way along Hannah’s arm and put her hand next to Hannah’s. Together they traced the rough edges. The line was about six inches long.
“What is it?” Anna said.
It marked what had been done—and who had done it.
Hannah cautiously explored the wood until her hand touched another scratch just as deep and long, only this one bent. “It’s writing. It’s an I and an L.”
“Maybe it spells I Love You?” Anna said.
Who would write that to a murderer?
They looked for the O V E, but these were the letters they found:
“Ildred,” Hannah said.
Ha! Why not call the monster that? It was a fitting name. Much better than the real one.
“We should never have come in here. Why did you make me?” Anna said.
“You followed me,” Hannah said.
“I was trying to keep you out of trouble,” Anna said.
“You’re the one who broke the door,” Hannah said.
“You’re the one who slammed it shut,” Anna said.
“Stop blaming me,” Hannah said.
“You started it,” Anna said.
“So now you really hate me, don’t you?” Hannah said.
She shouldn’t have said that. One hate always bred another in the house on Hemlock Road—like more and more and more mice.
“Don’t you?” Hannah said again.
“It’s your fault we’re stuck in here with Ildred,” Anna said.
“Don’t say its name. What if it comes?”
That green-eyed monster had already done its damage—ILDRED was there.
Hannah and Anna inched as far from the door as possible. When they got to the closet’s back wall, they sank down to the floor and sat in opposite corners. They weren’t speaking to each other. Spiteful thoughts screamed inside their heads.
They were trapped. Would that help them understand how others felt, stuck next to the worst possible place? No—even Hannah was just feeling sorry for herself.
Why should they complain? Their family hadn’t driven away and left them forever. Their family was going to return. Their darkness only seemed eternal. Eventually someone would open the closet door and let them out.
“Why aren’t they back?” Anna said.
“How should I know?” Hannah said.
Anna said nothing.
“You can’t blame that on me too,” Hannah said.
“I wasn’t,” Anna said.
“Yes, you were. I know what you’re thinking,” Hannah said.
Did she know what
others were thinking? Could she know?
Hannah wriggled. She couldn’t get comfortable. This wasn’t surprising. She was stuck in a hot, stinky, dark place just inches from someone who didn’t like her very much at the moment.
Anna sat with her eyes shut, humming a song that reminded her of Georgia.
“Ow.” Hannah had put her palm down on something small and sharp. It stuck to her damp skin. She picked it up with her other hand and held it between her thumb and forefinger.
What was it?
“I found something,” Hannah said.
What could it be? Nothing remained after all these years. Unless it was a bone?
“It’s a bone,” Hannah said.
“Stop finding things,” Anna said.
“I can’t help it. I just put my hand down and it was there. It isn’t a human bone. It’s too little.”
Yes, it would be very small. That didn’t mean it wasn’t important.
“Did you say it wasn’t important?” Hannah said.
“No,” Anna said.
Hannah slowly rolled it back and forth. “Because it is. I just know it.”
It was an innocent little critter. And Ildred had let it die.
“It has something to do with Ildred,” Hannah said.
Anna didn’t want to think about Ildred so she sang the song out loud. “Oo, oo. Oo, oo, ga, ga.”
“I hate that song,” Hannah said.
“Well, I hate being in here.” Anna sang louder. “Oo, oo. Oo, oo, ga, ga.”
Hannah closed her fist protectively around the bone.
Time passed. For the twins, these hours in the darkness felt like forever. Finally the front door opened.
“Hannah Anna! We’re back!” Mrs. Zimmer called.
“You took too long in the fabric store. Marcus will be here in forty-five minutes.” Selena ran up the stairs and into her room. She tossed two red bags on her bed.
“Selena!” voices wailed from inside the closet.
She backed away from her frightened reflection.
“Please, Selena. Open the door.”
Then Selena realized it was only her sisters. “Ha, ha, very funny.”
“It isn’t a trick. We’re stuck.”
Selena’s thoughts were a swirl of nervous excitement as she hurried into the bathroom to wash her face.
After the twins kicked at the door, Mrs. Zimmer heard the thumping and came upstairs. “What’s going on?”
“The twins are in my closet playing another trick on me, which is so not funny because Marcus will be here soon,” Selena called from the bathroom.
It took Mr. Zimmer, Mrs. Zimmer, a wrench, and a screwdriver to pry open the door. The moment it swung clear, Anna raced out and hugged her parents. Hannah carefully shut the door with the fist that was still clenched around the tiny bone.
“Girls, I want to talk to you.” Mrs. Zimmer did have a stern voice—when the subject was Selena.
The twins followed their mother downstairs. They stood in front of the hall tree mirror. The crack separated their faces.
“Hannah Anna, stop trying to scare Selena.”
“I wasn’t,” Anna said.
“Then why were you hiding in her closet?” Mrs. Zimmer said.
Hannah held out her fist. “We found something very important. A terrible thing happened in the closet. We should have realized on the first day when Selena felt it.”
“Stop talking nonsense. Just promise me you won’t bother Selena again.”
“No, Mom, listen,” Hannah said.
Did she really think her mother would?
“I found a tiny bone.” Hannah opened her fist.
Mrs. Zimmer leaned forward to examine it. “That’s not a bone. It’s a button.”
A button?
“It might be made of bone. It looks old. It must have come from someone’s fancy dress.”
“A button?” Hannah was puzzled. “Could something bad happen to a dress?”
“Of course. If someone ripped it,” Mrs. Zimmer said.
No! No one should care about a ripped dress.
“Then who carved their name in the door?” Hannah said.
“What name?” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“Something evil, right, Anna?” Hannah said.
Anna shrugged. “It’s just some scratches.”
“No, it isn’t. You were as scared as I was,” Hannah said.
“Of course. You were stuck,” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“It’s more than that. Something terrible happened in there,” Hannah said.
Suddenly three loud thumps echoed from somewhere upstairs.
WHAM WHAM WHAM!
No one spoke.
“It’s coming from inside the closet,” Hannah whispered.
WHAM WHAM WHAM!
Slowly Hannah climbed the stairs. Mrs. Zimmer and Anna followed. Selena poked her head out of the bathroom.
The door to Selena’s room was shut. When the sound came again, the door quivered. WHAM WHAM WHAM!
Hannah squeezed the button so tightly that her hand hurt.
The door swung open. They all drew in their breath.
Out came Mr. Zimmer. He wiped a few beads of sweat off his brow with his forearm because his right hand held a hammer.
“Dad’s the monster.” Anna laughed with relief.
“He’s only dangerous when he plays his music too loud,” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“What were you doing?” Hannah said.
“Putting in a hook and eye so no one forgets and goes in there.”
“With a hammer?” Hannah said.
“I couldn’t find the drill.” Mr. Zimmer smiled sheepishly.
“There’s an explanation for everything. You see, Hannah?” Mrs. Zimmer said.
Hannah saw that her family believed she was foolish. She threw the button onto the floor and walked into her bedroom.
She lay on her bed and thought Anna was right. She did have too much imagination. It used to be fun to think things. Only now she couldn’t seem to stop and the things she thought were alarming. She remembered how when they were in the closet, she imagined someone else was there too.
Yes.
Then she remembered how she and Anna had fought. How that felt just as scary as the closet.
Why did she care about Anna? Did Anna care about her?
Hannah jumped down from her bed and walked determinedly over to the dresser. She picked up the book that Georgia had given Anna. Its cover was like Selena’s red shopping bags. Anna was always urging Hannah to read it because all the other girls had. Hannah hadn’t cared about fitting in with the other kids—until now. She took a deep breath and opened it to the first page.
Hannah didn’t like the book. It was easy to see why. It didn’t have any adventures. It was just girls making cruel comments about clothes. She should have put down the book. Instead she turned a page.
No.
She was so close to understanding. If only she would listen.
Listen.
She shut the book. “Anna?”
It wasn’t her sister who had spoken to her.
The doorbell rang.
“That’s Marcus!” Selena shouted. “Somebody let him in. I’m not ready, and it’s all Hannah’s fault.”
Mr. Zimmer opened the front door.
Marcus wasn’t smiling his famous gap-toothed smile. He squirmed uneasily, especially when Mr. Zimmer tried to shake his hand with a hammer.
“I’m Selena’s dad. She’ll be right down. Come on in.” Mr. Zimmer gestured with his hammer. “Always something to fix in an old house.”
“Especially this house,” Marcus said.
“What about this house?” Mr. Zimmer said.
“Nothing. Nobody believes that anymore, about the green eyes.”
Then why did the young man shift from foot to foot and inch closer to the door?
“Is Selena coming?” Marcus said.
“What about the green eyes?” Mr. Zimmer asked.
Marc
us shrugged. “When we were kids, we’d come here on Halloween and watch for them. Until we got bored and threw rocks at the house.” He laughed.
So he was one of those boys. Well, well, well …
Selena clattered down the stairs in boots with high heels. Marcus grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the house. He was bold now, especially after he got in his car and locked the doors.
At the end of the driveway, a strange wind swirled a tornado of dead leaves. He backed the car right through them. Gravel spit from under the wheels as the car turned onto Hemlock Road. Marcus and Selena laughed as they sped away, as if they knew they couldn’t be followed.
That didn’t matter. Sooner or later the lovebirds would have to come back.
The sun sank behind the house. Shadows spread across the yard. Cats slunk under the bushes just beyond the property line, where no one could bother them.
The front door opened. Mrs. Zimmer carried a tray. “Bring a cloth,” she said.
Mr. Zimmer brought out something white. “This one?”
“Oh no. That’s Mrs. Mason’s silk.” She took it away from him and carefully folded it. The edge blew up in her face. Ha!
After a few minutes, she came back out with an old purple sheet. Anna brought a stack of plates.
“Where’s Hannah?” Mr. Zimmer said.
Anna didn’t know. She thought how strange it was that she didn’t. “I better go get her.” She hurried back inside.
“I hope Hannah isn’t still upset about the closet. Where does she get these ideas?” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“Kids probably talk at school. They like to think old places are haunted.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Was it?
After the twins came out, Mrs. Zimmer smiled at Hannah.
“I thought we should have a picnic supper. We hardly ever spend time in the yard. We need to appreciate the good things about living here.”
She spread the cloth on the grass. The family sat cross-legged around the food. The house loomed above them. Its dark wood seemed especially gloomy in contrast to the mauve twilight sky. Hannah tried to tell herself that didn’t mean anything except that it was getting dark.
The Zimmers ate a strange meal. They each took a paper-thin circle of bread like a pancake. They spooned on a little salad. Then they wrapped the circle in a long tube and ate it with their fingers. They said it was delicious. That was their dinner? Where was the meat? Where were the potatoes? Maybe the Zimmers were as poor as other families used to be.
The Girl Behind the Glass Page 5