“That isn’t your mother,” he said abruptly.
In the silence that followed, Derek waited for the consequences. But Alicen merely gave her head a shake, and disembodied laughter filled the room.
“Derek, she’s as much in my power as you are,” a voice said. “She thinks I’m her mother, the little fool!”
“You bitch!” Derek roared, pushing Alicen aside to lunge at the filmy mass hovering over the floor. His hands slammed hard against the window. The laughter continued.
“Derek!”
Melanie had entered the room just as he fell against the window. She looked at him, then at Alicen. Derek straightened himself, rubbing his wrists.
“Please leave this to me, Melanie,” he said, approaching Alicen. “She’s my daughter.”
“I heard someone yell, and—”
She turned back to Alicen when she heard her speaking. The girl was rocking back and forth on the bed, glaring at Melanie.
“I want you to die,” she sneered. “I want all of you to die.”
It wasn’t Alicen’s voice at all. Melanie stared wide-eyed at her, terror filling her. Why did she recognize that voice? Where had she heard it before?
“Go away!” Derek yelled, not at Melanie, but at the spirit in Alicen’s body.
“Derek, what’s wrong with her?” Melanie demanded.
“Die!” Alicen screeched. “Die! Die! Die!”
Suddenly Derek burst into tears. His macho, self-assured image was shattered, and he felt no shame when he ran to Melanie’s arms.
“Please help me,” he sobbed.
“Derek, she’ll be okay,” Melanie soothed, as much to reassure herself as him. She felt terror creeping inside her. Alicen’s voice stayed in her mind, taunting her. She knew that voice. But how? From where?
“Derek, come out of the room,” she said. “There’s so much to discuss. Alicen will be okay for a while.”
And then, as she had done so many times when comforting her children, she kissed him gently.
There was a scream, and suddenly Alicen was on her father’s back, pummeling him. “You’re mine! You’re mine!”
Derek fought her, gathering his strength back together. He knew it wasn’t his daughter who reacted so jealously to that simple kiss. And it wasn’t his daughter he struck so violently. As Melanie watched in horror, he threw her on the bed and slapped her again and again. Melanie grabbed his arms and tried to pull him away.
“She’s out, Derek! Stop it!”
He ignored her, seeing Janice’s face.
“Derek, let it go!”
At last she managed to jerk him away from the child before he killed her. Derek stared down at Alicen, his mouth open in shock. What had he done? She was innocent Alicen again, her round face covered with ugly red marks. A bruise grew under one eye.
Ashamed of himself, that he had let himself give in to his emotions, Derek let out a wail. He turned and ran from the room, wanting to get as far away as possible.
“Derek, come back!” Melanie cried, chasing after him.
She caught him just as he reached the front door and raced around him to block his path. Breathing heavily, she pointed to the living room and said, “Please come inside and talk to me. There’s something going on here, and I want to know what it is.”
“My daughter—”
“I think it’s more than your daughter, Derek,” Melanie said. “I don’t know why, but I do. Please sit down and talk to me!”
Derek nodded slowly, not knowing what he’d say to her. The two entered the living room together and sat on the burgundy sofa. Melanie brushed her hair out of her face and said, “Derek, some things have happened lately that make me wonder if your daughter is simply disturbed, or if she’s somehow—say, possessed.”
“There’s no such thing as possession,” Derek said, though no one believed in it more strongly than he.
“Derek, you don’t really know the history of this house,” Melanie said. “What we told you of Jacob Armand was only the beginning. But there’s much more. This is an evil house, Derek. And a young girl like Alicen could easily fall victim to it”
And a full-grown man like me, Derek thought bitterly.
“What—uh—what makes you say this?” he asked.
“Two things,” Melanie said, “although I’m sure I could think of a few more. Firstly, the fact that Alicen knew there was a trapdoor to the roof. I never told her that, and as far as I know, neither did Gary. Why would he? And secondly, that voice I heard. I know that voice, Derek! I can’t place it, but I’ve heard it before.”
Derek said nothing. He turned and stared into the cold fireplace, trying to come up with an answer. Then he beard a voice in Ids head, telling him exactly what to say. He turned back to Melanie, his expression serene.
“There are simple answers to those things,” he said, repeating the words in his mind. “Gary told me of the trapdoor, and I mentioned it to Alicen, not realizing she’d be foolish enough to investigate it.”
“That makes sense,” Melanie said. “But the voice?”
“Liza’s voice,” Derek said very quickly. “Alicen is tremendously jealous of my relationship with Liza. She was tormenting me, using that voice. That’s what you recognized.”
“Derek, I never met Liza,” Melanie said.
“But you did speak to her on the phone once or twice,” Derek said. “Which would explain why you didn’t recognize the voice right away.”
Melanie thought a moment. It made so much sense, and she desperately wanted to believe in Derek’s explanations. Why then, did she still feel so uneasy?
“Derek, that child should be put in a hospital,” she said. “Not only for her sake, but for my children’s safety.”
Derek, who on the outside appeared very calm, was being torn apart by guilt and shame. The mention of a hospital for Alicen made him want to scream with rage. He’d beaten his daughter. He’d beaten a little girl.
“No!” he cried. “No, she stays until I leave. Monday—I promise you.”
“Derek, she needs a doctor now,” Melanie insisted.
“No!” Derek jumped to his feet and ran from the room. Before Melanie could stop him, he was out to his car and climbing behind the wheel. He ignored Melanie’s calls and sped down the hill.
As he drove along the beachside, he saw mothers with their children. Their fresh faces and smiles made him think all the more of his hateful deed. He was grateful when he was at last able to turn onto Houston Street. Its steel and asphalt simplicity were soothing to him.
When he readied the intersection of the main street into town, he stopped and caught his breath. He could keep going straight, of course. Houston Street led to an exit ramp for the parkway, and the parkway would take him far, far away. He could forget Alicen, Liza, the VanBurens—
Suddenly he felt a touch on his shoulder. It was Janice.
“Can’t you leave me alone for a moment?”
“Not when you try to get away from me,” Janice said. Anger flashed in her blue eyes.
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
“I know everything in your mind,” she said.
Derek began to drive again. “You made me hurt my daughter.”
“You hated her anyway.”
“I never hated her!”
Janice ignored the outburst. Keeping his eyes on the road, Derek turned the car into town. He tried to pretend she wasn’t there, so hideously close to him.
“Where are you going?” He didn’t answer. “Where are you going?” Janice asked again. “You’re going to that bitch Liza’s house, aren’t you? Well, you won’t find her! You’ll never see her again. She’s dead, Derek Miller.”
“Leave me alone!” Derek shouted.
He heard her laughter and wanted to strike her with all his might But when he turned, she was gone. He sped to Liza’s house, all the time praying Janice was only taunting him. He wanted to stop and catch his breath but somehow found himself running up the stairs
and pounding on Liza’s door.
“Hold your horses!” someone yelled from inside—a man’s voice. The door jerked open, and Derek found himself looking at a blond-haired man. The two studied each other for a moment before Owen spoke.
“What do you want?” he asked. “You could’ve broken the door down!”
“I—I’m looking for L-Liza Crewe,” Derek said, panting heavily. The run up the stairs had exhausted him—he wasn’t in the shape he used to be.
“You’re Derek, right?”
“Yea,” Derek said. “Who’re you?”
Liza’s found someone new.
“Owen Crewe,” was the reply. “I’m Liza’s brother.”
Derek simply nodded. He had almost hoped it was a new lover that kept Liza away from him. That would at least prove she was still alive.
“Come in,” Owen said. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Derek sat on a couch he had shared with Liza several weeks earlier, while Owen sat in a leather and chrome chair across the room. He studied his face for so long that Derek felt himself becoming nervous. There again, that was Janice’s doing. He’d never been paranoid in his life.
“You seemed in a rush to get in here,” Owen said at last. “What’s the matter?”
What was the matter? How could Derek answer that? There was no voice in his head to tell him what to say now. So he thought carefully before answering.
“I was driving through town,” he said finally, “and I was thinking about Liza. I’ve been trying to get in contact with her for a week. I thought she was mad at me, but she would have come around with an explanation by now, wouldn’t she?”
Owen nodded.
“Anyway,” Derek continued, “I decided to come up here and confro—make her listen to me once and for all. If I did something to offend her, I’d like to know what it was. But I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I keep wondering, then, why the hell she disappeared.”
“That makes two of us,” Owen said. “I came up from Florida for a convention last week. I have to say I found it a little unnerving to come here and find my sister missing. Liza’s not one to go wandering off somewhere without letting anyone know.”
“No, she isn’t,” Derek said.
“Why don’t we go over that last time you were together?” Owen suggested. Seeing a defensive look in Derek’s eyes, he added, “I think it would help, don’t you? There may be a clue.”
“I’ve been over it a thousand times,” Derek said. “She came to visit me at my home. We went for a walk on the beach, and I asked her to marry me—we’ve been dating awhile. She said yes and seemed ecstatic. So, after a while, we said goodbye and made plans to see each other again.”
That was a lie, since Derek had made no such plans. Or maybe he just didn’t remember them, he thought defensively.
“There was no argument, then,” Owen said.
“None whatsoever,” Derek answered.
He stood up and walked to the window at the back of the room. Staring out at the town, all green and bright with summer, he felt something rise from his stomach. He held his breath for a moment, then said quietly, “I think something happened to her.”
Owen stood up now. ‘I’ve been trying to keep that thought from my mind,” he said. “What makes you say so?”
“I don’t know,” Derek lied. ‘There are just too many unanswered questions.”
“We could look for her together,” Owen said.
Derek’s reply was too swift. “No!”
He slowed himself down. “I mean,” he said, “it would probably be best to let the police handle this.”
He wouldn’t admit he was terrified of what he’d find if he looked too hard. Owen was staring at him again, the suspicious bastard. Did he think Derek was responsible for Liza’s disappearance?
He made an excuse to leave. “Listen, my daughter is home sick,” he said, hating the truth in those words. “I should be with her. What if I come back tomorrow?”
“Please,” Owen said, feeling uneasy about Derek’s swift goodbye.
Without saying anything more, Derek left the house. He was too busy with his own thoughts to look up in his rear-view mirror a few minutes later to see that Owen was following him.
26
Smiling, Melanie stepped away from Kyle’s bed. His fever had gone down considerably and was now only a degree above normal. He’d be his old, energetic self in just a few days. She wished she could say the same about Alicen. Applying lotion to the cuts on her face had brought out the mother instinct in Melanie. Seeing that little girl, all battered and so frail, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. She was sick and in need of help and understanding. She wasn’t responsible for her actions.
But, then, who was?
The voice she had used in her threats stuck in Melanie’s mind. She wanted to believe that it was Liza’s voice, but something made her think otherwise. She had an uneasy feeling that she had heard that voice before, and not when talking on the phone with Derek’s girlfriend. Still, it made sense. Alicen might have mimicked the voice to make her father angry. Melanie knew that Derek had been unable to get in touch with his girlfriend. And, for God’s sake, who else would the voice belong to?
Gary would have fits if he heard you now, she told herself. Stop it! It was Liza’s voice you heard.
She went downstairs to the kitchen. The children would be home soon, and she wanted to fix them a nice dinner. She would do it more to prove to herself than to them that nothing supernatural was going on. A good, ordinary meal on the table would show Gina and Nancy that, in spite of the bad things that had happened in the last few days, everything was going to be all right. Or so Melanie hoped.
But to her frustration, she opened the refrigerator to find it practically empty. In all the confusion of the past week, she had forgotten to stock up on groceries. And the weekend was coming.
Melanie hated to leave Kyle alone with Derek, remembering his angered outburst that morning. But what was she supposed to tell the girls when they came home? That she was too frightened to go out of the house? But she wanted them to see that life would go on as usual, and that meant having dinner with their mother. So Melanie reasoned that Derek had been angered only momentarily at Alicen, and wouldn’t harm Kyle. Besides, if she left soon, she would be home before the girls. And Kyle would probably sleep all afternoon.
Just then, she heard the front door open. She left the kitchen and went out in the hallway to meet Derek. He looked tired, his eyes rimmed with red. Melanie went to him.
“I suppose you called a doctor for Alicen,” he said.
“I thought I should let you do that,” Melanie said.
“Thank you,” Derek said, grateful no one else would have to know of his terrible crime.
“Now I have a favor to ask of you,” Melanie said. “Would you stay with Kyle for just a little while so I can go to the store? The refrigerator is empty, and I don’t want my kids starving on top of everything else.”
“I guess it would be all right.” Derek sighed.
“Don’t worry,” Melanie said. “I’ll be back before the girls are home.”
She left the house.
It was so silent. Derek hated that. He wanted the house to creak and moan, just to let him know it was like any other old house. But it wasn’t, was it? Any moment, that heavy silence could fall down on him. She’d be back, for certain, knowing how vulnerable he was right now.
But the house remained silent. Derek opened the door to his room and looked around, expecting to see her. No sign of her. He stretched himself on the bed, putting his hands behind his neck and staring at the ceiling.
He waited.
Hearing the sound of an engine, Owen Crewe ducked behind a tree. He watched the car drive by him on the gravel road, seeing a blond woman behind the wheel. When she passed, he came out of his hiding place and continued up the road. Not wanting Derek to see him, he had parked his car at the public beach and had walked the mile to these woodlands.
He could see the huge white house at the top of the hill. How could anyone afford a place like that, he wondered? He thought of Liza’s reaction upon seeing the place, with those towers and that porch.
But he was more interested in the woodlands that surrounded it. They were so thick that anything could have happened to Liza in them—and no one would have seen. They led to the beach, no doubt, the last place Derek said he had been with Liza. Owen had a feeling that Derek had been lying when he said he knew nothing of Liza’s disappearance.
At last he found a path that cut through the woods. Looking around to be sure no one was watching, he turned onto it.
“I don’t see mom’s car,” Gina said as she and Nancy climbed up the hill, leaving the school bus behind them.
“Maybe she went out to a gallery or something?” Nancy suggested.
“Yeah, but she wouldn’t have left Kyle alone,” Gina said. “Not with crazy Alicen.”
She broke into a run, her long legs covering the ground in strides. Nancy protested, unable to keep up with her, and finally let her sister go on alone. She climbed the porch steps and entered through the door Gina had left open.
“Gina!” she cried.
“I’m up in Kyle’s room,” Gina called back.
Nancy found her sister sitting on Kyle’s bed. The little boy was fully awake, propped against his pillow. Nancy, too, jumped on the bed. The three children began to talk.
“Do you think all this stuff is scarier than last year?”
“I don’t know, Kyle,” Gina said. “Everybody got hurt, like last year. But this time we know why. It wasn’t a ghost.”
“I don’t wanna talk about ghosts,” Nancy pouted.
“Okay,” Gina said. “But if you ask me, Alicen’s scarier. How could she do all this?”
“I hate her,” Kyle stated.
“Where is she, anyway?” Gina asked.
“How should I know?” Kyle said. “As long as she stays there.”
“And where’s mommy?” Nancy asked. “We didn’t see her car. Did she go away?”
“No, she had to go to the grocery,” Kyle sail. “I started yelling for her, and Derek came in and told me.” He brought a hand to his throat. “Boy, that hurt when I yelled.”
Ghost House Revenge Page 25