Fiends. Part 4

*I love you, too,' he said.

She moved in against him and unfastened his jeans.

8.

When Marty awoke in the morning, the drapes above her bed were bright with suns.h.i.+ne. The drawcord was just out of reach, so she got up quietly and opened the drapes, freeing the sunlight to slant downward onto her bed.

She lay down, closing her eyes against the brightness and enjoying the feel of the heat as she listened to the house. Her mother and father were not yet stirring. She sat up and slipped off her nightgown. As she pulled it over her head, the sunlight touched the skin of her back, warming and soothing, draining away all desire to move. Elbows resting on the knees of her crossed legs, she hung her head and let the sun sink in.

Things should always be this way, she thought.

And her stomach knotted as she half expected to hear the doorbell ring - just as it had rung that other morning, a sunny morning so much like this - when she was fifteen years old.

A warm, summer wind had been blowing through her room that morning, whipping the drapes above her bed and making the light flutter on the pages of Jane Eyre. The breeze smelled of flowers and freshly mowed gra.s.s, and hinted of a blistering day.

When the doorbell rang downstairs, she didn't want to answer it.

But if she didn't get the door, n.o.body would, and maybe it was something important.

Rolling reluctantly out of bed, she pressed the open book face down on the sheet to keep her place, then hurried across the carpet to the closet door and pulled her robe off its hook. As she slipped her arms into her robe, the pajama sleeves were shoved up almost to her elbows.

The doorbell rang again.

She fastened the top b.u.t.ton of her pajama s.h.i.+rt, hitched up the drooping pants, and tied the robe shut.

The bell rang once more before she got downstairs.

She opened the door. Seeing a total stranger took her by surprise, but there was nothing menacing about his skinny body or his crew cut or his black eyebrows meeting above his nose. His big ears made him look funny.

*Good morning,' he greeted her, bowing his high, narrow head. *Can I talk to the master of the house?'

*He isn't home right now,' she said.

*When do you expect him back?'

*What's this about?'

*I do odd jobs.'

*Well, I don't know if he'da'

*Can I talk to your mother about it?'

*She isn'ta'

Marty suddenly realized that she shouldn't be saying such things to a stranger.

*She isn't home,' he said. It wasn't a question. *I know.' His thin lips curled into a grin. *They shouldn't have left you alone.'

The door crashed into her. She tumbled backward as the stranger rushed in.

Looking up from the floor, she saw the knife in his hand.

*Stand up,' he said, waving it.

*What do you want?'

*I want you to stand up.'

It was hard getting off the floor because her bones felt soft and wobbly. But she did as she was told.

*Your bedroom's upstairs, right?'

She nodded.

*I know. I know all about you, Marty. I've been keeping an eye on you for a long time. Ever since I saw you at the car wash with your old lady. You had on white shorts and a red blouse. I wanted to rip 'em off you and f.u.c.k you right there. But I'm not stupid. I waited for just the right time. And guess what. This is it. Let's go upstairs.'

*I don't want to.'

*Start walking.' He waved his knife under her chin.

She began to cry.

He walked behind her, the knife point biting through her robe and pajamas, nipping her back. Up the stairway. Down the hall. Into her sun-bright bedroom.

When he began to strip her, she said, *Don't. Please.'

He didn't bother to move Jane Eyre before shoving her backward onto the bed. By the time he finished, the book's slick dust jacket was ripped off. The covers were broken. The spine was split, and loose pages were scattered over the sheet, spoiled with blood and s.e.m.e.n.

Lying back, Marty covered herself with a sheet, curled up on her side, and watched her forefinger draw a line along the edge of the mattress pad.

Why did he have to come back? What does he want?

Me.

He wants me.

Again.

9.

The parking s.p.a.ce in front of w.i.l.l.y's motel room was empty. He pulled into it.

With a grocery bag in one arm, he opened the door of his room. Air-conditioned. Nice and cool.

He dumped the bag onto his bed. Out fell a plastic bottle of aspirin, his filthy wadded T-s.h.i.+rt, and a coil of clothesline.

He pulled off his boots and jeans, staggered into the bathroom.

In the mirror there, he saw what had been done to him. The crusty gash at the base of his nose. The bruises.

I'll kill his a.s.s, the c.o.c.ksucker.

w.i.l.l.y took four aspirin tablets, was.h.i.+ng them down with handfuls of water. Then he made his way back to the bed. He threw off the blankets and crawled in naked between the sheets.

And moaned.

Slowly, his pain faded.

Everything faded.

In half-sleep, he saw Marty sprawled on a bed, her arms and legs tied to the corners, the sunlight golden on her bare skin.

She looked fifteen for a while.

But then he imagined her changing, growing, getting better, until she became the Marty he'd seen last night.

Before sinking into deep sleep, he made her scream.

10.

A young woman named Peggy climbed out of her car. She rubbed her damp hands on her shorts and took a deep breath. Then she walked to the screen door of Mickey's Bait Shop, dust rising behind her white sneakers.

A bell jangled when she opened the door.

*Be right with you,' a voice called from a back room. It wasn't the voice she expected.

Not Mickey's.

But at least it belonged to a man.

She shut the door and hooked it. With a flip of her right hand, she reversed the cardboard sign so it read OPEN on the inside.

The shop was shadowy. It smelled of damp earth, fish, and something else. Machine oil? It smelled good - fresh and masculine.

Boots thumped on the hardwood floor. Cowboy boots, probably. Seemed like half the guys in Wisconsin dressed like cowboys.

*Hi, there,' this one said as he took his place behind the counter. A good-looking guy, couldn't be older than twenty. His faded blue s.h.i.+rt was open at the throat. From the look on his face, he liked the looks of Peggy.

She took off her sungla.s.ses.

*Can I help you?' he asked.

*I was looking for Mickey.'

*Dad? He was taking a group out on the Eagle Lake.' The son checked his wrist.w.a.tch. *He should be back any time, though. You might try the motel.'

*My name's Peggy.'

*Hi. I'm Brad.'

*Nice to meet you, Brad.'

*Is there something I can help you with?'

*I could use some bait.' She looked over her shoulder and spotted several tackle boxes on shelves near the door. *And how about one of those tackle boxes? My old one's all rusted out. Would you show them to me?'

*Happy to.' Brad came around the end of the counter. He wore cowboy boots, all right. And old, faded blue jeans. When she looked at his face, she caught him checking the front of her T-s.h.i.+rt.

*How's life at Camp Wahtooki?' he asked.

*A little lonely.'

*You a counselor there?'

*Yep.'

*Well, what sort of tackle box did you have in mind?'

*Who says I've got a tackle box in mind?'

*You?' he asked, and grinned.

*Me?' Gazing into his blue eyes, she reached forward and gently squeezed his crotch.

His eyes suddenly got very wide. *Jeez,' he said.

*Let's go behind the counter.'

Brad glanced at the screen door.