The Third Evil

  And now…now…

  Corky sat up, uttering a low cry.

  She suddenly understood the dreams, the dreams about Bobbi.

  She suddenly understood what Bobbi had been trying to tell her in those sickening, awful dreams.

  When Bobbi had opened her skull and pointed to the horrors inside, Bobbi was telling Corky: Look inside your own head. Look inside yourself. The horror is inside YOU!

  “Now I understand, Bobbi,” Corky said out loud.

  And as she said this, her bed rose. She grabbed the covers as the bed began to writhe and toss like a bus on a bumpy road.

  No. Oh no. Please—nooooo.

  The foot of the bed bucked as if trying to throw her off. Then the covers began to roll over her, the bed trembling and shaking.

  No. Oh, please. Stop!

  She clung to the bedspread, tightening her grip, holding on for dear life. The headboard slapped loudly against the wall. The covers flapped as if being blown by a hurricane wind. The mattress buckled and bumped.

  Help me! Please—stop it! STOP it!

  Terrified, she rolled off the bed and toppled onto the floor.

  As she hit the floor, landing on her elbows and knees, the carpet began to undulate in waves, rising then buckling back down, flapping noisily.

  The curtains beside her windows flew straight out as if reaching for her. The windows rose then slammed down.

  Please—stop! STOP!

  Her perfume bottles and cosmetics flew up from her dresser top and hovered near the ceiling.

  The windows opened and shut more rapidly as the curtains continued to flap wildly. Struggling to her feet, Corky was tossed helplessly about by the rocking, undulating carpet.

  She reached up toward her dresser, but the moving carpet pulled her back. The mirror above the dresser burst into flames, then appeared to melt. She gaped in open-mouthed horror as the silvery lava poured down over the front of the dresser onto the throbbing, bucking floor.

  And then she saw the puddle of dark blood on the carpet just in front of her.

  “Please—SOMEBODY! Please, stop!”

  As she stared down at it, struggling to focus her eyes, the puddle began to bubble and then expand. The dark wetness crept wider until it was underneath her, until it spread over the throbbing carpet, until she was swimming in it.

  Drowning in it. Drowning in the thick dark blood…thrashing her arms and legs…kicking frantically…trying to swim…but feeling herself pulled down, sucked down into the bubbling, dark ooze.

  “Nooooooooooo!”

  Thrashing wildly, Corky struggled to keep her head up as the blood bubbled, red waves rocking and crashing over her, sweeping her away, pulling her down.

  “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you torturing me? Leave me ALONE!”

  Was she screaming the words? Or only thinking them?

  The bedroom door opened.

  Someone stood over her.

  Panting loudly, she raised her eyes.

  “Sean!”

  Her little brother stared at her, hands in his jeans pockets, his blue eyes wide with surprise. “What’s going on? What are you doing down there?”

  Gripping the carpet tightly between her fingers, crouched on all fours, Corky stared up at him.

  “Man, you’re messed up!” he exclaimed, laughing.

  “I…uh…I guess I had a bad dream,” Corky explained weakly. She pulled herself up to her knees.

  Red then black. Red then black.

  The roar in her ears was a steady rush in the background.

  She let her eyes dart around the room.

  Normal. Everything was back to normal.

  Of course.

  “Come to my room,” Sean demanded, grabbing her hand and tugging it.

  “Why?” she asked. The roar grew louder. Closer.

  “I want to show you something.” He tugged harder. “Something I did on the computer.”

  She tried to stand up, but the dizziness pushed her down.

  Her head weighed a thousand pounds. The roar drowned out her thoughts.

  Red then black. Then red again.

  The world was only two colors.

  “Come on!” Sean cried impatiently.

  And suddenly, without realizing it, she was hugging him, holding on to him, pulling him close. Closer. Holding on to him because he was real. Because he was good. So good.

  “Hey—what’s the big idea?” he cried, trying to squirm out of her grasp.

  The roar made everything vibrate, every breath echo loudly in her mind.

  Red then black. Then red. Then black.

  Holding on to Sean, she wrestled him playfully to the carpet.

  He laughed and squirmed. He reached up and put a headlock on her with his bony arms.

  Sean liked to wrestle.

  She ducked out of his hold and grabbed a slender arm. I can break his arm, Corky thought. Yes. I can break both his arms.

  It would be so easy. So easy to just snap them in two.

  YESSSSSSS, said the roar, the insistent roar in her head.

  It would be so easy.

  Crack crack.

  YESSSSSSSS.

  Feeling the strength, the awesome strength of her powers, Corky grabbed Sean’s arm and started to bend it back.

  Chapter 13

  “We Have to Kill the Others”

  Corky bent Sean’s slender arm behind his back.

  “Ow!” he protested, struggling to free himself. “You’re hurting me!”

  He wasn’t strong enough to loosen her grip. She pulled the arm up, listening for the shoulder to crack.

  “Ow! Stop!” Sean screamed.

  She bent the arm up even more. Then, suddenly, she let go, and Sean burst free.

  “Get out!” Corky screamed to her startled brother. “Get out! Get out now!”

  He ran to the door, his blue eyes wide, his expression bewildered. Turning, he glared back at her. “What’s your problem, jerk?”

  “Get out, Sean! Get out!”

  He tossed his blond hair back angrily. “First you want to wrestle. Then you kick me out. You’re a jerk!”

  “Just get out,” she moaned, feeling her entire body start to tremble.

  He was already out the door and heading down the stairs.

  I almost hurt him, Corky thought, terrified. I almost broke his arm.

  Somehow the evil backed off just before…before…

  She heard laughter, cold and dry. Almost a cough.

  Corky glanced around the room. But she knew immediately that the laughter was inside her head.

  It grew louder. Cruel laughter, taunting her. She covered her ears with her hands. Pressing hard, she tried to shut the evil sound out. But it grew louder still.

  “Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” she screamed, not recognizing her own voice.

  She fell onto her bed and pulled the pillow down over her head.

  But the cold, dark laughter inside her mind grew louder and louder.

  Corky dreamed that she was on a boat. She could feel the gentle swaying, the rise and fall of the wooden deck beneath her feet.

  It was a bright day, sunny and warm. The cloudless sky was a vivid blue. The sun, reflected in the water, sent trickles of gold leaping around the white boat.

  Corky could see herself standing on the swaying deck, leaning gently against the polished rail. She was dressed all in white. Her dress, floor-length and old-fashioned, had long sleeves with lacy cuffs. The skirt billowed in the soft wind. The frilly top had a high-necked lacy collar. On her head she wore a wide-brimmed straw hat with a red ribbon around the crown tied in a bow to hang long down her back.

  How strange, Corky thought, to be in the dream and be able to watch the dream at the same time.

  The colors were all so lovely. The sparkling gold-blue water, the white pleasure boat, the pale sky, her shimmering dress.

  There were two children with her, slender and blond, also dressed in white Victorian clothes. Very dressy, Co
rky thought. Not for sailing.

  The boat slid gently through the shimmering, calm waters.

  The children called her Sarah.

  The sun felt warm on her face.

  I’m not me, Corky thought. I’m someone called Sarah.

  “Sarah, watch me,” the little boy said. He hoisted himself onto the deck rail and struck a brave pose.

  “Get down from there,” Sarah scolded gently, laughing despite herself. “Get down at once.”

  The boy obediently hopped down.

  Corky watched him chase the little girl along the bright deck.

  Sarah lifted her face to the sun.

  Suddenly the boat heeled hard to the right. Sarah grabbed the deck rail to steady herself, to stop herself from toppling over.

  What’s happening? Corky wondered, feeling Sarah’s alarm.

  Why is the boat tilting?

  The boat lurched then heeled up in the other direction. Sarah clung tightly to the rail.

  She could feel the fear creep up her back.

  The boat began to spin rapidly as if caught in some kind of whirlpool.

  What’s happening? Where is the sun? Why are we spinning like this?

  The sky was suddenly black, as black as the swirling, frothing waters that lapped up noisily against the twirling boat.

  Corky felt Sarah’s fear. It washed over her, weighing her down, freezing her in place.

  “Sarah! Sarah!” the children’s voices, tiny and frightened, called to her.

  She grabbed the deck rail with both hands now.

  But the rail was no longer a rail. It had transformed itself into a thick white snake.

  The snake raised its head, opened its venomous jaws and started to hiss at Sarah….

  Then Corky woke up.

  Drenched in cold perspiration, she sat up straight, gasping for air. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, rubbing away the vision of the hideous hissing snake.

  I’m back, she thought. Back in my room.

  The dream had been so real. It hadn’t felt like a dream. More like a memory. A powerful memory.

  She looked over at her bedside clock. Seven-thirty. Outside her windows, the sky was the color of charcoal.

  I’ve slept right through dinner, Corky realized.

  What a frightening dream.

  But why did it seem so familiar, almost as if she had lived it before.

  And why had the children called her Sarah?

  Still feeling shaky, still feeling the frightening pull of the boat as it spun, Corky lowered her feet to the floor.

  She opened her mouth in a wide yawn.

  And as she yawned, she heard a hissing sound—the hissing of the snake?—like a strong, unending wind escaping from deep within her.

  She tried to close her mouth, but it wouldn’t close.

  The hissing grew louder, and Corky could feel something pour from her mouth.

  A disgusting, putrid odor invaded her nose as green gas spewed from her open mouth.

  From inside me! she thought in horror. And I can’t stop it.

  She sat helplessly as the green gas poured out of her mouth, filling the room with its powerful stench.

  Help me. Oh, help me!

  I can’t stop it. I can’t close my mouth.

  It smells so bad!

  The green gas roared out of her mouth. More. And more.

  I’m going to vomit forever. Forever! Corky thought, her entire body trembling as the green gas spewed out.

  When it was finally out, the hissing stopped. Weak, Corky fell back against her headboard, dizzy and drained.

  The room was filled with the putrid mist. It hovered hot and wet, like a heavy fog.

  “Don’t sit back. We have work to do,” said a voice that crackled like wind through dry leaves.

  “Huh? Work? What w-work?” Corky managed to stammer breathlessly, pressed up against her head-board, trembling violently, unable to stop her body from shuddering.

  “We have to kill the others, the ones who betrayed you,” whispered the voice in the disgusting green fog. “Let’s start with Debra.”

  Chapter 14

  Killing Debra

  “No!” Corky screamed in a high-pitched voice she’d never heard before.

  She pressed her back against the headboard, trying to escape the foul odor, the smoky green shadow that hovered over the room. Shaking all over, chills rolling down her back, she realized that her room had become icy cold.

  “I won’t kill Debra,” Corky insisted, crossing her arms protectively over the front of her T-shirt. She stared hard at the shadow as it billowed silently in front of her.

  “But Debra turned against you. She chose Hannah over you,” came the dry whisper. “Now Debra must pay”

  “No! I won’t let you!” Corky screamed shrilly.

  The evil voice laughed, dry laughter like breaking twigs. “You won’t let me?” The heavy mist rose up toward the ceiling. “But you are me!”

  “No!” Corky protested.

  “You are me—and I am you!”

  “No! Please!”

  The voice laughed again. The green fog folded in on itself, billowing and bending in the dark, cold room.

  And then it floated rapidly up to the ceiling.

  Her entire body shuddering violently, gripped in panic, Corky’s breath caught in her throat. She stared in horror as the green gas spread over the ceiling, blanketing the light fixture to darken the room.

  Corky grabbed her bedspread and pulled it up to her chin.

  She thought of burrowing beneath it—but she knew that it wouldn’t hide her from this powerful evil.

  Above her the gas bubbled and billowed. Then, suddenly, it began to rain down on Corky, a heavy green dew, foul-smelling and damp.

  Corky closed her eyes and covered her face with both hands.

  The heavy dew descended over her, smothered her with its odor. Heavier. Heavier. Weighing her down as if it were a heavy old quilt.

  I can’t breathe, she thought. It’s suffocating me.

  Heavier. Heavier.

  She felt so sleepy. So far away. The room seemed to fade into the distance. She seemed to fade with it.

  As the sickening green liquid fell on her, Corky was floating away from herself.

  Floating, floating into grayness.

  Floating far away as the green gas filled her up, filled her mind, took over her body.

  In a short while Corky was gone.

  The evil force was completely in control.

  She stood up, straightened her T-shirt, and walked over to her phone, taking long, steady strides.

  Picking up the receiver, she punched in Debra’s number. A few seconds later Debra was on the other end.

  “Can you meet me?” Corky asked calmly. “I have something important to tell you.”

  Debra agreed.

  Corky pulled a brush through her hair, then hurried downstairs. She grabbed up the car keys and called to her parents that she’d be back in a few hours.

  Then she headed out to kill Debra.

  Chapter 15

  So Easy to Kill

  Gripping the steering wheel tightly in both hands, Corky leaned forward against the shoulder belt and headed the blue Accord along Old Mill Road in the direction of the Division Street mall.

  I’m coming, Debra, she thought.

  I’m coming to get you.

  A smile passed across her face as she blinked her eyes in the white glare of oncoming headlights.

  Debra and Hannah. They were quite a team at camp. Just about inseparable.

  Well, I think I can separate you now, Corky thought darkly. I think the grave will separate you from your pal Hannah!

  The thought pleased Corky greatly as she remembered how Debra had refused to interrupt her conversation with Hannah to come talk with her. How Debra went everywhere with Hannah, forgetting entirely about Corky. How Debra defended Hannah. How Debra voted that Hannah should have the top spot on the pyramid.

  Debra, Debra, D
ebra. What a bad choice you made, Corky thought.

  She sped up to pass a slow-moving station wagon filled with kids. Shadows rolled across her smiling face as the tall street lamps whirred past.

  After waiting at the stoplight, she made a left onto Division Street, unexpectedly crowded with cars inching along.

  Debra had explained over the phone that she had to pick up some things for her mother at the mall. “Mom had kids just so she’d have slaves,” Debra had complained. “That’s all she does ever since I got my drivers license—sends me off to the mall to buy stuff for her.”

  Corky had tsk-tsked sympathetically, thinking all the while about how much she was going to enjoy seeing the end of Debra. Debra and her cold blue eyes. Debra and that chic short haircut. Debra and that goofy crystal she was always fingering as if it had some strange power.

  Power? What a laugh. I’ll show her power, Corky thought gleefully.

  She had arranged to meet Debra in the far corner of the parking lot in back of the big Dalby’s department store. No one parked back there, Corky knew, unless the rest of the lot was filled. It would most likely be deserted this time of night.

  Corky turned the Accord into the mall and headed for the back. She saw two boys from school standing at the ticket window to the sixplex movie theater.

  She stopped to let a woman pushing a filled shopping cart pass, then continued behind the department store.

  This vast lot was nearly deserted, dotted only with cars that probably belonged to store workers.

  Corky’s eyes eagerly roamed the dimly lit lot.

  Yes. There was Debra. Standing in a puddle of gray light, all alone at the back of the lot, her hands stuffed in her jeans pockets.

  This is so easy, Corky thought. So totally easy!

  Aiming the car at Debra, she pushed her foot down hard on the gas pedal. All the way down!

  The car lurched forward with a roar.

  Debra, staring at the other end of the lot, didn’t notice her at first.

  Then her mouth dropped open in a silent scream and her eyes bulged with fright as she realized the blue Accord was roaring at her.

  So easy, Corky thought gleefully. This is so easy!

  Chapter 16

  Try, Try Again

  As the car roared toward its target, Corky leaned forward against the shoulder belt, her eyes glowing with anticipation, her lips twisted in a triumphant grin.