The Dark: A Collection (Point Horror) Read Free Page B

Mrs. Winters had
volunteered.
    "We almost ran into
Bianca," Mr. Shipley had recalled.
    "I told my husband
to hit the brakes. I had a strange feeling," Mrs. Shipley had
added. "When I saw it was Bianca holding my baby, I almost fainted
— especially when I saw she had blood on her shoes and jeans."
    "We pulled her into
the car with us and tried to get her to talk some sense," Mr.
Shipley had continued. "All she did was cry for help as if she were
on automatic pilot."
    "We'd gone to bed
hours before," Bianca's father had volunteered. "We heard
shouting. We looked out the window, saw the Shipleys' Bentley, and
remembered our daughter was babysitting there. We raced outside in
our nightclothes."
    "Bianca wouldn't
let go of Little Katie," Mrs. Shipley had wept. "She had the
child clutched to her breast and wouldn't let anybody come near —
not even me."
    "We could see that
Little Katie was OK. Just scared," Mr. Shipley had added. "A
squad car pulled up alongside us and asked if anything was wrong."
    "The officer peered
into the car and observed Bianca's condition. He also noticed all
the blood," Bianca's mother added. "Then he asked where Bianca
had just come from."
    Mrs. Shipley had
volunteered, "I told him she'd been babysitting at our house. You
police know the story after that, after Bianca's parents leaped
inside our car, too. We followed the police. The squad car stopped in
front of our house. The lights were out. The front door was wide
open."
    Mr. Shipley had
winced. "They brought the dead maid out on a stretcher. The
expression frozen on her face was one of total disbelief." He had
shaken his head.
    "We want to thank
you for escorting us to the hospital when we were in shock," Mrs.
Shipley had added. "We might not have made it otherwise."
    The police chief had
nodded. "The nurses recorded that both Little Katie and Bianca
checked in covered with blood. The baby had to be bathed. Bianca had
to be washed and sedated. She was hysterical."
    "You're imagining
this. None of this happened." Bianca had shaken her head. "It's
impossible!"
    Doc had turned out
the lights.
    It had been as if
someone had stuck a knife into Bianca's breast. A horrible pain had
surged through her body, making her tremble. She had broken out into
a cold sweat in the hospital bed. Her breath had come in gasps. Her
head had swirled around. She had been overcome by white hot panic.
    "No!" Bianca had
moaned. "Help me! Please help!"
    She had tried to
climb out of her hospital bed. The Shipleys, her parents and the
police chief had been forced to hold her down until she had stopped
flailing about.
    Doc had turned the
lights back on. Bianca had felt better but drained, as if someone had
sucked the energy out of her.
    "Now will you tell
me that last night didn't happen?" Doc had looked at Bianca with
a deep wisdom. His pointed stare had transfixed her and made her
unable to turn away. "Were you scared of the dark last week?"
    "Bianca wasn't
scared of the dark even when she was a little girl!" her mother had
exclaimed.
    The police chief had
reminded them,
    "Remember, we found
the power cut to the house from the outside. Everything must have
happened in pitch darkness."
    "'Even the
murder?" Bianca's mother had groaned, unable to believe what had
happened in her peaceful neighborhood.
    "Even the murder!"
the chief had confirmed.
    That had been the
beginning of Bianca's long, close friendship with Doc Ernie
McCollough. He had started to act as her doctor, whom she liked and
trusted more than any of the older doctors at the hospital. The
senior doctors had been able to sense the growing confidence Bianca
had in the medical student. They had assigned Doc the case on an
outpatient basis as soon as Bianca had been released.
    Doc had graduated
from medical school and become an intern in psychiatry. He had
convinced Bianca that she'd been at the Shipleys' house when Mrs.
Ingersoll had been shot and tumbled down the stairs. Bianca's fear
of the dark hadn't left her. It