Eyes of Darkness

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

THE EYES OF DARKNESS

“Koontz puts his readers through the emotional wringer.” -The Associated Press

THE KEY TO MIDNIGHT

“An exceptional novelist ... top-notch.”

MR. MURDER

“A truly harrowing tale ... superb work by a master at the top of his form.”

—The Washington Post Book World

THE FUNHOUSE

“Koontz is a terrific what-if storyteller.” —People

DRAGON TEARS

“A razor-sharp, nonstop, suspenseful story ... a first-rate literary experience.”

—The
San
Diego Union-Tribune

SHADOWFIRES

“His prose mesmerizes ... Koontz consistently hits the bull’s-eye.” —Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

HIDEAWAY

“Not just a thriller but a meditation on the nature of good and evil.” —
Lexington Herald-Leader

COLD FIRE

“An extraordinary piece of fiction ... It will be a classic.” —UPI

THE HOUSE OF THUNDER

“Koontz is brilliant.” —
Chicago Sun-Times

THE VOICE OF THE NIGHT

“A fearsome tour of an adolescent’s psyche. Terrifying, knee-knocking suspense.”

—
Chicago Sun-Times

THE BAD PLACE

“A new experience in breathless terror.” —UPI

THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT

“A great storyteller.” —New York Daily News

MIDNIGHT

“A triumph.” —The New York Times

LIGHTNING

“Brilliant ... a spine-tingling tale ... both challenging and entertaining.” —The Associated Press

THE MASK

“Koontz hones his fearful yarns to a gleaming edge.” —People

WATCHERS

“A breakthrough for Koontz ... his best ever.”

—Kirkus Reviews

TWILIGHT EYES

“A spine-chilling adventure ...will keep you turning pages to the very end.” —Rave Reviews

STRANGERS

“A unique spellbinder that captures the reader on the first page. Exciting, enjoyable, and an intensely satisfying read.” —Mary Higgins Clark

PHANTOMS

“First-rate suspense, scary, and stylish.”

—
Los
Angeles Times

WHISPERS

“Pulls out all the stops ... an incredible, terrifying tale.” —
Publishers
Weekly

NIGHT CHILLS

“Will send chills down your back.”

—
The New
York Times

DARKFALL

“A fast-paced tale ... one of the scariest chase scenes ever.” —
The Houston Post

SHATTERED

“A chilling tale ... sleek as a bullet.”

—
Publishers
Weekly

THE VISION

“Spine-tingling—it gives you an almost lethal shock.” —
San Francisco Chronicle

THE FACE OF FEAR

“Real suspense ... tension upon tension.”

—
The New York Times

Berkley titles by Dean Koontz

THE EYES OF DARKNESS
THE KEY TO MIDNIGHT
MR. MURDER
THE FUNHOUSE
DRAGON TEARS
SHADOWFIRES
HIDEAWAY
COLD FIRE
THE HOUSE OF THUNDER
THE VOICE OF THE NIGHT
THE BAD PLACE
THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT
MIDNIGHT
LIGHTNING
THE MASK
WATCHERS
TWILIGHT EYES
STRANGERS
DEMON SEED
PHANTOMS
WHISPERS
NIGHT CHILLS
DARKFALL
SHATTERED
THE VISION
THE FACE OF FEAR

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcom Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4V 3B2, Canada
(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
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(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
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South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Originally published under the pseudonym Leigh Nichols.

THE EYES OF DARKNESS

A Berkley Book/ published by arrangement with Nkui, Inc.

PRINTING HISTORY
Pocket Books edition / February 1981
Berkley edition / July 1996

Copyright © 1981 by Leigh Nichols. Copyright © 1996 by Nkui, Inc.

Author photo copyright © 1993 by Jerry Bauer.

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form
without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in
violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 978-1-4406-1949-6

BERKLEY®
Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

This better version is for Gerda,
with love.
After five years of work,
now that I’m nearly finished improving
these early novels first published under pen names,
I intend to start improving myself.
Considering all that needs to be done,
this new project will henceforth be known
as the
hundred-
year plan.

T
UESDAY,
D
ECEMBER
30

1

AT SIX MINUTES PAST MIDNIGHT, TUESDAY MORNING, on the way home from a late rehearsal of her new stage show, Tina Evans saw her son, Danny, in a stranger’s car. But Danny had been dead more than a year.

Two blocks from her house, intending to buy a quart of milk and a loaf of whole-wheat bread, Tina stopped at a twenty-four-hour market and parked in the dry yellow drizzle of a sodium-vapor light, beside a gleaming, cream-colored Chevrolet station wagon. The boy was in the front passenger seat of the wagon, waiting for someone in the store. Tina could see only the side of his face, but she gasped in painful recognition.

Danny
.

The boy was about twelve, Danny’s age. He had thick dark hair like Danny’s, a nose that resembled Danny’s, and a rather delicate jawline like Danny’s too.

She whispered her son’s name, as if she would frighten off this beloved apparition if she spoke any louder.

Unaware that she was staring at him, the boy put one hand to his mouth and bit gently on his bent thumb knuckle, which Danny had begun to do a year or so before he died. Without success, Tina had tried to break him of that bad habit.

Now, as she watched this boy, his resemblance to Danny seemed to be more than mere coincidence. Suddenly Tina’s mouth went dry and sour, and her heart thudded. She still had not adjusted to the loss of her only child, because she’d never wanted — or tried — to adjust to it. Seizing on this boy’s resemblance to her Danny, she was too easily able to fantasize that there had been no loss in the first place.

Maybe . . . maybe this boy actually
was
Danny. Why not? The more that she considered it, the less crazy it seemed. After all, she’d never seen Danny’s corpse. The police and the morticians had advised her that Danny was so badly torn up, so horribly mangled, that she was better off not looking at him. Sickened, grief-stricken, she had taken their advice, and Danny’s funeral had been a closed-coffin service. But perhaps they’d been mistaken when they identified the body. Maybe Danny hadn’t been killed in the accident, after all. Maybe he’d only suffered a mild head injury, just severe enough to give him . . . amnesia. Yes. Amnesia. Perhaps he had wandered away from the wrecked bus and had been found miles from the scene of the accident, without identification, unable to tell anyone who he was or where he came from. That was possible, wasn’t it? She had seen similar stories in the movies. Sure. Amnesia. And if that were the case, then he might have ended up in a foster home, in a new life. And now here he was sitting in the cream-colored Chevrolet wagon, brought to her by fate and by —

The boy became conscious of her gaze and turned toward her. She held her breath as his face came slowly around. As they stared at each other through two windows and through the strange sulphurous light, she had the feeling that they were making contact across an immense gulf of space and time and destiny. But then, inevitably, her fantasy burst, for he wasn’t Danny.