F Paul Wilson - Secret History 02 (56 page)

           
I'm
not afraid.

           
"You should be. You are about
to experience true, complete sensory deprivation. I used it to punish Lazlo
when he was naughty, and he dreaded it. I will use it to punish you, as well.
And if you do not prove to be a pleasant companion, I shall leave you in the
deprivation state permanently."

           
Huddled in the vast empty darkness,
Kara was terrified but refused to let him know.

           
Do
your worst.

           
"Very well. Your first
punishment will be brief, but it will seem eternal. Good bye."

           
Suddenly the floor went out from
under her. She was tumbling, racing into
&
silent black infinity. All points of references were gone. There was no up or
down or near or far. She was exploding and contracting in cycles. If only she
could stop this endless falling, but there was nothing to hold onto. Everything
was gone.

           
She hadn't realized it would be like
this. Never in her darkest imaginings had she encountered terror like this.
There was nothing here!
Nothing
! He
had to let her out, let her back into the world!

           
She screamed but there was no sound.
Only the endless fall into the eternal silent darkness.

           
As you cut another slice from the
rye loaf, you notice that your hand is trembling. That was close. Too close.
She has an extremely powerful will, this one. Much stronger than Lazlo's. She
broke through your motor restraints. You will have to keep her tightly reined.
No telling what she might do if she gets loose.

           
Thus the punishment. And let her
think that you can keep her in sensory deprivation permanently should you so
choose. Don't let her know that it is an effort for you, that you can only keep
her deprived so long, and then you must let her up. Let her think you release
her out of beneficence instead of necessity. That should help keep her in line.

           
Oh, Lazlo. If only he were alive. It
was so much easier with him. He could be dominated, trained to behave. You knew
just what to expect from Lazlo.

           
Although on rare occasions he did
manage to surprise you. That note to Kara on the back of the electric bill. It
had infuriated you that he had dared to interfere, yet you had to grant him a
grudging accolade for his craftiness.

           
And you punished him severely, of
course. Just as you are punishing Kara now.

           
As you eat, you remember that you
must check and make sure that Wheatley has followed the terms of the will as to
the burial of Lazlo's body. You don't want your brother lying in the morgue any
longer than necessary.

           
You finish your toast and coffee and
wipe the crumbs from the dining room table. It is time to welcome Kara back to
the world of the senses.

           
"Hello, Kara."

           
There is a long pause. Finally, her
voice comes to you. It is small and weak.

           
Please
don't ever do that to me again!

           
"The choice is up to you, my
dear. You merely have to be civil company and we shall both live in peace.
Right now, however, it is time to go."

           
It's
too early to go to Ellen's.

           
"Correct. We are first stopping
at the office of the late, lamented Lawrence Gates, M.D."

           
The office is empty of life except
for the fish in the tank. You feed them. Eventually you'll move them to your
house. You don't want them to die.

           
You notice that your desk drawer is
open. Someone has been searching your office. Detective Harris, no doubt. You
check the file room and see that the cabinets remain closed and locked. You
glance into the padded cell.

           
What's
that.

           
Her voice is stronger now. You flip
on the light to show her.

           
"That, my dear, is a place
where you will be penned from time to time. During those periods, your body
will be totally yours again."

           
Where
will you be?

           
"Sometimes in my own body—find
it remains in better health if I return to it once in a while—but most times I
will be using someone else's body. Variety, you see, is the spice of
life."

           
Is
this where you left Lazlo when you took me over at night?

           
"Exactly. Lazlo, you see,
developed a nasty habit of injuring himself when I left him locked in a
normally furnished room. He did it to embarrass me, so that I would have a
black eye or a swollen lip when I returned to take control of him again."

           
Good
for Lazlo!

           
"I thought you'd appreciate
that. As a result of his persistence in these pranks, and the fear that he
might one day do permanent damage to himself, I had this padded cell installed
here. I would have loved to have had a similar cell installed in the house, but
after seeing all the talk and consternation caused by this one, even though it
was in a psychiatrist's office, I decided against it. I have striven always to
maintain a low profile. Here. Let me show you how it works."

           
You close the door and push the
"LOCK" button.

           
"There. We're locked in. To get
us out, all I have to do is tap in the combination."

           
You blank out Kara's vision to do
this.

           
No!
Please!

           
"Don't worry, my dear. Only
your sight and only for a few seconds. Letting you see the combination would
defeat the purpose of having a lock, now, wouldn't it?"

           
You allow her to see again as the
door swings open.

           
"And don't try to memorize the
movements of my hands. I change the combination periodically."

           
If
Lazlo was locked in here, who sent me that note ?

           
"Lazlo, of course. A most
ingenious prank, I must say. Although perhaps I was a bit lax with him. When I
locked him in here one night while visiting you, I forgot I had three or four
bills in stamped, addressed envelopes in the pocket of my sport coat. He had a
pencil hidden somewhere, so he opened the electric bill and wrote to you on its
back; then he readdressed the envelope and stuck it back with the others. I
dropped the lot of them into the mailbox the next day, never realizing what he
had done. He was quite a character. I'm going to miss him."

           
Did
you… punish him?

           
"Of course. Severely! You had
only a taste of the punishment. I cut Lazlo off for an entire day. So don't try
anything like it."

           
Kara says nothing. You wonder about her.
You hope she will become compliant. You're not paired with her permanently, but
it will be some time before you can arrange to transfer all your assets to
someone else. You are stuck with her for now. You must convince her to be a
good little girl.

           
"And now we go to your
aunt's."

           
The arrival at Ellen's went far more
smoothly than Kara had anticipated. Which only deepened her depression.

           
Lucia, the cook, let her in on the
first knock.

           
"Miss Kara. I didn't know you
were out. Can I fix you some breakfast?"

           
"No, thank you," Gabor
said in her voice, "but could you fix something for Jill? We'll be leaving
soon?"

           
"Of course. What would she
like?"

           
"Quick! What's her
favorite?"

           
Waffles.

           
"If waffles wouldn't be too
much trouble—?"

           
"No trouble at all!" She
bustled back toward the kitchen.

           
Gabor took her body on a quick tour
of the apartment.

           
"Your aunt has good taste.
Money doesn't seem to be an object."

           
Kara didn't answer. She didn't care
what Gabor thought of Ellen's decor. She was frightened. It was bad enough that
she was enslaved to Gabor, but the thought of Jill within his reach was almost
more than she could bear. If only there was a way to keep Jill away from him.
Even if only for a little while. Just long enough to find a way to fight her
way free of Gabor.

           
For somewhere within her
consciousness was a conviction that this would not be a permanent thing, that
sooner or later she would escape Gabor. She held onto that conviction with an
iron grip. It and her fear for Jill were the only things keeping her sane right
now.

           
"Where's your daughter's
room?"

           
Leave
her out of this!

           
"Come, come, Kara. I thought we
had settled this. We must take Jill with us. Too many questions, too much
unwelcome scrutiny if we leave her here. Plus, that would break her heart. I
may be many things, Kara, but I am not without feelings."

           
Kara saw no use in withholding
Jill's location. He could find her easily enough without her help.

           
The
bedroom at the end of the hall

           
"Thank you."

           
Kara had to admit that Gabor was
very good with Jill. He woke her gently and explained that they'd be staying in
the city for a while but in a different place, a big new house with a giant TV
screen and the loudest stereo in the world. Jill was excited, all trusting
smiles. Kara wanted to cry out to her, wanted to gather Jill in her arms and
hug her tight against her. But she could do nothing. Jill hopped out of bed and
into her robe and ran down the hall for her waffles.