Forbidden Secrets (13 page)
Authors: R.L. Stine
The flames from the hearth were reflected in her glittering black eyes.
She stared at Savannah.
And then she began to laugh hysterically.
“I know the truth!” she called out in a singsong voice. “I know the truth!”
31
L
ucy spun around and dashed out the door.
Oh, no! Savannah thought. Lucy knows she is being sent away from Blackrose Manor.
Lucy liked to hide in the shadows. Lucy liked to learn secrets.
Tyler! I must warn Tyler. Who knows what Lucy will try to do to him!
Savannah rushed across the room to the dressing table and grabbed a candle. She lit it in the fireplace and hurried out of the room. Where could Lucy have gone? I must find Tyler first, she decided. Then we can both worry about finding Lucy.
Savannah walked down the hallway until she reached the stairs. The stone felt freezing against her bare feet. Savannah shivered.
I must find Tyler. Savannah scurried down the
stairs. The candle flame danced wildlyâthen died. Throwing Savannah into darkness.
She froze. There are candles in the parlor, she told herself. I just have to get down the rest of the stairs and into the parlor.
Savannah stepped down. Her foot landed on the edge of the next step. She tripped. And felt herself falling. Falling headfirst down the hard stone stairs.
32
S
avannah landed at the bottom of the staircase. In a daze she realized she had fallen on something soft. Something warm.
A body!
Savannah scrambled away from it. She peered through the darkness. Lucy. It's Lucy.
Savannah cautiously reached out and shook the girl gently. “Lucy?”
No answer.
I must find a candle. I must see how badly Lucy is hurt.
Savannah struggled to her feet and made her way to the parlor. The fire in the hearth crackled and popped.
She found the small stub of a candle on a nearby table and quickly lit it.
Her blood thrummed through her temples as she hurried back to Lucy. Her knees quivered.
Savannah gasped as the light from her candle fell on Lucy's crumpled body. Lucy's arms were pinned beneath her. A circle of blood surrounded her.
And her face . . . her face was smashed in. Just like her porcelain doll's.
Savannah's stomach lurched. I must find Tyler and tell him what happened. The garden. He was in the garden. She rushed outside.
“Tyler!” she called into the darkness.
Only the howling wind answered. It blew her candle out.
Savannah shuddered. “Tyler!” she shouted again. Then she saw pale yellow light escaping from beneath a door at the far end of the mansion.
Where does that door lead? she wondered. She ran over and tried the latch. Unlocked. She slowly pulled the door open and slipped inside.
She found a stairwell lit with huge torches. These stairs must lead to the cellar, Savannah thought. She headed down.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw a man hunched over a table. A vial of steaming liquid bubbling beside him.
“Tyler!” Savannah gasped.
He spun around quickly. “Savannah! I wasn't expecting you.”
“I had to find you. Lucy is dead!” Savannah cried.
“Yes, I know,” he said coldly. He stepped toward her.
Savannah could see more of the table now. It was
covered with vials and jars. Then she saw something that made her scream.
A severed handâwith Lucy's ruby ring on one finger.
“You killed her!” Savannah cried. “You killed Lucy.”
“I really had no choice,” Tyler replied in a calm voice.
He advanced on Savannah with a grin. “You see, Savannah, I wanted you to be the last one to die!”
33
S
avannah backed away as Tyler moved toward her one slow step at a time.
“You killed Mrs. Mooreland too, didn't you?” she cried. She remembered Mrs. Mooreland's severed hand.
“Yes,” he confessed, his eyes glowing with triumph. “Yes! I killed Mrs. Mooreland. Yes, I killed Lucy! They tried to keep you away from me.”
“Victoria was right about you!” Savannah cried. “She knew you were evil. And I killed her. I killed my own sister to protect you.”
Savannah felt hatred pump though her body. “How could you do this to me?” she screamed.
“That's not all I did,” Tyler told her. “I killed Zachariah too.” He held up his scarred palm. “He gave me no choice. We were on opposite sides of the war. He stabbed me with his bayonet.”
Savannah shuddered. Zach was trying to warn me when he came to me that night at Whispering Oaks, she realized. He was trying to warn me about Tyler!
“And if you hadn't been on opposite sides of the war?” she demanded. “What then? Would you have killed us all at Whispering Oaks?”
“I told you, Savannah. The war changed us. It changed us all.”
He took a big step toward her.
Savannah backed up and slammed against the wall.
A victorious smile spread over Tyler's face. “There is no one to help you, Savannah.” He held out his hands. “Only me. Come to me.”
“No!” Savannah shouted. She searched the room for a way to escape.
Tyler is blocking the stairs, she thought. I must get him away from the stairs.
And then she noticed a torch burning near her.
Tyler stepped closer.
Savannah held her breath and waited. Just come a little closer, Tyler, she thought. Just a little closer.
Tyler took another step forward.
Savannah grabbed the heavy torch and slammed it down on Tyler's head. Tyler stumbled and fell to the cold stone floor.
Savannah watched in terror as Tyler struggled to get to his feet. He threw his head back and released an angry howl. Then he lunged for her.
She ducked and twisted to the side. Tyler bashed into the wall.
Savannah spotted a pitchfork leaning in the far corner. She scurried across the room, snatched it up, and whirled around.
Tyler leaned against the wall for support. His head hanging down. Savannah raised the pitchfork and started toward him.
“You should have told me Victoria practiced the dark arts,” Tyler said, fury filling his voice.
Savannah faltered. He straightened up, his eyes glittering. “You shouldn't ever have kept that secret from me. Victoria almost ruined everything.”
Victoria, Savannah thought. Victoria is dead because of you. Savannah rushed at Tyler, the pitchfork raised high. Then she plunged the pitchfork into his chest with all her strength.
She felt the metal prongs stab deep into his flesh. Heard his ribs crunch.
Tyler stood his ground. He did not stagger back. He did not howl in pain. He did not bleed.
He wrapped his hands tightly around the handle of the pitchfork and jerked the prongs out of his chest.
This can't be happening, Savannah thought. It can't be.
Tyler laughed maniacally. “You can't kill me, Savannah! I died at Gettysburg!”
34
“Y
es, Savannah, I died. Your brother killed me. He stabbed me in the gut. Do you know how painful it is to die from a gut wound, Savannah? The pain is unbearable. And it takes a long time to die.”
He's
dead.
Savannah was stunned. She couldn't move. She could hardly think.
“It gave me time to plan,” Tyler said. “And to realize that my love for you is undying. Didn't we say forever? Isn't that what we promised?”
They slowly began to circle each other. “I found a way to return to you, Savannah,” Tyler said. “I found a way for us to be together forever.”
Savannah stared at him. She felt the anger and hatred building up inside her.
“Victoria was not the only one who practiced the dark arts,” Tyler told her. “But she was a novice. I am a master.”
Savannah gasped as the truth hit her. “The two of you were arguing that day because she had learned the truth.”
“Yes,” Tyler replied calmly. “She found Mrs. Mooreland before you did. She recognized the markings I made in blood on the floor. She knew I was one of the living dead.”
“And she knew how to destroy you,” Savannah said.
“No. I was never in any danger. As I said, she was a novice. I would have preferred to kill her myself.” He shrugged. “But it was almost as entertaining watching you do it for me.”
Savannah felt her heart clench. Victoria's dying words screamed through her mind.
You have let the evil live!
What can I do? Savannah thought. What can I do to stop him?
“There is nothing you can do,” Tyler said as though he read her mind. “There is an old saying in my familyâ
Dominatio per malum.
It means âpower through evil.' I have more power than you can imagine, Savannah.”
“What do you want from me?” she shrieked. “Why are you doing this?”
“I promised that one day you would regret choosing the South over me. Today is that day.”
He leapt toward her. Savannah darted away.
He laughed. “We can play this game all night. Sooner or later you will tire. And then I will winâbecause I never tire.”
Tyler lunged forward. Savannah jumped back and rammed into the table.
“Nooooo!” Tyler cried. He dove for the table, reaching for the bubbling liquid.
Too late. The vial broke, spilling the steaming liquid on Lucy's hand.
The hand jerked as though suddenly alive. The fingers wiggled. Then they went limp. Tyler shrieked in agony.
35