The Wish (Nightmare Hall) (10 page)

But followed by the nasty thought came an equally nasty little voice from somewhere inside her head. Oh, come off it, the voice snarled, how do you know what Marty would or wouldn’t do? You hardly know him, so quit pretending you’ve figured him out. He’s cute, he has a good sense of humor, he dresses neatly, and he doesn’t have bad breath. That’s about the extent of your knowledge of this guy, so don’t be so sure there isn’t another side to him. There is to almost everybody, you know. So just don’t be so sure.

Shut up, she ordered, and the voice subsided.

When they got to Vinnie’s crowded parking lot, Alex felt some of the tension ooze out of her. Lots of people, lots and lots of people were inside that restaurant. That was good. Very good. With lots of people around her, she’d be safe. Unless…her. heart leapfrogged…unless one of those people happened to be the one who had attacked Kyle.

And that person might know what
she
looked like, although she had no idea what
he
looked like.

Except, she recalled, there was something distinctive about him. If only she could figure out what it was, maybe she’d be able to pick him out of a crowd.

Inside, she sent the others to go search for that rarest of creatures on Sunday afternoon at Vinnie’s—an empty booth—saying she had to go to the restroom.

But that’s not where she went. Instead, when they’d left to make their way through the crowd standing around the jukebox, she turned and walked straight over to the red metal booth in the corner. She wanted to see The Wizard, wanted to check him out thoroughly. She had been planning to do this ever since she’d awakened that morning. The only way she was going to get rid of that horrible image of him from her nightmare was to face him and take a really good look at him.

When she was standing in front of him, uneasiness overtook her. This is the very spot, she thought, where Julie wished she didn’t have the same “boring old face.” And that same night, her face changed, probably forever. This is the very spot where Gabe wished for wheels, so he wouldn’t have to walk so much. And that same night, his legs were injured so that he couldn’t walk for a week. This is the very spot where Kyle complained about not having enough peace and quiet. And now Kyle is in a peaceful, quiet
coma
.

And so, she thought, if I didn’t know better…

She was afraid to look up, to confront the icy blue eyes. What if she saw something in them…?

You’re being ridiculous, she told herself. And lifted her head.

She stared straight at The Wizard. And noticed that the left ear, just below the edge of his tall pointed hat, was chipped. The paint on his right hand was peeling. His shirt was frayed at the cuffs.

She’d been afraid of
this
?

You are old, she telegraphed mentally to the pale, narrow face. You are old and falling apart, and perfectly harmless. Your days are numbered. I can’t imagine now what I’m even doing here, why I had to see for myself that you couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with the things that happened. I must have still been in shock. My brain wasn’t working right.

And then she felt, suddenly, very sorry for the old toy. Its days really
were
numbered. Nobody wanted old, creaky, fraying fortunetellers now. Electronic gadgets, that was the thing: video games and computers and Nintendo, those were the present. This guy was obsolete.

Feeling sympathetic, Alex impulsively dug into her pocket for a quarter. Why not? He wouldn’t be getting many more. She could spare twenty-five cents.

“What are you doing over here all by yourself?”

Alex jumped, and dropped her quarter.

Marty bent to retrieve it. “I thought you didn’t believe in this stuff.”

“I don’t. I was feeling sorry for the old guy. He’s not getting much attention anymore.”

“Nope. Too old-fashioned. Not exciting enough for our generation.” He handed Alex the quarter. “What’s a cynic like you doing throwing your hard-earned money away?”

She shrugged. “I thought it might be fun. Everyone else has done it.” Yeah, and look what happened to
them
, the nasty little voice said. But now she could ignore it. “It’s my turn.”

Still, she hesitated when her hand reached the coin slot. The Wizard’s glassy blue eyes stared at her, as if he were daring her to go for it. Go ahead, they seemed to say, but don’t hold me responsible for what happens afterward.

“Scared?” Marty teased. “You don’t have to do this, you know. You don’t have to prove anything.”

Stung, she dropped the coin into the slot.

The machine began to groan and creak and whirr.

“Maybe my card will say,” she cracked as she reached down to pick it up, “that wealth and fame will be mine any minute now.” She picked up the card and, taking a deep breath, read it silently. Disappointment filled her face.

“What?” Marty said, leaning over to peer down at the card in her hand.

“Oh, it’s the same one you got. SILENCE IS GOLDEN. The machine is repeating itself. Vinnie better get some new cards if he wants people to keep putting quarters in.” She tossed the card into a nearby trash can. “See? That just proves it doesn’t mean anything, if people are getting the same cards.”

Marty grinned. “I thought you were already convinced it didn’t mean anything.”

“I was. I
was
!”

It wasn’t until they’d begun eating that Alex realized that while that particular card might not have held any meaning in Marty’s case, it easily could in hers.
Silence is golden
…wasn’t that, in effect, what the policeman had told her? That she needed to keep her lips zipped? If she hadn’t known that Marty had already received an identical card, it might have shaken her up some. As if…as if The Wizard really did know what was going on in her life.

T
HERE WAS SO MUCH
gossip on campus about Kyle that Alex had to remind herself constantly over the next few days that silence, in her case, definitely was golden. She wanted so much to set the record straight, to announce to one and all that Kyle had not
jumped
from the tower, but she couldn’t. She would have had to say how she knew that. If there was a chance that Kyle’s attacker didn’t know a witness existed, she wanted to keep it that way.

The police questioned her again, pressing for details. She mentioned that there was something odd about the second figure, but since she couldn’t be any more specific than that, they let it drop.

When they’d gone, she concentrated on trying to remember what had seemed odd about the other person on the deck. His arm…something about his arm…

The following weekend there was an open house party at Delta Psi, the football fraternity. Alex didn’t want to go.

But Jenny pleaded with her. “Come on, Alex, it’ll be fun. Bennett and Marty are pledging there.” Jenny smiled slyly. “And how
are
things with Marty?” she asked.

Alex shrugged. “He’s been acting really weird lately. I guess he misses Kyle.”

She went to the party, after all. Jenny was determined to go, and Alex was afraid to stay in the room alone. On a Friday night, the dorm would empty out fast. But there’d be plenty of people at the frat party. She’d be safe there.

Bennett was without crutches again, and insisted he’d be playing in the following day’s game. “I’ve had enough therapy this week to cure twelve people,” he said as he led Jenny out onto the dance floor. “And it’s finally working.”

Later, he asked Alex to dance, giving her the opportunity to ask him the same question she’d asked Marty. She asked Bennett if he’d received a golden football, like Marty and Kyle.

“Sure.” He looked down at her. “Why?”

“Do you wear it?”

“No. I can’t stand jewelry. Gets in the way. I brought it home to my folks’ one weekend and left it there. Why?”

Alex saw Marty dancing with a tall blonde girl. He was laughing. “I just wondered. I think they’re nice, but none of you seem to wear, them. I mean, you’re all so gung-ho over football, I’d think you’d love wearing something like that.”

“Nah.” Bennett shrugged. “I’m not into jewelry.”

So it hadn’t been Bennett’s little football sitting in that plant. Not Bennett’s, not Kyle’s, and Marty had lost his.

Then whose was it?

Later, Alex talked with Gabe for a while. When she asked him about his football memento, he said, “Lost it a while ago. I can’t keep track of stuff like that.”

She hoped the guys wouldn’t get together and compare notes. If they knew she’d asked each of them the same question about the little football, they’d think she was losing her grip.

Glancing around the room, she tried once again to remember exactly what had been so odd about Kyle’s attacker. The arm…the arm had looked strange…

There wasn’t a single abnormal-looking arm in the room.

By the time Marty finally asked her to dance, she was so annoyed with him, she barely spoke. She was relieved when the music ended.

Everyone else seemed to be having barrels of fun. Enough laughter to fill a funhouse, plenty of great music, good eats…but Alex wasn’t having fun.

I’d rather be at the hospital talking to Julie, she thought, and jumped up. It wasn’t that late. And if she took the shuttle, she’d be perfectly safe. Shuttle there, shuttle back…nothing risky about that.

She retrieved her coat, told Jenny that she was leaving, and hurried out of the house. She would wait for the shuttle right out in front. What could be safer than standing on a sidewalk in front of a house full of people?

It was cold outside, and smelled of rain to come. The wind was picking up and thick clouds hid the moon. Another storm on the way? Maybe she should forget about going into town and return to her room.

But she’d be alone there. Bad idea.

And Julie would be glad to see her. Maybe Kyle had improved. Kyle
had
to improve. He had to come out of his coma and identify his attacker. Then the police would arrest the guy and no one else would get hurt.

No one else, meaning
me
, Alex thought, and wished that she could tell someone how scared she was. It was hard, being scared all alone. But the small white card had read, SILENCE IS GOLDEN, and in her case, the old Wizard was right on target. Talking about what she’d seen could get her in a whole lot of very nasty trouble.

She heard in the distance the telltale grinding gears of a shuttle bus. The relief that swept over her made her knees weak. In just a minute or two, she’d be safe on the bus with other people around her, and she’d certainly be safe at the hospital.

A minute later, the yellow bus pulled up under the streetlight, and Alex climbed aboard. The shuttle was free. No stopping to deposit a coin. Her eyes swept the seats ahead of her.

They were all empty.

There was no one else on the bus. That was odd. Then again, it was the middle of a Friday evening. People who had plans had probably already gone where they were going.

Alex found a seat in the middle and flopped into it. Getting away from campus for a little while would be good. She needed the break.

She settled back in her seat, gazing out the window. When they pulled onto the highway toward Twin Falls, houses began flying by and she played a game she’d played on long road trips when she was a child…who lived in the houses, what were they doing, did they have children, a dog? a cat? The houses continued to fly by…

In fact…Alex sat up straighter…they were flying by too fast. Much too fast.

“Hey!” she called up to the driver, “where’s the fire? I’m not in any big rush. And I’d like to get there in one piece.”

The shuttle failed to slow down, even a little. Instead, it seemed to Alex that it picked up even more speed.

They were going much, much too fast.

“Driver!” she yelled over the sound of the motor, “would you please slow
down
?”

Faster, faster…the small yellow bus began switching lanes rapidly, weaving in and out of traffic, its tires squealing. Horns honked, drivers yelled out their windows, but the bus never slowed.

Alex fought to still a rising sense of panic.

The back of the driver’s seat was high, hiding him from Alex’s view. Her eyes went to the rearview mirror. Ordinarily, you could see the driver’s face reflected in the mirror from where she was sitting. She’d noticed that before. But not now. The mirror had been tilted, at an angle, reflecting nothing but the aisle between the seats.

The bus continued to careen down the highway.

Praying for a traffic cop, Alex cried, “I’m going to have to report you for this! And I will. I
will
do that, if you don’t stop this bus and let me off!
Now
!”

When there was no response, she stood up, clutching the edge of the seat in front of her for support. She would go to the front of the bus and confront the crazy driver directly, make him stop.

Suddenly, the bus veered wildly, knocking her off balance. She toppled to her knees in the aisle as the bus careened across two lanes of traffic and dove off the highway and onto a dirt road splitting an area of deep woods. At no time did the bus reduce its speed.

Alex struggled to her feet, clutching the seat beside her. “What are you
doing
?” she screamed, “
what
?” There was nothing but thick, dark woods on both sides of them now, no friendly houses, no other cars…nothing but blackness and the shadowy outlines of bare tree branches reaching to the sky. “Let me
out of here
! Stop this bus right
now
!”

It didn’t stop. It didn’t even slow down, in spite of the beating it was taking from hurtling over the holes and bumps and ridges of a seldom-traveled dirt road.

She still couldn’t see the driver. But she could see, as she swayed back and forth clutching the edge of a seat, what looked like the hem of an old tan raincoat. It was dragging on the floor beside the driver’s seat.

There shouldn’t be an old tan raincoat there, she thought, struggling to stay afoot. The shuttle bus drivers wear navy-blue uniforms, and they’re not dirty or worn.

Still holding on for dear life, she leaned backward in the aisle as far as she could, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the driver behind that high seat. All she could see was a huge, dirty gray hat, yanked down to meet the top of the raincoat, as if he didn’t want anyone to see him.