Bloodchild (18 page)

When she entered the house, she fell to the hallway floor. Unable to contain herself, she screamed on and on and on. She looked up to see Dana at the top of the stairway, her hair wild, her face in an ugly grimace. She was embracing herself. Colleen could see that she was speaking but couldn't hear her. Why couldn't she hear her?

She covered her ears, then uncovered them, and she screamed again. Dana started down the stairs. Outside, the dogs were in a frenzy, their barking so intense and continuous, they sounded more like a pack of dogs than just two.

Dana seized her by the shoulders and shook her. Colleen looked into her eyes, but what she saw there made her scream even harder. Dana's eyes were so cold and so colorless, they reminded her of Jillian's dead eyes locked in that stone stare.

Finally she felt herself shudder, and then it was as if someone dropped a black curtain between her and Dana. The last thing she remembered was the way she fell through Dana's fingers to the floor. It was as if she were made of wax and Dana's fingers were hot coils. She melted rapidly and landed in one shapeless pile at Dana's feet.

Colleen woke in her bed. Harlan was sitting at her side. He had put a cold, wet washcloth over her forehead. He smiled at her when she opened her eyes. For a moment she couldn't remember anything. She didn't know why she was there and why he was sitting staring at her. Her mind was a total blank. She couldn't even remember what day it was, let alone what time it was. She looked quickly around the room and at the doorway.

"Hi, there," he said. "How you doing?"

"What… happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know." He reached forward and took the washcloth from her forehead. "Dana called the school and I came right back. I found you on the floor downstairs. Dana couldn't lift you, of course, but she had a pillow under your head. I carried you up here… no small feat, I might add," he said, smiling, "and put the wet cloth on your head. We called an ambulance. They should be here any moment."

"Ambulance?"

"Sure, honey. You'll have to be checked out, no matter what. I'm glad you've regained consciousness, but what the hell did it? Dana said you were screaming incoherently. You woke her, and when she went to the top of the stairway, you were on the floor, clutching yourself as though you had stomach cramps. She went down to you, and you stood up, screaming even louder when she grabbed your shoulders. Then you fainted."

"Harlan," she said, remembering. The horrible images were coming back quickly. She closed her eyes.

"Easy. Just relax. I'm here with you now. Take it slow."

"Harlan," she repeated. "In the shed… go look. It's Jillian."

"In the shed?" He held his half smile.

She opened her eyes and nodded.

"It's horrible," she said. "She was murdered. Her body is hanging in there. Her eyes opened. It was ghastly."

"Christ." He stood up. "In the shed?"

"It's horrible," she repeated, closing her eyes.

"My God." He looked toward the doorway. "Dana," he muttered. "Oh, no. My God. I'll be right back," he said. "Don't try to move."

He rushed out and Colleen closed her eyes. The nausea was coming back because the vivid memory of Jillian's ugly corpse had returned. She turned over and buried her face in the pillow. She thought she might have passed out again, because she never realized Harlan had been gone. He was at her bedside again, only this time the ambulance attendants were right behind him. The two men rolled the stretcher in beside the bed so she could simply be rolled onto it.

"Harlan," she said.

"You have to go to the hospital, honey. You have to be checked out. I'll be right beside you the whole time."

She nodded and closed her eyes as she was gently placed onto the stretcher. She didn't look at the attendants; they were faceless, nameless nonentities, part of some necessary process. As they started to wheel her out the bedroom she reached up. Harlan took her hand.

"Where's Dana?" she asked.

"With the baby in our room. She's very upset. It's better she just stay there. I called Trish Lewis and she's coming over to be with her while we're at the hospital."

"Good."

They rolled her to the top of the stairway, and then she was lifted so they could carry her down the stairs. At the base of the stairway they lowered the wheels again. Harlan was right behind them. They paused at the doorway and lifted the stretcher so it could roll over the little rise in the floor. From then on it was easy. The attendants moved quickly to the rear of the ambulance and opened the back doors.

She reached out for Harlan again before they lifted her up and into it.

"Did you call the police?" she asked.

He looked at the two attendants before answering, so she looked at them too. Their faces were bland, expressionless. She thought they were more like robots, but she wasn't interested in them or in what was going to be done with her now. It wasn't the same as being taken to the hospital because of some illness. She knew what had caused all this. She would go through the examination, more to relieve Harlan's anxieties than her own.

"No, honey, not yet," he said.

"What? Why not?" She tried to sit up, but the straps held her fast. The attendants were lifting her now. "Harlan, why not? Harlan," she called back. "Why not?" she repeated more demandingly.

He leaned into the ambulance as she was set down inside it. She couldn't turn around, but he was just behind her head, his face close to hers.

"Because there's nothing in the shed, Colleen. Nothing. No dead body. Nothing," he repeated.

"
Harlan
!" she screamed, but he pulled back and the ambulance attendant closed the doors. "
Harlan, I saw her
!"

"Easy," the attendant who would ride with her to the hospital said. "You'll be all right. Just take it easy."

She felt the ambulance begin to move.

"Harlan!"

"He's right behind us, miss. Take it easy. You'll be all right," the attendant repeated. He started to put a blood-pressure cuff over her arm. She looked at him in amazement and then closed her eyes as the ambulance rolled on, its siren now clearing the way before it.

"They've given her something to quiet her down," Harlan said into the receiver. He was standing in the hallway of the hospital emergency room, just outside the examination room in which Colleen lay. "Some sedation."

"But, Harlan," Trish Lewis asked, "where
is
Jillian?"

"I don't know. I decided to call the police and report her missing. A detective will be at the house in an hour or so. I'll be here about a half hour more. If Jillian should return, call me here so I can call the police. How's Dana?"

"She's resting. Actually she's asleep. How she could sleep through all this commotion is beyond me. I'm sorry about Buster digging up some of your lawn," she added.

"That's my least worry. Thanks for helping out."

"Oh, there's nothing to thank me for. Just as long as Colleen's all right."

"Well, right now I'm not sure what the problem is. All her physical signs are good, thank God. It's something else. As soon as they have her set in a room, I'll be home."

"Okay," Trish said. "Oh… someone called here… a Dr. Claret. Dana spoke to him before she fell asleep."

"Dr. Claret? Right, right, her new doctor. All right, I'll hear about it when I get home. Thanks again," he said, and hung up the phone.

Colleen was unconscious by the time he returned to the examination room. The emergency-room doctor took him aside.

"She's had some sort of traumatic experience," he began.

"Well, I told you what she had said and what—"

"We're giving her a blood analysis, of course, but you might as well tell me if there is any history of drug use."

"Oh, no… not that I know of, that is. I don't think she's even puffed on a joint." He thought for a moment. "But who could swear for anyone these days… even your own sister?"

"Whether it was real or imaginary is not the point right now. She needs some intense rest, after which I suggest we have the hospital psychologist speak with her. Maybe he can calm her down or get to the bottom of her problem. If there is any evidence of drugs, we'll know shortly."

"I hate for her to wake up without me around," Harlan said.

"It'll be all right. The nurses will make her comfortable and you'll visit her later. You can't just wait around here, Mr. Hamilton."

"No, I've got an appointment with the police. The thing is, my mother-in-law isn't home and we don't know where she is."

"Which is something that might have triggered Colleen's imagination, especially if there is some drug involvement."

Harlan nodded.

"Okay. When should I call you?"

"Give us a couple of hours."

"Right," he said. "Thanks." He looked in on Colleen once more. Even in repose her face wore an expression of utter terror. His heart went out to her, for his was filled with a mixture of sympathy and guilt. Ever since his father died and Colleen had come to live with them, he had felt she was a major responsibility, not simply because she was his sister but also because his parents were no longer around to look after her. Dana sensed this in him right from the beginning, and right from the beginning she was very good about it, taking just as much interest in his teenage sister as he did.

Somehow he blamed this on himself. Something was going on back at his house, and he had just let it go on. There was too much tension. The place was emotionally explosive. For all he knew, his mother-in-law had run off because she couldn't take it any longer herself. But why wouldn't she leave him a note, and why would she leave her clothing? Of course, she could have gone off for just a few hours or a day. It was just that something like this was not characteristic of Jillian.

Then again, look at how Dana was behaving. Everything she was doing was uncharacteristic of the Dana he had known these past years. He had a sick, empty feeling in the base of his stomach. Perhaps it had been wrong for them to adopt Nikos so quickly; perhaps they were being punished for spitting into the face of destiny. He shook his head.
Ridiculous idea
, he thought.
I'm going nuts too
.

The detective arrived at the Hamilton house just as Harlan pulled into the driveway. He pulled his car into the garage and came out to greet the man.

"Mr. Hamilton?" he said, stepping out of his vehicle.

"Yes."

"I'm Lieutenant Reis," the policeman said.

Harlan thought that either because he was anxious for the detective to look this way or because he really was, Lieutenant Reis fit his part. He was tall, at least six-foot-three, and broad-shouldered, a strong-looking man. His facial features were sharply chiseled with deep set, dark brown eyes. He had his hair cut very short, almost in a military crew cut. He did have an army officer's demeanor. There was an air of confidence and authority about the man that Harlan welcomed.

"Come on inside. Let's check first and be sure my mother-in-law hasn't called or returned."

"Right," Lieutenant Reis said. He followed Harlan into the house. Trish met them in the entryway.

"Dana's still sleeping," she said. She looked at the detective with interest.

"Trish, thanks so much. What about Jillian? Has she come home? Has she called?"

"Afraid not, Harlan," Trish said. "Except for that doctor, no one's called."

"Well, there it is," Harlan said, as if that explained the whole problem. Lieutenant Reis stared stoically.

"Well, let's go over the details here, Mr. Hamilton," he said, "and think this out before we jump to any conclusions."

"Sure. You want any coffee?"

"I'll get it," Trish said. "Why don't you take him into the living room."

"Thanks, Trish. Right this way," he said, and Lieutenant Reis followed him in. Harlan indicated the couch, and Reis sat down. "Let me start from the beginning," Harlan said, "because I don't know myself what is important and what is not in a situation like this."

"Good idea," Reis said. For the first time his eyes widened with some interest.

Harlan began by describing the death of his and Dana's baby, as well as the subsequent adoption. He detailed Dana's emotional condition and explained the way in which his mother-in-law had reacted. He then told the detective about Colleen's illusions concerning the drop of blood, and then the bloodstain on the sheet. Reis's eyebrows rose but he didn't interrupt. Harlan was sure he was being illogical and incoherent after a while, rambling on about such things as Dana's appetite and his mother-in-law's description of Dana, up at night and wandering through a dark house. He was happy when Trish arrived with the coffee and he could pause.

Lieutenant Reis sipped his and stared silently for a moment. Trish sat on the soft-cushioned easy chair to listen.

"Now, what was this about a slipper?" Reis asked.

"Oh… that's why we got concerned about Jillian this morning. Colleen found her slipper on the sidewalk outside."

"I see."

"I told you about…"He looked at Trish. "About what she claimed she saw in the shed."

"Let's go back there so I can take a look," Reis said.

"Fine. Trish, can you just hang in a few more minutes?"

"Oh, no problem, Harlan," she said.

Harlan led the detective to the shed, and Reis went and looked around. "This mop and old jacket hanging on the wall could have caused the illusion," he said. He sniffed. "There's the odor of something dead in here," he added, and he and Harlan found a dead gopher. Its corpse looked a few days old. "Explains the dogs," Reis said.

"I have a neighbor who puts out poison for gophers. Looks like he got one," Harlan said.

Reis nodded. "Your mother-in-law… doesn't she know anybody around here she could have gone to see?" he asked.

"Not really. Oh, there are some people she's met through her daughter and myself, but I can't recall her ever becoming that friendly with any of them."

"You called her home?"

"She lives in Florida. She wouldn't go back there without saying anything and without taking her things."