Embracing Darkness (60 page)

The hole that led into the crawlspace opened, completely illuminating the area with light from outside, but it quickly grew dark again as a figure entered, blocking out the sunlight and covering the hole behind him. The intruder crawled on his hands and knees toward the girl who lay sleeping just seven feet away. Her back was to him, yet he became quickly aroused as he could see the girl’s shapely figure through the pig mask.

It was the face of a pig with two disfigured eyes, one of which was larger than normal and suggested paralysis while the other was considerably smaller and closed tightly. In the middle of the second eye was a small hole through which the wearer would be able to see. The mask had one ear missing, and its mouth was curved, as if in agony. The tip of a tongue was painted below the bottom lip. The whole thing was frightful and seemed nightmarishly real.

Inch by inch he crept closer, as slowly and quietly as he could. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins. As he picked up his prey’s scent, he became so aroused that he had to stop for a minute and catch his breath.

When the intruder reached the girl’s naked body, her plump buttocks proved irresistible. While straddling her and rubbing his firm penis over Sue Ellen’s behind, he could feel the sweat drip off his brow onto the inside of his mask, whose preserved post-mortum flesh was beginning to stick to his face. His heart now pounding in his ears, he thrust his pelvis again, harder this time, against Sue Ellen’s buttocks.

When she moaned, the man paused until he heard her begin to breathe rhythmically again. Then, lowering his body on top of hers, he left it all to the thrusting motion of his pelvis. Eventually he penetrated Sue Ellen’s vagina, pushing hard inside her and causing her eyes to open abruptly.

“What?” she said weakly, still drowsy, and turned her face upward. What Sue Ellen saw frightened her immensely, for staring down at her was the mask of the mutilated pig. She gasped and was on the verge of screaming until she told herself that it must have been Billy. “What are you doing, Billy?” she scolded. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

The figure hanging over her in the mask remained motionless, his phallus still inside her.

“Billy!” she said, angrily. “Did you start without me?” In the silence she could hear a heavy breathing. “Come on, Billy. Stop goofing around, and take off that horrible mask.”

After a momentary pause her partner thrust forward and plunged deeply into Sue Ellen. For the first time ever she had an orgasm. As it subsided, she exhaled sharply.

What she saw above her again was the hideous pig mask. “Will you take that thing off?” she said faintly, still trying to emerge from the hypnotic effect of her orgasm. Despite the dim light Swell took note of the fact that the figure hovering over her had chest hair. Such was not the case, she knew, with Billy. “Who are you?” she said, her voice suddenly trembling.

The intruder’s heavy breathing continued, now faster than before. He slowly lifted his right hand up and curled his fingers into a fist, tightening it so hard that his hand shook. She could hear some of his knuckles crack.

“No!” she whimpered as the stranger’s fist pounded down on her face. The first punch broke two of her teeth, the second her nose, and the third her left cheekbone.

As she lay there, choking on blood and her smashed teeth, the intruder took hold of Sue Ellen’s throat and squeezed it as he brought his whole body down on top of her. His breath hot on her skin, he whispered, “Scream and I’ll strangle you, little sow!”

She tried her best to stay calm, for she took the rapist’s words seriously. Praying that she would survive this attack, Swell could only lie helpless as the repulsive pig mask stared at her. Even in the semi-darkness she could see the eyes through the holes. It terrified her to know that this person was indifferently watching her pain.

The man then methodically resumed his sexual violation. As he felt himself about to climax, his pelvic thrusts became harder and quicker. Upon ejaculating, he growled in Sue Ellen’s ear, causing her to weep even harder, although not so loud as to prompt him to kill her. In her terror she swallowed one of her broken teeth, despite the continuing grip on her throat.

“Please,” she pleaded. “Please let me go.” She then began to choke as the second tooth became lodged in her throat, forcing quick action by her gag reflex as she swallowed it.

The intruder lay on top of her, still wearing the mask and breathing heavily. When Sue Ellen again begged to be released, the man began to moan softly,
“
A-a-a-a-g-a-a-a-i-n! A-a-a-a-g-a-a-a-i-n!” He laughed malevolently and began pumping in and out of her again.

When she cried “NO,” he squeezed her throat harder. Sue Ellen’s nightmare continued as the intruder assaulted her again. When he was done with her, she had been brutally raped four times.

Billy woke up in darkness. As he lifted his head, he immediately felt a pounding in his temples. He put his hand to his crown and felt a wetness. He brushed his hands all over the dark space until he found the knob of the closet door and opened it. The brightness of the room momentarily blinded him. Stumbling and still weak from the blow to the back of his head, he collapsed on the hallway floor and lay there for several minutes. When he was able to make the effort, he pushed himself up with both hands and sat back on his heels. He took a deep breath and exhaled, again touching the wound on his head. He looked at his hand and saw that it was smeared with blood.

Dazed and confused, Billy walked out of the house. He made it over to the rectory and groped his way upstairs to his room. Once there he collapsed onto his bed, closed his eyes, and didn’t wake up again until he heard a banging at the front door.

The Ford Fordor Deluxe climbed back up the hill at around 5:00. Jessie ran out of the house to greet Father Poole and Walt Hartley. “How was she when you left?” Jessie asked anxiously. “Where is she now?”

Father Fin put his hands on her shoulders. “She’s not well, Jess. We took her over to the hospital in Exeter.”

“Why? What is it?”

“They think it’s cancer.”

“No!” she cried, and sank her head on Father Poole’s chest.

“She wanted to go home,” the priest told her.

“Home?” Jessie said. “But
this
is her home.”

“I think she misses where she grew up.”

“But didn’t she grow up in an orphanage?”

“Yes, but she was very close with someone who used to work there. I think she wanted to go back there for the memories, even though that woman died a long time ago.”

“
We’re
her family, Father Fin, and
this
is her home. If they can’t make her well in the hospital, then she’s gotta come back here, and we’ll all just have to pitch in to help take care of her.”

Father Poole leaned forward and kissed Jessie on the forehead, his eyes shut tight.

Fifteen minutes later, while Father Poole was in his office drafting a letter to the Archbishop regarding Sister Ignatius’s condition, he heard someone pounding on the rectory’s front door. Jessie beat him to the door. It was Walt Hartley. His face was fiery red, and he was carrying a loaded pistol in his hand.

“WHERE IS HE?” Walt shouted to Jessie as Father Poole stopped behind her. “WHERE IS HE? BY GOD I’LL KILL THE SON OF A BITCH! I’LL KILL HIM FOR WHAT HE DID!”

“Where’s
who
, Walt?” Father Poole asked.

“BILLY NORWIN, THAT’S WHO!” Walt Hartley shouted as he pushed his way past the two of them. “I’ve seen the way he looks at her,” he said, no longer shouting but still feverishly hunting around the hallway.

“What in the world is this all about?” asked Father Poole.

“Your altar boy has… .” Breaking down in his grief, Mr. Hartley raised his hands to cover his eyes and in the process dropped the pistol, which hit the floor with a resounding thud. He sobbed into his hands.

“Walt,” began Father Poole, patting him on the shoulder. “If you’re quite calm enough now to do it, and you promise you won’t fly off the handle again, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“As soon as I walked through the front door,” said a more composed Mr. Hartley, “I found blood on the carpet. The door to the hall closet was wide open, and there was blood in there too. I called for Sue Ellen, but she didn’t come down. Naturally I was alarmed. I ran upstairs to her room, but she wasn’t there. Then I heard water running in the bathroom. Sue Ellen was in there. I tried to open the door, but she’d locked it. She told me that she didn’t want me to see her. I got the key that we keep above the molding and opened the door myself. I needed to get to the bottom of all this, you understand.”

He paused and took a deep breath. Father Poole urged him to take his time. After some seconds of silence Walt Hartley noticed Jessie, whose innocent yet troubled expression gave him the strength to continue. He wanted Jessie to know what he himself suspected.

“There she was,” Walt continued, “soaking in crimson water, her face bruised so badly that I couldn’t rightly tell whether it was my daughter at first. Two of her front teeth were busted clear out of her mouth! Her nose was so swollen that it resembled a beehive!”

He wept and was unable to continue for a few moments. “Dear God Almighty!” he continued. “That bath water was so red. At first I thought she’d been bathing in tomato soup. She was beat up pretty good, but still that blood couldn’t have all come from her face. It was coming from somewhere else. She wouldn’t tell me, but I know.”

Jessie wasn’t following what Walt Hartley meant. She was still in a state of shock about the assault. “Billy could never have done this, Mr. Hartley,” she said.

“I see how he looks at her,” replied Sue Ellen’s father, “He was lusting after her. I know my daughter. She aims to keep her dignity. He probably got tired of her rejections, and his hormones took over. I was a boy once. I remember what it was like.”

“What would be Billy’s motives for beating Sue Ellen, Walt?” asked Father Poole.

“Use your head, man! She refused his advances. That’s when he pounced on her. In a fury he beat her, but she had some of his blood and skin under her nails. She gave him something he’ll not soon forget!”

“This doesn’t sound like Billy,” replied Father Poole. “I mean, can Sue Ellen
swear
that Billy was the one responsible?”

Walt looked disgusted. “Why would my daughter lie?” he said defensively.

“Was she…,” Father Poole started to ask and then, giving his back to Jessie, leaned toward Walt and whispered, “How far did this go?”

“ALL THE WAY!” shouted Hartley, startling Father Poole who had assumed not only that his neighbor had calmed down but that he would reply in a whisper for the sake of Jessie’s virgin ears.

“Where did this happen?” asked Father Poole.

“She didn’t tell me. She only kept saying ‘Billy, Billy, Billy’ over and over.”

“There’s only one way to straighten this matter out,” declared Father Poole. “We need to ask Billy his side of the story.”

“I can certainly see whose side
you’re
on, Father! What do you know about this boy anyway? I heard he used to beat the shit out of his own father! In my opinion this is an open and shut case. I’m going down the hill to report this crime.”

When Hartley started for the door, Father Poole leaped after him. “NO!” shouted the priest. “There’s got to be another explanation, Walt. All we need to do is to find Billy. He’s probably out back or upstairs in his room.”

“Then call him!” Walt Hartley yelled.

They decided to check upstairs first. The three went quickly up to the second floor and found the door to Billy’s room wide open. He was sitting on his bed, recently having been awakened by the commotion downstairs. He had heard everything. They all immediately saw the traces of blood in Billy’s blond hair. Walt Hartley’s mouth dropped. Father Poole couldn’t believe it either.

“What happened?” Father Poole asked grimly.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Walt shouted, seeing the blood as proof that the boy had attacked Sue Ellen. He lunged for the boy but was intercepted by both Father Poole and Jessie. “LET ME GET MY HANDS ON HIM! I’LL KILL HIM!”

Billy jumped up and at once lost his equilibrium. He swayed a little, his head still woozy from the trauma. “Mr. Hartley, I can explain,” Billy said.

Walt Hartley only screamed in response, realizing by now that Father Poole had no intention of letting him at the boy. He backed away, marched out the door, and exited from the rectory, screaming “YOU’RE GOING TO BE SORRY, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

Jessie began to cry. “It’s not true, is it, Billy?” she said. “Please tell me it’s not true.”

Billy put his hands on Jessie’s shoulders. “Listen to me,” he replied. “I don’t know what happened. I was in Swell’s house getting a blanket.”

He went on to explain as much as he could, knowing it wouldn’t offer much in the way of an alibi. They then heard the sound of the Ford’s motor starting. Father Poole walked to the bedroom across the hall and leaned out its window.

“He’s taking the car down into town,” Father Poole said, panic-stricken. “He’s going to the police. All we need right now is for Captain Ransom to find out what’s going on up here with you kids. Then again, I’m not sure how much Walt’s going to say. He’s really going down there about Billy. Anyway he thinks you boys are… . Never mind.”

Father Fin then got an idea. “Quick, Jessie! Tell the boys to get up in the maple and stay there quietly. Billy, you come with me.”

Jessie ran out back where Charlie, Gabe, and Lou were playing while Ziggy and General Lee watched. The rest of us were up in the maple. Jessie screamed for them to climb up the tree immediately. She picked up Ziggy with one arm and called for General Lee. Just to make sure that she was thorough, Jessie remembered to turn the sign over that read “THE BENSON HOME FOR ABUSED AND ABANDONED BOYS.” It now indicated “ST. ANDREW’S RECTORY, BACK ENTRANCE
.
” With Ziggy in her arms, she and General Lee ran across the grass to the Benson house and hid.

Father Poole meanwhile was busy taking care of Billy in the priest’s office. Father Poole swung open the top drawer of his desk where he kept his cash. He pulled out ten twenty-dollar bills along with several singles buried inside the roll. Billy felt bad that he’d taken as much as he already had from Father Poole, who handed the wad of cash to him.