Lost in Darkness Read online

Will squeezed the pretty spirit’s hands. “She tried to drain my life force, Dana, but that was a big mistake. I pretended I was beaten until Ethan left, and then I drained Celeste’s life force instead...the same way I drained Vesta. I guess I’m just a stronger spirit than they were. Now all three of them are gone.”

  “Where did Sophie and her mother come from?”

  “They came home from the movies just as Ethan was running out of the house. They saw what he really looked like. Sophie knew you were telling the truth when she saw that. So the three of us followed him here. Sophie was the fastest runner...faster than me. She got to you first.”

  Dana pulled the spirit against her and hugged him tightly.

  “Will…now what do I do? Am I supposed to go through the Gate of Light?”

  “No, Dana. Not today.”

  “But what about you?” She looked into his eyes.

  He nodded gently. “Yes. I have to go back. It’s where I belong. And I’m afraid you can’t come with me.”

  Although she nodded in understanding, something like tears sparkled in the eyes of Dana’s spirit. “I guess I’ll see you again someday.”

  “Yes. But don’t wait for me, Dana. You have a whole life ahead of you to live. I had my life. I see good things in your future. Bright things. No more shadows.”

  “All right, Will,” Dana said, fighting not to cry. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Thank you, for making me feel...alive again.”

  Their lips came together. They embraced each other more tightly. Dana didn’t want to let go...but she knew she had to. Gently, Will slipped out of her arms and backed up toward the threshold of light.

  “Be good,” he told her.

  “Goodbye,” she mouthed, unable to say the word.

  And then Will stepped back into the light, and was gone. But not gone the way Ethan was gone. Will had become one with that bright white glow.

  Dana watched the light a few minutes longer, as if he might reappear...but of course, he didn’t.

  She turned to face back down the Passage. She could no longer see Sophie or her mother, but she still heard Sophie’s voice. Her sobs of regret.

  Dana started walking toward her friend’s voice.

  17

  Dana awoke in the hospital.

  The first person she saw when she opened her eyes was Mike Costello. He was sitting close beside her bed and looking down at something. For a few minutes she just watched him without saying anything. His face looked so serious, and she wondered what he was doing. Then she began to smell the marker.

  She lifted her head up from her pillow and groaned at the pain the movement caused. Her head dropped back to the pillow, but in that brief glimpse she had seen that Mike was doodling on a brand new cast on the arm that had previously only been sprained. Ethan must have fractured the bone when she’d fought with him. Well, at least this time Mike had something to write on.

  “Hey!” he exclaimed, seeing she was awake. “Sleeping beauty! Don’t strain yourself, okay? Take it easy.”

  “How long have I been here?”

  “Since last night. You’re going to be okay. Just a knock on the back of the head—not as serious as last time—but because of your previous injury the doctors just wanna keep an eye on you. The only real injury was to your bad arm, so they put a cast on you. I’m breaking it in.”

  Dana smiled tiredly at her old friend. “Did you see Sophie yet?”

  Mike’s face turned grim. “Yes. She told me all about it. So did her mother. I’m sorry, Dane. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you earlier. I could have helped you.”

  “You were in no shape to help me.” She noticed he was in pajamas and a robe, so he was obviously still a patient himself. “Are you feeling any better?”

  “Better than you. But like I say, you’re going to be fine. I guess before he disappeared, Will did to you what he did to me. Gave you some of his life force.”

  “He disappeared?”

  “Yeah, that’s what Sophie said. One minute he was kneeling beside you, and then this electricity came out of his eyes and went into yours. And then—poof—he was just gone. Do you have any idea what happened to him?”

  “When I feel up to it, I’ll tell you and Sophie everything. But he’s okay, trust me. And Ethan...Ethan’s gone forever. Whatever he really was.”

  “We didn’t tell your parents any of it. There’s no way they’d believe it, now, with all of the proof gone. Sophie’s mother told them that you looked like you were sleep-walking and kinda just ran into that wall. That sort of satisfied them and the doctors, I guess. We haven’t figured out how to explain the claw marks, yet, though.”

  Dana lifted her head again—more slowly this time. The marks the Shadow Being had left in her arm were covered by her cast, however. But she saw what Mike had been doodling. It was a heart with a dagger through it, like some stupid old tattoo. He hadn’t put any initials inside the heart, though.

  She lowered her head back. “So Sophie’s doing okay?”

  “She’s down in the caf now, with your folks, having some lunch. I think she wants to be friends again.”

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  “Us too?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “That’s good news.” Mike suddenly looked nervous, bashful, and averted his eyes. ‘I was kinda afraid you’d be mad at me, after I wouldn’t believe your story. And I was afraid you wouldn’t want me for a friend, anymore, anyway, after you had a guy like...like Will for a friend.”

  “Oh, Mike. Give me that marker.”

  “Huh?” He looked up.

  “Let me see that marker.”

  Confused, Mike handed it to her.

  Ever so carefully, Dana lifted her head enough for her to see her bound arm. She began to write inside the heart tattoo Mike had drawn. It wasn’t easy, because she had to write upside down, but at last she was finished, and dropped back to the pillow with an exhausted sigh.

  As he studied her handiwork, a big goofy grin spread over Mike’s face.

  In the heart, Dana had written: D.T. + M.C.

  “Get the picture, M.C.?” she asked him.

  “Got it, D.T.,” he replied.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jeffrey Thomas is the author of such novels as Deadstock (finalist for the John W. Campbell Award), Blue War, Monstrocity (finalist for the Bram Stoker Award), Letters from Hades, Blood Society, and A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Dealers. His short story collections include Punktown, Nocturnal Emissions, and Unholy Dimensions. Several of his stories have been reprinted in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and The Year’s Best Horror Stories. Thomas lives in Massachusetts, and his blog can be found at: http://punktalk.punktowner.com.