that fictionalizes elements of Preston\u2019s life and filmography.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\nA Note on the Text:<\/span><\/i> Where possible I have transcribed the magazine article exactly as it was planned for publication. As editor, I have limited myself to correcting any obvious typographical errors, or inconsistency in spelling of names or places. I have not tampered with the wording, however, and have left intact some of the strange grammatical quirks of the original author (in particular, the fondness for and overuse of ellipses). –Norman Prentiss<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Verlock.jpg?resize=233%2C350&ssl=1\")
\u201cCome back to the couch.\u201d Reece patted the cushion beside him. \u201cSit with me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMaybe later.\u201d Julia Dougherty stood at the windows, her fingers absently touching the tassel that held back one of the green curtains on one side. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI bet you like what you see.\u201d The two adjoining windows overlooked the back yard, but in nighttime darkness the glass became more of a mirror. Reece winked at her. \u201cI sure do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cStop.\u201d She half-smiled, but managed to resist his predictable charm. Would she even be here if she didn\u2019t feel like she needed him? <\/span><\/p>\nHer reflected stare provided no answer, her skin translucent in the sheen of glass\u2026her eyes bright and blank\u2026hair wisping like a torchfire atop her head. She wore a dark blue shirt that absorbed the interior room\u2019s light, making her neck appear severed at the collar. Her head floated in the dark of Reece Farraday\u2019s back yard.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI think about that line of trees at the edge of your property,\u201d she said. \u201cThose woods\u2026You never know what\u2019s behind them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMore trees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYes, of course. And the path to the abandoned house further back\u2026the mansion you told me about. We <\/span>know <\/span><\/i>what\u2019s supposed to be there. But when we can\u2019t actually see it\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI guess the dark is always kind of scary.\u201d Reece stood and moved beside her. In the reflection, his arm disappeared behind her missing torso\u2026he hugged empty air beneath a severed head.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not just talking about the dark,\u201d Julia said. \u201cDuring the day, too\u2026that line of trunks\u2026limbs and leaves intertwining. It\u2019s like a wall. The world behind that wall could change, and we\u2019d never know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhat you don\u2019t know, won\u2019t hurt you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nJulia shrugged away from him. \u201cHow could you say that? Especially now\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d His arm was no longer around her waist, and it was as if he didn\u2019t know what to do with it. Reece started to reach out to her\u2026embarrassed, he changed his mind and lifted his hand to run fingers through his slicked-back hair. \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cTell me why I\u2019m safer here,\u201d Julia said.<\/span><\/p>\nHe summoned up easy, rehearsed arguments. She\u2019d heard them before, but he guessed it would comfort her to hear them repeated. \u201cI\u2019ve got solid locks on the front and back doors. I\u2019ll keep you in eyeshot or earshot at all times\u2026while you\u2019re sleeping, I\u2019ll be right down the hall. Just shout and I\u2019ll come running.\u201d Then the clincher: \u201cThey were alone. The girls who disappeared were all alone when they were taken.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cGod, yes, I\u2019ll set it to music for you.\u201d She slipped into a mocking sing-song voice, a quick twirling dance move as accompaniment. \u201c \u2018A Woman Alone at Night Was Abducted.\u2019 \u201d Julia lowered her arms from the ballerina pose. \u201cThat\u2019d be a great tune for the radio, wouldn\u2019t it? They\u2019d play it every hour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a warning. They\u2019re just repeating the truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd repeating, and repeating, and repeating, and repeating. Oh, I\u2019m not mad at you. But sometimes we girls <\/span>want <\/span><\/i>to be alone\u2026or at least, when we\u2019re with a guy we want it to be our <\/span>choice<\/span><\/i>. Not because we\u2019re scared.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cOh, I get it,\u201d he pouted. \u201cYou\u2019d rather not be here with me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s <\/span>not <\/span><\/i>what I said.\u201d Julia crossed back to the windows, closer to him. She might have guessed he was playing at being wounded\u2026but she could play along. \u201cIt\u2019s a kind gesture. And I took you up on it, so I must be okay with it on some level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cOn <\/span>some <\/span><\/i>level.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m just being honest. Look, Reece\u2026We haven\u2019t been dating that long. Certainly not long enough for me to be spending the night at your place. Maybe we\u2019d get there eventually\u2026I don\u2019t know. But this\u2026this awful <\/span>situation<\/span><\/i> in our town\u2026it\u2019s kind of moved things too fast between us.\u201d She took his hands between hers: a gesture of friendship or gratitude, rather than a lover\u2019s clasp. \u201cSome maniac kidnaps women, and hey, <\/span>I\u2019m <\/span><\/i>a woman, so suddenly I\u2019m not safe in my own home anymore. I\u2019ve gotta be locked up with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nHe broke away from her platonic gesture. \u201cYou make it sound like a prison.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMaybe it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cSome prison\u2019s aren\u2019t so bad. Think of those \u2018country club\u2019 prisons, where they send crooked politicians or corrupt businessmen. You get fine meals, a soft bed, all the comforts of home.\u201d He tried another wink, the mock lechery actually working on her a bit this time. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve got an \u2018in\u2019 with the warden. Special privileges, you know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYeah, that prison talk doesn\u2019t quite get me in the mood.\u201d But she smiled. In the window her flame top head floated closer. His arm again disappeared behind her dark-clothed torso.<\/span><\/p>\nTheir faces pressed closer. He tilted his neck in position to kiss her\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nBut she turned away\u2026 Again, staring out the window, squinting at darkness and her own reflection.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhat? You can\u2019t see anything.\u201d Reece reached for the closest tassel and unhooked it, letting the curtain drop into place on this side. He went to the adjoining window and repeated the process. \u201cThere. Now you won\u2019t be tempted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t,\u201d she said dryly.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cVery funny.\u201d They were joking at the moment, like they were on the same wavelength. Maybe she would let him kiss her now. In her words: let it be her <\/span>choice,<\/span><\/i> rather than because she was scared.<\/span><\/p>\nHe tried again, an arm around her waist, a tilt of his neck, closing his eyes\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nShe didn\u2019t struggle out of his grasp. They kissed. <\/span><\/p>\nHe felt her lips slide away from his\u2026closed tight\u2026turning toward the curtained windows.<\/span><\/p>\nReece opened his eyes. She slipped away from him.<\/span><\/p>\nHe\u2019d never seen anyone who was hypnotized, but that\u2019s how Julia looked to him now. Her expression was glazed over, facial muscles loose as if she was asleep\u2026but her eyes stayed wide open, drawn to the obscured windows. <\/span><\/p>\nNever wake a sleepwalker\u2026But she wasn\u2019t asleep, not really. He considered grabbing her as she walked past. Shaking her.<\/span><\/p>\nInstead he said her name, the gentle way you\u2019d rouse someone in the morning: <\/span>Your alarm has gone off. You\u2019ll be late for work.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\nShe continued to the window, reaching for the closed curtain. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cJulia? There\u2019s nothing to see out there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nShe pulled the dark green fabric aside\u2026slowly\u2026slowly.<\/span><\/p>\nThe black back yard appeared, and the reflected room superimposed.<\/span><\/p>\nJulia moved closer to the glass\u2026close enough to fog the image.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s your face,\u201d he told her. \u201cYour pretty face.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nShe ignored him, staring into her own eyes.<\/span><\/p>\nThen a slam like a gunshot, a sudden shake of the glass that distorted her face with the warp of a funhouse mirror. Her own frightened reaction intensified the effect, and she jumped back, almost knocking into Reece.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI got you,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\nHe steadied her, and she let him. She touched her face, as if to ensure her features hadn\u2019t been rearranged. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYou were in a kind of daze,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cNo, the window. Something hit the window from outside.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cStay here. I\u2019ll check.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not supposed to be alone,\u201d she reminded him with a hint of sarcasm. <\/span><\/p>\nSo the two of them went outside.<\/span><\/p>\nNeither of them carried a flashlight, but they could see well enough in the glow from the house. They looked inside now\u2026a framed view of the room, and where they\u2019d just been standing.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhoever was out here,\u201d Julia said. \u201cThis is how easily they could watch us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cNow, don\u2019t jump to conclusions.\u201d Reece looked at the window and shivered\u2026from the chill night air, or not wanting to admit the possible truth of Julia\u2019s statement. \u201cIt was probably a bird. They\u2019re stupid about glass. They see the light, and think they can fly right into the house, then, <\/span>bang!\u201d <\/span><\/i>He shifted his angle to get a slant view of the window, and a smear of blood seemed to appear at the level of Julia\u2019s face\u2026right where her face had been, that is, when she peered out into the yard. \u201cIt\u2019s your fault for opening the curtain again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhere is it, then?\u201d Julia waved her arm at the tufts of grass around their feet, at the shrub bushes that pressed against the side of the house. \u201cWhere is this bird I supposedly lured to its death?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nReece pointed at the blood on the window, then drew a line with his finger to the bush beneath. A glisten of red painted a section of leafage. He moved a branch, peering down.<\/span><\/p>\nJulia stood next to him, following his gaze. A round gray-white shape appeared deep in the clutter of branches and leaves. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cFeathers,\u201d she said, confirming his guess about a bird. A dead bird, curled up like a ball.<\/span><\/p>\nReece pulled the branch wider, and something like a banded tail appeared behind the curled shape. \u201cOr fur,\u201d she said, because she realized her eyes might have played tricks on her, with wet, matted fur simulating the grain of feathers. <\/span><\/p>\nSome awful rodent. But that didn\u2019t make sense. Without wings, how could the creature have flown at the window?<\/span><\/p>\nReece pulled again at branches from both sides, spreading them wider. More of the shape revealed itself. The tail was larger than she realized, with a calico pattern rather than the stiff banded coils she\u2019d attribute to a rodent.<\/span><\/p>\nA kitten or a small cat. A child\u2019s missing pet, no doubt, white with gray stripes, and a red collar about its neck. It had hit the window with such terrible force. Someone must have thrown it at the house\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nReece opened the gap even wider, revealing more to the shape than she expected. The calico tail had been some trick of the dim light, shadows cast by the branches and leaves\u2026not a tail at all, but a small pale leg overcast with bands of shadow. <\/span><\/p>\nNo fur, no feathers.<\/span><\/p>\nSkin.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cC\u2019mere, little guy,\u201d Reece said, reaching in with both hands to lift the fallen infant. <\/span><\/p>\nCareful to avoid scratching the skin with the branches\u2026careful also not to snag the cloth diaper (the original rounded shape she\u2019d seen).<\/span><\/p>\nReece held the infant. He <\/span>cradled <\/span><\/i>it in one arm, a cupped hand beneath the neck to support its head. The idea crossed her mind, then, that he might make a good father, if they ever reached that point.<\/span><\/p>\nBut why did he cradle the head so gently? It was clear the infant\u2019s neck was broken. Its head was smashed in on one side, the tender still-forming skull flattened and the brain bashed beneath.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd there was the strange red collar circling the infant\u2019s neck. A line of varying thickness\u2026a sticky, liquid ribbon.<\/span><\/p>\nTwo violent circles at the widest point in the ribbon. Bite marks\u2026Punctures.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cC\u2019mon now. You\u2019re okay.\u201d Reece shifted his grip on the infant, his fingers working the arms from beneath, a puppet master bringing life. The arms flapped like wings.<\/span><\/p>\nHe was moving the arms. The baby couldn\u2019t possibly still be alive\u2026with that much blood loss, with that much damage to its head.<\/span><\/p>\nShe remembered the awful, echoing thump as the baby was thrown against the window glass.<\/span><\/p>\nSuddenly, a screech in the night, from the forest behind her, from the strange abomination cradled in Reece\u2019s arms. The child\u2019s mouth opened, but the mouth looked like a ridged beak, then it opened wider to reveal the tiny animal teeth of a rat\u2026a kitten\u2026a bat.<\/span><\/p>\nAnother shriek, a human infant in pain, starving to death. Tiny arms continued to flap\u2026with the leathern flutter of bat wings.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cGo on,\u201d Reece said. \u201cGo on.\u201d He bounced the cradled shape up and down, offering it to the night sky.<\/span><\/p>\nHe tossed the child into the air.<\/span><\/p>\nIt flew away.<\/span><\/p>\nJulia screamed.<\/span><\/p>\n# <\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cDrink this.\u201d Reece handed her a mug. \u201cIt\u2019ll make you feel better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m afraid it will keep me up. I already know I\u2019ll have trouble sleeping.\u201d Julia accepted the mug with both hands and brought it slowly to her lips. \u201cToo hot.\u201d She set the mug on the end table, and adjusted a blanket over her legs. She hadn\u2019t bothered to change into the pajamas she\u2019d brought in a small overnight bag, but had simply loosened the collar of her canary-yellow blouse to make the day\u2019s outfit easier to sleep in.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMy bed would be more comfortable,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t mind the couch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ll be fine here. Warm blankets. Lots of pillows. Did you save some for yourself?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m good.\u201d His expression showed such concern for her. A side of Reece she hadn\u2019t really seen before\u2026a genuine tenderness, without that ulterior motive guys usually followed\u2026 \u201cYou gave me quite a scare out there,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cOh, <\/span>you<\/span><\/i> got the scare.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWell, I was scared <\/span>for<\/span><\/i> you, okay?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWas it\u2026\u201d she said. \u201cWas it really a bird, the whole time?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nHe nodded. \u201cA dirty white pigeon. A divebomber, I guess. Musta had a pretty hard noggin, since it was able to fly away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nShe tried again with the too-hot coffee, taking a small sip. Reece had made it strong\u2026probably hoping to clear her head. \u201cI saw more than that. I could have sworn.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWell, it was dark.\u201d Reece sat next to her on the couch\u2026at a respectful, rather than amorous distance. Too far away to try that old chestnut, where he\u2019d fake a broad yawn and then \u201caccidently\u201d put his arm around his date\u2019s shoulders. \u201cI think I\u2019m starting to understand what you were saying earlier,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, how the radio and TV get you gals so excited about danger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cUs <\/span>gals?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s like a hypnotic suggestion or something. Preconditioning. No wonder you expect to see something awful in the dark. They\u2019re making you jump at every sound and shadow, you know?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cBut you\u2019re immune.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CD-GenFreeFiction.jpg?resize=830%2C120&ssl=1\")
“The Dungeon of Count Verlock”