All the Colors of the Dark — Chapter 94

94

The Tooms house lay in darkness, the moon no more than a sash of white.

Saint stood before it in her prom dress.

She had been to the salon, and her hair fell in chestnut waves. She had applied her makeup carefully, lightly sprayed herself with perfume and carefully buckled her Mary Janes.

Norma had said, “You look beautiful, Saint. Your hair is—”

“Brushed.”

“And your makeup is—”

“On.”

Norma quit while she was behind.

And then she had left ten minutes before Jimmy Walters would knock on her door, carrying a smile and a corsage.

Saint crossed the vegetation and stood on the blockwork slabs and

looked out over a thousand acres.

She thought of the girl. Grace.

Maybe she was out there somewhere. Maybe she was breathing, or maybe she was buried so deep not even the dogs would find her.

At the farmhouse she climbed through a downstairs window and moved through the darkness, her dress trailing on the floorboards.

In the kitchen were cans. Campbell’s soup and Van Camp’s Pork and Beans, condensed milk, and Hunt’s Sloppy Joe.

Canned food did not perish.

Everything except dog food.

She did not know what she was looking for, but she was too exhausted even to feel the prick of fear.

Out the window, far out across the woodland, the light of her

grandmother’s house burned.

Upstairs she saw the door to the attic.

And then she heard it.

She pulled the chain and watched the steps unfurl. “Dr. Tooms,” she called.

Her knees shook a little as she climbed.

She coughed dust. Her dress tore on sawn rafters.

And then she heard it again, close behind her.

She turned, her muscles tight as she choked back a scream.

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