Dark Reunion

YOU NEED HELP HES OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE UNBELIEVABLY STRONG NOW LISTEN AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS YOU HAVE TO DO A SUMMONING SPELL AND THE FIRST INGREDIENT IS H—

Without warning, the planchette jerked away from the letters and flew around the board wildly. It pointed at the stylized picture of the moon, then at the sun, then at the words Parker Brothers, Inc.

'Elena!'

The planchette bobbed back to the letters.

ANOTHER MOUSE ANOTHER MOUSE ANOTHER MOUSE

'What's happening?' Sue cried, eyes wide open now.

Bonnie was frightened. The planchette was pulsing with energy, a dark and ugly energy like boiling black tar that stung her fingers. But she could also feel the quivering silver thread that was Elena's presence fighting it. 'Don't let go!' she cried desperately. 'Don't take your hands off it!'

MOUSMUDKILLYOU, the board reeled off. BLOODBLOODBLOOD. And then… BONNIE GET OUT RUN HES HERE RUN RUN RU—

The planchette jerked furiously, whipping out from under Bonnie's fingers and beyond her reach, flying across the board and through the air as if someone had thrown it. Vickie screamed. Meredith started to her feet.

And then all the lights went out, plunging the house into darkness.

THREE

Vickie's screams went out of control. Bonnie could feel panic rising in her chest.

'Vickie, stop it! Come on; we've got to get out of here!' Meredith was shouting to be heard. 'It's your house, Caroline. Everybody grab hands and you lead us to the front door.'

'Okay,' Caroline said. She didn't sound as frightened as everybody else. That was the advantage to having no imagination, Bonnie thought. You couldn't picture the terrible things that were going to happen to you.

She felt better with Meredith's narrow, cold hand grasping hers. She fumbled on the other side and caught Caroline's, feeling the hardness of long fingernails.

She could see nothing. Her eyes should be adjusting to the dark by now, but she couldn't make out even a glimmer of light or shadow as Caroline started leading them. There was no light coming through the windows from the street; the power seemed to be out everywhere. Caroline cursed, running into some piece of furniture, and Bonnie stumbled against her.

Vickie was whimpering softly from the back of the line. 'Hang on,' whispered Sue. 'Hang on, Vickie, we'll make it.'

They made slow, shuffling progress in the dark. Then Bonnie felt tile under her feet. 'This is the front hall,' Caroline said. 'Stay here a minute while I find the door.' Her fingers slipped out of Bonnie's.

'Caroline! Don't let go—where are you? Caroline, give me your hand!' Bonnie cried, groping frantically like a blind person.

Out of the darkness something large and moist closed around her fingers. It was a hand. It wasn't Caroline's.

Bonnie screamed.

Vickie immediately picked it up, shrieking wildly. The hot, moist hand was dragging Bonnie forward. She kicked out, struggling, but it made no difference. Then she felt Meredith's arms around her waist, both arms, wrenching her back. Her hand came free of the big one.

And then she was turning and running, just running, only dimly aware that Meredith was be-side her. She wasn't at all aware that she was still screaming until she slammed into a large armchair that stopped her progress, and she heard herself.

'Hush! Bonnie, hush, stop!' Meredith was shaking her. They had slid down the back of the chair to the floor.

'Something had me! Something grabbed me, Meredith!'

'I know. Be quiet! It's still around,' Meredith said. Bonnie jammed her face into Meredith's shoulder to keep from screaming again. What if it was here in the room with them?

Seconds crawled past, and the silence pooled around them. No matter how Bonnie strained her ears, she could hear no sound except their own breathing and the dull thudding of her heart.

'Listen! We've got to find the back door. We must be in the living room now. That means the kitchen's right behind us. We have to get there,' Meredith said, her voice low.

Bonnie started to nod miserably, then abruptly lifted her head. 'Where's Vickie?' she whispered hoarsely.

'I don't know. I had to let go of her hand to pull you away from that thing. Let's move.'

Bonnie held her back. 'But why isn't she screaming?'

A shudder went through Meredith. 'I don't know.'

'Oh, God. Oh, God. We can't leave her, Meredith.'

'We have to.'

'We can't. Meredith, I made Caroline invite her. She wouldn't be here except for me. We have to get her out.'

There was a pause, and then Meredith hissed, 'All right! But you pick the strangest times to turn noble, Bonnie.'

A door slammed, causing both of them to jump. Then there was a crashing, like feet on stairs, Bonnie thought. And briefly, a voice was raised.

'Vickie, where are you? Don't—Vickie, no! No!'

'That was Sue,' gasped Bonnie, jumping up. 'From upstairs!'

'Why don't we have a flashlight?' Meredith was raging.

Bonnie knew what she meant. It was too dark to go running blindly around this house; it was too frightening. There was a primitive panic hammering in her brain. She needed light, any light.

She couldn't go fumbling into that darkness again, exposed on all sides. She couldn't do it.

Nevertheless, she took one shaky step away from the chair.

'Come on,' she gasped, and Meredith came with her, step by step, into the blackness.

Bonnie kept expecting that moist, hot hand to reach out and grab her again. Every inch of her skin tingled in anticipation of its touch, and especially her own hand, which she had outstretched to feel her way.

Then she made the mistake of remembering the dream.

Instantly, the sickly sweet smell of garbage overwhelmed her. She imagined things crawling out of the ground and then remembered Elena's face, gray and hairless, with lips shriveled back from grinning teeth. If that thing grabbed hold of her…

I can't go any farther; I can't, I can't, she thought. I'm sorry for Vickie, but I can't go on. Please, just let me stop here.

She was clinging to Meredith, almost crying. Then from upstairs came the most horrifying sound she had ever heard.

It was a whole series of sounds, actually, but they all came so close together that they blended into one terrible swell of noise. First there was screaming, Sue's voice screaming, 'Vickie! Vickie! No!' Then a resonant crash, the sound of glass shattering, as if a hundred windows were breaking at once. And over that a sustained scream, on a note of pure, exquisite terror.

Then it all stopped.

'What was it? What happened, Meredith?'

'Something bad.' Meredith's voice was taut and choked. 'Something very bad. Bonnie, let go. I'm going to see.'

'Not alone, you're not,' Bonnie said fiercely.

They found the staircase and made their way up it. When they reached the landing, Bonnie could hear a strange and oddly sickening sound, the tinkle of glass shards falling.

And then the lights went on.

It was too sudden; Bonnie screamed involuntarily. Turning to Meredith she almost screamed again. Meredith's dark hair was disheveled and her cheekbones looked too sharp; her face was pale and hollow with