colors of the dome itself were faintly visible, but the moonlight had robbed them of their vitality. Instead of sparkling brightly, they cast a nightmare pall over the interior.
Across the floor lay the huge spider’s web formed by the shadows of the leaded glass above.
Near the center of the rotunda, a single beam of clear moonlight shone down, illuminating the spot where Alan Rogers had died.
Grasping Beth’s hand, Tracy pulled her inside the building, closing the door behind them.
The faint chirping sounds of the summer night disappeared, and silence closed around the two girls. It was as if they’d stepped into another world, a strange dead world that reached out to enclose them, drawing them to its cold bosom.
They started slowly across the floor, unconsciously avoiding the spiderweb shadow cast by the skylight, as if by touching it they could become entangled, to be held prisoner for whatever strange creature might lurk in the shadowy reaches, waiting for its prey.
In the distance, seemingly unreachable, lay the stairs to the basement, and Tracy wanted to run to them, wanted to be away from the strange light and terrifying shadows.
As in a nightmare, her feet seemed mired in mud, each step a terrible effort.
But finally they were there, staring down into the pitch blackness below.
Tracy knelt, set the lantern carefully on the floor, then lifted its chimney off. She struck a match, cupped it in her hands for a moment, then held it to the wick.
The wick sputtered, then caught, the flame spreading quickly along its length. When it was burning brightly, Tracy replaced the chimney, then adjusted the wick. The flame’s intensity increased, but still the light was all but lost in the vastness of the building around them.
“Come on,” Tracy whispered, getting to her feet once more and picking up the lantern.
But Beth hung back, staring fearfully into the darkness below. In her mind, she began to remember the hellish vision she’d seen last time she had been in the little room behind the stairs. “M-maybe we shouldn’t—” she breathed.
But Tracy reached out with her free hand and grasped her wrist once more. “She’s your friend, remember?” Tracy hissed, letting her anger begin to show for the first time since Beth had come back to live at Hilltop. “You can’t chicken out now. I won’t let you!”
She started down the stairs, holding the lantern high. Beth resisted for only a moment, but as Tracy’s grip tightened on her wrist, she gave in. Her heart beginning to pound, she reluctantly followed Tracy into the basement.
The yawning blackness seemed to open before them, welcoming them.
26
Carolyn rolled over in her sleep, then slowly began to wake up. At first she resisted it, rolling over once more, and keeping her eyes resolutely closed.
It did no good. In a moment she was fully awake, and she sat up, listening, trying to decide what had disturbed her sleep. But there was nothing. The sounds of the crickets and frogs were drifting through the window as they always did, and the faint creaking of the old mansion still complained softly in the background. She glanced at the clock.
One A.M.
She flopped back down on the bed, and felt Phillip stir beside her at the unexpected motion. Once more she tried to go back to sleep. Once more she failed.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, a strange feeling began to grow in her. An uneasy feeling that something was wrong.
The house felt incomplete.
Abigail, she told herself. It’s just that Abigail isn’t here anymore.
But it was more than that, and she knew it.
She got out of bed, slipped into a robe, then stepped out into the corridor and turned on the lights.
Halfway down the long hall, Beth’s door stood open.
Beth’s door, she knew, was never open at night.
Frowning, she hurried down the hall, and switched the light on in Beth’s room.
She saw the covers piled at the foot of the empty bed.
Even though all her instincts told her it, too, would be empty, Carolyn crossed the bedroom and checked the bathroom. There was no sign of Beth.
She felt the first flickerings of panic beginning to build inside her, and firmly put them down. Beth might only have gone down to the kitchen to raid the refrigerator. She left the room, and started toward the stairs, but instead of going down them, she went past them, stopping at Tracy’s closed door. She hesitated, then turned the knob and pushed the door open just far enough to see inside.