Scribner Horror Bundle: Four Horror Novels by Joshua Scribner (83 page)

A few of his classmates are younger
than Adam, and there are a few older than Ted. Noticing this, Jacob
begins to sense his own body. It’s tighter and stronger. There is
more air in his lungs than usual, and the little rings of fat that
had formed in the last few years are gone. He thinks that, by far,
he is the youngest person in the room.

There is a sense of safety in this
place, a sense that Jacob thinks comes from being away from the one
who haunts him. He knows that the man in white will not come here.
There is too much power, power bigger than he, the man in white or
anything Jacob has ever known. It seems to fill the air. He sucks
it in. They all suck it in.

While
they all sit and wait patiently, Jacob gets the book out again.
Again, the only word he can read is printed on the first
page—
Astrology
.

The bell rings again and the door
swings back open. Jacob stares intently. They all stare intently.
But before anyone else enters, the dream is over. He awakes in his
room.

#

Jacob called Sonnie early to tell her
he was on his way. He had been up for hours, waiting for light to
come. All the while, he could feel a warm spot in the back of his
mind. It sat there dormant, but he knew it was there. And he knew
it would ooze up again and make him a monster. This, he planned to
tell no one about. It was out of his control.

Jacob was surprised to hear vigor in
Sonnie’s voice. She told him to hurry and get there. As he left, he
heard the sound of bed springs being disturbed, but he wasn’t about
to take the time to say goodbye.

Like him, Sonnie had already been up
for a while. She was showered and dressed for the day. Her eyes had
a tired look, but they moved vigilantly. She wasted no time. “Did
you find out anything new?”

Jacob hesitated, then he answered,
“There are two more.”

“You mean Gary and Tommy
right?”

“No. These were women.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“No! All I know is that there was a
building and they both fell.”

Sonnie folded her arms in front of her
and looked off to the side. She sat that way for a little while.
“Jacob, I don’t know of anything like that that happened around
here.”

“No. I don’t think it was.”

“Where do you think it
happened?”

“I’m not sure. You know how it is when
you see something and you know you’ve seen it before but you can’t
quite place it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, the place they fell off of was
like that. It keeps coming to me, and just when I think I’m about
to get it, it’s gone.”

“So just look away from
it.”

“Look away?”

“Yeah. Just don’t think about it, and
it will come to you.”

Jacob nodded, but he didn’t totally
agree. He knew it would eventually come to him. But what he did
would have nothing to do with that. It would come to him when the
man in white or whatever controlled him wanted it to come to
him.

“I was up most the night,” Sonnie
said. “I crashed for a few hours after you left but then I woke up
and tried to make sense of it all.”

“Any luck?”

“Not a bit.”

“Me neither.”

She smiled. He looked away.

“There’s something else,
Sonnie.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s this dream I had last night. I
was in the old science classroom. And all my classmates came
in.”

“Really?”

“I was eighteen, but my classmates
were all different ages.”

This set Sonnie to
thinking.

“What?” Jacob asked
eventually.

“I just thought of something. None of
the people who died were from your class.”

Now Jacob thought without speaking for
a little while. “Hmm. You’re right. But there are other Nescata
classes that didn’t lose people.”

“Yeah, but do you remember what we
were talking about the other night?”

“Which night and what?”

“When we were coming back from Ted’s.
I said how cool it must be for you to come home and see all your
friends.”

“Yeah. You said we were all
successful.”

“Yeah. And you said you hadn’t really
thought about it. Do you know how weird that is?”

“Well no. I guess I haven’t really
kept up with everybody.”

Again, Sonnie paused to consider
something. “You know, Jacob. What’s really strange is that I don’t
think you’re the only one not to think of it. I mean, I hear all
the time what people from this town are doing. But come to think
about it, I’ve never heard anyone else mention it
either.”

“You mean how successful my class
is?”

“Yeah. People talk about the deaths
constantly. And someone might mention one person and how successful
he or she is. But nobody has ever said anything to me about the
success as a whole. And it’s just as improbable as the deaths. No,
I think it’s more improbable that a little hick town in nowhere
Oklahoma could produce so much. And what’s even more unlikely is
that the bulk of it could come from one year.”

“Sonnie, come on. We’ve got a few
college graduates. And a few in graduate school. It’s not that big
of a deal.”

“No? Well let’s see. First, there’s
you at Yale Law. I dare say they don’t let just anybody in
there.”

“Well, no.”

“Then there’s Adam. He’s about to get
his Ph.D. And Ted’s doing pretty well.”

“Yeah. Impressive but not
unbelievable.”

“You remember your class
valedictorian, Irwin Check, and the salutatorian, Matt
Seifert?”

“Sure.”

“Well, they’re both attending the
medical school at OU, which only takes about five percent of its
applicants.”

“Five percent, huh?”

“Yeah, I know that because Irwin’s
father never fails to mention it when he comes into the bar on
Friday nights.” She laughed. “Oh, and Barney Davis. Like you, he’s
a law student. Only, he’s at Stanford.”

“No way.”

“It’s true. Willus Conner told me. You
remember Willus. He graduated with you too. He came in a couple of
weeks ago. He’s working on his masters in business. He also told me
about Yvonne Mclean. Doctorate in sociology for her.”

“Willus told you that?”

“Yeah. But it was kind of funny.
That’s all he knew about. He’s like you. He hadn’t kept up with
everybody. But you know what’s even more funny?”

“What?”

“I knew about the rest. And I didn’t
tell him.”

“Why not?”

“No clue. Just didn’t. This
conversation I’m having with you, I’ve never had with anyone else.
I’ve thought about it many times. Yet I never told anyone. It just
never came up.”

“My God. The resident expert on
Nescata, America held silent.”

She sunk back against the arm of the
couch. “Jacob. This is big. It’s even beyond you.”

“It just may be.”

Sonnie laughed. “And I’m not done.
Remember Bryon Bagel?”

“Yeah. He was always trying but could
never seem to beat out Irwin in the science fair.”

“Well, I think he still may be trying.
He’s in chemistry up in some big school in Massachusetts. Ilene
Johnson, Ms. Homecoming Queen herself, is studying clinical
psychology.”

“
We’re all
academics.”

Sonnie shook her head. “Oh no. You
remember the two Krises.”

“Yeah. Let’s see. There’s Kris Macabe,
and the other’s name was Kris Lee.”

“Kris Macabe’s band is about to cut a
record, and Kris Lee is a model in New York.”

“I thought Lee was kind of funny
looking!” Jacob exclaimed.

“Well, I guess the people at Calvin
Klein didn’t think so.”

“And nobody talks about
them?”

“Just like any of the others. A few
people tell me or I overhear. But nobody else seems to know about
everybody.”

Again, Sonnie seemed to drift off into
thought.

“What are you thinking,
Sonnie?”

“Have you heard from Tim Lester for a
while?”

“No. What’s his scoop?”

“Well, you remember how he hurt
himself?”

“Yeah. He missed the state finals
because he hurt his knee. Poor bastard. He was probably our best
defensive player.”

“
Well, he rehabilitated.
He’s playing football again. It took him a couple of years, but he
walked on at some obscure school up north. He just finished up
there last fall. And I guess he’s trying out for the Kansas City
Chiefs now.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Well, no news is good news. I think
one of his family members would have told me if he’d been
cut.”

“Right.”

They were silent for a little while.
Jacob counted them in his head. “Is that all?”

“All worth noting.”

“Then that’s thirteen. Thirteen out of
twenty-eight. I know there were twenty-eight, because I had to get
my class ranking when I applied for college. I was
fourteenth.”

Sonnie laughed. “That’s not bad at all
in that group.”

“No. I guess not. I can’t wait for the
ten-year reunion.”

#

“So do you think it’s all connected?”
Sonnie asked.

She had gone to make coffee and was
just now returning to the couch.

“I think it has to be. Two unlikely
things have occurred here. And they both occurred within the same
time frame. They’ve got to be connected somehow.”

“But how is the question.”

Jacob shook his head again. “I think
we’re getting way ahead of ourselves. There are still other things
we don’t know.”

Sonnie half-smiled. “You mean like why
some of these people had to die?”

Suddenly, it was there. It rushed in
and spread out like water. The world became a new place for him,
and possibilities were endless. There were cravings that needed to
be satiated.

“You mean why I killed
them!”

She leaned over to him and placed her
hands on his legs. “No. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Really? I think you did. I think that
you think I’m a killer.”

“No.” Her eyes were compassionate, but
he could see what was either anger or fear creeping slowly
in.

“Oh. Come on. Say it. You think I’m a
killer.”

She leaned away from him. “Jacob. I
can’t believe you’re saying this.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes.
“Please, Sonnie. You’ve been thinking it all along.”

“No I haven’t.”

“Whatever.”

“Jacob. What do I have to tell you to
make you believe that’s not true?”

“I don’t want you to say anything of
the sort, my dear. I just want you to say it.”

“Say what?” There was more fire in her
eyes now.

“Say what you think I am.”

“Jacob, I told you—”

“Tell me I’m a killer. Tell me I’m a
liar and a killer.” He closed in on her until he was inches from
her face. “Say it!”

“No! Stop it!” She turned her head
away. He moved right up to her ear and whispered.

“Come on, baby. Say it for
me.”

“Fuck you!”

“Ooh. That’s a little better. But say
what you want to say. Say what I want to hear.”

Her eyes met his. “Fine. You’re a
killer.” She pushed him away and got up. “You’re not yourself right
now, Jacob.”

“Oh no. That’s where you’re wrong. I’m
more me than I’ve ever been.”

There was a whistle from the other
room. At the same time, both of their heads turned to the sound.
Then, when they turned back, their eyes connected again. Sonnie
still looked vigilant at first. But then a change fell over her.
She took a deep breath and her eyes looked at him questioningly,
but it was like the question wasn’t for him. It was one in her
head. The muscles in her face relaxed. Her laugh was nervous but
alluring. “That’s your coffee. I don’t have a regular coffeemaker
so I had to do it on the stove.”

Jacob looked her over. “Well, why
don’t you go get it?”

He stared at her walking away. His
mouth began to water, and he felt his penis stiffen. When she
walked around the corner, he rolled off the couch, so he could
still see her. He watched her move to the stove. He watched her
lean over to reach for the kettle, which was fortunately placed on
the back burner. She set it aside. By the time she was reaching in
the cupboard for a cup, he was in the kitchen with her.

She turned to him. She gasped lightly
and looked at him. He walked up and grabbed her roughly by the
shoulders and twisted her around. He placed both of her hands on
the counter and pressed them flat.