He Told Me To by Charles L. Grant

Author:Charles L. Grant [Grant, Charles L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA horror, occult
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2017-02-09T00:00:00+00:00

Nine

They sat close together on the broad steps in front of the high school, knowing they had to go home soon, knowing they couldn’t until they tried to figure out what had just happened.

Karol was no help. “See?” she said plaintively, over and over. “See?” Until her voice wound down like a tape player with a dying battery.

A minute passed in uneasy silence. The houses across the street were brightly lit, and from one came the muffled voice of a television set, from another the clear voice of a baseball game.

It didn’t seem right, Jo thought, that life went on so normally, not after what had just happened. It just didn’t seem right.

Then she pushed her hands roughly back through her hair and said, “I feel invaded.”

Gil looked at her, puzzled, until suddenly he nodded.

“What do you mean?” Micky said.

Jo shook her head. “It’s hard to explain. But …” She fumbled soundlessly for a moment, trying to find the right words to pin to all the emotions swirling inside her. “It was like he invaded me. My head, I mean. He was talking out loud, I know, but at the same time he was talking inside me.” She gripped the tops of her arms and rubbed them slowly against an inner chill, looking across the street but not really seeing anything. She frowned. Then she sighed explosively. “And all of a sudden, he wasn’t scary anymore. He was actually nice.”

“Right,” Micky said sourly.

“Believe me, I know it sounds weird, but that’s how it was.” She looked to Gil, who nodded agreement. “But then,” she added as she looked away, “I didn’t see his eyes.”

He said nothing.

Micky looked as if she wanted to ask a hundred questions more, but instead she stood with a grunt, wiping her hands on her sides and looking at Karol expectantly. “We have to go.”

Karol almost shook her head. “Yeah, okay.” When she was on her feet, she looked at Jo with a sad smile. “It won’t make you feel any better, but at least now I know I’m not crazy.”

Jo laughed shortly. “Not unless we all are.”

“So why does he do it?” Karol wanted to know, a little fearfully, more than a little angrily. “Why? And why us?”

Jo had no idea, and Gil was no help at all. He only sat with his hands clasped loosely between his knees, twisting his fingers, staring at the ground. His lips moved, but he made no sound. Even in the pale glow of the streetlight, she could see his face was pale and there was a faint sheen of sweat across his brow.

Once they were all on their feet, they decided to meet the next afternoon, whoever could get out after Sunday dinner was over. The park seemed the best place, though Micky reminded them that the setup for the Fourth of July concert would probably mean they wouldn’t be alone.

“Hey, that’s okay with me,” Karol said. “Alone is the last thing I want to be now.”

Gil walked Jo home.

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