Midnight’s Lair by Richard Laymon

Author:Richard Laymon [Richard Laymon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780755391677
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2011-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Jim’s torch died. When Darcy’s dwindled to glowing embers, she dropped the smoking remains of the board to the walkway. The middle of Greg’s plank still burned. He held it low in front of him so the fire could climb the wood towards his hands.

The flames wobbled and flapped like a bright flag.

‘They should give torchlight tours,’ said Carol, who was walking just behind her. ‘It’s a lot more . . . interesting this way.’

‘“May you live in interesting times,”’ Helen said. ‘An old Chinese curse.’

‘I think it’s nice.’

‘You won’t think it’s so nice,’ Helen told her, ‘when that one goes out.’

‘Greg’s won’t go out,’ Darcy said. ‘He’s bearing the magic torch.’

‘Right,’ Greg said.

She put an arm across his back. His sweatshirt was cool and damp under her hand, but she felt his warmth beneath it. She moved closer to him, walking with her hip against his hip, the side of her breast pressing his upper arm.

She knew the others were looking at her. But she didn’t care.

It’s just Carol and Helen and Jim and Beth, she thought. Though Helen seemed a bit stiff, possibly even prudish, Darcy didn’t mind showing some affection for Greg in front of these people. They were little more than strangers, but they were special. They were her team.

She had felt good, almost buoyant, ever since leaving the main group at the elevators. It was as if she had been set free. Kyle had been left behind. So had the man in the Peterbilt hat. And more than two dozen strangers who’d been depending on her to keep order and calm their fears and save them. The relief at being away from them all was huge.

It was like starting home after a bad party.

Or, she thought, more to the point, the senior dance. Very much like that. Her final year in high school, she had been class president and in charge of organizing the entire function – decorations, refreshments, entertainment. And when Mike Wakefield spiked the punch, she got plenty of heat from the adults. They’d blamed her, even though she’d had nothing to do with it. The other kids thought the dance was a great success, but Darcy hadn’t been able to relax and enjoy a single moment of it, and the evening became a real ordeal after the liquor was discovered in the punch. Then she left with her date and two other couples and the pressure was gone. She went wild. She shouted and twirled around the parking lot like a mad woman. She talked her friends into driving out to the river and they all went skinny-dipping. She’d never felt so carefree, so daring. She swam under a bridge, leaving everyone behind except Steve, her date. They embraced in the warm water. Then she led him ashore and found a moonlit clearing. Though she’d gone steady with Steve for months, though she knew that she loved him, she had never allowed him to go all the way. That night, dripping from the river, she lay down on the cool grass and raised her arms towards him.

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