The Gift by Sidney Williams

Author:Sidney Williams [Michael, Williams, Sidney;August,]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror, Young Adult
Publisher: Crossroad Press

Fifteen: Mirror Image

"Who are these people, and who's this man?" Caroline asked.

She was in the passenger seat, holding the photo Syndie had allowed them to detach from the album. She'd wanted to do whatever she could to help.

"That's what we're going to have to find out," Ronnie said. "There has to be a connection. The dollhouse matches their house. It's a scale replica. There are five family members, five dolls."

"So who's the man in black?"

"I don't know. A magician?"

"You're going on looks?"

"Looks and events. Present-day events."

"How do we go about finding out?" Caroline asked. "Maybe Wolf will have some ideas."

"You want to go see him now?"

"Can't hurt."

After a stop by the Wolf's Lair, the girls learned the band had a gig that night at the club called State's Evidence. The place was out on Route 5 in a renovated warehouse. It wasn't a spot Ronnie had visited. Things were said to get a little wild out there. But since it hadn't opened for the evening she hoped it would be safe.

She pulled into the gravel parking lot and spotted Wolf's old brown van. The vehicle's back doors were open, and a rear door of the club had also been propped open.

"Let's see what we can find," Caroline said, hopping out of the car before Ronnie had killed the engine.

Her sister was probably more interested in catching a glimpse of the inside the forbidden club than she was of finding Wolf, but that was fine. Ronnie was just happy that she didn't have to go in alone.

The girls made crunching steps across the parking lot, walking slowly through the open door and pausing to let their vision adjust to the darkened interior. Ronnie wrinkled her nose as the thick smell of smoke filled her nostrils.

A moment later they rounded a corner and saw the band members and their girlfriends sitting amidst a cloud. Several of them looked up, startled at first, but then they relaxed when they recognized their visitors.

Wolf pulled himself up from his seat and separated from the circle. "We were just getting ready for a show," he said.

"Yeah, we saw your brother back at the Lair," Ronnie said. "He told us we'd find you here. Have you learned anything new?"

He hesitated for a second, as if he'd been asked to produce homework he hadn't quite completed. "I've been doing some new reading," he said. "Zinia got me a new book on the occult. I found something that sounded kind of like what you might be dealing with—mandragoras."

"What does that mean?" Ronnie asked.

They're like little dolls given to sorcerers by the devil. I also read about fetishes—dolls that witch doctors or a shaman would use as a dwelling place for a wandering spirit."

"That might make sense," Caroline said. "The second part."

"Dolls as a dwelling place," Ronnie said. "For spirits of people?"

"Maybe. With the cat getting killed, you know, maybe that fits, that there are spirits. I didn't get to read all I wanted."

"I guess I could have looked in a book," Ronnie said.

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