Read Online Firestarter by Stephen King - Free Book Online

a folding table by her cot, so that it was just at her eye level. He had put a row of great big dominoes on the table and said, “Knock them down, Vicky. Knock them all down.” And she had raised her hands to push them over, wanting to oblige, and the man had gently but firmly pressed her hands back down on her chest. “You don’t need your hands, Vicky,” he had said. “Just knock them down.” So she had looked at the dominoes and they had fallen over, one after the other. A dozen or so in all.
    â€œIt made me feel very tired,” she told Andy, smiling that small, slantwise smile of hers. “And I had gotten this idea somehow that we were discussing Vietnam, you know. So I said something like, ‘Yes, that proves it, if South Vietnam goes, they all go.’ And he smiled and patted my hands and said, ‘Why don’t you sleep for a while, Vicky? You must be tired.’ So I did.” She shook her head. “But now it doesn’t seem real at all. I think I must have made it up entirely or built a hallucination around some perfectly normal test. You don’t remember seeing him, do you? Tall guy with shoulder-length blond hair and a little scar on his chin?”
    Andy shook his head.
    â€œBut I still don’t understand how we could share any of the same fantasies,” Andy said, “unless they’ve developed a drug over there that’s a telepathic as well as an hallucinogenic. I know there’s been some talk about it in the last few years … the idea seems to be that if hallucinogens can heighten perception …” He shrugged, then grinned. “Carlos Castenada, where are you when we need you?”
    â€œIsn’t it more likely that we just discussed the same fantasy and then forgot we did?” Vicky asked.
    He agreed it was a strong possibility, but he still feltdisquieted by the whole experience. It had been, as they say, a bummer.
    Taking his courage in his hands, he said, “The only thing I really am sure of is that I seem to be falling in love with you, Vicky.”
    She smiled nervously and kissed the corner of his mouth. “That’s sweet, Andy, but—”
    â€œBut you’re a little afraid of me. Of men in general, maybe.”
    â€œMaybe I am,” she said.
    â€œAll I’m asking for is a chance.”
    â€œYou’ll have your chance,” she said. “I like you, Andy. A lot. But please remember that I get scared. Sometimes I just … get scared.” She tried to shrug lightly, but it turned into something like a shudder.
    â€œI’ll remember,” he said, and drew her into his arms and kissed her. There was a moment’s hesitation, and then she kissed him back, holding his hands firmly in hers.
15
    â€œDaddy!” Charlie screamed.
    The world revolved sickly in front of Andy’s eyes. The sodium arc lamps lining the Northway were below him, the ground was above him and shaking him loose. Then he was on his butt, sliding down the lower half of the embankment like a kid on a slide. Charlie was below him rolling helplessly over and over.
    Oh no, she’s going to shoot right out into the traffic—
    â€œCharlie!” he yelled hoarsely, hurting his throat, his head. “Watch it!”
    Then she was down, squatting in the breakdown lane, washed by the harsh lights of a passing car, sobbing. A moment later he landed beside her with a solid whap! that rocketed all the way up his spine to his head. Things doubled in front of his eyes, tripled, and then gradually settled down.
    Charlie was sitting on her haunches, her head cradled in her arms.
    â€œCharlie,” he said, touching her arm. “It’s all right, honey.”
    â€œI wish I did go in front of the cars!” she cried out, her voice bright and vicious with a self-loathing that madeAndy’s heart ache in his chest. “I deserve to for setting that man on fire!”
    â€œShhh,” he