Read Online The Howling II by Gary Brandner - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Gary Brandner
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“Indulge me in this, my Roy, and I will make it up to you.”
He held himself tensely, not looking at her. She moved his hand across the flat of her stomach and down to the crisp bush of pubic hair. He resisted for a moment more, then surrendered and turned to face her. He whispered her name. His fingers probed between her legs and found the dampness there.
Marcia grasped his wrist and held it, keeping his hand pressed against her. “When this business is over I will make you very happy. I know I have not been a complete woman to you these past months, but I will make it right in a hundred ways. You will never regret being with me, darling.” She drew back and her eyes searched his face. “You are with me, aren’t you, my Roy?”
“You know I am.”
“Good.” She kissed him lightly on the mouth, then slipped away and began to put on her clothes. Once again she was businesslike.
“Are you sure you were seen at the shopping center?”
“Karyn saw me, all right,” he said. “Once when she rode the escalator below where I was standing, and again as I was going out. She followed me to the parking lot, but I lost her there.”
“Good. She will have much to think about, many things to remember when we take the next step.”
“And that is - “
“We kill the boy.”
Roy drew in his breath and let it out slowly. “Is that the only way?”
“It is the best way. It is the way that will hurt her the most before we finally finish with her.” Marcia fixed him with her eyes. “Do you have some objection?”
“It’s just - killing the boy - “
Marcia’s laugh clattered off the walls in the small room. “Come now, Roy. After the things you have done these past three years? The blood you have spilled? Would one more killing bother you?”
He could not meet her eye. “Remember, Marcia, I wasn’t born to this life the way you were. What I am, you made me. I am not all wolf. I still have human emotions sometimes.”
Marcia stepped close to him and touched his face. “I understand, my darling. The time will come when you will no longer be held back by remorse.
Until then you will take strength from me. I know that when the time comes to act, you will not fail.”
“When - will it be time?”
“From now on we will watch the house every night. The first time they leave the boy alone, you will kill him.”
Chapter 11
MR. BJORKLUND SHRUGGED and spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Karyn waited for a moment for him to say something more. When he didn’t she looked down at the long wooden counter between them. There, each in its familiar pot, were her three plants. They were barely recognizable. The fern and the spider plant were yellow-brown, shriveled, and ugly, dead, ropy things that had nothing to do with the vibrant living greenery they had been. Only the tough philodendron had not given up. With the tenacity of the dying it clung to the mossy post, but its leaves were pale and sickly, splotched with brown like the hands of old people with liver spots.
“I’m afraid they’re goners,” Mr. Bjorklund said. “There was nothing I could do.”
“Thanks, anyway,” Karyn said dully.
“What have you been feeding them?”
Karyn looked up at him curiously. “I didn’t feed them anything, except what you gave me. I kept them in the soil you blended for me, and I was very careful about watering them.”
“Somebody fed them,” the nurseryman said. “They’ve been poisoned.”
Karyn stared at him.
“I ran a test on the soil in all three pots. Each one is saturated with enough herbicide to kill a Douglas fir.”
“That isn’t possible.”
Bjorklund shrugged again. “All I can tell you is what the tests showed.”
“Is there some way the herbicide could have got into the soil accidentally?”
“Nope. It was added to the soil deliberately and carefully. The concentration was heaviest right down around the roots. Then way I figure it, somebody
He held himself tensely, not looking at her. She moved his hand across the flat of her stomach and down to the crisp bush of pubic hair. He resisted for a moment more, then surrendered and turned to face her. He whispered her name. His fingers probed between her legs and found the dampness there.
Marcia grasped his wrist and held it, keeping his hand pressed against her. “When this business is over I will make you very happy. I know I have not been a complete woman to you these past months, but I will make it right in a hundred ways. You will never regret being with me, darling.” She drew back and her eyes searched his face. “You are with me, aren’t you, my Roy?”
“You know I am.”
“Good.” She kissed him lightly on the mouth, then slipped away and began to put on her clothes. Once again she was businesslike.
“Are you sure you were seen at the shopping center?”
“Karyn saw me, all right,” he said. “Once when she rode the escalator below where I was standing, and again as I was going out. She followed me to the parking lot, but I lost her there.”
“Good. She will have much to think about, many things to remember when we take the next step.”
“And that is - “
“We kill the boy.”
Roy drew in his breath and let it out slowly. “Is that the only way?”
“It is the best way. It is the way that will hurt her the most before we finally finish with her.” Marcia fixed him with her eyes. “Do you have some objection?”
“It’s just - killing the boy - “
Marcia’s laugh clattered off the walls in the small room. “Come now, Roy. After the things you have done these past three years? The blood you have spilled? Would one more killing bother you?”
He could not meet her eye. “Remember, Marcia, I wasn’t born to this life the way you were. What I am, you made me. I am not all wolf. I still have human emotions sometimes.”
Marcia stepped close to him and touched his face. “I understand, my darling. The time will come when you will no longer be held back by remorse.
Until then you will take strength from me. I know that when the time comes to act, you will not fail.”
“When - will it be time?”
“From now on we will watch the house every night. The first time they leave the boy alone, you will kill him.”
Chapter 11
MR. BJORKLUND SHRUGGED and spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Karyn waited for a moment for him to say something more. When he didn’t she looked down at the long wooden counter between them. There, each in its familiar pot, were her three plants. They were barely recognizable. The fern and the spider plant were yellow-brown, shriveled, and ugly, dead, ropy things that had nothing to do with the vibrant living greenery they had been. Only the tough philodendron had not given up. With the tenacity of the dying it clung to the mossy post, but its leaves were pale and sickly, splotched with brown like the hands of old people with liver spots.
“I’m afraid they’re goners,” Mr. Bjorklund said. “There was nothing I could do.”
“Thanks, anyway,” Karyn said dully.
“What have you been feeding them?”
Karyn looked up at him curiously. “I didn’t feed them anything, except what you gave me. I kept them in the soil you blended for me, and I was very careful about watering them.”
“Somebody fed them,” the nurseryman said. “They’ve been poisoned.”
Karyn stared at him.
“I ran a test on the soil in all three pots. Each one is saturated with enough herbicide to kill a Douglas fir.”
“That isn’t possible.”
Bjorklund shrugged again. “All I can tell you is what the tests showed.”
“Is there some way the herbicide could have got into the soil accidentally?”
“Nope. It was added to the soil deliberately and carefully. The concentration was heaviest right down around the roots. Then way I figure it, somebody
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