Whispers. Part 57

"Do you go to church?"

"Yes. Do you?"

"No. Do you go to ma.s.s every week?"

"Nearly every week."

"Do you believe in heaven?"

"Yes. Do you?"

"Yeah. What about h.e.l.l?"

"What do you think about it, Bruno?"

"Well, if there's a heaven, there must be a h.e.l.l."

"Some people would argue that earth is h.e.l.l."

"No. There's another place with fire and everything. And if there are angels..."

"Yes?"

"There must be demons. The Bible says there are."

"You can be a good Christian without taking all of the Bible literally."

"Do you know how to spot the various marks of the demons?"

"Marks?"

"Yeah. Like when a man or a woman makes a deal with the devil, he puts a mark on them. Or if he owns them for some other reason, he marks them, sort of like we brand cattle."

"Do you believe you can really make a deal with the devil?"

"Huh? Oh, no. No, that's just bunk. It's c.r.a.p. But some people do believe in it. A lot of people do. And I find them interesting. Their psychology fascinates me. I read a lot about the occult, just trying to figure out the kind of people who put a lot of faith in it. I want to understand the way their minds work. You know?"

"You were talking about the marks that demons leave on people."

"Yeah. It's just something I read recently. Nothing important."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, see, there are supposed to be hundreds and hundreds of demons in h.e.l.l. Maybe thousands. And each one of them is supposed to have his own mark that he puts on people whose souls he claims. Like, for instance, in the middle ages, they believed that a strawberry birthmark on the face was the mark of a demon. And another one was crossed eyes. A third breast. Some people are born with a third breast. It's really not so rare. And there are those who say it's a mark of a demon. The number 666. That's the mark of the chief of all demons, Satan. His people have the number 666 burned into their skin, under their hair, where it can't be seen. I mean, that's what the True Believers think. And twins.... That's another sign of a demon at work."

"Twins are the handiwork of demons?"

"You understand, I'm not saying I believe any of this. I don't. It's junk. I'm just telling you what some nuts out there believe."

"I understand."

"If I'm boring you--"

"No. I find it as fascinating as you do."

Rudge switched off the recorder. "One comment before I let him go on. I encouraged him to talk about the occult because i thought it was just an intellectual exercise for him, a way for him to strengthen his mind to deal with his own problem. I am sorry to say that I believed him when he said he didn't take it seriously."

"But he did," Hilary said. "He took it very seriously."

"So it seems. But at the time I thought he was exercising his mind, preparing to solve his own problem. If he could find a way to explain the apparently irrational thought processes of far-out people like die-hard occultists, then he would feel ready to find an explanation for the tiny piece of irrational behavior in his own personality. If he could explain occultists, it would be an easier matter to explain the dream that he could not remember. That's what I thought he was doing. But I was wrong. d.a.m.n! If only he'd been coming in more frequently."

Rudge started the tape recorder again.

"You said twins are the handiwork of demons."

"Yeah. Not all twins, of course. Just certain special kinds of twins."

"Such as?"

"Siamese twins. Some people think that's the mark of a demon."

"Yes. I can see how that superst.i.tion might develop."

"And sometimes identical twins are born with both heads covered by cauls. That's rare. Maybe one. But not two. It's very rare for both twins to be born with cauls. When that happens, you can be pretty sure those twins were marked by a demon. At least, that's what some people think."

Rudge took the tape out of the player. "I'm not sure how that one fits in with what's been happening to the three of you. But since there seems to be a dead ringer for Bruno Frye, the subject of twins seemed like something you'd want to hear about."

Joshua looked at Tony, then at Hilary, "But if Mary Gunther did have two children, why did Katherine bring home only one? Why would she lie and say there was just one baby? It doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know," Tony said doubtfully. "I told you that story sounded too smooth."

Hilary said, "Have you found a birth certificate for Bruno?"

"Not yet," Joshua said. "There wasn't one in any of his safe-deposit boxes."

Rudge picked up the fourth of the four ca.s.settes that had been separated from the main pile of tapes. "This was the last session I had with Frye. Just three weeks ago. He finally agreed to let me try hypnosis to help him recall the dream. But he was wary. He made me promise to limit the range of questions. I wasn't permitted to ask him about anything except the dream. The excerpt I've chosen for you begins after he was in a trance. I regressed him in time, not far, just to the previous night. I put him back into his dream again.

"What do you see, Bruno?"

"My mother. And me."

"Go on."

"She's pulling me along."

"Where are you?"

"I don't know. But I'm just little."

"Little?"

"A little boy."

"And your mother is forcing you to go somewhere?"

"Yeah. She's dragging me by the hand."

"Where does she drag you?"

"To ... the ... the door. The door. Don't let her open it. Don't. Don't!"

"Easy. Easy now. Tell me about this door. Where does it go?"

"To h.e.l.l."

"How do you know that?"

"It's in the ground."

"The door is in the ground?"

"For G.o.d's sake, don't let her open it! Don't let her put me down there again. No! No! I won't go down there again!"

"Relax. Be calm. There's no reason to be afraid. Just relax, Bruno. Relax. Are you relaxed?"

"Y-Yes."

"All right. Now slowly and calmly and without any emotion, tell me what happens next. You and your mother are standing in front of a door in the ground. What happens now?"

"She ... she ... opens the door."

"Go on."

"She pushes me."

"Go on."

"Pushes me... through the door."

"Go on, Bruno."

"She slams it ... locks it."

"She locks you inside?"

"Yeah."

"What's it like in there?"

"Dark."

"What else?"

"Just dark. Black."

"You must be able to see something."

"No. Nothing."

"What happens next?"

"I try to get out."

"And?"

"The door's too heavy, too strong."

"Bruno, is this really just a dream?"

"Is it really just a dream, Bruno?"

"It's what I dream."

"But is it also a memory?"

"Did your mother actually lock you in a dark room when you were a child?"

"Y-Yes."

"In the cellar?"

"In the ground. In that room in the ground."

"How often did she do that?"

"All the time."

"Once a week?"

"More often."

"Was it a punishment?"

"Yeah."