Doctor Sleep (The Shining #2)(138)

“Do you swear she’s safe?” Lucy asked.

Dan nodded.

“All right, I’ll wait. But only for three hours. As for sleeping . . .” She laughed. The sound had no humor in it.

9

When they entered Concetta’s condo, Lucy strode directly to the microwave in the kitchen, set the timer, and showed it to Dan. He nodded, then yawned again. “Three thirty a.m., we’re out of here.”

She studied him gravely. “I’d like to go without you, you know. Right this minute.”

He smiled a little. “I think you better hear the rest of the story first.”

She nodded grimly.

“That and the fact that my daughter needs to sleep off whatever is in her system are the only things holding me here. Now go lie down before you fall down.”

Dan and John took the guest room. The wallpaper and furnishings made it clear that it had been mostly kept for one special little girl, but Chetta must have had other guests from time to time, because there were twin beds.

As they lay in the dark, John said: “It’s not a coincidence that this hotel you stayed in as a child is also in Colorado, is it?”

“No.”

“This True Knot is in the same town?”

“They are.”

“And the hotel was haunted?”

The ghostie people, Dan thought. “Yes.”

Then John said something that surprised Dan and temporarily brought him back from the edge of sleep. Dave had been right—the easiest things to miss were the ones right in front of you. “It makes sense, I suppose . . . once you accept the idea there could be supernatural beings among us and feeding on us. An evil place would call evil creatures. They’d feel right at home there. Do you suppose this Knot has other places like that, in other parts of the country? Other . . . I don’t know . . . cold spots?”

“I’m sure they do.” Dan put an arm over his eyes. His body ached and his head was pounding. “Johnny, I’d love to do the boys-having-a-sleepover thing with you, but I have to get some shuteye.”

“Okay, but . . .” John got up on one elbow. “All things being equal, you would have gone right from the hospital, like Lucy wanted. Because you care almost as much about Abra as they do. You think she’s safe, but you could be wrong.”

“I’m not.” Hoping that was the truth. He had to hope so, because the simple fact was that he couldn’t go, not now. If it had only been to New York, maybe. But it wasn’t, and he had to sleep. His whole body cried for it.

“What’s wrong with you, Dan? Because you look terrible.”

“Nothing. Just tired.”

Then he was gone, first into darkness and then into a confused nightmare of running down endless halls while some Shape followed him, swinging a mallet from side to side, splitting wallpaper and driving up puffs of plaster dust. Come out, you little shit! the Shape yelled. Come out, you worthless pup, and take your medicine!

Then Abra was with him. They were sitting on the bench in front of the Anniston Public Library, in the late-summer sun. She was holding his hand. It’s all right, Uncle Dan. It’s all right. Before he died, your father turned that Shape out. You don’t have to—

The library door banged open and a woman stepped into the sunlight. Great clouds of dark hair billowed around her head, yet her jauntily cocked tophat stayed on. It stayed on like magic.

“Oh, look,” she said. “It’s Dan Torrance, the man who stole a woman’s money while she was sleeping one off and then left her kid to be beaten to death.”

She smiled at Abra, revealing a single tooth. It looked as long and sharp as a bayonet.

“What will he do to you, little sweetie? What will he do to you?”

10

Lucy woke him promptly at three thirty, but shook her head when Dan moved to wake John. “Let him sleep a bit longer. And my husband is snoring on the couch.” She actually smiled. “It makes me think of the Garden of Gethsemane, you know. Jesus reproaching Peter, saying, ‘So you could not watch with me even one hour?’ Or something like that. But I have no reason to reproach David, I guess—he saw it, too. Come on. I’ve made scrambled eggs. You look like you could use some. You’re skinny as a rail.” She paused and added: “Brother.”

Dan wasn’t particularly hungry, but he followed her into the kitchen. “Saw what, too?”

“I was going through Momo’s papers—anything to keep my hands busy and pass the time—and I heard a clunk from the kitchen.”

She took his hand and led him to the counter between the stove and the fridge. There was a row of old-fashioned apothecary jars here, and the one containing sugar had been overturned. A message had been written in the spill.

I’m OK

Going back to sleep

Love U

In spite of how he felt, Dan thought of his blackboard and had to smile. It was so perfectly Abra.

“She must have woken up just enough to do that,” Lucy said.

“Don’t think so,” Dan said.

She looked at him from the stove, where she was dishing up scrambled eggs.

“You woke her up. She heard your worry.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Yes.”

“Sit down.” She paused. “Sit down, Dan. I guess I better get used to calling you that. Sit down and eat.”