said.
“No, Daddy,” the voice repeated. “Don’t leave me, Daddy.”
Jack’s face crumpled, the enormous man breaking down.
“Why are you moving away, Daddy?” the girl’s voice asked, and when I turned and stared at the demon, I received another shock.
Though nothing at that point should have amazed me—not after all I’d seen—the vision of Celia Bittner standing there in the murky bedroom still took my breath away. She had long blonde hair tied into a ropy braid. She wore pink pajamas that emphasized her little potbelly. She looked perhaps five years old.
“I didn’t wanna move,” Jack said, and after all the man had said and done, I have to admit that I still pitied him. Never on a human face had I beheld such an expression of sorrow and longing. “Daddy didn’t wanna move away, honey. It was your mother…”
“Mommy says you don’t care about us anymore,” Celia said. I noticed she was clutching a small beige teddy bear to her chest and had no doubt that this was the same stuffed animal Celia had carried with her when she was a young child. The demon, I felt certain, had mined these images, this voice, from Bittner’s memory. But the effect was uncanny. It was like time had reversed and the child Celia had been was standing in the room with us.
Bittner was up on his knees. “Honey, you’ve gotta believe me. Daddy would’ve never left if it were up to him. I love you—” his face crumpled again, his words coming in a ragged rush, “—I love you more than anything. I didn’t want to go.”
“Then why did you?” the voice demanded, and I fancied I could hear a hint of the demon’s true malicious tone buzzing around the edges of the child’s voice.
If Bittner heard it, he gave no indication. “It was your mom’s decision. She…she didn’t want Daddy anymore. She—”
Celia’s face hardened, a cold, calculating intelligence permeating it. “Are you saying my mommy’s a whore?”
It acted on Bittner like a slap in the face. He actually recoiled and blinked for a moment. “Honey, please don’t talk like—”
“Please don’t talk like that,” the voice mimicked, and though the pitch was still the same, the tone was eerily wicked, the buzzing darkness in the voice more pronounced. “You always want control.”
I began to edge around them. The closed door was perhaps twelve feet away. Someone was on the other side of it, hammering. Yet the sounds were oddly muffled in here, as though Casey’s bedroom existed in a separate reality, another dimension.
Bittner was on his knees, had a hand extended toward Celia, or the thing pretending to be Celia. “I’m not trying to control you, honey. Don’t think that. I just want to teach you the right things, you know?”
Was there a flash of vermilion in the girl’s blue eyes? The skin seemed to be tawnier, more aged. “Control is all you want,” the voice said, and now there was as much of the demon in it as there was the young Celia. “You wanted to control Mommy, and you want to control me.”
If Bittner sensed the changes, he didn’t let on. He walked on his knees toward Celia, the gun holstered now, both his hands extended. “No I don’t, baby. I only want to be near you. I just want to be—”
“No pierced ears, Celia!” the voice said in a vicious singsong. “No going on dates!”
Bittner’s chest shuddered, his voice thick and weary. “I didn’t say that. I only said I wanted to meet the boy before you went out with him. You know, so I could—”
“So you could intimidate him!” Celia snapped, and now there was nothing at all girly about the voice. It was all hornets and echoes, the demon’s full-throated drone. “So whoever went out with me could see what a tough guy you were, so he could see the gun on your hip.”
Something finally clicked in Bittner’s mind. His face went slack with dismay. “You’re not…you’re not…”
“Celia?” the voice roared. The sound of it made me want to
“No, Daddy,” the voice repeated. “Don’t leave me, Daddy.”
Jack’s face crumpled, the enormous man breaking down.
“Why are you moving away, Daddy?” the girl’s voice asked, and when I turned and stared at the demon, I received another shock.
Though nothing at that point should have amazed me—not after all I’d seen—the vision of Celia Bittner standing there in the murky bedroom still took my breath away. She had long blonde hair tied into a ropy braid. She wore pink pajamas that emphasized her little potbelly. She looked perhaps five years old.
“I didn’t wanna move,” Jack said, and after all the man had said and done, I have to admit that I still pitied him. Never on a human face had I beheld such an expression of sorrow and longing. “Daddy didn’t wanna move away, honey. It was your mother…”
“Mommy says you don’t care about us anymore,” Celia said. I noticed she was clutching a small beige teddy bear to her chest and had no doubt that this was the same stuffed animal Celia had carried with her when she was a young child. The demon, I felt certain, had mined these images, this voice, from Bittner’s memory. But the effect was uncanny. It was like time had reversed and the child Celia had been was standing in the room with us.
Bittner was up on his knees. “Honey, you’ve gotta believe me. Daddy would’ve never left if it were up to him. I love you—” his face crumpled again, his words coming in a ragged rush, “—I love you more than anything. I didn’t want to go.”
“Then why did you?” the voice demanded, and I fancied I could hear a hint of the demon’s true malicious tone buzzing around the edges of the child’s voice.
If Bittner heard it, he gave no indication. “It was your mom’s decision. She…she didn’t want Daddy anymore. She—”
Celia’s face hardened, a cold, calculating intelligence permeating it. “Are you saying my mommy’s a whore?”
It acted on Bittner like a slap in the face. He actually recoiled and blinked for a moment. “Honey, please don’t talk like—”
“Please don’t talk like that,” the voice mimicked, and though the pitch was still the same, the tone was eerily wicked, the buzzing darkness in the voice more pronounced. “You always want control.”
I began to edge around them. The closed door was perhaps twelve feet away. Someone was on the other side of it, hammering. Yet the sounds were oddly muffled in here, as though Casey’s bedroom existed in a separate reality, another dimension.
Bittner was on his knees, had a hand extended toward Celia, or the thing pretending to be Celia. “I’m not trying to control you, honey. Don’t think that. I just want to teach you the right things, you know?”
Was there a flash of vermilion in the girl’s blue eyes? The skin seemed to be tawnier, more aged. “Control is all you want,” the voice said, and now there was as much of the demon in it as there was the young Celia. “You wanted to control Mommy, and you want to control me.”
If Bittner sensed the changes, he didn’t let on. He walked on his knees toward Celia, the gun holstered now, both his hands extended. “No I don’t, baby. I only want to be near you. I just want to be—”
“No pierced ears, Celia!” the voice said in a vicious singsong. “No going on dates!”
Bittner’s chest shuddered, his voice thick and weary. “I didn’t say that. I only said I wanted to meet the boy before you went out with him. You know, so I could—”
“So you could intimidate him!” Celia snapped, and now there was nothing at all girly about the voice. It was all hornets and echoes, the demon’s full-throated drone. “So whoever went out with me could see what a tough guy you were, so he could see the gun on your hip.”
Something finally clicked in Bittner’s mind. His face went slack with dismay. “You’re not…you’re not…”
“Celia?” the voice roared. The sound of it made me want to
Similar Books
