Freddy Krueger's Tales of Terror #4: Twice Burned

by David Bergantino

  "Kirk!" she whisper-shouted. Startled, he clutched his chest as though he were having a heart attack when he realized it was only her. But the smile on his face evaporated when he noticed her distress. "What's this?!" she demanded, not letting him speak. She dug into her backpack for the card, found it, and tossed it at him.

  "Hey!" he exclaimed as he caught the card just before it hit his face. "What…?" he wondered aloud as unfolded the ball.

  "What's going on, Kirk?" She was certain he was behind this, but she didn't know why.

  When Kirk saw the Death card, his face became grave. "I'm sorry, Colleen. But I swear I'm not doing this."

  "But no one else would, Kirk. I mean, maybe Ricky, but only if you told him to. I don't know what you're trying to prove."

  "Nothing, Colleen. You have to believe me." He was pleading with her.

  "Wait a minute!" Colleen's brain made a connection. "Did you or Ricky say anything about the psychic to Vicki?"

  "No, why?"

  "One for each of them," Colleen declared. Kirk simply looked more baffled.

  "What?"

  "The first card showed up just after Tish disappeared. The second one after Melina."

  "I dunno, Colleen," Kirk cautioned. "That's a big leap. What you're suggesting isn't just mean. It's crazy."

  "I know… but it's obvious this is upsetting her more than she's letting on. Maybe it's worse than I think. And I would naturally be her target."

  Kirk thought a moment. Then, after he made sure no one was listening to them, he told her, "Let it go. You can't prove it, unless she admits to it. And just acknowledging that it's bothering you might make things worse."

  "I thought you were the one who said to fight back."

  He nodded, acknowledging her point. "A direct attack, yeah. But if you go off on her like this, before you're certain, well, you could be making a mistake."

  Colleen studied Kirk closely. She was getting very mixed signals from him. "Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked.

  "No, not at all," he said firmly. "I'm just saying, don't go off half-cocked. If you attack her without any proof, it might backfire, and you could get into trouble."

  She understood what he was getting at, but it still seemed strange to her. Kirk saw her discomfort.

  "Look, I may be able to find something out." Then a mischievous light sparkled in his eyes. "Y'know, with my network of spies. And if I get something concrete, then I'll tell you. And we'll do something about it. Meantime, don't let it bug you."

  "Okay, fine." What he was saying made total sense now. And even though he exaggerated his "spy network," he did have a group of friends who could find out if Vicki was really up to something. "And thanks. I'm sorry I blamed you." She gave him a little hug to make up to him.

  Kirk blushed. "I understand. It's a little freaky."

  "Try a lot freaky!" Colleen responded with a laugh.

  "Okay, a lot." Kirk returned her smile. "Now, will you let me get back to work?"

  "Yeah, I'll see ya later." For his good-bye, Kirk winked at her like James Dean.

  As she approached the front of the library to leave, Colleen passed the stairway leading to the basement. She stopped for a moment. Instead of walking out the front door, she started down the steps. She realized that she hadn't seen Denny since their encounter in the basement. If he was here, now would be a good time to tell him that others appreciated what he was doing for Mrs. Wodell.

  Though Colleen's attitude about the basement had improved, the air down there hadn't. Nor had the lighting. But this time, the atmosphere seemed more dreary than foreboding. Of course, it was deserted, or at least seemed to be. Walking slowly, Colleen peered down every aisle, hoping to catch a glimpse of Denny. Realizing what she was doing, Colleen had to stop and laugh at herself. Denny was a person, not Bigfoot. And he wasn't deaf.

  Standing near the central study table, she softly called out his name. "Denny! Are you down here?" Only silence answered her. "I just wanted to say hello." She felt silly, talking to thin air like this. He might be somewhere else at the moment. But she continued through the basement anyway. "I know you're looking after Mrs. Wodell. Lance told me." Still no answer. "Anyway, he thinks it's great that you're there, and I think it's great. And I know Mrs. Wodell appreciates it. She cares a lot about you."

  Colleen approached the last row, where she had found her book. There was still no sign of Denny. She sighed — then nearly shrieked when Denny appeared suddenly from a dim aisleway. Instinctively she shrank back. Like her reflection in a distorted fun house mirror, Denny also backed away.

  "Oh! You got me again," Colleen laughed. "Guess I'm a bundle of nerves lately." And just like that, she didn't know what to say. Everything she had meant to say, she'd already said as she'd walked through the basement. "I, for one, don't think you're a bad guy," she said spontaneously. "I just wanted you to know that."

  Colleen smiled at him, mainly because she truly had nothing else to say. But Denny did not smile back. Studying his face more closely, she saw deep worry.

  "Is something wrong, Denny?" He did not answer, even with a gesture, but his expression radiated hopelessness. "It's okay, Denny," she told him. "Whatever it is, it's all right." She reached up to touch his shoulder, hoping to comfort him. But before she could, he suddenly grabbed her by the wrist. Anger and frustration now seemed to consume him. Instinctively Colleen tried to pull away, but he held her tight. She had no idea what he intended to do next.

  Just then, there came shouts from the direction of the stairway. Denny let go of Colleen as they both turned at the same time. Heavy footsteps tramped down the stairs. Several police officers, possibly up to six of them, ran nearly single file down the narrow aisles toward them.

  "You! Don't move!" someone shouted.

  Colleen froze. Glancing into Denny's eyes, she saw terror.

  When the officers got to within several yards of them, two officers dropped to their knees and drew their guns. Another two stood behind them, their guns also drawn. The other officers disappeared down a book aisle.

  The guns' hammers being drawn back and set made loud clicks. The whole thing happened very fast.

  "Step away from him, miss," one of the officers ordered.

  Chapter 15

  At first, Colleen could neither speak nor move. Denny was rooted in place. Then more clicks sounded from the other end of the aisle. They were completely blocked.

  "I said, step away from him, miss," the officer repeated, more sternly. Then to Denny he snarled, "You, get your hands up. I know you can understand me." Denny's arms shot into the air.

  Colleen finally found her voice. "What's going on?" But she did not move.

  The officers in the aisle began to close in on them. A female officer from the group in front of them also began approaching. "Get away from him. He's wanted in connection with a kidnapping, and possibly a murder. You're not safe until you're behind us." She gestured to her furiously. "Now, come on."

  Colleen understood what was happening now. The officer was talking about Tish and Melina. She glanced at Denny, whose eyes were fixed on the guns pointed at him. He was so petrified, he seemed to have forgotten Colleen was there. Colleen walked forward with her hands up in the air, preventing a clear shot at Denny.

  "Look, we're friends." She walked slowly, to the obvious frustration of the police officers. "He didn't do anything. There's been some mistake."

  Suddenly the policewoman lunged forward at Colleen.

  "No!" she screamed as she was dragged into another aisle, out of harm's way. Colleen heard another officer shout, "Let's go!" On the ground, she saw them run past the end of the aisle toward Denny. Other sounds indicated the backup officers were doing the same. Colleen braced herself for the crack of gunfire. Thankfully, there was none.

  "Sorry I had to do that, miss," the woman police officer told her perfunctorily as she helped Colleen to her feet. Colleen glimpsed the other officers hustling a frightened Denny away, and starte
d to run out to stop them. The officer who had tackled her held her back.

  "Let me go," Colleen yelled. "He didn't do anything."

  The police officer shook her head. "I'm sorry about your friend. But we got a tip and searched his apartment. Found the driver's license of the missing girl."

  Colleen was momentarily stunned. "That doesn't mean anything. It could have been planted."

  The officer just shook her head. "That's not all we found. Other IDs, lots of pictures, all of young girls. Just like you." Confident that Denny had now been spirited out of the library, Officer Clark relaxed her grip on Colleen's arm. "You might have been in some danger. Maybe not today, but the way things have been lately, soon."

  Colleen yanked her arm away and just stared at the officer. What she was saying about Denny was impossible. Without another word, Colleen walked away. The officer shadowed her at a relaxed distance.

  When they got upstairs, they found the library in an uproar. Denny had been taken away. Colleen went straight to Kirk, who was hovering near the checkout counter. He pounced on her with questions as soon as he saw her.

  "What happened?" he asked breathlessly.

  "Wait, hold on." Colleen had an eye on the remaining police officers. They were talking among themselves near the front door of the library, then left. Going to the door, Colleen peered through and watched them drive away in their patrol car. She went immediately back to Kirk.

  "They think Denny had something to do with Tish and Melina."

  Kirk was shocked at the news. "That's impossible!"

  "I know," Colleen replied. "But they said they found Tish's driver's license in his apartment. And some other stuff."

  "What other stuff?" Kirk was intrigued.

  "Pictures. Of girls. Like me," she said, mimicking the officer.

  "Oh, that's not good," Kirk said gravely.

  But Colleen wasn't listening. Something about what the police officer had said tripped a switch in Colleen's brain. Abruptly she turned to Kirk and asked, "Doesn't Denny have an office of some sort downstairs?"

  "More of a closet, really," Kirk answered, mystified.

  "Is it unlocked?"

  "Uh, I guess so. Why?"

  "I want to check something. Where is it?"

  Kirk looked concerned. "What are you gonna do? What if the police come back?"

  Kirk's bewilderment would have amused Colleen if her purpose had not been so serious. "They won't come back. And I'm not going to take anything or mess anything up. I just wanna see something."

  "Okay," Kirk said slowly. "Fine. The door is off a little alcove in the back of the basement. On the left wall past the study table area."

  "Great. This won't take long," Colleen said, and she started to walk away. Kirk's voice stopped her.

  "Uh, Colleen." She turned to face him. He seemed even more concerned than before. "You're gonna look for something to prove that they took Denny in by mistake, huh?"

  "I don't know what I'll find," she answered honestly. "Well." He looked down at his shoes before he continued. Then he faced her again. "What if you find that it wasn't a mistake?"

  Their eyes locked for a moment. It was a good question. One that Colleen didn't want to answer.

  "I'll be right back," was all that she would say. But she pondered Kirk's question all the way down the stairs.

  Colleen found the alcove just where Kirk had said it was. The basement was particularly dark in this area, and the alcove was practically a black hole. Jiggling a light switch up and down several times had no effect. It seemed a bulb had burned out in this area. Soon Colleen's eyes adjusted and she saw the door that led to Denny's "office." Grasping the doorknob, she thought once more about Kirk's question.

  What if she found something that showed he was responsible for what had happened to Tish and Melina? What would she do?

  Steeling herself against the dreaded "what ifs," Colleen turned the knob. The door swung open silently. The room was pitch-black. First she slid her hand against the wall on either side of the doorway. No light switches. Then what little light entered the room glinted off a small metal object suspended in midair a few feet away. A string led up into darkness. Colleen pulled the string and a single, low-wattage bulb lit the small janitor's closet.

  Colleen's eyes went wide when she saw what it contained.

  * * *

  Within ten minutes, Colleen was back upstairs. When Kirk saw her, he quickly finished with the patron he was helping and ran over to her.

  "So what's the story? Guilty or innocent?" His mood had lightened since she had gone down. Apparently he had spent the time romanticizing the incident. Colleen was irritated, but too distracted to show it.

  "Well, the police weren't wrong about one thing," she said.

  "Hey, wait! What's down there?" Kirk was eager for dirt.

  "Take a look when you get a break," she told him. "I'll talk to you about it tomorrow."

  "That's not fair!" Kirk whined.

  "I know," Colleen acknowledged. "But there's some stuff I have to do, to think about. Okay?"

  Kirk decided not to push her. "Okay. I'll talk to you later."

  "Tomorrow," Colleen insisted. "It's been a rough day. I'm going to try to get some homework done, then I'm going to bed early."

  "Got it. Man, I can't wait to see what's down there." Colleen ignored his morbid enthusiasm. "Get some rest. Talk to you in the morning."

  * * *

  Colleen went straight home. Her parents talked about Denny's arrest all through dinner, but Colleen said little. If they had known she had been present when the police took Denny away, a major family crisis would have occurred. Besides, Colleen didn't feel much like talking. She had too much thinking to do. About Denny. About what she had seen in his office. And what could be done. Because for the first time, Colleen was certain she had to take action. And somehow, she felt as though she was the only one who could do what needed to be done.

  After dinner, Colleen tried to call Lance. His mother said that he was at Mrs. Wodell's, and "wasn't that terrible about the janitor? And Lance, not to mention helpless Mrs. Wodell, were in the same house with a murderer." Colleen gave a noncommittal response and hung up.

  Colleen managed to borrow her mother's car by saying she had to take something to Lance at Mrs. Wodell's house. Mrs. Martini was reluctant at first, but now that Denny was behind bars, didn't have a good reason not to let her daughter out alone. Seeing Lance would have been nice, but that wasn't what Colleen had in mind. Instead, she drove directly to the police station. Inside, she asked to see Denny.

  "Uh, I don't think that would be a good idea," Officer Radley, the policeman on duty, told her. "Considering what he's suspected of."

  "He's my friend." Colleen was not going to be turned away. "His arrest is a mistake."

  Surprisingly, Officer Radley told her that he hoped she was right. "Tell you the truth, nobody knows what to do with him. Between how scared he is and the fact he's dumb and all, we can't get no answers outta him. Even if he did do what they say, he'll probably get off on account of he's, y'know, not all there to begin with."

  "So can I see him?" Colleen persisted.

  Radley just shrugged. "I guess. Guilty or not, doubt he'll be getting many visitors. One won't make a difference."

  Colleen was led downstairs to the holding cells. Springwood wasn't large, so there were only three. Officer Radley pointed toward the last cell, where Denny lay curled up in a ball on a cot. Seeing him like that almost made Colleen cry, but she held back. Officer Radley rapped gently on the bars with a nightstick to roust Denny.

  "You got a visitor, sport. Up and at 'em!"

  Denny peered out from the bed suspiciously. When he saw Colleen, he sat up immediately. His face was a turmoil of emotions.

  Officer Radley took Colleen firmly by the shoulders and moved her backward so she stood against the wall facing the cell. He then pointed down to a yellow line in the floor.

  "Stay behind this line at all times," he ins
tructed. "That way, the prisoner can't reach you." The distance from the line to the bars of the cell was about five feet.

  "Denny won't hurt me."

  "Stay behind this line at all times," Officer Radley repeated. "If you want, I'll stay here and supervise."

  Colleen understood that he expected her to follow the rules, and decided he was being fair. But she didn't want him listening in on them. "You don't have to worry." She flashed him an earnest smile, trying to communicate her willingness to cooperate. It worked.

  "I'll be back for you in five minutes," he told her, and left.

  After she was certain Officer Radley was truly gone, Colleen's first impulse was to run up to Denny's bars. She stopped herself. Radley might still be watching. For all she knew, there could be a video camera, or a microphone. No such device was evident, but Colleen realized there was nothing she could do about it anyway. She just had to forge ahead.

  "Hi," she began, aware that she sounded inane. "I'm sorry about what happened."

  Denny remained seated on the cot. Staring down at his shoes, he did not acknowledge Colleen's words.

  "I know about the pictures." Colleen thought she saw a tremor in Denny's hand. "But I think I understand," she said quickly. No movement now. No acknowledgment. "I want to help you." Still Denny did not move. "Do you understand? I want to help you."

  Finally Denny looked up. And Colleen saw he had been focusing on the ground in front of him to try to maintain control of himself. His face twitched once more with turbulent, inexpressible thoughts. Colleen continued.

  "I don't think you have anything to do with what's happened. But you have to tell me, however you can, that you didn't do it. If you tell me, I'll believe you."

  Denny's hands gripped the mattress on which he sat. Veins bulged in his sinewy arms.

  "Tell me. Tell me and I'll believe you." She spoke the next words slowly and clearly: "Do you know anything about what happened to Tish or Melina?"

  Denny looked at her then. His big eyes bored into her. He was sweating profusely, and Colleen noticed he was shaking. Then, slowly, he moved his head. Up and down. Denny was nodding in answer to her question. His response took her completely by surprise.