Sally's Dark Side

The van was parked outside a huge estate with big stone walls. They could see the front gate clearly from across the street. It was getting to be 8:00 am and the four of them had all fallen asleep. A garbage truck roared by and Cindy jerked awake. She looked around the van. “Shit Bobby. You had the last watch.” Bobby looked comfortable curled up on the back seat hugging the video camera. Cindy turned and sure enough there was the black Lincoln that they had been waiting for. It was pulling into the driveway. A big iron gate closed behind it automatically. “Wake up! Wake up you guys! They’re here!” Tom quickly put on his glasses that had been sitting in his lap. “Did you see Sally?” “No. I couldn’t see.” “We have to assume they have them. We’ve got to find a way in there.” John started the van. He backed up and then drove across the street and up onto the sidewalk. Cindy almost fell off her seat when they hit the curb. “What the hell are you doing?” John was wearing a confident grin. “There’s a ladder on the back of the van. We can climb it up to the top of the wall.” Bobby fired up the video camera, “Cool.” The side doors were next to the concrete so everyone got out the driver’s door. Tom was the first one up the ladder. Looking out over the huge estate. He estimated that the house was at least a quarter-mile away. The long winding driveway led through pine trees and stone statues. The mansion itself, Tom guessed, had fifty rooms or more. It was quite obvious that Thorton was filthy rich. Each one of them climbed over and dropped down on the other side. They ran along the wall, keeping behind the bushes. When they got to the east side John waved for them to stop. There was now thirty yards between them and the house. Tom looked closely at each window. He couldn’t see any movements. “On three, okay?” He counted slowly. “One...” Bobby held the camera down at his side. “Two...” Cindy took a deep breath. “Three!” All of them took off running as fast as their legs would take them. They sprinted across the grass clearing toward the maintenance shed. The door was standing open, and they hoped nobody was inside. When they were about half way there, John caught something in the corner of his eye. A dark blur, a...dog. It was running too, right at them. It was big, black and really fast. It would most likely make it to the shed before he did. Cindy was by far the faster runner. She stopped in front of the door and whispered “Come on!” She had seen the dog too. Bobby was trailing the rest. He was taking too long. Way too long. Cindy knew he wasn’t going to make it. John was in the shed now. “Cindy! Get in here!” But she stood her ground, waiting for Bobby. The dog was almost there. Tom was almost there. He ran in behind her and into the doorway. The dog leaped through the air at her. Cindy tightened her fingers into a fist. Bobby ran inside huffing. She punched in the side of its head as hard as she could. A loud yelp resounded across the yard and echoed off the statues. The doorman hit the ground and immediately scrambled to its feet. Cindy dived into the shed. John slammed the dog’s head in the door twice before it backed up. It growled and barked. John found an aluminum baseball bat in the corner. “We gotta shut that fucker up.” Tom knew what to do. He yanked open the door and stood back. John swung the bat down hard against the Doberman’s head. A loud crack. It fell to the floor motionless. Bobby was huffing hard to catch his breath, but still managed to get it on tape.

Sally and her mother began going to therapy three months after her father’s death, separately, of course. Sally’s appointments lasted a total of three weeks, right up until she told the head-shrinker to go to hell. She was not about to spill her guts to a fat, annoyingly calm man with a toupee. Her mother’s therapy went on for months. Sally couldn’t figure out why she went. Her mom seemed to just get sadder and sadder. Sally could do that by herself for free. And she did. The hurting was certainly in great abundance. But Sally soon realized that it would cost her plenty.

Sally’s head was pounding. Every muscle in her body was sore. When she opened her eyes everything was fuzzy. She felt strange, like she was being pulled up somehow. Her head felt like a heavy fish bowl at the end of her stretched out neck. And her arms. They were dangling... above her. Her vision got clearer. The chairs were on the ceiling, tables too. “What the...” The grogginess drifted away. She was fully awake now. Her arms were not above her. They were below her. She was hanging upside down. She tried to raise up. She saw her ankles, bloody with a big knot of rope tied around them. The rope went up from there and was secured to a thick beam across the ceiling. It creaked and swung when she looked around. Luke was not in the room with her. Where is he? What did they do to him? She started to panic. Oh God, they’re gonna kill us. The blood in her head made her feel dizzy and sick. She wasn’t more than a foot off the floor. Her fingers were resting on the tile. It was cold. Then she saw it. The black box. The tangled wires. The sword. It was setting on top of a table six feet away. There was no way she could reach it. But she had to. Her mind went back to the time she tried so hard to move the Ping-Pong ball. It just sat there, laughing at her. You can’t move me, silly. She couldn’t do it then. What made her think she could do it now? Nothing. Of course she couldn’t. I’m not a Jedi. I’m an idiot. She’d come all the way from Canon City to get herself killed. And for what? A goddamned movie prop. God, I’m stupid. She jerked her ankles. They were tied solid. They hurt bad. The jerking made her whole body swing on the rope. Her back bumped something. What is it? Another table. She had scooted it backwards a few inches. Sally heard something. Like a marble rolling on linoleum, only louder. It was coming from the top of the table. The noise stopped when it fell off. Then it hit the floor. The bang was so loud it hurt her ears. It was really heavy, whatever it was. The sound started again, this time on the floor. She was trying to twist around to see it. Then it came into her view. The big black bowling ball rolled across the hard floor. Sally watched it hit the leg of the other table. A little silver screw fell from underneath. The bowling ball rolled a little ways farther and stopped. The leg bent under as the table crashed down to the floor. Sally watched as the backpack, wires and sword slid right into her outstretched fingers. Oh my God. She quickly glanced around to see if anyone had heard the crash. She grabbed the handle and clicked the switch. The laser sprang out. She pulled herself up as far as she could, and cut the rope. Falling to the hard floor, her shoulders hit with a thud. “Uuhh!” She turned off the saber and sat for a moment trying to give the blood a chance to leave her head. The pressure subsided. She untied the rope and pulled it off. Her ankles hurt. They were raw and bloody. Sally got up and turned around. The room was huge. There were three bowling lanes. There were tables for pool and foosball, and just past them, one for Ping-Pong. Nice of you to join us, Sal. She was in some one’s game room. There were no windows. It was lit with rows of florescent lighting. She went to the door and listened. Nothing. She opened it and entered the next room.

Sally slowly walked down the concrete stairs. The shadows got deeper and darker with each nervous step. When she reached the bottom she saw that the room was completely engulfed in pitch black nothingness. She felt along the wall for a light switch. It was gritty under the palm of her hand. She found the switch and flipped it up. A light came on, but not like she had expected. There did not appear to be an overhead light at all. Instead, a small rusty lamp fizzed to life. It sat on the floor in the middle of the otherwise empty basement wearing a torn red shade. There did not appear to be a cord connecting to it, nor were there any electrical outlets in the room. She took three cautious steps forward. She knelt down and looked at the little lamp as it flickered. Reaching out, she picked it up. Something was holding it down. She saw that it did have a cord. It ran down into a small hole in the floor. She pulled harder. Reluctantly another few inches of wire came out. She gave it a really hard yank, and a foot of cord ripped up. The hole was a little bigger now. Dark fluid started oozing out and pooling around her feet. It looked thick, syrupy. She put the palm of her right hand into it. It wasn’t syrup. It was blood. Faintly, she could hear someone calling out below her. A distant voice in a tunnel maybe. It got louder. Closer. What started as a distant yell became a recognizable voice to her. It was clear. It was just under the floor. The hole was crumbling open. It was as big as a saucer now. Underneath, a face caught the light. Sally held the lamp closer. “Sally?” the voice said, “Help me.” She knew that voice. Thick fingers clawed at the opening from below. “Help me out of here honey.” She wanted to help him. But she couldn’t do anything. She was only ten years old. She had no idea how to save her father.

John dragged in the dead Doberman pincher. The fur all down its head was wet with blood. Its eyes hung open in a blank stare. Cindy looked away. Bobby checked to see how much videotape was left and Tom was looking out the dirty little window. “There’s an open window upstairs. I say we go in there.” John stepped over the dog and peered out. “How are we gonna get up there? Bobby spoke up, “How about that ladder you’re leaning on?” John looked down, embarrassed. “Oh, yeah, I guess that’ll work.” Cindy was leaning against a workbench. The others could see her fear. “Look, this is nuts. We should just sneak back and call the police.” “There’s no time for that. Who knows what’s happening in there. We have to go.” John was going. The others could chicken out if they wanted to. But he was going. “How about this. When we get to a phone inside, we’ll call the police.” She still wasn’t sure they were doing the right thing. But they had come this far. Sally was inside that place somewhere. They had to help her. What if she’s dead already? What if... Cindy tried not to think. She picked up one end of the ladder. “You’re right. We have to.” She took a deep breath, “Let’s do it.” Tom cracked open the door. He didn’t see anybody coming, “Okay. Now, hurry.” They carried the twelve-foot fiberglass ladder out and stood it under the window. Tom went up first. He looked in cautiously, and then climbed inside. After a moment he whispered down, “Alright, it’s all clear. Come on up.” Cindy was next. And then John. He was still holding onto the aluminum baseball bat, just in case. Bobby was last. The others told him to hurry up and shut the goddamn camera off, for Christ’s sake. He, like always, ignored them.

Sally found herself in a library. There were rows and rows of hardbound books. The shelves went all the way to the tall ceiling. There were two spiral staircases, one on each side that went up to an upper level walkway. A long wood table filled most of the center floor space in front of her. Sally heard footsteps and voices coming from outside the door, across the room. She ran to the east stairs, and went up. She laid down flat on the walkway, holding the laser in her right hand. The big double doors opened, and Sally gasped. A bead of sweat ran down into her eye. It burned. She clenched both eyelids shut tightly and tried to calm her breathing.

The fax machine was printing out the eighth page of the requested document. There would be nine pages in all, and the man stood across the room looking out the window, patiently waiting for it to finish. The last piece of paper rolled out and fell gently on top of the other sheets. The humming of the fax stopped, and he turned around. He was in a thin man of average height. Gray had mostly taken over his once brown hair. His crooked yellowing teeth shined in the morning sunlight as he smiled. Walking slowly over to the desk, he glanced back outside. Beautiful day. He sat down and picked up the stack of papers. The top of the first page read: Individual Profile: SALLY LYNN BENTON He was pleased. “Hello Sally. Nice of you to join us,” he said out loud as he flipped through.

“God please, help me Sally!” The cord on the lamp had come all the way out. It was sticky with blood, as were her bare feet. The hole in the floor was quite big now. Probably big enough for her daddy to fit through. But, he was too far down. The rocks under his feet had crumbled away. He was jumping to try and reach it. “Give me your hand Sally!” Little Sally put her arm down in the hole as far as she could. He jumped, and missed. He jumped again and fell. And then their hands met. He was squeezing her wrist so tight that she screamed. His weight immediately pulled her head and shoulders down against the concrete. She thought her arm would rip right out of its socket. She only weighed eighty pounds. He weighed a hundred and eighty. She couldn’t pull her dad up out of his hole. They both knew it.

Tom listened at the bedroom door. “Okay. I don’t hear anything.” John put his ear against the wood to make sure. “I say we split up. Cindy, you come with me. Tom, you and Bobby are together. We’ll take upstairs. You guys go downstairs. Okay?” He opened the door slowly and looked down the hallway both directions. They left and headed down the hall. Sally was lying on her belly. The thumping of her heart was shaking her whole body. The two men walked through the library and into the next room. Sally stayed where she was. As soon as they found her and the laser missing, they’d be back. They ran back into the room. One of them was talking on his walkie-talkie. “We have a problem sir. The girl is gone and she has the laser.” His eyes went all around the room. He didn’t see her on the upper level. A voice came back to him. “Shit! You find her now! Do you understand me?” “Yes sir.” Both men rushed out the way they came, with guns drawn. Sally raised up shaking. Oh God, oh Jesus. John and Cindy were in another bedroom. They had looked around quickly and were about to leave. “Phone!” Cindy picked up the receiver. John had been so preoccupied with looking for Sally he’d totally forgotten about calling the police. She held it up to her ear. Some one was already talking. They heard the click of her phone. She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “Shit.” She whispered, “There’s somebody already on here.” The man’s voice spoke to her, “Sally, is that you?” Cindy froze. “You’re quite an inventive girl, escaping like that.” Thank you God. Sally’s alive. John was getting nervous. “Come on, hurry.” Cindy said nothing. The voice again, “Who were you trying to call, Sally? Ordering a pizza? Hmmm?” Cindy hung up. “Sally escaped. She’s alive, and they’re looking for her too.” She waited a moment and then picked up the phone again. She had to call the police. The line was still open. He had left it off the hook. Damn it. A man in a black suit was standing in the doorway when they turned around. He had a shotgun. “Freeze assholes.” John turned pale and thought he might pass out. Cindy screamed. Tom and Bobby searched the downstairs one room at a time. They went through the kitchen, bedrooms, offices, and the dining room. They didn’t find anyone. “Where the hell is everybody?” Tom opened another door. It was a big walk-in closet. There were two rows of metal shelves with boxes stacked on top. There was a coat rack with numerous jackets and long winter coats hanging on it. And in the back, behind everything else was a person unconscious, duck taped to a wheelchair. They went in and closed the door. “Shit! Is he dead?” “No. He’s breathing. Looks like he got cracked on the head pretty hard though.” He had a big lump and a cut on his scalp. His hair was matted with blood. Tom pulled a small knife out of his pocket and unfolded the blade. He cut the tape on the underneath side. It still appeared that he was bound and unable to get out of the chair. “There,” Tom said, “now if he wakes up, he can get loose.” Bobby was videotaping. “We’re just gonna leave him here?” “Yeah. I think that’s best for now. We’ll come back for him after we find Sally.”

Sally yelled down into the hole, “Daddy! Let go daddy! Please!” But he wouldn’t. He hung on tight, dangling from his daughter’s aching arm. “It’s your fault Sally. You did this to me.” “No, daddy, please!” She could feel his thick fingers slipping. She pulled up as hard as she could. His grip came loose and he fell back down on the hard ground. At that point, she knew she was dreaming. She knew full well that her daddy was already dead. But that knowledge wasn’t enough to make it stop. The nightmare continued. He cried out in pain when he hit the rocks at the bottom. Sally peered down into the darkness, “Daddy!” “Why did you do it, Sally? Why?” The crimson mist was coming for him. It poured out of every crack in the walls. It moved down into the hole. When it finished with her father, she knew it would come back for her.

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