Hell Within -- Chapter Five: The Humanist -- Scene 3

-3-

Later on that evening, after she’d checked the bathroom thoroughly for hidden cameras; Mandy drew herself a bath and sank down into the steaming tub of water taking care to keep the cast on her arm out of it.

She liked the feel of this old building when Paul wasn’t around. The bathtub, one of those old-fashioned ones with legs reminded her of the one in her Grandmother’s house, and there was a kindness all about the place.

She shut her eyes and immersed her entire head as she did long ago in the bathtub in her grandmother’s house, and remained underwater until her lungs felt as though they were about to burst.

When she rose up, a sound downstairs startled her. Every muscle in her body tensed. It sounded like one of those old doorbells that you ring by twisting a knob.

When the sound came again, she realized it for what it really was -- a telephone.

She jumped out of the tub, wrapped a towel around herself and trotted back through the apartment and down the stairs into the area housing the practice.

The staircase led down into the waiting room. She flipped the lights on and proceeded on into the narrow hallway of white walls that led to a door at the end which opened into the room where Dr. Ambrose saw clients.

She opened the door, walked inside, and went over to the mahogany desk without cutting the lights on, and then she picked up the receiver.

"Family Psychology, how may I help you?" she said.

But she was too late. There was nothing on the other end but dead air.

She frowned and hung the phone back on its cradle, and looked around.

Suddenly, she had a very bad feeling. She felt as though she were being watched.

She peered out the window on the wall opposite her with the view of BMHI. Few cars were in the parking lot of the Institute now, and amber street lights cast a yellow hue on the stucco building and its parking lot.

Then a harsh banging on the front door back in the waiting room caused her to nearly jump out of her skin. She dropped to her knees below the desk looking in the direction of the narrow hallway.

But from where she was crouched she could see nothing but one of the maple end tables in the waiting room holding magazines and a ceramic lamp.

The banging came again.

It was as though someone was beating on the door with a cane.

"I know you’re in there," a voice screamed.

She knew that voice.

It was Him.

She lay flat on the floor now taking care not to make a noise, and tucked herself under the desk. She nearly had a heart attack when a dish crashed in the sink in the apartment above.

The furnace kicked on sending a cloud of warm air rushing through the bottom of her towel from the vent beneath Dr. Ambrose’s desk.

In a moment, the banging stopped.

But she felt him. He was still here.

She turned her head the opposite direction and looked through the window overlooking BMHI.

Then a dark form thudded against the window.

Davy stood on the grassy bank outside with his hands cupped against the window peering in.

Mandy was paralyzed. She lay in place as still as a cadaver eyeing him.

He took a few steps the other way and then cupped his hands and peered in over the Victorian chairs couch and fireplace.

At last, he pounded his fist against the window, turned away and rubbed his face. Then he stalked back around the other side of the practice.

In a moment, she heard a car door slam and the engine of his old Custom Deluxe revved to life. And he barked his tires out of the parking lot. Then silence returned.

Mandy released the breath she was holding.

The phone rang above her causing her to bump her head on the bottom of the desk. She crawled out from under it and lifted the receiver.

"Hello," she said, forgetting where she was.

"Are you safe?" Dr. Ambrose said.

"What?" she said. She couldn’t believe her ears.

"Is Davy gone?"

"How did you know?"

"I have a friend looking out for you. It was me that called before."

"Who’s looking out for me?"

"A security guard at the apartment complex across the street."

"What’s his name?"

"Jude Ledbetter. Anyway, it seems you were right about Davy."

She nodded. "I told you."

"You can gloat later. When I hang up, I want you to dial 911 and get the police out there."

She bit her fingernails. "Do you think that’ll stop him?"

"Probably not. I think you’re not going to be safe until he’s behind bars. The restraining order’s only going to piss him off."

"What does he want from me?"

Dr. Ambrose sighed on the other end. "He’s on something. He’ll go home, work himself into a frenzy, and when he comes back, he’s not going to let a little thing like a locked door stop him."

"What’re we gonna do?"

"I don’t feel comfortable with you staying there until he’s in jail. I’m fifty miles away, but I’ll get there as fast as I can."

"Where am I gonna go?"

"I’ll bring you here."

A pang shot through Mandy’s chest.

"I don’t know if that’s a good idea."

"I understand your dilemma but I’ll assure you that Annandale is big enough for the both of us for the time being."

Mandy scratched her head and paced.

"Are you gonna trust me?"

Mandy sighed. "Okay."

"Alright, when I hang up, call the police. Then go upstairs and get dressed."

She looked down at her towel and suddenly felt naked. She scanned the room for anything that might contain a hidden camera.

"How did you know I wasn’t dressed?" she snapped.

"It’s midnight. You’re in your night clothes."

"Oh."

"Call the police, get dressed, and pack anything you’ll need to get you through a few days at Annandale. I’ll have you back in time for school tomorrow, and tomorrow night, you can drive yourself."

(Continue to scenes 4)