Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

HAUNTING THE DEAD
RICK CHILLOT
“What?” Ed drops the doll in revulsion. The hair has
been pulled out of its head, and its eyes have been
removed. Its face is partially melted, leaving no trace of
the original features. Lips, nose, cheeks and ears are
blurred together in a single swirl of flesh-colored plastic.
Someone has drawn crude new features on it: black
dots for eyes, an inverted seven of a nose, a slash line for
a mouth, not quite curved enough to be smiling.
“That’s mine.” When Ed looks up he sees a young
girl, perhaps ten or eleven years old, glaring at him. She
has a dark complexion and frizzy black hair tied back
with a single green ribbon. She wears jeans, a pale red
T shirt, and sneakers much too big for her. Her head is
cocked and her lips are set in a defiant expression.
“That’s mine,” she says again, putting her hands to her
lips. “I’m sorry,” Ed answers her. “I didn’t know.” She
says nothing, shifting her attention from his face to the
doll at his feet and again to him. “Uh, my name’s Ed,”
he says to her, taking a step back from the doll. He
smiles. “I’m a little jumpy today. You startled me. Are
you staying here at the hotel? Can you tell me—”
“I’ve been waiting for you to come out of there.
What took you so long? He wants to see you right
away.” She bends down and scoops up the doll. “Well?
What are you waiting for?”
“Whoa. Um… I think you’d better slow down,
kiddo. I’m sort of having a bad day here. I have no idea
what you’re talking about….”
“My name is Tina, not kiddo. It’s really Christina
but everybody calls me Tina.”
“Okay, Tina.” Ed smiles. He often finds talking with
children more pleasant than talking to adults. “So, do
you happen to know what city we’re in?”
She gives him a disgusted look. “Don’t you know
anything? Or are you trying to trick me?”
“Why would I do that?”
“I think maybe you’re not really the one we want,
but Mr. Goodman says so, and he’s real smart. So let’s
go already before some smilers find us.”
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