Afterlife - Douglas Clegg [54]
Amanda Hutchinson’s face became Matt’s face, but with the same long red hair.
He had carvings all over his skin.
But it wasn’t Matt. It was Hut. Hut with tattoos all over his body. Holding her arms down at her side while his enormous penis pounded her. And she felt herself opening in that space, between her legs, opening herself to his sex, to his forced entry, unlocking the doors for him, letting him through.
In her dream, she whispered, I want you inside me, Hut. I want you inside me.
3
She awoke, thinking she’d heard Livy cry out. It took her a minute to adjust to the darkness. She was used to this by now—the routine of Livy’s nightmares. She rolled out of bed, putting the terry bathrobe on, and padded down the hallway through the veiled darkness, punctuated by the numerous nightlights she’d scattered in the various outlets so that Livy could see her way to the bathroom without getting scared.
Right on schedule, Livy was standing in the hallway, her back against the wall. Julie flicked up the hall light. “Honey,” she said.
Livy looked up at her, her eyes wide. “I’m sorry, Mommy. It just scared me. I know it’s just dreams. But it seemed real.”
“Well, but doesn’t Dr. Fishbain talk to you about this?”
Livy nodded.
“Does it help?”
Livy nodded again. “But Dr. Fishbain doesn’t have
to sleep here.”
Then, Julie had an idea. “What if I could prove to you that there’s no ghost?”
“How?”
4
Julie enlisted Matt to help set up the old NannyCams that they’d used when Livy had been younger and before they’d discovered Laura Reynen as a sitter. Julie had loved the NannyCam—Mel had convinced her that all babysitters were potential child-abusers after Livy had been born (“it’s always on the news. Nannies can be bad.”) So Hut had, one day, brought home their first NannyCam, and Julie had discovered that, in fact, none of their sitters slapped the baby. It was the NannyCam that had given Julie the idea for getting the camcorder for Matt so that he’d have a way of expressing himself and having a fun hobby, as well.
They set up one of the NannyCams along the stairs, and then the other one at the entrance to Livy’s bedroom. Matt brought up the VCR from downstairs, and then she got the old one that was in the storage closet next to the linen closet. They tested them, since none of them ever watched VHS anymore, having gone to DVDs. Both machines worked fine. He set up the wires and cables, and put some tapes in each machine. “See, Livy? This one,” he pointed to the NannyCam in the hall, “goes to this VCR. And that one, in your room, goes to the other one. If anyone comes in, we’ll catch it on the cam.”
Livy went around lining up more nightlights, pulling them from the three bathrooms in the house, and then the ones that Julie had bought at Home Depot. “They’re like little soldiers,” Livy said.
“See? We’ll catch the ghost,” Matt said, attaching the NannyCam to a small block of wood to steady it.
“There’s no ghost,” Julie crossed her arms, a bit annoyed with Matt for saying it in front of his little sister.
Livy seemed thrilled to think that her bad dreams might end.
5
The first morning after they’d set the NannyCams up, Julie sat down with Livy and fast-forwarded through the resulting videotape in the rec room. The hall tape showed nothing but the sentry line of nightlights, occasionally punctuated by Matt coming out into the hall and walking sleepily to the bathroom. “He pees a lot!” Livy giggled.
She and Livy laughed while Matt sped up, walking like a fast-paced Charlie Chaplin up and down the hall to the bathroom. For fun, Julie showed it backward and then forward.
“See? Nobody.”
“Matt was funny,” Livy giggled. “Let’s make him walk fast again.”
“Okay,” Julie said. Then, she sped through the rest of the tape. “See? Nobody’s in the hall. No one in your room other than you.”
Livy shook her head. “He didn’t come last night.”
6
They repeated this morning ritual for the next several days, and Livy was thrilled to see Matt—or even herself—wander to the