Дмитрий Леонтьев – Don't trust anyone (страница 7)

“What is it?” she asked leafing through the book. Then she looked back at Denny.

“What’s wrong, darling?” she asked with amazement in her eyes.

“I…I found it yesterday and threw it away,” he began to weep. “And now it is back here again,” he added.

Amanda cast a glance at the book again.

“What a weird book! I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she added.

“It’s alive,” Denny said suddenly.

“Denny! Don’t be silly,” Amanda replied and held the book firmly in her hands.

“I’m afraid of it,” Denny whispered staring at his mother.

“Enough!” Amanda said. “Better tell me where you found it and why you brought it home?” she asked him.

“At night I woke up hearing a knocking sound under the bed,” he said looking scared. “And it really frightens me.”

“Denny,” she said “I know that you have a vivid imagination,” she added.

“Mummy! Please believe me,” he said through his tears.

Amanda began to stroke his hair and at last said, “Don’t worry, son! I’ll get rid of it today,” she added.

“Thank you, mum!” Denny thanked her in a trembling voice.

“I’ll be down in the kitchen waiting for you. It’s time to have breakfast,” she told him and left the room pressing the book to her breast.

CHAPTER 7

It was evening. “Thank you, mum!” Denny said standing up from the table.

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth and have nice dreams!” she answered.

Denny went straight to his bedroom to grab a change of underwear to put on after the bath.

Coming into the room, he noticed the lamp on the desk blink once.

Looking at the ceiling, he heard a rustling noise in his cupboard.

Feeling acute anxiety accumulating inside him, he decided not to go further into the bedroom and already turned around heading for the door when it slammed shut right in front of him.

“Mom!” he cried out.

The doors of the cupboard slowly began to open. Denny reached the door and started banging on it and shaking the handle violently trying to open it.

He was crying loudly now. The opening doors of the cupboard suddenly stopped moving and quickly slammed shut.

“Who is this?” he yelled.

The rustling noise repeated in the background. Denny, slowly and with tears in his eyes, turned around and saw a completely open window. The wind was blowing into the room shaking the curtains. Denny looked down on the floor and again saw the same book with its black cover.

“What do you want?” he asked terrified.

The wind opened the book cover.

Frightened and weeping, Denny carefully took the book in his hands.

On the first page, he saw himself holding this book in the abandoned house.

Denny wanted to turn his eyes away from the picture but could not. It was as if someone was hypnotizing him. He was so petrified that could not say a word.

Then Denny noticed that the pages in the book began flipping by themselves. He really did not understand what force did not let him avert his eyes from the book. He just could not help looking at it.

He was standing there in a daze. His eyes were dim. He felt that he was not able to think clearly any more. It was as if something had come over him and did not want to let go.

He was losing control of his mind. His heart began to beat faster and faster. The book exercised some magic power over him. It could force Denny’s mind to lose control of the situation.

Eventually, Denny rolled his eyes under the eyelids and collapsed on the floor.

• • • • • •

Amanda heard Denny crying upstairs and at once ran out of the kitchen.

“Denny! Open the door!” she shouted after several unsuccessful attempts to do this herself. But there was silence.

“Denny! Open the door!” she repeated trying to pull it open.

At last, the door gave in. Amanda quickly entered and nervously looked around. The room was empty and only the window was open with fog penetrating into the room.

“Denny! Denny!” she shouted and rushed towards the window. It was pitch dark outside.

Someone giggled behind her. Amanda turned her head in the direction of the laughter and froze from fear.

In the darkness of the room, she managed to see a pale boy standing and looking right into her eyes. She recognized him because before throwing the book, she looked through its pages. This boy was in one of the pictures of the book and he was standing now right in front of her.

The boy bent his head and rushed out of the room.

“Jesus!” she sobbed covering her mouth with her palm.

On the floor, in the middle of room, she detected the black book.

Amanda picked it up.

With trembling fingers she touched the cover and opened the book.

What she saw made her think that she was losing her mind. Angrily, she dashed the book against the table and ran out of her son’s bedroom and then out of the house. Inside the book, on every page, was her Denny.

CHAPTER 8

Fifteen years later, three school friends were riding their bicycles along a deserted street with abandoned houses.

They stopped near one of them.

“Hey,” one boy said. “Did you hear the rumor about this house?”

“No!” the other two boys answered.

“According to it, there was once living an insane woman whose son went missing. Local policemen thought that she had killed him and hid his body. Nobody was ever able to find it. Let’s check out the house!” he suggested.

• • • • • •

Coming inside the abandoned house they checked all the rooms there one by one. One of the boys came into the child’s bedroom and found a book with a black cover inside one of the cupboards. He took it out.

“Hey, guys!” he cheerfully called his friends. “Look at this! It looks interesting,” he said and turned the title page.

REVENGE RESURRECTED

CHAPTER 1

“20th May,” Kevin pronounced quietly putting his index finger on a wall calendar.

“Well,” he continued. “It means that in one week I’ll be free from this prison of a school,” he turned around to face his dog.

“Kevin,” a female voice called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, mum,” he answered and flopped onto his bed.