Prologue

A colorful ball rolling down the street on a warm summer day is one of those things that doesn’t really stick in people’s memory much ten minutes after they’ve seen it. Yet it is what Carl's mother has always berated herself over for not paying more attention to on that cruel day her boy was taken from her.

Where did the ball come from? Where did it end up? More importantly… Whose ball was it? Shouldn’t a mother know these things? Shouldn't she keep track of even the most inconspicuous details in her child’s life? Especially when it meant that her kid following that rolling ball down the street was the last anyone ever saw of him?

We must leave this heartbroken mother to her eternal self blame and go back in time to follow that ball to its destination. It’s rolling down the cobble stoned street that makes up Hayman Avenue, it crosses over Derry Street with no problems (traffic is always light in this part of town) and it is now making its way to the next intersection; Rillington Street. This is where little Carl Landers takes up the chase of the blue and yellow ball, happily rolling towards adventures unknown. He’s laughing as he’s trying to keep up with the silly ball and even though his mother has told him ever so often never to leave his street, he just has to take the turn down Jacaranda Drive since the funny ball has decided to go that way. This street is steeper than his own and his short little legs have to pump really fast so he doesn’t fall on his face. Mommy would be so angry if he got his new shorts dirty!

As he is making his progress down the hill, the houses are getting a little grayer, the yards are getting a little shadier and the overall light is getting a little gloomier. This is the old part of town where the social elite of Remington first settled. Nowadays it’s mostly the same people’s poorer offspring clinging to a residence they can’t afford to upkeep. The ball cares about none of this, and keeps rolling on with Carl still panting to keep up behind. At the bottom of the hill the street is not so steep anymore, and soon enough the ball is slowing down to a crawl, bouncing lightly on little rocks along the sidewalk. As it comes to a stop where the very street ends in a dead end in front of a large two storey house with huge dark trees looming tall overhead Carl can finally lay his grubby little hands on it.

He picks the ball up and raises it happily to his face. What a prize to take home and show Ronnie! He will be so jealous! He had better go before mommy realizes he left the street and gives him a scolding though. As he turns to trot all the way back he realizes he is no longer alone in the cul-de-sac. Two girls are standing at the gate to the big dark house looking at him. They are dressed in the exact same blue dress and they have the same face. Carl doesn’t know what to do. Maybe the ball is theirs? Will they call him on it? Can he fight girls? Mommy says not to hit girls, but who would know? There is nobody around. Before he has a chance to act on his insecurities the little girl on the left speaks up.

“How do you do. That is a pretty ball you have!”

Her voice is light and pleasant and Carl relaxes a little. It was just the overall spookiness of this unknown street that made him feel a little anxious. She smiles at him and the other girl points at the ball. “Do you want to play? We have a big backyard!” Her voice is the exact same as her sister’s. Like a summer rain when you’re too hot.

Carl knows he shouldn’t. He has to get back to his street and he only has so much time to do it unnoticed. “I really can’t. I have to go home. I don’t live on this street.”

“That’s alright,” says the first girl, “we can play anyway. Only for a short while of course.” She smiles again and elbows her sister. “What do you think Elizabeth? You think he is afraid to play with girls because we are better at playing ball than he is?”

The other girl giggles and claps her hands, jumping up and down. “Yes Sarah! HAHAHA! He’s afraid of girls.” Not a mean laughter though… A nice happy laughter.

Carl feels he can’t just walk away now and let the girls feel they got the best of him. What harm can just a few bounces do anyway? “Alright. But I really have to go soon!” he says and shifts the ball from hand to hand in a way he thinks must look most impressive to little girls. Both girls giggle in unison and open the gate wide.

“Come!” yells the first one, was it Sarah? Or Elizabeth? They look so alike. “Last one in the backyard is a Bone Head!” With that she takes off dashing into her front yard, running surprisingly quick for a girl. Carl is not about to lose this race so he follows as fast as he can. Both girls are slightly ahead of him turning the corner into the backyard but on the gravel path leading up to the back porch he passes both of them.

“Ha! I beat you!” he calls out triumphantly, “And I gave you a head start and everything!”

“Yes you did. You are very fast.” says one of the twins, does it matter which one? Carl can not tell them apart to save his life.

He turns around to check the yard out. It’s large and grassy and totally encircled by those huge dark trees forming almost a roof over the whole back garden, making it very shady. It is really not a very summery looking place. Kind of dark really. “Maybe I have to go after all.” he says, “I know my mommy will be mad at me if I’m late.”

Both twins look at him with the same disappointed face. “Can’t you stay just a little longer?” says one. Sarah? “Just a tiny bit longer?” says the other one. Elizabeth? “We have a doggie you know!”

“Yes! The cutest doggie you ever saw!”  There's an urgent tone in her voice. Like a promise of great fun.

Now he’s interested. He always asks for a dog and his mommy always says no because he’s “a lurjec” or something. He has no idea what a lurjec is, but it sure is not him. That’s just something mommy says so he won’t have a dog that will make a mess. Mommy hates messes. Sometimes Carl hates his mommy. “Really?” he says, “What kind of dog?”

The twins shine their happy faces toward him again. “The cute kind! Right Sarah?”

“Yes Elizabeth… The cutest kind ever!”

The twins start walking the steps up to the porch, he hesitates for just a second (what was that whisper?) and then follows. A dog! He loves dogs! He will never ever tell his mommy about this. Maybe not even Ronnie. He’s such a tattle tale sometimes. He’s OK for a little brother but does he ever shut up?

The boards creak under their feet as they make their way over to the screen door. The first girl (or second?) opens it and disappears inside with the other one quickly behind. Before the door closes on him he slips inside as well. The kitchen is dead quiet, no mommy cooking and no smells of food, but he is not given a chance to really look around as one of the twins grabs his hand and leads him out another door. Her hand is cold as ice. He pulls it back, he doesn't want to hold no girl's hand, and she giggles and rushes off ahead of him. He doesn't want to run, since he knows it's rude to run in other people's houses. Especially people he doesn't know.

The twins are already half way up the stairs at the far end of a big dark room, gesturing for him to come along. He sees dust dancing in the yellow air from the few sunbeams trying to find their way in through drawn drapes and pulled shades. It is very quiet in here. Spooky quiet... He doesn’t feel so sure anymore. There is something just not right about all this. Nothing he can really put his finger on, but… something. “Are you coming?” Elizabeth/Sarah asks mockingly from the top of the staircase. That light tone of voice never making it sound like a taunt though. More of a tease. The other girl giggles, hand held in front of her mouth.

“I’m coming!” he says, deciding to get this over with. He will pet the dog and then run home as fast as he can. Mommy will never know.

“Over here! Come on!” The twins are out of sight now, having turned a corner down the hallway at the top of the stairs, and as he climbs the last step he realizes that he can’t hear them anymore.

“Sarah? Elizabeth? Where are you?” He turns the corner and stares down the long hallway. No light here. Just deep shadows… Two doors on each side and one in the far end. He starts getting a little concerned now. Where did they go? What door? What if he opens the wrong one and their daddy or mommy is in there? He hasn’t been invited by a grown up so he really is kind of impolite just walking around up here. That’s what mommy would say anyway. The uneasy feeling doesn’t go away so he decides to go back down the stairs and out the door. He has just started going down when he hears a door open from the hallway behind him.

“Aren’t you coming?” That light voice again… So full of play.

He turns around. Making his way back to that dreadful corner again, just peeking around it this time. One of the girls is sticking her head out the far right doorway. “What are you waiting for? The doggie wants to meet you!”

He steels himself and then marches quickly down the glum corridor, opens the door wider and gets inside the room. It is a bare room with only a big iron chair in the middle of the floor. The twins are flanking each side of the gruesome looking thing. He looks around for the dog. He really has to get going now. “Where is the dog?” he asks, feeling the atmosphere growing thicker for every moment he stays here.

“We used to have a doggie.” Elizabeth/Sarah says, her eyes now dark and foreboding. The life is out of her voice.

“A nice doggie. His name was Rufus.” Sarah/Elizabeth adds with a serious face.

“I have to go now. I want to go home.” Carl says, starting towards the door. The closed door. He didn’t close it. He was the last one in. He would never close a door behind him. He does NOT like closed doors. He reaches for the knob. It wiggles and rattles, but doesn’t give an inch. Locked! Furious, he turns to face the twins. “Let me out you trolls! I wanna go home to mommy!”

The sisters look at him, and then turn to each other as if he wasn’t there.

“Why does he want his mommy Sarah?”

“Because he is afraid Elizabeth.”

“But we get scared sometimes and we don’t have our Mommy anymore Sarah.”

“I know little sister. Daddy made Mommy an Angel. She is in heaven now.”

“It’s not FAIR that the Boy has a Mommy! It is not FAIR!”

“Sshhh… It is alright Elizabeth. The Boy doesn’t know any better.”

Through all this Carl is looking from first one, then to the other and back again. This is not happening! He can’t get out of this room and he’s stuck in here with these weirdo girls. He has to get out! “Help! Help me!” he hollers as he pounds on the door with both his little fists, that only minutes ago were happily wrapped around a colorful ball. “Lemme OUT!”

Behind him the conversation continues…

“Why is he screaming Sarah?”

“Because he feels something Bad is going to happen Elizabeth.”

“Well. He’s a stupid Boy. Of course something Bad is going to happen. We are in the Room with the Chair.”

“Yes Elizabeth, but he doesn’t know about the Chair.”

“Then he’s even stupider than I first thought Sarah!”

“Yes little sister. He’s a stupid Boy. Daddy will teach him to be smarter.”

Carl storms up to them, grabs Sarah (or Elizabeth) by her shoulders and screams in her face; “I wanna go home. I don’t care about your stupid chair. Lemme out!” He raises his hand to hit her, yes… hit a girl… he is that angry, when he is suddenly lifted off the ground by his hair. The pain is blinding and his eyes tear up as he screams in terror. A strong arm is carrying him towards the ceiling and then flings him across the room. He hits the far wall like a ton of bricks. Dazed and hurting all over he blinks the tears out of his eyes, too afraid to even whimper. He raises his streaked face to see who (or what) grabbed him and hurt him like that and his stomach turns to ice as he lays his eyes upon his destiny. He knows he is dead. Even at the age of six some things are just painfully true and downright inevitable. Warm piss is trickling down his pants, making a huge dark spot on the front of the crotch of his jeans.

“HAHA Sarah! Look! He wet himself! Like a baby!” The voice not so very summery anymore. Cold.

“Yes Elizabeth. Sshhh…” her voice even colder… Waiting for something…

Carl pays no attention to what they are saying anyway. He will never see his mommy again. He will never have a dog. He will never wrestle with Ronnie again or eat ice cream by the lions at the Fillbury Zoo again. All those happy days are over. The man in front of him with the big knife will see to that. See to that in a big way. He loses control of his bowels. The stench fills the room in matter of seconds. Mommy will be so upset he soiled his shorts.

“Eeewww Sarah! He pooped his pants!”

“Ssshhh. Be quiet Elizabeth!”

The huge man-thing, not particularly massive – but tall in a spidery kind of way, grabs him by his shoulders, picks him up like he’s a feather and slams his ass down on the seat of the chair. He feels his tailbone crack and he screams with pain!

“Shut up you little brat!” his tormentor’s voice roars and a hand smashes into his face, whipping his head to the left hard. Carl’s world is all pain and fear now. From far away he can hear the twins' constant babble, one asking questions, the other one hushing. He opens his left eye to find out how he’s going to die, his right eye is swollen shut. He sees his death and he knows in his heart, despite his young years, that it will take a long time. He’s not leaving this chair for a while. Daddy has plans for him…