Dagger Key and Other Stories

It was not a room into which he was admitted upon opening the door, but a corridor that appeared to be endless, an unrelieved perspective of black doors and black walls, black floors and ceiling, the surfaces of the boards shiny like newly exposed veins of coal. He received a distinct impression of menace from each door he passed, and he wondered if his ability to apprehend such a psychic reek had been enhanced by his mortal transition. He walked for what must have been twenty minutes. The black perspective continued to recede. If there was an end to the corridor, he had made no appreciable progress toward it, and he realized that he would have to pick one of the doors and deal with whatever lay behind it. But before he could choose, Grace spoke from close behind him, giving him a start, just as she had their first morning on the beach.

“Hello, Roy,” she said.

She was standing no more than fifteen feet away, two of the lanky gray hominids crouched at her side, flanking her like faithful hounds. Her hair was loose about her shoulders, but otherwise she was as always, dressed in jeans and a sweater. Her attitude, however, betrayed no hint of anxiety, and her smile was an act of disdainful aggression. She absently trailed the fingers of her left hand across the scalp of one of the uglies, and it trembled, rolling its sunken eyes toward her.

“Grace…” Stunned, unable to match her coolness, her poise, with anything he knew about her, Shellane was at a loss for words.

“Roy!” She spoke his name in a husky mockery of passion and laughed, her laughter lasting a touch long to be the record of any wholesome emotion. That laugh resolved some of his questions. Not in detail, yet it supplied enough of an answer to make him suspect that his view of her was based on a fundamental misconception.

“Thanks for getting rid of Avery,” she said. “That was sweet of you.” Her tone grew chilly. “All your self-involvement is such a shuck! You’re too much of a coward to admit you’re a conscienceless bully, so you contrive moral dilemmas to hide the truth from yourself. I knew you’d find a way to kill him. It’s who you are.” She gave her hair a toss. “Actually, things couldn’t have worked out better. I can’t have Avery, but I’ve got someone like him to play with. You’ll be much more amusing. Avery wasn’t a deep thinker, but you…you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to understand where you are and what’s really happening. Am I merely an unhappy woman who’s been empowered by death, or was Grace a facade, a disguise used by a creature beyond your comprehension? You’ll drown yourself in that crap.”

Shellane remained speechless, unable to believe that he had been so wrong about her. She looked away, as if made uncomfortable by his stare.

“Come on,” she said after a while. “You must have known deep down no one could love something like you.”

“This…us…It was all about revenge?”

“You say that as if it were trivial. Revenge is beautiful. I can speak with authority on the subject. Haven’t you been hurt by anyone? Didn’t you want to fuck her up? Tear her life apart…like what she did to you? If you’re not feeling that now, you will be soon, I promise. Don’t underestimate the value of revenge. I imagine the thought of it is all that’s going to keep you sane in the years ahead.”

Incredulous, he said, “Why me? How did you lead me here? To the lake?”

“It’s nothing I did. You did it. You found me, you found the house. All your life you’ve been looking for a place that fit you perfectly. That’s how you saw it, anyway. The truth is, you were looking for a suitable punishment.” She tipped her head coquettishly and said, “And here you are!”

“But what did…?”

“No, no, no!” She waggled her forefinger at him. “No more clues. I want you to figure it out for yourself. If you can. I’m not sure I understand everything. But understanding’s overrated, Roy. Try and stay in the moment.”

Maybe, he thought, the desire for revenge had been so strong in her, she had failed to notice what had transpired between them.

“Grace,” he said. “Listen, I can still take us out of here.”

“I don’t want to leave. Don’t you get it? I’m the bitch queen of this little slice of heaven. I’m not about to give up what I’ve won.”

The uglies strained forward at her side, craning their necks toward Shellane, making whimpering sounds.

“Know what hell is, Roy? Hell is repetition. Having to repeat what you did in life forever. When I came here, when I saw all these fucked-up, defeated people, I swore I’d break the mold. I was fed up with taking a beating. But what you did in life was run, and I don’t see how you’re going to change that.” She patted the uglies’ heads with rough affection. “I think the boys here could use a little exercise. How about it? Want to give them a run?”