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"Terry?"

Terry Wolfe stiffened as he heard the tiny voice behind hiid and he stared forward, instantly afraid to turn and look

"Terry…?" asked the voice

He stared at the closed door of the elevator, too terrified to even ht with soned acceptance, this is the way it happens First the dreams, then the hallucinations, and finally the voices This is how people become insane This is what it feels like when your mind dies Oh God!

"Terry, please…"

"Go away!" he hissed between gritted teeth He brushed a hand behind hi away a cat "You’re not here!"

"Terry, please…look athis teeth The elevator stopped at his floor, but the doors refused to open He stabbed the buttons but they remained cold and dark

"Just look at me…look what happened to me"

Behind him she shifted and now he could see her hazy reflection in the stainless steel of the closed elevator door A sed and tattered green dress Even though the reflection was smeared and distorted, he could see her face, see the slashes on it, the blood that welled fro to the matted red curls

"Oh…God…" he breathed and pressed his eyes shut against the sight; tears struggled out from under his eyelids and burned their way down his cheeks "I’m so sorry…please…"

"Terry, I don’t want to o away!"

"I can’t, Terry You know that" The voice was a little girl’s voice, but the words and the manner of speech were far older than that

"For the love of God, why can’t you leave me in peace?"

"God?" she echoed with soft mockery in her voice "God didn’t save me, Terry God didn’t save you, either And God won’t save this town Don’t you understand yet? He’s not dead, Terry"

He almost turned, almost wheeled around to face her "What? What did you say?"

"He’s not dead, Terry," she said quietly, but there were echoes of sadness and of fear in her voice "He’s still there, Terry Still there after all these years"

"No! That’s not true"

"Yes, Terry It is and you know it He’s still there--still here!--and he is going to start it all over again"

"No!"

"Yes All of it, over again All the hurting, all the dying Can’t you s back, Terry, but this ti dead has er" Her voice was so old now, ancient with cynical grief "You thought he was a ht--you’ve seen it in your dreams And you knohat he wants from you, what he wants you to be You see that, too You see that every time you look in the mirror"

"Shut up! Please!"

"You can stop him"

"I can’t stop him! How could I ever stop hi me?" she offered "I know, Terry, but you tried You did try, and I love you for it But he hurt me, and he hurt you, and then the Bone Man came and hurt him"

"Killed him, you -​old voice "Don’t you understand? Evil never dies…it just waits, and it gets stronger in the dark He can’t die He isn’t like other people He isn’t real"