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A fourth man was in the lobby Lisa had met him earlier bald, florid-faced deputy naest desk,the night, for a couple of legal-size sheets of paper were filled with ain Fred raised one hand in greeting, then snatched up the receiver
Lisa went directly to the restrooms, which were tucked into one corner of the lobby;
SNOW BUNNIES SNOW BUCKS
That cuteness was out of sync with the rest of the Hilltop Inn
She pushed through the door ed safe territory because they had no s and could be entered only through the lobby, where there were always guards The woe and clean, with four stalls and sinks The floor and walls were covered hite cerae of the floor and around the top of the walls
Lisa used the first stall and then the nearest sink As she finished washing her hands and looked up at the le
He was standing behind her, eight or ten feet away, in thearound, sure that solass Surely he wasn’t really there
But he was there Naked Grinning obscenely
His face had been restored: the heavy jowls, the thick-lipped and greasy-looking ish nose, the little quick eyes The flesh was ain
Ile stepped between her and the door His bare feet ainst the tile floor
Sole see…
Why didn’t they just open the door and cole extended his ar
Frole She had caught hiht her attention was elsewhere, and the expression in his eyes had been unsettling
"Come here, sweet stuff," he said
She looked at the door and realized no one was pounding on it She was only hearing the frantic thule licked his lips
Lisa suddenly gasped, surprising herself She had been so totally paralyzed by the otten to breathe
"Come here, you little bitch"
She tried to screale touched himself obscenely
"Bet you’d like a taste of this, huh?" he said, grinning, his lips ain, she tried to screaain, she couldn’t She could barely wrench each badly needed breath into her burning lungs
He’s not real, she told herself
If she closed her eyes for a few seconds, squeezed thehtly shut and counted to ten, he wouldn’t be there when she looked again
"Little bitch"
He was an illusion Maybe even part of a drea to the bathroohtmare
But she didn’t test her theory She didn’t close her eyes and count to ten She didn’t dare
Wargle took a step toward her, still fondling himself
He isn’t real He’s an illusion
Another step
He isn’t real, he’s an illusion
"Come on, sweet stuff, let me nibble on them titties of yours"
He isn’t real he’s an illusion he isn’t real he’s
"You’re gonna love it, sweet stuff"
She backed away froot, sweet stuff Real cute"
He continued to advance
The light was behind him now His shadow fell on her
Ghosts didn’t throw shadows
In spite of his laugh and in spite of his fixed grin, his voice became steadily harsher, nastier "You stupid little slut I’ood Better than any of theonna be able to walk right for a hen I’h with you, sweet stuff"
His shadow had coulfed her
Her heart slammed so hard that it seemed about to tear loose, Lisa backed up farther, farther-but soon collided with the wall She was in a corner
She looked around for a weapon, so
Each breath was harder to draw than the one before it She was dizzy and weak
He isn’t real He’s an illusion
But she couldn’t delude herself any longer, she couldn’t believe in the dreath frolared at her He swayed from side to side, and he rocked back and forth on the balls of his bare feet, as if some mad-dark-private music swelled and ebbed and swelled within hi drea?
Two seconds, four, six, ten
Still, his eyes remained closed
She felt herself carried away in a whirlpool of hysteria
Could she slip past him? While his eyes were closed? Jesus No He was too close To get away, she would have to brush against hiainst him? No God, that would snap him out of his trance or whatever this was, and he would seize her, and his hands would be cold, dead-cold She could not bring herself to touch hi behind his eyes Wriggling er conformed to the curvature of his eyeballs
He opened his eyes
They were gone
Beneath the lids lay only empty black sockets
She finally screa Breath passed out of her in an express train rush, and she felt her throat working convulsively, but there was absolutely no sound that would bring help
His eyes
His empty eyes
She was certain that those hollow sockets could still see her They sucked at her with their erin had not faded
"Little pussy," he said
She screamed her silent scream
"Little pussy Kiss ht, those bone-rilimmer of malevolent awareness
"Kiss me"
No!
Let me die, she prayed God, please let le said urgently, bursting into a giggle
He reached for her
She pressed hard against the unyielding wall