Vicki turned her head slightly. "There's a car coming," she said, standing up.
"You have psychic powers, too?" SarahBeth demanded as Vicki climbed up on a cabinet to look out the window next to the front door.
"No," Vicki said, pulling aside the curtain and peering out, "but these ears aren't just for show. And I am here as security." By then they all heard the car pull up and stop. "U-town would be pretty fucked if . . . Oh, fucking shit!"
"What is it?" Marshall demanded as Perry reached for his baseball bat. "Police? Army?"
"Worse," Vicki said, letting the curtain close as they heard the steps on the small ramp up to the front door. "It's my mother."
There was a knock at the door and Perry went to open it.
Sam Little stepped in first, shaking Perry's hand. He had added a small beard since Jan Sleet and Marshall had seen him last, but otherwise he looked about the same.
Alexandra Ross looked very different. Her hair was short and black, flecked with gray and her face was lined. She was still tall and thin, dressed in black slacks and trenchcoat over a man's white shirt.
Once she stepped inside, hand extended to Perry, obviously about to speak, she saw Jan Sleet and Marshall and stopped. She did not immediately see Vicki, who was still crouching on the cabinet and hidden from her by the open door. Then she saw SarahBeth and her face grew hard.
"What are you doing here, Nicky?" she asked in a low voice.
"She lives here," Vicki said, jumping down in front of Alex. Her small face was stony. "Who invited you?"
"Oh, Jesus," SarahBeth said, her face drained of blood.
Terry Nelson looked down at SarahBeth. She smiled a wintery smile. "I guess I was right about you all along, Nicky," she said.
SarahBeth just stared. It was impossible to tell if she was even aware she'd been addressed.
The transformation had been immediate and complete, Terry Nelson now stood where Alexandra Ross had been. Her hair was shoulder-length and blonde, and she was wearing a tan sweater and dark brown slacks.
And then the lights went out.
there's something
wrong