Invisible Terror Collection by Bill Myers Page B

didn’t quite understand.
    “What do you want?”
    The image shimmered and grew more solid. Now it was possible to clearly see the girl’s face. She was puzzled, confused, and very, very frightened. Remembering the writing on the window, Becka tried again, this time in Spanish, “ ¿Quién es? ¿Qué quieres?”
    Before the girl could answer, another image suddenly rippled in the air and formed to her left. It seemed to be a handsome woman with long, beautiful hair. She wore an expensive black nightgown. Becka had only seen her once but recognized her immediately. It was Priscilla, the Ascension Lady.
    Priscilla looked to Becka with her tired, sad eyes and smiled.
    Then, turning her attention toward the girl, she knelt down and reached out her arms. It was an offer of help, of comfort. At first the girl resisted, afraid to come near. But the Ascension Lady waited patiently, making it clear that she was there to help.
    At last Juanita took a tentative step toward her. The Ascension Lady smiled broadly. Encouraged, the girl stepped closer. Then closer again. The Ascension Lady continued to smile, waiting.
    Another step, and then another. Now the little girl was standing directly in front of the woman. Becka watched as, with great tenderness, the Ascension Lady reached out and wrapped her arms around the helpless child.
    There was no missing the gentle affection. The woman looked over to Becka and smiled.
    But the smile suddenly froze. Her expression turned from joy to surprise … and then to horror. There was a tearing sound, as if something was ripped. The woman screamed, her voice shrill and agonizing as she grabbed her stomach and fell back from the girl.
    The little girl turned to Becka, confused, afraid, and looking very helpless. But in her hands were shredded pieces of the woman’s nightgown.
    The Ascension Lady was writhing on the floor, screaming, holding her stomach in agony. Juanita looked down at her with deep pity … and confusion. Then, without warning, she leaped on the woman and began beating her with powerful blows and clawing at her with suddenly razor-sharp fingernails. The woman screamed and tried to protect herself, but she was no match for the child’s superhuman strength and animal-like claws.
    Somehow, for a brief second, the Ascension Lady managed to pull herself free from the girl. That’s when her eyes found Becka’s.
    They were full of anguished pleading. “Help me,” she gasped, reaching for Becka. “Help — ” Before she could finish, the girl leaped on her again, and again she tore into the woman.
    Becka managed to shake herself from her horror. “Stop it!” she screamed. “You’re hurting her!”
    The girl did not hear.
    “I order you to stop!”
    Instead, Juanita reached out and, to Becka’s astonishment, picked up the woman, lifting her as easily as though she were a stuffed doll. She raised the Ascension Lady effortlessly over her head, then flung her across the room. Priscilla hit the back wall hard and slid to the floor in a daze. The girl looked puzzled over what she had done, as though confused at her own powers.
    Becka took a step closer and shouted. “You’re hurting her! I command you to stop!”
    Juanita paid no attention. She began searching the room, looking for something. Then she found it. The lamp on Becka’s nightstand. In a flash she leaped to it. She grabbed it, ripped off its shade, and bounded back to the Ascension Lady.
    For a moment she stood over the groaning woman, looking down at her with pity and compassion. Then slowly, sadly, she raised the lamp high over her head.
    Becka understood what was coming. Whether the child knew what she was doing or not, she had to be stopped. Becka was certain that if she didn’t do something, the girl would smash the lamp into the semiconscious woman. She stepped closer and angrily shouted, “Stop it! I command you to stop it and leave my room!”
    The little girl turned to her. This time her confusion was mixed