The Dark Other by Stanley G. Weinbaum (new ebook reader .txt) 📕

any unknown terrors beyond death. She shook her head distractedly, and looked up to meet the eyes of Dr. Horker, who was watching her gravely in the doorway.

“Come on, Pat,” he said gently.

She rose, followed him down the stairs and out into the morning light. The driver of the ambulance stared curiously at her dishevelled, bedraggled figure, but she was so weary and forlorn that even the effort of brushing away the black strands of hair that clouded her smoke-dark eyes was beyond her. She slumped into the seat of the Doctor’s car and sighed in utter exhaustion.

“Rush it!” Horker called to the driver ahead. “I’ll follow you.”

The car swept into motion, and the swift cool morning air beating against her face from the open window restored some clarity to her mind. She fixed her eyes on the rear of the speeding vehicle they followed.

“Is there any hope at all?” she queried despondently.

“I don’t know, Pat. I can’t tell yet. When you closed your eyes, he half turned, dodged; the bullet entered his skull near the base, near the cerebellum. If it had pierced the cerebellum, his heart and breathing must have stopped instantly. They didn’t, however, and that’s a mildly hopeful sign. Very mildly hopeful, though.”

“Do you know now what that devil⁠—what the attack was?”

“No, Pat,” Horker admitted. “I don’t. Call it a devil if you like; I can’t name it any better.” His voice changed to a tone of wonder. “Pat, I can’t understand that paralyzing fascination the thing exerted. I⁠—any medical man⁠—would say that mental dominance of that sort doesn’t exist.”

“Hypnotism,” the girl suggested.

“Bah! Every psychiatrist uses hypnotism in his business; it’s part of some treatments. There’s nothing of fascination about it; no dominance of one will over another, despite the popular view. That’s natural and understandable; this was like⁠—well, like the exploded claims of Mesmerism. I tell you, it’s not humanly possible⁠—and yet I felt it!”

“Not humanly possible,” murmured Pat. “That’s the answer, then, Dr. Carl. Maybe now you’ll believe in my devil.”

“I’m tempted to.”

“You’ll have to! Can’t you see it, Dr. Carl? Even his name, Nick⁠—that’s a colloquialism for the devil, isn’t it?”

“And Devine, I suppose,” said Horker, “refers to his angelic ancestry. Devils are only fallen angels, aren’t they?”

“All right,” said Pat wearily. “Make fun of it. You’ll see!”

“I’m not making fun of your theory, Honey. I can’t offer a better one myself. I never saw nor heard of anything similar, and I’m not in position to ridicule any theory.”

“But you don’t believe me.”

“Of course I don’t, Pat. You’re weaving an intricate fairy tale about a pathological condition and a fortuitous suggestiveness in names. Whatever the condition is⁠—and I confess I don’t understand it⁠—it’s something rational, and those things can be treated.”

“Treated by exorcism,” said the girl. “That’s the only way anyone ever succeeded in casting out a devil.”

The Doctor made no answer. The wailing vehicle ahead of them swung rapidly out of sight into an alley, and Horker halted his car before the gray façade of Briggs General.

“Come in here,” he said, helping Pat to alight. “You’ll want to wait, won’t you?”

“How long,” she queried listlessly, “before⁠—before you’ll know?”

“Perhaps immediately. The only chance is to get that bullet out at once⁠—if there’s still time for it.”

She followed him into the building, past a desk where a white-clad girl regarded her curiously, and up an elevator. He led her into a small office.

“Sit here,” he said gently, and disappeared.

She sat dully in the chair he had indicated, and minutes passed. She made no attempt to think; the long, cataclysmic night had exhausted her powers. She simply sat and suffered; the deep scratches of fingernails burned in the flesh of her back, her cheek pained from the violent slap, and her head and jaw ached from that first blow, the one that had knocked her unconscious last evening. But these twinges were minor; they were merely physical, and the hurts of the demon had struck far deeper than any physical injury. The damage to her spirit was by all odds the more painful; it numbed her mind and dulled her thoughts, and she simply sat idle and stared at the blank wall.

She had no conception of the interval before Dr. Horker returned. He entered quietly, and began rinsing his hands at a basin in the corner.

“Is it over?” she asked listlessly.

“Not even begun,” he responded. “However, it isn’t too late. He’ll be ready in a moment or so.”

“I wish it were over,” she murmured. “One way or the other.”

“I too!” said the Doctor. “With all my heart, I wish it were over! If there were anyone within call who could handle it, I’d turn it to him gladly. But there isn’t!”

He moved again toward the door, leaning out and glancing down the hall.

“You stay here,” he admonished her. “Don’t try to find us; I want no interruptions, no matter what enters that mind of yours!”

“You needn’t worry,” she said soberly. “I’m not fool enough for that.” She leaned wearily back in the chair, closing her eyes. A long interval passed; she was vaguely surprised to see the Doctor still standing in the doorway when she opened her eyes. She had fancied him already in the midst of his labor.

“What will you do?” she asked.

“About what?”

“I mean what sort of operation will it need? Probing or what?”

“Oh,” he said. “I’ll have to trephine him. Must get that bullet.”

“What’s that⁠—trephine?”

He glanced down the hall. “They’re ready,” he said, and turned to go. At the door he paused. “Trephining is to open a little door in the skull. If your devil is in his head, we’ll have it out along with the bullet.”

His footsteps receded down the hall.

XXXII Revelation

“Is it over now?” queried Pat tremulously as the Doctor finally reappeared. The interminable waiting had left her even more worn, and her pallid features bore the marks of strain.

“Twenty minutes ago,” said Horker. His face too bore evidence of tension; moreover, there was a puzzled, dubious expression