Chapter Ten: The Empty Seat
Henrietta Bradford didn't do guilt. Still, as the skies grew dark and the miles rolled by she couldn't stifle her uneasiness. She glanced at the empty space beside her, the passenger seat of her small sedan.
The money was waiting for her in Boston. She had earned every penny by scouring the college campus, selecting someone suitable, and finding a new source of nourishment for the Old Ones. It wasn't easy, finding the right girl and then luring her to Dunwich Manor. Unwilling to dwell on Julia's fate, the Professor's thoughts drifted back to their first encounter on that rainy night six months ago.
"Your bus is running late, I see. Have you had dinner, my dear?"
"Actually, I'm starving!" Picking her out of the crowd, and noticing the hungry look on the girl's face, Henrietta had invited her to a seedy diner just off campus. Watching Julia Tyler devour a double burger, a side salad, and a large order of fries told her just how long it had been since the hard-working undergraduate's last meal.
"Sure, my dad sends me money now and then," Julia said, casually dipping her golden French Fries into a pool of blood-red ketchup. "But since he met super-slutty Estelle and moved out of state we don't see much of each other. And with Mom gone since I was six . . ." The cheerful blue eyes that had been sparkling a moment ago were clouded over with sadness.
"I understand, dear." There were kids like Julia on every college campus. They were the ones who fell through the cracks, the everyday kids who wouldn't be missed. Most professors just ignored them. But Henrietta had very special plans for the cheerful, bright-eyed girl. She made her a teaching assistant.
Julia was not only willing, she was grateful. She took to Henrietta's routine at once, typing, filing, and taking notes, arranging everything to fit her professor's busy schedule. Henrietta realized that it would be hard to find a replacement.
Darkness and heavy rain made the driving increasingly difficult. As she guided her car along the winding mountain roads, Henrietta battled a sense that she was driving to her doom. But the bargain had been struck. And really, what choice did she have? She couldn't simply turn around and ride to the rescue!
Julia had been claimed by the Old Ones. Her life was to be snuffed out in gradual stages as her youth and vitality were slowly suctioned off to feed the ever-greedy needs of those who waited. Henrietta had never seen their true faces. Nobody ever had. Yet she understood the nature of the ageless horror that lived beneath the wrinkles and the aged flesh of Caroline Dunwich. It was better to go back to Boston alone than to face the wrath of the Old Ones. No human force could stand against eternal and unspeakable evil.
Henrietta glanced at the empty seat beside her, even though it was dangerous to take her eyes off the road. She had to accept the fact that Julia was gone. Soon she would be rich enough to leave lecturing behind forever. She could travel abroad. She could focus on her research. And there would be other young women. Henrietta knew that in spite of her secret hopes, Julia had never really belonged to her. The girl wanted boring things, like a husband and a home and children. But it didn't matter what she wanted. Julia belonged to the Old Ones now.
It was while she was telling herself that Julia would never be hers that Henrietta Bradford lost control of her car and went skidding off the narrow mountain road. Her last thought was that the money would never have made her happy anyway.