Child of Darkness by V. C. Andrews Read Free Book Online Page A

Prescott's going to fix it and make it look brand-new again," I said.
"Papa Prescott?" he said, grimacing with distaste. "That's what they want me to call him."
"Please," Noble said.
He turned around and put his hands on his hips. "They want me to be happy," I told him.
He shook his head.
"You won't be happy here, Celeste," he declared. "Don't ever think or imagine you will."
Then he turned and walked into the darkness of a comer and was gone.
"Noble," I called. "Noble!"
I must have been shouting because Nana Prescott came to my door quickly. She was in her nightgown, her blue-gray hair down to her shoulders. Silhouetted in the hall light, she looked like some deformed creature. Then I did scream.
Papa Prescott came quickly behind her, tying his robe as he approached.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. What's wrong, Celeste, dear?"
She flipped on the light. I was sitting up, staring at the comer in which Noble had disappeared. Tears were streaming down my cheeks.
"Was it a nightmare, dear?" Nana Prescott asked.
She approached me tentatively, hoping for some sign from me that I welcomed her comfort, but all I could do was stare at the corner and hope Noble would come back.
"What was it?" Nana asked now, stopping a foot from the bed. "Celeste?"
I didn't respond.
She turned to Papa Prescott and shrugged. "What should I do?"
"Celeste," he said more firmly. "What seems to be bothering you? Did something frighten you?"
Finally I turned to them and wiped my cheeks, flipping the tears to the side.
"Noble was here, and I'm afraid he won't come back," I said.
"Who?" Nana Prescott asked. "Did you say someone was here? Celeste?"
I didn't answer. I dropped myself back, my head on the pillow, and stared up at the ceiling.
"She must be having a dream. I think she's still in it," Papa Prescott said.
"Yes, that's it. Poor child. The hard times she's gone through as an orphan are unimaginable," Nana Prescott said, and finally came to my bed and fixed my blanket around me. "There, there, dear. Papa and I are right nearby if you need us. Would you like me to leave the door open?" she asked.
I looked at her.
"Yes," I said. "Leave it open. Maybe he'll return." "Maybe who will return?"
"Noble," I said. I loved saying his name, and it had been so long, so very long, since I had told it to any-one.
They looked at each other.
"She'll feel better in the morning," Nana Prescott forced herself to conclude.
"Yeah, we all will," Papa Prescott predicted, and they walked out, she pausing once to look back at me.
"Come back, Noble," I whispered. "I won't be happy here. I promise."
But he didn't appear again that first night. Nevertheless, I knew he was sulking somewhere in the shadows. I could feel him there. Afterward, I knew he was following me everywhere, too. He even followed me to the new school I was to attend, and after I had been assigned my desk and had been introduced to the class by my teacher, I spun around and caught him standing in the back of the classroom. He smirked, fell backward into the wall, and was gone.
Over the next few weeks, I never stopped looking for him. My teacher complained to me and then to the Prescotts that I wasn't paying attention, that I was very distracted. She told them she couldn't understand how I had been doing so well in school. My first grades on her tests were always failing, and whenever she called on me in class to answer a question, I would simply stare at her.
Nana Prescott continually asked me why I was doing so badly. She volunteered to read with me, but I knew that would make Noble even angrier, since it was what he always did with me. I told her I didn't need her to do that.
"Noble will help me," I said.
"Who is Noble?" she asked.
"My brother."
"Your brother, but where ... when do you see him?"
"Whenever he wants me to," I said.
She shook her head and busied herself with some household chore. Later, she and Papa Prescott talked about me. I could hear them speaking softly in the liv-ing room after I had gone up to