Женщина, которую я знала как Мейди, подняла руки и замолчала. Потом произнесла одно слово — имя. Малютка Эва улыбнулась Кассу и встала на цыпочки, чтобы поцеловать его. Он улыбнулся в ответ, поцеловал ее в лоб, а затем поднял на руки и пронес несколько шагов, оставшихся до ивы. Я увидела, как ожидавшая там женщина взяла его за руки, — и потеряла его навсегда…
Еще одна фигура выступила из тени дерева, Сэм. Он протянул руки, чтобы принять девочку у Касса. Я видела, как Касс повернулся от Сэма к стоявшей рядом женщине, в чьих золотых, пшеничных глазах таилась ужасающая печаль. И вдруг поняла — узнала вечную муку матери, уступающей дитя ему, этому бледному супругу, Принимающему Всех; поняла, почему она собрала яркий урожай товарищей по играм для лишенных солнца садов, для девочки, которая уже не была девочкой; для нежной девы, обреченной на мрак до конца уходящего года. Они задержались еще на миг. Дитя протянуло ко мне руки и раскрыло ладонь, прощаясь. Земля вздрогнула. Шум стремительного потока разорвал воздух. Ива в темноте треснула, как трескается гранит. Повсюду разнесся запах пепла и каменной пыли… Они ушли, все ушли.
Ночь была тихой. Передо мной тянулось пустое поле, стояла заброшенная хижина. Потом из леса раздался унылый крик козодоя и горестный ответ другого. Я, спотыкаясь, бросилась к рухнувшему дереву и, стоя на коленях среди его корней и анемонов, плакала над ушедшими в землю детьми.
THE FIRST TIME Copyright © 1990 by K. W. Jeter. Originally published in Alien Sex. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agent.
A SHORT GUIDE TO THE CITY Copyright © 1990 by The Seafront Corporation. Originally published in Houses Without Doors. Reprinted by permission of the author.
STEPHEN Copyright © 1990 by Elizabeth Massie. Originally published in Borderlands. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE DEAD LOVE YOU Copyright © 1990 by Jonathan Carroll. Originally published in Omni Vol. 13, No. 3, December 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agent.
JANE DOE #112 Copyright © 1990 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. Originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine No. 576, December 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SHOCK RADIO Copyright © 1990 by Ray Garton. Originally published in Methods of Madness. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE MAN WHO DREW CATS Copyright © 1990 by Michael Marshall Smith. Originally published in Dark Voices 2: The Pan Book of Horror. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE CO-OP Copyright © 1990 by Melanie Tem. Originally published in Women of Darkness II. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE LAST FEAST OF HARLEQUIN Copyright © 1990 by Thomas Ligotti. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction No. 467, April 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
NEGATIVES Copyright © 1990 by Nicholas Royle. Originally published in Interzone No. 35, May 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
1/72ND SCALE Copyright © 1990 by Terminus Publishing Co., Inc. Originally published in Weird Tales No. 298, Fall 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
CEDAR LANE Copyright © 1990 by Karl Edward Wagner. Originally published in Walls of Fear. Reprinted by permission of the author.
AT A WINDOW FACING WEST Copyright © 1990 by Kim Antieau. Originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Mid-December 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
INSIDE THE WALLED CITY Copyright © 1990 by Garry Kilworth. Originally published in Walls of Fear. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ON THE WING (Originally published as «A la Volette» in Breves No. 33/34). English version copyright © 1990 by Jean-Daniel Breque and Nicholas Royle. First published in Fantasy Tales No. 5, Autumn 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
FIREBIRD Copyright © 1990 by J. L. Comeau. Originally published in The Women Who Walk Through Fire. Reprinted by permission of the author.
INCIDENT ON A RAINY NIGHT IN BEVERLY HILLS Copyright © 1990 by David J. Schow. Originally published in Seeing Red. Reprinted by permission of the author.
HIS MOUTH WILL TASTE OF WORMWOOD Copyright © 1990 by Poppy Z. Brite. Originally published in Borderlands. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE ORIGINAL DR SHADE Copyright © 1990 by Kim Newman. Originally published in Interzone No. 36, June 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
MADGE Copyright © 1990 by D. F. Lewis. Originally published in Back Brain Recluse No. 15, Spring 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ALIVE IN VENICE Copyright © 1990 by Cherry Wilder. Originally published in Dark Voices 2: The Pan Book of Horror. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DIVERTIMENTO Copyright © 1989 by Gregory Frost. Originally published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, December 1989. Reprinted by permission of the author.
PELTS Copyright © 1990 by F. Paul Wilson. Originally published in Pelts. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THOSE OF RHENEA Copyright © 1990 by David Sutton. Originally published in Skeleton Crew, November 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
LORD OF THE LAND Copyright © 1990 by Gene Wolfe. Originally published in Lovecraft’s Legacy. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agent.
AQUARIUM Copyright © 1990 by Steve Rasnic Tem. Originally published in The Seaharp Hotel. Reprinted by permission of the author.
MISTER ICE COLD Copyright © 1990 by Gahan Wilson. Originally published in Omni Vol. 12, No. 7, April 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ON THE TOWN ROUTE Copyright © 1989 by Elizabeth Hand. Originally published in Pulphonse Issue Five, Fall 1989. Reprinted by permission of the author.