No other friend? Eric!—as far away as heaven.
The inspector and the man in leather were lifting me into a cab. The electric light was fierce in their faces. Then the light and they were gone. We were driving in silence through streets of shadow sharply streaked with light. I crouched in the corner, and fought the flames that shrivelled up my flesh.
Torment! Torment!
Betty with a hundred faces. And every one a separate agony. Betty beginning to understand. Betty looking for her sister—calling out for me. No sister! No friend! Only the fiends of hell!
Torment! Torment!
I was crying fiercely again, and beating with clenched fists. I heard a crash.
The cab was stopped, and strange faces crowded. I was being held. "She has lost her mind," one said.
But no, it wasn't lost! It was serving me with devilish clearness. More pictures, and still more.
Well, well—Betty would die soon!
Like cool water—holy water—came the thought of death. Perhaps she was already dead. Oh, my God, make it true! Let her be dead!