Chapter Thirteen
Boiler Time
After what seemed an eternity of sitting, Melanie heard the key in the lock to her door. She sat upright, drawing her knees up in front of her chest protectively. Her heart hammered in her chest as she watched the door swing open. The keeper entered the room. He was dressed in light blue scrub pants and a white doctor’s coat, as he always was. His face was obscured by a rubber clown mask with bright painted eyes and an elongated chin.
It was the large grin on the clown’s face that concerned Melanie the most. The clown’s teeth were yellowed and appeared to be filed to cruel points. She immediately recognized the mask and what it represented. She pushed herself backward away from him, scooting on her bottom into the corner of the room as the grinning clown fa
