Dark Hollow by Brian Keene

Author:Brian Keene
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
ISBN: 9780843958614
Publisher: Leisure Books
Published: 2008-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

TEN

Big Steve woke me with an alarmed series of barks. Startled, I propped myself up on one elbow and glanced around the bedroom in confusion. The dog stood on all fours at the edge of the mattress, facing the window. I reached for him, cursing myself for falling asleep. The fur on his neck stood up, and his white teeth glowed in the darkness.

I rubbed sleep from my eyes. “What…”

Outside lightning ripped the sky, and rain hammered against the windows. The storm had returned in all its fury while we slept. Immediately I felt for Tara, to reassure her that it was okay.

The bed was empty.

My heart fluttered. The fear was electric. My wife was missing. Before I could act thunder boomed, followed by another sound, almost lost beneath the noise of the storm and the dog’s barking—the faint melody of a shepherd’s pipe. Despite my panic I instantly had an erection. The arousal was a terrible feeling.

I ripped the covers off the bed.

“Tara? Where are you?”

The lightning flashed again, bathing the bedroom in an eerie blue half-light. Tara was not in the room. Outside, the music continued. Then I heard a floorboard creak in the hallway. I looked up in time to see my wife’s shadow disappearing down the stairs.

“Tara!”

Encouraged by my shout, Big Steve leaped off the bed and sprang for the door. Growls continued rumbling from deep inside his chest, and his nails scrabbled on the hardwood floor. He darted down the stairwell.

I ran after them both, pausing only to grab the baseball bat I kept underneath the bed. Tara didn’t approve of guns and wouldn’t let me keep one in the house. Before the miscarriages she’d asked me to get rid of the ones I owned, not wanting our child to stumble across them someday. I’d agreed at the time, and hadn’t brought the subject up since the miscarriages because it was just another reminder of what we’d lost. Now, running across the bedroom clad in only a pair of pajama bottoms and wielding the bat like a sword, I wished I had.

The floor was cold under my bare feet. I reached the top of the stairs and shouted again. Tara was at the bottom, standing at the door with one hand on the knob. Big Steve was behind her, the hem of Tara’s nightgown clenched firmly between his teeth. His legs were locked and spread apart, and he tugged with all of his might. Tara didn’t budge.

“Tara, stop!”

I took the stairs two at a time, almost losing my balance. I clung to the rail with one hand, struggling not to fall. Big Steve kept trying to pull Tara away from the door. She ignored us both. Without a word she wrenched the door open just as I reached the bottom.

Dropping the baseball bat, I spun her around. Big Steve released her nightgown, sniffed the air gusting through the screen door, and stepped back, whining. The rain hissed on the street outside.

“Tara, what are you doing?” I shook her.

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