Into the Thinnest of Air by Simon R. Green

Author:Simon R. Green [Simon R. Green]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2017-10-04T04:00:00+00:00

FIVE

Time to Go

We all stood around the bar, but no one seemed to feel like drinking. Jimmy had poured himself another whisky, but put it down on the bar top without even wetting his lips. We all stood clustered together at the bar because none of us could work up the enthusiasm to do anything, or go anywhere else. Things really had deteriorated if even free booze didn’t offer any comfort.

‘We’re not safe in here, but it’s not safe to go outside either,’ Eileen said finally. She seemed to be thinking out loud, addressing the room in general rather than anyone in particular. ‘Stuck between a rock we can’t see and a hard place that’s hiding from us. So all that’s left … is to figure out how best to protect ourselves. If we’re to make it all the way through the night till morning.’

‘You had to say “if”, didn’t you?’ said Jimmy.

‘Maybe we should barricade the door and the windows?’ said Valerie. ‘To make sure nothing can get in from outside.’

‘You mean the face at the window?’ said Albert. ‘If that had wanted to get in, it would have done so by now.’

‘Whatever is after us, it clearly prefers to pick its own moment,’ I said.

Jimmy scowled down the long room at the front door. ‘That wooden coat stand isn’t strong enough to keep out anything really determined to force its way in. I suppose we could always push something heavy against the door. Then break up some of the furniture and use the pieces to board up the windows. That’s what they always do in horror movies.’

‘Though it never seems to help them much in the end,’ said Penny.

‘No one is smashing up any of my carefully chosen and perfectly matched period furniture,’ said Albert, very firmly. ‘You have no idea how much time and money it took to get every detail just right.’

Jimmy looked at him incredulously. ‘Isn’t your life worth more? Isn’t ours?’

‘But the threat isn’t from outside, is it?’ I said, cutting in quickly before things could get unpleasant. ‘All right, Valerie saw a face at the window. But both disappearances took place inside the inn. The real danger is right here. Our abductor, our enemy, whether it’s human or inhuman, has to be somewhere in the Castle with us.’

‘But that just isn’t possible!’ said Eileen. ‘There’s nowhere they could be.’

‘There’s nowhere Olivia and Thomas could be,’ said Valerie. ‘But they must be somewhere. Perhaps on the other side of a demon door …’

‘Are we really going with that?’ said Jimmy. ‘A door that can open and close just long enough for a demon to reach through and grab one of us? Does that even sound likely?’

‘Doesn’t have to be a demon,’ I said. ‘It could be an alien.’

‘Alien abductions,’ Penny said wisely. ‘Such things do happen. I’ve read about them in very serious magazines.’

Everyone looked at her, but no one said anything. Jimmy shook his head slowly.

‘Great! Something else to worry about.’

Valerie looked at me challengingly.

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