Monarchs by Rainey Stephen

Author:Rainey, Stephen [Rainey, Stephen Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2013-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

Once reasonably certain the thing had retreated beyond the possibility of returning, they had broken into a sprint, heedless of obstacles that might lie in their path, never pausing to look back, stopping only when they reached the relative safety of the driveway. Before they made it halfway to the house, Courtney's legs buckled and she collapsed, less from the exertion than delayed shock. David knelt next to her and offered his hand, but she waved him away.

"Just give me a minute. I'll be all right."

"I know."

She gazed at him, panting. "'Odd.' You called that thing 'odd.'"

"It was."

"It was a fucking horror. Don't you have any idea what this means? Don't you know what that thing did?"

"You're certain you know what it was?"

"What else could it have been?"

"Well, it was damn big. Wild dog, maybe."

She stared at him in amazement. "You're as demented as the old woman. A dog?"

He shrugged. "Well, it was too pale to be a bear, and it certainly wasn't a horse."

"Didn't you see it? That thing was twice the size of a horse."

"How could you tell in the dark? You don't know how far away from you it was."

She dragged herself to her feet and faced him defiantly. "It wasn't so dark that I would mistake a damn dog."

"Dark enough," he said, glancing toward the road. "What say we get back inside?"

"You think it might come back this way?"

"Who knows? Look. Humor me, and let's assume it was a dog. It could still be very dangerous."

She said nothing but began walking, her muscles on fire, her eyes fixed on the shadowed hulk of the Blackburn house, her mind beyond caring whether David remained with her. How could a man be so blind?

No, not blind.

Complicit.

He must be. To think she was just coming to trust him, and now this. The sting surpassed her fear.

She found herself shivering as she walked and realized the air was frigid, like wintertime.

As she went around the house toward the back door, David trailing several steps behind, her footsteps crunched too loudly in the gravel, and she stepped more gingerly, her ears sensitized to any sound in the trees. She paused at the door, for she could hear, far in the distance, the vaguest whisper of wind beginning again, and for a second or two, what sounded like a heavy, rhythmic thumping.

David opened the door and started inside. "Are you coming?"

"I'll be there in a minute."

"You sure you want to stay out here alone?"

"Go."

He complied with a wry shrug, leaving her gazing into the wall of darkness, her head cocked slightly as she listened, trying to decide whether the distant, nearly indiscernible sounds indicated something approaching. After a full two minutes, when the wind was all she could hear, she went inside, locked the door, and stood at the window for yet another minute, numb to the idea that she might actually be in danger.

How, she wondered, could anyone even hope to convince her that she had seen anything so mundane as

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