The Searing by John Coyne

Author:John Coyne [Coyne, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: horror, supernatural
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2019-02-08T16:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

“I’ve worked it out,” Marcia Fleming announced, coming back into the living room with several sheets of paper.

The women had turned on her television set while they were waiting and were silently watching an old black-and-white movie. It was after three a.m., and everyone was exhausted. The attacks were over and they wanted only to get some sleep. Still, none of them had left Marcia’s house. Without saying so, they were all afraid of being alone.

“There is some sort of progression,” Marcia continued. She moved in among the others, and they made space for her on the sofa so she could spread the sheets of paper on the coffee table.

“If we were all accurate in our reporting, then the times imply that the attacks happened in a sweeping motion.” Marcia raised her arm and showed what she meant. “Beginning first with the women closest to the river—Pam and Kathryn—and at the bottom of the development, the attacks have spread up the hill, and have hit Sara, who’s the last female in the Village, five to ten minutes after everyone else.”

“What does it mean?” asked Jill.

“It means we’re being hit by some sort of wave,” Sara replied.

“And there’s another pattern,” Marcia added. She shifted through the sheets and continued, “Since these attacks began last week we’re getting hit more frequently. Amy Volt was killed at ten o’clock on Tuesday. Sara said she experienced her first orgasm the next morning, around eight a.m. Debbie was killed at four p.m. that afternoon.

“Those first series of attacks,” she went on, “were ten hours apart. The next series were eight hours apart. And now the attacks are closer.” She stared again at the women. “By this calculation, some of us should be struck at ten a.m.”

“Some?” Rebecca Hunt asked.

Marcia nodded. “According to the times everyone gave me, it appears that we’re not all getting hit. Look, only half of us are here tonight. Peggy Volt, for one, told me she’d telephone Sara or myself if she had an orgasm. And Joy Lang never called. She said she would.”

“Joy’s not home,” Pam volunteered. “She had a date in D.C. tonight and she told me she was staying in town.” Pam glanced around at the others, her eyes wide-open and innocent. “She’s afraid of staying in the Village.” She sounded apologetic.

“We are all afraid, Pam,” Sara quietly remarked. Then she turned to Marcia and asked, “Where’s Peggy?” Sara had not mentioned to her or any of the women how Cindy Delp had dragged her across the Village to bang on the Volts’ back door.

Marcia shook her head.

“Do you think we should call her?” Now Sara was nervous. The behavior of Cindy Delp had baffled her, and suddenly Sara felt she had made a mistake. Perhaps she should have awakened Peggy and found out if everything was all right.

“I think we should telephone Peggy,” she blurted out.

“Sara, it’s the middle of the night,” Marcia protested. “She would have called if she was attacked.”

Sara stood. She knew the other women were watching, and that her nervous reaction bothered them.

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