Creature by John Saul

Author:John Saul [Saul, John]
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 978-0-307-76803-2
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2010-11-02T16:00:00+00:00

Mark closed the book he’d been reading and sprawled out on the bed, his eyes closed. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on his homework, and knew he’d have to read the same section over again tomorrow night.

But he didn’t care, for while his eyes had been scanning the pages, seeing the words but not really taking them in, his mind had been going back again and again over the events of last night and today.

He remembered the fight—remembered every humiliating moment of it. He’d never had a chance, not from the very beginning, when Jeff had first tackled him. And when it was finally over and he was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, he’d felt like he was going to die. Nor had he felt much better when he woke up this morning.

But now, after the hours at the sports clinic, he felt fine. Sure, he had a few marks on his face, but the pain was gone, and the wounds seemed to be healing rapidly.

He’d come to a decision sometime during the morning: never again would he allow himself to be beaten up the way Jeff LaConner had beaten him up. Even now the memory of it made him angry, and he clenched his right hand into a fist and punched his left palm with a sharp smack.

Startled by the sound, Chivas growled softly. Mark sat up and swung his feet off the bed.

“Things are going to change, boy,” he muttered to the big dog, and reached down to scratch the animal’s head. Chivas’s ears dropped back against his skull. He whined softly, then slithered away from Mark’s touch. Mark frowned, annoyed with the dog. But then, noticing the snow for the first time, he forgot his annoyance and went to the window to gaze out at the backyard.

The snow was nearly an inch deep on the roof of the rabbit hutch. Even from here Mark could see the little creatures huddling together in one corner of the cage. “Damn!” he muttered. “They’re going to freeze to death. Come on, Chivas.”

He left his bedroom and hurried down the stairs, Chivas trailing half-heartedly after him. It was only when he was at the hall closet, fishing his jacket out of the row of coats that hung there, that he noticed the hollow silence in the house. He called out, then shrugged indifferently when there was no answer. Putting on his jacket, he moved through the dining room and kitchen and opened the back door. Chivas barked happily, his mood suddenly changing as the blast of cold air from outside struck his nostrils. He bounded outside, coming to a sudden stop as his feet plunged into the icy chill of snow for the first time in his life.

The dog sniffed at the strange white stuff cautiously, then his tongue came out and licked tentatively at the wet, soft blanket that covered the yard. He took a step forward, hesitated, and with a leap, bounded out into

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