The Blanks (The Shivers collection) by Grady Hendrix

Author:Grady Hendrix [Hendrix, Grady]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Published: 2025-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

The kids never get up before nine, so I say to Steven, “Let’s take our coffee to the beach.”

When we come out our gate there’s still mist on the boardwalk, but I catch a blur of orange off to the right: a SaVo safety vest. He’s two houses down, just standing, just watching our house. Just keeping an eye on us.

Now I know everything’s not okay.

The sun’s just clearing the horizon when we get to the beach, and there’s no one around except a guy throwing a tennis ball for his dog way down by the jetty. I tell Steven about last night. About the SaVo.

“Shit!” he shouts.

Instinctively, I look around, but the guy by the jetty is just picking up his ball again, his dog bouncing in the surf.

“Shit!”

“I’m sorry,” I say and pull Steven’s stiff body to me and press my forehead against his chest.

“Why didn’t you tell me last night?” Steven asks, pushing me back. “Why did you wait?”

I hold on to his arms and look up at him. I won’t let us be mad at each other.

“Because it wouldn’t have mattered,” I say. “You know that. All you would’ve done is act like this at home and scared Cal and Zee.”

I am not going to argue about this. He tries to stare me down for a minute before he accepts that.

“This isn’t right,” he says, looking at the water. “We have to do something. We should have done something after the Litvaks.”

“You’re right,” I say. “We should have.” But I know there’s nothing to do.

Back in the ’80s, they tried to do something about the Blanks, and all that happened was a bunch of police from the mainland went missing. Island Fire and Rescue reported they’d been lost in a boating accident. That was the last time anyone in an official capacity tried to do anything. The Safety Volunteers started up. People felt better. The sightings got fewer. Then, a bunch of homeowners tried to do something again, right after 9/11, when the whole country was fired up on Doing Something. That went even worse.

“We’ll call the Litvaks,” Steven is saying, making plans, trying to control the situation, trying to save us. “We can talk to them. I think I heard that Sherry and her daughter moved up to Rhinebeck.”

“Sure,” I say. “I’ll look for Sherry’s number.”

I’m not going to look for Sherry’s number.

Steven makes a decision.

“We’ll pack today,” he says. “As soon as we get back. We’ll grab the nine-fifteen ferry, just me and Callum so no one gets suspicious. You and Zee can come home tomorrow or the next day.”

I think about the SaVo watching our house. They know we’re the people who found Tom Docks. We’re not going anywhere. Someone tried going somewhere once, before we moved here. They say that made it even worse.

Steven keeps talking.

“If anyone asks, say my mom took a turn and we have to go to Florida,” he says, convincing himself. “We’ll leave all our stuff, leave the groceries, and either come close up the house at the end of the season or get the Farbers to do it.

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