Read Alone for Free Online Page B

or Danielle?”
    She tilted her head to one side and frowned, staring at him.
    “Mr. Miller ... don’t you—”
    “Shhhhh! Quiet.”
    Dan felt it come over him as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water at them—the terror, the dreadful certainty that the shadow-being was approaching. He glanced across the street and saw the mists churning. Seconds later, the haze parted and the figure strode toward them.
    “Run,” he shouted, rushing to her side. He grabbed Maria’s injured arm without thinking, but she didn’t cry out or wince. When she refused to move, he pulled her along behind him.
    “Hey,” Maria protested. “What the hell are you doing?”
    “Don’t you see it? Come on. We’ve got to get inside before it catches us. Hurry!”  
    “But Mr. Miller. What—”
    “Now, Maria! Hurry up.”
    Despite her resistance, Dan dragged the teenager inside his house and slammed the door behind them. He locked it, and then crouched down on the floor, motioning for her to do the same. Frowning in confusion, she did as he asked. Dan put a finger to his lips, indicating for her to be quiet. Slowly, the fear subsided. After silently counting to one hundred, he crept to the window and peeked outside. The figure had retreated back into the mist, but it was still visible, lurking at the edge of the sidewalk, standing sentry over the house.
    “Shit,” he muttered. “Why won’t it just go away? What does it want?”
    “What is that thing?” Maria asked, crawling to his side.
    “I don’t know. I wish I did. It’s fucking terrifying, whatever it is.”
    “Do you think so?”
    Dan turned to her. “You mean to tell me you weren’t scared of that thing?”
    Maria shrugged. “No. Not really. Should I have been?”
    Dan shook his head, unsure of how to respond. He turned back to the window. The entity hadn’t moved. It was still there, watching.
    “I don’t think it will come inside,” he said. “At least, it hasn’t so far. I’m not sure why. I mean, given the size of that thing, there’s no way I could stop it if it did decide to get inside, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t. I think we’re safe, for the moment. Let’s go into the kitchen. I’ll get the first aid kit from the bathroom and get you fixed up.”
    “But I don’t need fixed up, Mr. Miller. I don’t need—”
    “Nonsense. Of course you do.” He got up and walked toward the kitchen. “I’m not going to judge you, Maria. God knows I thought about it a few times when I was your age. I hadn’t come out to my parents or my friends back then. The stress and pressure was... well, let’s just say that there were times I thought that killing myself would be easier than being gay. But it’s not worth it.”
    Pausing, he turned back to her. The girl stood at the window, her mouth open, staring.
    “Come on,” Dan said, trying to smile. “I’ll get you taken care of and then we can talk about what’s happened. Exchange notes. Because until now, I was sure that I must still be asleep. Thought I was dreaming. Maybe you did too?”
    “We’re not asleep, Mr. Miller.”
    Dan grinned. “Well, yeah. Obviously not. I know that now. But it still doesn’t explain what happened or where everyone else has gone to. Have you seen anyone else?”
    “No,” she said. “I mean, I thought I might see somebody here, but I sure wasn’t expecting you. No offense.”  
    “None taken. Do you have any idea what it was or where they’ve gone? And really, Maria, we need to disinfect your arms and bandage them up before you get infected. Please?”
    “My arms are fine!”
    “Fine? You’ve cut them open, Maria!”
    Her mouth went slack. She whistled, low and mournful, and then ran a hand through her hair.
    “What?” Dan asked. “What’s wrong?”
    “You don’t know, do you? I mean, you really don’t know.”
    “Know? Know what? You mean what’s happened? No, I don’t know. Haven’t you been listening?”
    “Mr. Miller ... Jesus. Maybe