Read Nigh - Book 1 for Free Online

in so easily.
    Jack was curled up in the back, behind the table and
by the fridge.
    “Jack, we have to go,” she repeated. He made another
strangled cry, like a gurgling.
    She took a step toward him. “Jack?”
    His head was lowered on his knees. She repeated his
name and he gurgled again but looked up. His eyes were white, and
something was coming out of his mouth, like thousands of ants.
    Al screamed and almost dropped the flashlight as she
pushed herself back. She smacked into something and turned around.
The thief from earlier was there, his eyes wide, looking from Jack
to her. He grabbed her shoulders as though to snap her out of
it.
    “We have to go, now!” Al brought up her knee and
connected with his groin. He folded in two and she brought up Big
Bertha, connecting with his skull. He crumpled and she jumped over
him, away from Jack. She skirted around Carl and ran madly, away
from Jack. She almost dashed out of the shop, but turned back to
grab first aid supplies for Gruff.
    Something grabbed hold of her foot from under the
sink. She screamed again and dropped Big Bertha as she fell back.
The thief was beside her, bleeding from a cut on his scalp. He
grabbed her wrench and hit whatever held her leg still, hidden in
shadows.
    “Come on!” He shouted, pulling her back up. She
didn’t hit him this time and followed him out of the shop and into
Percival. She pushed him into the back, threw the first aid
supplies after him, slammed her seat back and flung herself in it.
He landed hard in the back beside Molly.
    “Al, what…” Gruff started saying, but the thief cut
him off.
    “Go! Go! Go!”
    The mists around them uncoiled and lashed out at
Percival, taking out a side mirror. Molly screamed. Al turned the
car on and punched it in reverse, gears grinding and tires
screeching as she threw it back into first gear and gunned it down
the road.
    To her right, the angel statue was now on its knees,
its stone eyes watching them as the great branches of the cemetery
came ever lower over the road, ever closer to touching the top of
Percival’s hood.
    Al stepped on the gas and clutched the steering
wheel for dear life, mists be damned.
    No one told her to slow down.

Chapter 4
     
    Al gunned it down the road. An overturned truck
blocked the way south so she headed north, not really thinking of
destination, just trying to get away, her eyes peeled on the mists.
Sometimes she thought she saw a shape, an interruption in the roll
of it. Once, a beam of sunlight hit the side of the car. But the
pavement caught fire, and she fought not to close her eyes, fought
to keep her hands on the wheel and Percival moving forward, her
speed wavering as her uncertainty and fear paralyzed her limbs.
    She took deep breaths and let them wash over her.
Gruff was pale beside her, Molly reaching around the seat to
comfort him.
    “We need to pull over to patch you up, Gruff,” Alva
said, turning the wheel as much as she dared to hug the curb, and
stopped.
    The world outside was eerily quiet, holding its
breath for what would happen next. Or having taken its final
one.
    Al pushed the thought from her mind and turned to
the thief.
    “While we patch him up, maybe you can tell us a bit
about why I shouldn’t beat you to a pulp with Big Bertha?”
    His eyes grew wide again, his mouth thin. To Molly’s
credit, she grabbed the wrench and held it before her
threateningly. The thief leaned back in his seat, looking
dejected.
    “My name is Hector. Hector Henry Featherson.” He
said. He glanced up at Al through the rearview mirror but quickly
glanced away to look outside. “I was trapped, and just got free. I
thought I could stop it. I thought that if I got the watch in
time...” He leaned his forehead against the window, closing his
eyes and fogging up the glass.
    Al focused on Gruff’s shoulder, pulling out a sling
from the first aid kit and wrapping his arm, securing it. Gruff’s
eyes were closed, his breathing shallow and his skin