Read The Harvest (Book 1) for Free Online Page A

long ago was to accept that which could be explained and leave the rest alone. He wasn’t sure yet which category this one fell in, but he was leaning towards the latter.
    “So it’s normal then.” Luke asked, even though he suspected by his father’s demeanor that it wasn’t.
    “Course it is son. Ain’t nothin’ more than reflections of light.” His dad stated with confidence, rubbing his chin back and forth with his fingers. A tell tale sign, to anyone who knew him, there was serious contemplation going on behind his soft brown eyes.
    “Are you sure?” Luke prodded.
    Luke senior only nodded his head and continued rubbing his chin. He glanced at his watch, then back to the suns. A stiff breeze picked up a few leaves, tumbled them about. Pam shivered, moving to stand closer to her husband.
    “Well you better get on the road son before rush hour or you’ll never make practice.” He patted his son on the back. “Can’t have the star quarterback ridin’ the pine for the game, now can we?”
    Luke shook his head and glanced at the suns one more time. Ominous gray clouds rolled in at a fast pace blocking out the blue skies, but not the suns. Reluctant to leave, but not knowing what else to do, Luke got in his car.
    “Nothin left to see.” Luke senior took Pam’s hand. “Honey your hands are like an ice cube. Let’s get you inside.” He led her to the house, where she stopped at the door, turning back to watch her son leave.
    “Be careful.” She yelled out, waving to Luke.
    He stopped at the bottom of the driveway, rolled down his window and stared at his parents. A foreboding washed over him, sending a chill down his spine. He shook it off, waved good-bye and drove off. Half way down the street he checked his rear view mirror, but his house was no longer in view.
    Luke drove on, turned the corner and the neighborhood disappeared from sight. He sighed, thinking maybe he was being stupid or paranoid, but unable to shake the feeling something wasn’t right. A snow flake hit the windshield and quickly melted. Another flake hit, this one landed right in front of Luke, but he was zoned out and didn’t notice it was snowing. It wasn’t until visibility was nil that he snapped out of his daze.
    “Shit. That’s snow.” He commented to the empty car. His furrowed brow deepened. He didn’t like this or the tingle he felt on his scalp. That same tingle he felt right before something bad happened. Normally the sensation was brief and barely noticeable, but right now his scalp was crawling like a giant ant hill. Luke slammed on the breaks. The car skidded a few feet before stopping. He threw it in reverse and backed all the way to his street, where he whipped the car around and sped to his house. Sliding to a stop in the street, he barely took the time to throw the gear into park before jumping out and running to the door.
    Luke stood frozen inside the kitchen doorway, his mouth hanging open. The table was turned upside down and lying on top of his dad. He could see the top of his father’s head, but the angle was off, almost sideways. Luke inched closer to the table. “Dad?” Luke senior didn’t respond. Luke stepped over the table and his dad’s face came into full view. “Shit.” Luke covered his mouth, ran for the sink where he retched up his breakfast. After a few dry heaves, the convulsions stopped.
    ***
    Hours later the Taylor kitchen remained in a state of disarray, but Luke senior’s body had been removed. A trail of blood led through the laundry room, out the back door to the covered porch where Luke sat next to his father’s corpse. He’d wrapped his dad in a yellow and purple blanket. Perspiration slid down the side of Luke’s face. A small sign of the arduous undertaking it had been to drag his father from the kitchen. Luke senior had pushed two forty alive; a number not made any less because someone had decided to remove his insides.
    The wind blew snow on the porch, Luke shivered from