Read Online 01 - Goblins by Charles Grant - (ebook by Undead) - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Charles Grant - (ebook by Undead)
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into a crouch;
too frightened to move when the light became too bright and the rumbling too
loud and the figure on the bed rose and tossed the coverlet aside, her young
face colorless, her young eyes wide not with fear but with intent;
he wanted to stop her, but he couldn’t stop dropping, couldn’t stop himself
from trying to push backward through the wall to get away from the light that
exploded into the room, making him scream as the girl child was taken and
swallowed by the white.
making him scream.
Making him gasp and sit up, crushing his pillow against his chest, blinking
sweat from his eyes, sheet and blanket kicked away from his legs.
When he thought he could move without falling over, he sat on the edge of the
mattress and put the pillow against the headboard. A forced shudder, a hard
swallow, and he pushed himself to his feet, padding around a cheap table beneath
its hanging lamp to the thin drapes on the room’s only window. He parted them
and looked out, and saw nothing but the road and the trees ranged beyond.
He couldn’t see the stars, but he knew they were there.
Behind him, Webber snored lightly.
Oh, boy, he thought; oh, brother.
He wiped his face with a forearm and moved quietly into the bathroom, closed
the door, but didn’t turn on the light. He knew what he could see—a man forever
haunted by the disappearance of his sister, Samantha, when both of them had been
children. The dream tried to tell him how.
Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn’t. It didn’t make any difference.
Dream or not, it was what kept him going.
He splashed water on his face to sluice away the tears he hadn’t noticed,
before, dried himself, and returned to bed.
He didn’t look at his watch, but he didn’t think it was much beyond midnight.
A truck rumbled by.
When he slept this time, he didn’t think he dreamed.
“Dana?”
Scully grunted to tell Licia she was awake, and to tell her she was also
trying her best to get to sleep, whatever it was, it could wait until morning.
“Is there something… is there something wrong with Mulder I should know
about?”
The voice out of the dark was naturally husky, almost masculine; she had
already seen its effect on Webber and Mulder, and wondered how well Licia knew
how to use it. It could be a devastating weapon, no question about it. She
smiled at the ceiling— when used for Good, not Evil.
“Dana?”
She sighed loudly and rolled onto her side. “No. He’s fine.”
“He sure seemed out of it.”
“It’s the beginning.”
“The what?”
Scully wasn’t sure how to explain; after all this time, she barely understood
it herself.
“At the start of every case that really catches his attention, he gets…
hyper. Charged up.” To say the least, she added silently. “Then, unfortunately,
he has to get where the case is. He doesn’t like that, the traveling. In fact,
he hates it. It’s valuable time wasted when he… we could be doing our job.
So whenever he gets there, all that- initial energy has been expended on the
trip. So he crashes.”
Silence for a moment before: “Will he be all right in the morning?”
She frowned her puzzlement. Concern was understandable for someone who hadn’t
worked with Mulder before, but she thought she detected something more in the
woman’s voice. Her eyes closed, half in a prayer that Andrews wasn’t going to
screw things up by developing a crush.
“He’ll be fine,” she answered at last.
“Good.”
She said nothing.
The woman’s voice faded as she rolled over. “I’d hate to have my first real
case screwed all to hell.”
Scully almost sat up to demand an explanation and, in the process, an
apology. It was natural for someone like Andrews to want to shine first time
out. God knows, she had prayed for it herself a hundred times before that first
one. In fact, it had made her a nervous wreck. But not only didn’t Andrews seem nervous, she seemed almost too calm, too ready.
too frightened to move when the light became too bright and the rumbling too
loud and the figure on the bed rose and tossed the coverlet aside, her young
face colorless, her young eyes wide not with fear but with intent;
he wanted to stop her, but he couldn’t stop dropping, couldn’t stop himself
from trying to push backward through the wall to get away from the light that
exploded into the room, making him scream as the girl child was taken and
swallowed by the white.
making him scream.
Making him gasp and sit up, crushing his pillow against his chest, blinking
sweat from his eyes, sheet and blanket kicked away from his legs.
When he thought he could move without falling over, he sat on the edge of the
mattress and put the pillow against the headboard. A forced shudder, a hard
swallow, and he pushed himself to his feet, padding around a cheap table beneath
its hanging lamp to the thin drapes on the room’s only window. He parted them
and looked out, and saw nothing but the road and the trees ranged beyond.
He couldn’t see the stars, but he knew they were there.
Behind him, Webber snored lightly.
Oh, boy, he thought; oh, brother.
He wiped his face with a forearm and moved quietly into the bathroom, closed
the door, but didn’t turn on the light. He knew what he could see—a man forever
haunted by the disappearance of his sister, Samantha, when both of them had been
children. The dream tried to tell him how.
Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn’t. It didn’t make any difference.
Dream or not, it was what kept him going.
He splashed water on his face to sluice away the tears he hadn’t noticed,
before, dried himself, and returned to bed.
He didn’t look at his watch, but he didn’t think it was much beyond midnight.
A truck rumbled by.
When he slept this time, he didn’t think he dreamed.
“Dana?”
Scully grunted to tell Licia she was awake, and to tell her she was also
trying her best to get to sleep, whatever it was, it could wait until morning.
“Is there something… is there something wrong with Mulder I should know
about?”
The voice out of the dark was naturally husky, almost masculine; she had
already seen its effect on Webber and Mulder, and wondered how well Licia knew
how to use it. It could be a devastating weapon, no question about it. She
smiled at the ceiling— when used for Good, not Evil.
“Dana?”
She sighed loudly and rolled onto her side. “No. He’s fine.”
“He sure seemed out of it.”
“It’s the beginning.”
“The what?”
Scully wasn’t sure how to explain; after all this time, she barely understood
it herself.
“At the start of every case that really catches his attention, he gets…
hyper. Charged up.” To say the least, she added silently. “Then, unfortunately,
he has to get where the case is. He doesn’t like that, the traveling. In fact,
he hates it. It’s valuable time wasted when he… we could be doing our job.
So whenever he gets there, all that- initial energy has been expended on the
trip. So he crashes.”
Silence for a moment before: “Will he be all right in the morning?”
She frowned her puzzlement. Concern was understandable for someone who hadn’t
worked with Mulder before, but she thought she detected something more in the
woman’s voice. Her eyes closed, half in a prayer that Andrews wasn’t going to
screw things up by developing a crush.
“He’ll be fine,” she answered at last.
“Good.”
She said nothing.
The woman’s voice faded as she rolled over. “I’d hate to have my first real
case screwed all to hell.”
Scully almost sat up to demand an explanation and, in the process, an
apology. It was natural for someone like Andrews to want to shine first time
out. God knows, she had prayed for it herself a hundred times before that first
one. In fact, it had made her a nervous wreck. But not only didn’t Andrews seem nervous, she seemed almost too calm, too ready.
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