Read Online 1 The Bank of the River by Michael Richan - Free Book Online Page B

attack again.”
    “Then we can
sleep in shifts,” Steven said.
    “Good idea.
You sleep first,” Roy said. “I’m coming at this the wrong way, and I need to
study up before we approach it tonight at the house, discover what I’m doing
wrong.”
    “With your
secret book?” Steven asked.
    “Yes,” Roy
replied, “with my secret book that might save your ass. Try to sleep as much as
you can. I’ll wake you in a few hours, and we’ll trade off.”

Chapter Ten
     
     
     
    Steven sat
cross-legged at the end of the hallway, once again waiting for something to
happen. Roy was seated in the hallway, blindfold on, waiting as well. Steven
hoped things might play out more benignly tonight, but either way, he was
determined to get more answers.
    He and Roy
had traded off the night before, keeping an eye on each other while the other
slept. Whether their approach worked or they just got lucky, nothing appeared
and no attacks occurred. They both had received much needed sleep, and they
slept into the late morning, anticipating another late night at Steven’s with
the second trance.
    Roy had
spent a good amount of the day with his book. He complained multiple times to
Steven of being “rusty” and that if he’d been more in practice, certain things
wouldn’t have gone past him. Steven wasn’t entirely sure what he was referring
to, other than the idea that the shadow couldn’t follow them to Roy’s, which
was obviously wrong. But for the most part Roy seemed confident he knew what he
was getting into with the second trance, and he talked as much about being
prepared with defenses as he did getting answers to their questions. It was
clear to Steven that Roy was afraid of the shadow, of what it might do to
either of them if they weren’t prepared to deal with it.
    The hallway
sat still. It had been half an hour, the same amount of time they waited two
nights ago before things went to hell. Steven had fallen asleep then, and he
felt that he had let his father down. But Roy had asked him details about that,
and had assured him he hadn’t fallen asleep on his own, that he had been “led
to sleep” by the forces in the house. It made Steven feel marginally better,
but he still resolved to stay awake tonight. Twice he had interrupted the
shadow attacking his father, and he didn’t want to find out what might happen
to Roy if there was another attack, or, god forbid, an attack that he didn’t
interrupt.
    The
heaviness was returning, and it made Steven think of how Debra had described
it. It seemed as though the air became thicker, and there was additional
pressure in the house. This was the same as two nights ago – just before he
fell asleep, the same feeling. If I don’t fall asleep, or if it doesn’t
think I’m asleep, it won’t appear, Steven thought. Sleep is part of
this. I need to fake it. I need it to think I’m asleep. He closed his eyes,
and let his mind wander, but kept pinching his left hand with his right. He had
no idea if this would work, but he stuck with it for several minutes.
    Just as he
thought he might have to change technique, Steven heard Roy speaking, but it
didn’t sound like Roy. “Come to me…come to me…” At first he thought Roy was
speaking to him, that he should get up and walk over to him. But he repeated
the phrase over and over, dozens of times. It began to take on the quality of a
chant. Steven knew he was not speaking to him.
    Steven saw,
over Roy’s head, a face appear. It was one of the child faces he’d encountered
in his bedroom the first night. It was floating, hovering above Roy. Steven’s
legs tensed as he felt an instinctive need to protect his father. But the more
he looked at the face, the more he registered sadness and pain rather than evil
intent, and Steven calmed with the realization that the face was not a threat
to Roy. The face seemed lost, and Roy’s calls, or whoever’s voice was coming
from Roy, were beckoning the child. And now, where it had looked