Read Online Hag Night by Tim Curran - Free Book Online

nothing. And there was no earthly way old Leo Creese—Jim Beam in the morning, Jim Beam in the evening, Jim Beam at suppertime—could handle this situation. Only Doc Blood could. And these people needed someone with a head on their shoulders to guide them.
    Burt was pacing back and forth like an angry old bear that wanted out of its cage. Doc figured that was apropos , for there was something very dark and almost threatening brewing in their bus driver. This was a time of tension and anxiety and fear, obviously, and things suppressed in the human psyche had a way of externalizing themselves when the pressure was on. He’d seen it himself in the war: stress made the biggest, meanest grunts imaginable become docile and harmless, while the reserved, bookish types became kill-happy monsters. Things would happen this night, he was certain, and not all of them would be because of what waited outside.
    Reg was trying to get Bailey to talk, but she would not even look at him.
    A frightened little colt, Doc thought. Without Megga to lead her and tell her how to think and how to feel and respond, she’s entirely directionless.
    She was sitting on the sofa, still wearing her parka, hat, and gloves. Her legs were drawn up, arms encircling them, chin resting in the V of her knees. Her blue eyes were wide and wet, her lips pulled in a straight line. A lock of blonde hair had fallen over her face and she did not bother to brush it aside.
    Doc sighed. “Bailey…listen to me. Nothing’s going to happen to you. I won’t allow it. We won’t allow it. We’re safe in here and we’re going to stay safe in here. In the morning we’ll get out. In a matter of hours, the State Police will be looking for us. So try to keep your chin up. All is not lost.”
    Her eyes blinked a few times and she looked over at him. She smiled slightly.
    “There, that’s better.”
    “Sure, dude,” Reg said. “We just gotta wait for sunrise and shit. Then we’ll be outta this chiz. That’s all.”
    “Sure, that’s all,” Burt said with about as much sarcasm as he could muster.
    “That’ll do,” Doc told him.
    Burt turned towards him and it was obvious he was going to say something unpleasant, but at the last moment he simply closed his mouth. Which was probably a wise move, Doc decided, because he was not about to put up with that sort of thing. He would have been the last person to threaten anyone with violence, but if it came down to it…well, he’d pulled two tours in the jungle as a paratrooper and had seen things that would have made guys like Burt piss their pants. Maybe all that was forty years ago, but Doc figured he still had a few moves left and he would use them if it came to it. God yes, he would.
    He lit a cigarette. “It is said that war brings out the best in people and the worst. And our situation might be comparable to war. Having been in a war, I can say that it is. Now, we can stand together and support one another and make it through this or we can act childish and selfish and we can die. I don’t see much of a choice, do you?”
    “Hell no,” Reg said.
    Bailey said nothing.
    Burt was chewing at his lower lip, his eyes directed at Doc. Doc was baiting him, pushing his buttons and he knew it. Finally, unable to intimidate him with his dark eyes and searing look, Burt turned away. He stared into the fire.
    And Doc thought: Feel free to commence hostilities at any time, you little chimp. You won’t be the last man standing.
    “Well, there’s no way out until dawn so we just have to make the best of it,” Reg said.
    Burt laughed low in his throat. “No way out for you, but maybe I’ve got other plans.”
    “We’d love to hear them,” Doc said.
    Burt ignored him.
    Reg said, “But what are those things? I mean, like vampires or werewolves or something? Shit, they gotta be something.”
    “If they’re not, then they’re close enough, I’d say.” Doc pulled off his cigarette. “The question would be: why now? Why