Read Online Taken Away by Celine Kiernan - Free Book Online

Dom was shovelling food into himself, his whole attention focused on cramming down the spuds and chops and forkfuls of buttery turnip. Swallowing without chewing, he paused only to drain almost an entire huge glass of milk, then went on eating.
    I lowered my shaking fork, staring at him.
    He was delighted with himself: happily, blissfully, ignorantly stuffing his face while I looked on, barely capable of holding it together. It hit me at once that Dom didn’t remember! He had no idea what had just happened, no memory of the little creature that had been sitting on his bed.
    Had I dreamt it all? Was that possible?
    Finally, Dom seemed to have filled himself; he took one last draining swallow of milk and sat back. Then he grinned at me, patted his belly and belched, loud and long.
    â€˜Nice one!’ Dad called from the sitting room. ‘Neuf points!’
    Dom grinned even wider and stretched like a satisfied cat.
    â€˜It’s starting! It’s starting!’ called Ma as the music for the Eurovision swelled up from the telly.
    Dom rose heavily from the table and winced, doubling over.
    â€˜Je sus !’ he laughed. ‘How much did I just eat ?’
    The food in my belly heaved. The door to the stairs, a gaping hole behind me, breathed ice down my spine. This morning, neither of us had been able to remember a thing about our bad dreams. Just like now, we had stumbled downstairs crazed with hunger and stuffed ourselves fit to burst, with nothing but the vaguest recollection of the night before. Even now, I had no clear idea of what last night’s dream had been about – only that it had woken me, left me staring and terrified in the dark, the taste of mud on my tongue, the image of soldiers in my head. Well, here we were again, demented with hunger and, as far as Dom was concerned, with no memory of what had happened upstairs. But one thing was different.
    I remembered. I remembered everything .
    Because this time I’d been awake. I’d been awake the whole time.
    Dom was grinning back at me from the sitting-room doorway. ‘Pat,’ he said. ‘You coming?’ His grin faltered a little and he stepped back into the kitchen. ‘Pat? You’re white as a sheet. Are you alright?’
    â€˜Pat?’ Ma called from the sofa. ‘What’s wrong?’ I could hear her beginning to get up.
    I shook my head at Dom, my eyes wide, and held my finger to my lips. The last thing I wanted was to try and explain this to Ma and Dad. What would I say to them?
    There was a monster, Ma. A goblin-boy. He scared me.
    Dom frowned, spread his hands, questioning: What?
    I called in to Ma, ‘I’m grand. There’s nothing wrong with me. Just got a bit of wind is all.’
    â€˜Well, rip a fart then,’ laughed Dad.
    â€˜ Dave! ’ There was the sound of Ma thwacking Dad with her book, then general shuffling and giggles as she arranged herself on the sofa again and Dee climbed back onto her lap.
    â€˜Come on, lads, first song’s coming on soon.’
    I stood up from the table. The floor did a massive ninety-degree tilt under my feet and I staggered. Dom crossed the room in a stride and caught me.
    â€˜Bloody hell, Pat,’ he whispered. ‘What’s the matter with you?’
    I took three deep, controlling breaths in and out of my nose and held onto him while I got my legs under me. Then I nodded and he let me go. I didn’t fall over. That was good.
    I think I faded him out for a minute, ignoring my surroundings as I tested my equilibrium, because he surprised me by taking my arm again. ‘Pat!’ he whispered. ‘ Talk to me! ’
    Oh Jesus! ‘Talk to me!’ Typical Dom! What the hell was I meant to say? Well, Dom, I’m a bit freaked out because a little white goblin-boy was sitting on your bed talking to you. Oh and hey, you don’t remember this, but you were more than willing to listen! In fact, you sent it down to take a