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Authors: F. Paul Wilson
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out tonight. Earthquakes and psychics in cursed manors ⦠you sure know how to show a guy a good time.â
She returned the kiss. âAnytime. And tomorrow night Iâll show you an even better time.â
âHot- cha !â
Laughing, they got out of the car. Jack put an arm around her shoulders; he started to walk her the short distance to her door, but stopped halfway there.
âHey. Wait a sec. You never told me your question. What was it?â
âIt was nothing. Just some silliness I was playing around with. Donâtââ
âWho loves silly more than me? Tell, Gia. I wonât go home until you do.â
âAll right.â She could see no way out of it. âI asked, âHow many children will I have?ââ
âAnd he told you two.â Jack grinned. âI wish I believed in this stuff. That would mean Iâd be the father of number two. At least I assume Iâd be.â
âHe said it with such assurance.â
âThatâs because heâs a pro. And because he figured it was a safe number. Consider it from his angle: You look younger than your years; Ifasen figures youâve got one child, maybe two. So even if you have no kids, if he answers two or three, heâs golden. Three would be the safer number, but Iâve got a feeling this guy likes to play close to the edge. He took a chance and said two.â
âBut if I never have another child, heâll be proven wrong.â
âBy the time you know that for sure, youâll have forgotten about Ifasen. Or he can deny thatâs what he said. He canât lose. So donât waste brain time thinking about it.â
But that wasnât so easy for Gia. She remembered feeling a little queasy this morning. But she couldnât be pregnant. She was on the pill, and she was faithful about taking it every morning â¦
Except back in June when she and Vicky had flown out to Iowa to visit the family. Sheâd forgotten to pack her pills. Unusual for her because she never forgot her pills. But it hadnât mattered because Jack wasnât with her. And as soon as she returned sheâd immediately started back on them.
But right after she returned she and Jack had â¦
Gia felt a twinge of nausea. She could think of worse things that could happen, but she didnât want this, not now â¦
It wasnât possible â¦
Maybe not. But first thing tomorrow, as soon as Vicky was on that bus to camp, she was picking up a home pregnancy test kit.
IN THE IN-BETWEEN
For a long time it was not. But now it is.
For a long time it was not aware. But now it is.
Barely aware. It does not know what or who it is or was. But it knows that at some time past it existed, and then that existence was ended. But now it exists again.
Why?
It does not know where it is. It reaches out as far as it can and vaguely senses other presences, some like itself, and many, many more unlike it, but can identify none of them.
The disorientation makes it afraid, but another emotion pushes through the fear: rage. It does not know the source of the rage but clings to the feeling. Acceptance makes the rage grow . It nestles in the rage and waits for a direction in which to unleash it â¦
IN THE WEE HOURS
Lyle awoke shivering.
What was wrong with that damn air conditioner? It was barely cooling the room when heâd gone to bed, now it was freezing him out. He opened his eyes. His first-floor bedroom faced the street, so he kept the blinds pulled at night; the light seeping between the slats now was the yellow glow of the street lamps, not the pale gray of dawn. He blinked the glowing clock display into focus: 2:32.
He groaned softly. He couldnât find the energy to get up, so he pulled his sheet closer around his neck and tried to fall back into sleep. But thoughts of fires and attempts on his life wouldnât allow it.
Someone wanted him dead â¦
That had kept him up for a
She returned the kiss. âAnytime. And tomorrow night Iâll show you an even better time.â
âHot- cha !â
Laughing, they got out of the car. Jack put an arm around her shoulders; he started to walk her the short distance to her door, but stopped halfway there.
âHey. Wait a sec. You never told me your question. What was it?â
âIt was nothing. Just some silliness I was playing around with. Donâtââ
âWho loves silly more than me? Tell, Gia. I wonât go home until you do.â
âAll right.â She could see no way out of it. âI asked, âHow many children will I have?ââ
âAnd he told you two.â Jack grinned. âI wish I believed in this stuff. That would mean Iâd be the father of number two. At least I assume Iâd be.â
âHe said it with such assurance.â
âThatâs because heâs a pro. And because he figured it was a safe number. Consider it from his angle: You look younger than your years; Ifasen figures youâve got one child, maybe two. So even if you have no kids, if he answers two or three, heâs golden. Three would be the safer number, but Iâve got a feeling this guy likes to play close to the edge. He took a chance and said two.â
âBut if I never have another child, heâll be proven wrong.â
âBy the time you know that for sure, youâll have forgotten about Ifasen. Or he can deny thatâs what he said. He canât lose. So donât waste brain time thinking about it.â
But that wasnât so easy for Gia. She remembered feeling a little queasy this morning. But she couldnât be pregnant. She was on the pill, and she was faithful about taking it every morning â¦
Except back in June when she and Vicky had flown out to Iowa to visit the family. Sheâd forgotten to pack her pills. Unusual for her because she never forgot her pills. But it hadnât mattered because Jack wasnât with her. And as soon as she returned sheâd immediately started back on them.
But right after she returned she and Jack had â¦
Gia felt a twinge of nausea. She could think of worse things that could happen, but she didnât want this, not now â¦
It wasnât possible â¦
Maybe not. But first thing tomorrow, as soon as Vicky was on that bus to camp, she was picking up a home pregnancy test kit.
IN THE IN-BETWEEN
For a long time it was not. But now it is.
For a long time it was not aware. But now it is.
Barely aware. It does not know what or who it is or was. But it knows that at some time past it existed, and then that existence was ended. But now it exists again.
Why?
It does not know where it is. It reaches out as far as it can and vaguely senses other presences, some like itself, and many, many more unlike it, but can identify none of them.
The disorientation makes it afraid, but another emotion pushes through the fear: rage. It does not know the source of the rage but clings to the feeling. Acceptance makes the rage grow . It nestles in the rage and waits for a direction in which to unleash it â¦
IN THE WEE HOURS
Lyle awoke shivering.
What was wrong with that damn air conditioner? It was barely cooling the room when heâd gone to bed, now it was freezing him out. He opened his eyes. His first-floor bedroom faced the street, so he kept the blinds pulled at night; the light seeping between the slats now was the yellow glow of the street lamps, not the pale gray of dawn. He blinked the glowing clock display into focus: 2:32.
He groaned softly. He couldnât find the energy to get up, so he pulled his sheet closer around his neck and tried to fall back into sleep. But thoughts of fires and attempts on his life wouldnât allow it.
Someone wanted him dead â¦
That had kept him up for a
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