Read Online The Resurrectionist by Wrath James White - Free Book Online

began watching an old replay of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Matt Hughes was getting his ass kicked by an out-of-shape B.J. Penn. Sarah usually loved that type of blood sport but tonight she just wasn’t in the mood. She turned to Comedy Central, then lay back on the bed as the gang from South Park pranced across the screen.
    She opened her book, a novel about zombies on an old battleship written by a relatively new author namedBrian Keene. Normally she loved a good horror novel, and Brian Keene was one of her favorites, but it was just too gory for her tonight. She looked at an Edward Lee novel that sat unopened on her nightstand with a picture of a winged devil on the cover. No way, she thought. Instead, she picked up a book about the people you meet in heaven after you die. After only a few pages, she fell asleep with the television still on, Cartman and Stan singing about Christmas poo in the background.
    Sarah slept fitfully, horrible images of knives and blood dashed through her mind, of Josh screaming in pain, herself being raped, mutilated, and abused. She woke up twice, exhausted and drenched in sweat. When she woke up in the morning she was convinced that there was more to these dreams than just her subconscious overreacting to a creepy neighbor.
    “Josh? Wake up, Josh.”
    “Is it time for work?”
    “No. I just need to talk to you…about these dreams I keep having. They’re really starting to freak me out.”
    “You had another one? Like last night?”
    “I think so. I can’t really remember. But I think it was bad. Really bad.”
    “Do you want to see a psychiatrist or something?”
    “No, Josh. I think something is really going on. I want to go to the cops.”
    “You can’t call the cops because of a dream.”
    There were tears in Sarah’s eyes when she looked over at Josh.
    “But what if it isn’t a dream? What if he’s really doing things to me in my sleep?”
    Josh turned over and faced Sarah. He rubbed thesleep from his eyes and gave Sarah his full attention. He stared into her eyes for a long moment before he spoke, reading her expression as if he were trying to solve a complex equation.
    “Then you wouldn’t need to call the cops because I’d kill him myself.”
    Sarah smiled halfheartedly and hugged her husband tight.
    “What time do you go to work today?”
    “I work the swing shift today, four to midnight.”
    “I don’t want to be here alone tonight.”
    “I made some extra money in tips last night. Some dot-com millionaire younger than my little brother tipped me three hundred dollars before he started losing. Why don’t I take you to buy a gun? With the way the neighborhood is changing it’s probably not a bad idea anyway.”
    “Are you serious?” Sarah lit up at the idea. “What kind?”
    She swiped the tears from her eyes with the backs of her hands and sat up in bed.
    Josh looked at her with a bemused expression on his face. He reached out and brushed the hair from her face.
    “You really aren’t like other women. You know that?”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Most women would object to the idea of having a gun in the house but you can’t wait to buy one. You’re too eager, in fact. Should I be afraid here? You’re not going to use it on me, are you?”
    “Not as long as you keep fucking me when I want to be fucked.”
    She kissed him on his lips, then rubbed her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. His biceps werestill hard and muscular despite the layer of fat he’d put on since moving to Vegas. He’d had less time to exercise and spent too much time at the buffets. She ran her hand over his belly, which had expanded quite a bit in the last few years. It jiggled as she rubbed it. She ran her hand back up to his chest. His pecs were still big and hard like a bodybuilder’s. They were even bigger than they’d been in college. Josh had begun powerlifting the last few years because it was quicker. He’d pile as much weight onto the bar as he