Free Rising Fears by Michaelbrent Collings Page B

to keys and unlocked the door.
    Inside the house she immediately went to a second security keypad. Same make, but different model, different code than the first one. She typed in the second code, and the LED blinked: "Scanning. No intrusions detected."
    Only after receiving this hopeful missive did Lenore move to close the door. She locked it, then secured it by pulling closed each of the three heavy duty deadbolts that she had installed herself the same week she moved in.
    She allowed herself a second to relax, but only a second. Then she went from room to room in the small abode, turning on all the lights as she went, once more holding the mace in front of her as she ritualistically checked each room, each closet, even under the sinks. The windows she did not check: they were permanently closed, covered on the outside with cast-iron grating and sealed from the inside.
    Finally, the house ablaze in comforting light, Lenore allowed herself to relax. She was back at the front door again, having made her customary circuit that brought her back to the security system for one more check. Still no intrusions detected.
    Still alone.
    And then she heard a noise.
    It was large, a large sound, if that were possible. A sound as of someone scuffling from one room to another in the back of the house.
    Lenore felt a chill come over her.
    No intrusions.
    Windows sealed.
    House empty.
    But she was not alone.

 
     
     
    ***

TEN
    ***
    It was dark and getting darker. White tendrils of thick mist curled down from the mountains, licking hungrily at the edges of town as they made their way steadily inward, ever closer to the center of town.
    Jason stood in front of the general store. It was quaint: children’s' ads for lemonade and puppies for sale in the storefront windows; another poster board that loudly proclaimed an upcoming children's rodeo.
    Ox stood beside Jason, the large man gulping as he stared at the ladder that stood below the eaves of his store.
    "Sorry, Sheriff," said Ox. "Whatever's there, I think it may be knocking into my antenna. I tried to call the Fire Department, but Randy's busy."
    Jason sighed, and saw that Ox had noticed the movement. He saw embarrassment surge almost visibly through the huge man. "Sorry, Sheriff," said Ox again.
    "No, it's not you, Ox," Jason hastened to reassure him. "Just the fact that we have a one-man 'Fire Department' and he's always hiding from his 'fire dog' who I'm pretty sure hates him at best and has rabies at worst."
    Ox shrugged, half-smiling at the ridiculousness of it. Jason sighed again, and began to climb. He left Ox behind him as he clambered up to the roof. "You be careful, Sheriff," shouted Ox, looking terror stricken as though it were he and not the sheriff who was up on the rooftop.
    Jason waved at Ox to show he would take appropriate care, then cast about for the antenna. He saw it almost instantly: the old-fashioned kind of antenna that looked like a metal skeleton against the fog-ridden backdrop of the dark sky. The tips of the antenna waved back and forth gently, though Jason could feel no breeze, and he concluded that something must be hitting it at the base. What that might be, however, he could not tell: his view of the antenna cut off at the apex of the roof, which was between him and the point at which the antenna entered the building.
    Jason sighed again, then climbed further up the roof. Might as well do it right, he thought.
    "You okay, Sheriff?" came Ox's voice.
    Jason didn't answer, just kept climbing. He looked over the peak of the roof...and almost fell off as he felt himself go suddenly woozy and nauseous at the sight of what was moving the antenna.
    Jason blinked quickly. It couldn't be. Not this. What he was seeing was impossible. Frightening, disquieting... impossible .
    Sean Rand was holding onto the antenna, shaking it gently. The boy's eyes were the milky white cataracts of the dead, his skin was mostly white, though it shone with a deep, ugly purple around