Free Blood Fugue by Joseph D'Lacey Page A

As a hunter, the drop in temperature and the failing of the light made his heart beat faster and his senses sharpen. Now that the valley was in shadow, Fugues could walk free. David dressed quickly and without speaking while Kerrigan stashed his equipment and pulled his backpack on. When David was ready he looked pale and weak, like someone recovering from a month of illness.
    ‘Can you walk or do I have to carry you again?’
    ‘I’ll be okay. Thanks, Mr. Kerrigan.’
    ‘It’s Jimmy.’
    He started to hand Kerrigan the binder that had been around his neck.
    ‘HEY!’ Kerrigan shouted.
    David stared back at him, wide-eyed.
    ‘Never take that off. Ever. Understand?’
    The boy nodded and slipped the binder back over his head.
    ‘Come on.’
    With the staff in one hand and a binder ready in the other Kerrigan led the boy home through the gradually deepening gloom.

Chapter 9
    Reminders: August 19th
    Don’t forget Buster’s worm medicine. He’s spending way too much time with his tongue up his ass.
    Jimenez family have been gone for four days. With that cheap gear and their city-folk legs, they ought to have given up after forty-eight hours. If they’re not back by tomorrow morning: GO AND GET THEM.
    Important: Find out what’s up with Burt. Kath says he’s been acting up all week. Keeps telling her he can see an old man outside the window. If he’s mistaking his own reflection for someone else, he must really be losing it.
    Not that I’m likely to forget this but it’s over with Amy. Really freaked her when I pissed the bed, I guess. How’s a weirdo like me going to get laid now, huh? Shop at Randall’s until the dust settles.
    CRUCIAL: Take a flashlight for the walk home after dinner tonight
     
    Kerrigan timed his walk down to Burt and Kath’s place so he’d arrive while it was still light. Walking home would be different. If there’d been a cab, he’d have taken it, but there wasn’t any kind of taxi service for seventy miles in any direction.
    The nebulous purple twilight was already heavy on the air as he walked up the creaking wooden steps and knocked hard on the doorframe. He took a step back to wait for Burt and turned to gaze out at the street. He looked from side to side along the porch too. Every second drew more life from the sky. In some of the houses on the Terrace, people were already turning on their lights.
    He slung off his backpack and reached inside, casual at first then frantic. No flashlight.
    ‘Jesus Christ. You fucking space-case.’
    The darkness rose like a flood around him. Burt was taking too long to answer. He banged again, louder, and peered through glass in the door trying to see beyond the fine mesh curtain that obscured the view. There were no lights on inside. If Burt couldn’t get to the door, then why hadn’t Kath come instead? Kerrigan stepped back from the door and looked around again. Gooseflesh rippled under his clothes. Someone was watching him, he was certain; waiting for him to look away before . . .
    Unable to endure another moment of the swelling darkness, he tried the handle and was surprised to discover the door pulled easily open. These days, Burt and Kath never left the door unlocked.
    He closed the door behind him and stood a moment in the hallway, listening. There was nothing but the ticks and creaks of an old house breathing. The same noises it had made when he was growing up there. Remembering the nights he’d spent terrified in his upstairs bedroom when Kath turned the lights out didn’t help to steady him. This was the place where it had all started.
    He reached out for the light switch and flicked it on. Nothing happened.
    It had to be a bulb. Surely the power wasn’t out. Maybe a fuse had blown. If anything, the darkness was worse inside the house: more intimate. He knew his folks weren’t there. It was plain enough, but he called out anyway.
    ‘Hey, Burt. It’s Jimmy. Kath? I’m here.’
    There was no answer. He didn’t call again. His