Free Night Things: A Novel of Supernatural Terror by Michael Talbot

she had ever seen seemed to have come on foot.
    She decided to go find Stephen and see how things were going. As she started down the front steps of the house she noticed Garrett was tagging along beside her. However, before she had reached the doors of the generator building she felt a little sting on the back of her neck. Slapping the area instinctively, she looked at her hand and saw a tiny black smudge, all that apparently remained of a mosquito. Within moments the spot at the back of her neck started to itch, but before she could scratch it she felt another bite on the back of her arm, and then another on her leg. She looked around at the gathering of men and was chagrined to see that none of them were similarly afflicted.
    “You need some Deep Woods Off,” the older man smoking a pipe advised.
    “What will that do?”
    “Keep ’em from bitin’. It’s what I use.”
    By this time Stephen had come out of the generator building and was watching what was going on. “Where can I get some Deep Woods Off?” she asked.
    He took a languid puff on his pipe. “The nearest place to here is Clearwater.”
    She looked at him perplexedly.
    “It’s a great camp that’s been turned into a lodge,” Stephen interjected. “It’s about twenty miles down the road. There’s a gift shop there. I guess Mr. Foley means you can get some there.”
    Mr. Foley nodded.
    “Well, will you take me there?” she asked, looking at Stephen.
    “Honey, I can’t. I’ve got to take care of this. But why don’t you go?” He reached into his pocket and tossed her the keys to the Porsche.
    “Which way down the road?”
    “That way,” Mr. Foley said, waving his hand to the right.
    She looked at Garrett. “Do you want to go?”
    He nodded.
    “Then come on,” she said, scratching herself furiously and heading for the car. When they reached it she opened the door, but before she could get inside Stephen had run up beside her.
    “Hey, don’t I get a kiss?”
    “Well, I guess,” she said, putting on a fake pout.
    They kissed, but as she started to turn away he stopped her. “So did you enjoy last night as much as I did?” he said with a sly smile.
    “Of course I did, silly.” She giggled and poked him in the ribs.
    Stephen suddenly jerked his arm away from the car and screamed.
    “What is it?” she said, jumping in the same direction.
    “Bug,” he returned, and when she followed the line of his gaze she saw that on the hood of the car was one of the largest spiders she had ever seen.
    He looked around for a stick and then approached the spot on the car where the spider was sitting.
    “Don’t kill it! Don’t kill it!” Garrett yelled as he ran around to their side of the car. Picking up a stick of his own, he coaxed the spider onto it and then tossed it gently into the bushes. “Spiders eat other insects, so it’s good to have them around,” he informed them.
    Lauren noticed that Stephen was annoyed and seemed about to say something. But before he could speak, Garrett had started up again. “You know, a spider’s blood is green, and since they don’t have circulatory systems like we do, it just squishes around inside them.”
    The remark caused a wave of gooseflesh to rise on Lauren’s arms, and from the disconcerted look on Stephen’s face she realized it had had a similar effect on him. Stephen just shook his head and walked away. “See ya later,” he said.
    “Why do you do that?” she asked after they had gotten in the car.
    “Do what?”
    “Say such creepy things?”
    He looked at her confusedly. “What creepy things?”
    “Like about that damn spider!” she exclaimed, but she could tell from his expression that he had no idea what she meant.
    As they drove away from the house he piped up again. “So why do you think Sarah Balfram did that to her house?”
    “Did what?”
    “Designed it so that when you try to walk around in the upstairs it always sends you back downstairs?”
    “Nothing made me go