Free Always October by Bruce Coville Page A

quality to a lower resolution, I could record for nearly four hours before the cartridge was full.
    I couldn’t decide if I should stay in the room or not. Part of me wanted to be as far from here as possible. Another part felt I should be present to witness whatever happened.
    I decided to stay but moved the rocking chair next to the door, in case I needed to make a quick escape.
    Then I settled in to watch.
    Under the circumstances, I didn’t think it would be possible to fall asleep. Somehow, I did. I don’t know how much time passed before a noise woke me.
    I rubbed my eyes, then blinked. The room was oddly bright. After a moment I realized the light came from the full moon shining through the window. At the same time a series of snorts from LD’s crib brought everything back to me. It was monster time!
    I hurried to the crib.
    Green fur had sprouted again all over the baby’s sleeping form, his ears were larger than ever, and he had to be two or three inches taller than when Mrs. McSweeney had put him to bed.
    I decided I needed a close-up, so I went to the camera to adjust the settings. Though I tried to be quiet, my movements woke Little Dumpling. The baby opened his eyes, blinked, then scrambled to his feet—an infant monster in duckie pajamas that were splitting at the seams. As I had the sudden thought that I hoped he wouldn’t outgrow his diaper, he clutched the bars of the crib, threw back his head, and howled.
    Answering howls sounded from outside the house.
    A cold shiver raced down my spine. Then I heard another set of noises, this time coming from the closet!
    I turned. A sliver of light had appeared under the closet door. That was disturbing, since I knew the light bulb in there wasn’t working. Even more disturbing, thick tendrils of smoke, glowing red and smelling of sulfur, began curling out.
    The doorknob rattled as if being turned from the inside. The rattling stopped, replaced by a pounding so fierce that the door bulged outward.
    The smell of sulfur grew thicker.
    â€œUp!” pleaded a voice. “Up! Up!”
    LD was urgently stretching his furry little arms in my direction. In one hand—or was it a paw?—he was holding that green rattle. I quickly adjusted the camera to a wide view so that it took in both crib and closet, then raced to get the baby.
    â€œUp! Up! Up!” he cried.
    His obvious fear melted my heart, and I hoisted the little guy into my arms, desperately hoping he wouldn’t sink his still-sprouting fangs into my neck.
    â€œI think we should get out of here, kiddo,” I said.
    â€œOUT!” agreed Little Dumpling.
    I backed toward the hall. Before I had gone three steps, the closet door burst open. Inside was an orange-skinned, red-eyed, fang-mouthed monster. Visible only from the waist up, the bare-chested, scaly creature was bathed in red light and surrounded by billows of curling smoke. Raising an enormous, muscle-bound arm, he pointed a thick finger at me and said, “I’m glad to see you were ready. Please bring me the baby.”
    Despite the harshness of the creature’s voice, his words were calm, even pleasant. I might have considered doing as he asked, despite the way he looked, if LD hadn’t locked his arms around my neck, screaming in terror.
    My stomach twisted. If the baby had shouted, “Daddy!” I could have handed him to the monster in the closet with a clear conscience and left the two of them to enjoy their reunion while I got my butt out of there. But the way LD clung to me, howling and trembling, made it impossible to consider that.
    I would have got my butt out at that point anyway, taking the baby with me, except my legs had stopped working. The only thing that kept me from melting into a puddle of terror was that the monster in the closet didn’t seem able to move either. Well, that wasn’t quite true. He was moving but appeared to be struggling against some invisible