Free Moonbog by Rick Hautala Page B

wanted to take his time until he came up with a good excuse to get him out of trouble in case Old Man Logan called his folks about the window soaping.
    Once his friend had disappeared, Eddie turned and started home. It was a dark stretch from where he was to the housing development where he lived, and as he walked, he found himself wishing that the road had at least a few street lights.
    The man waited in the darkness until Eddie had passed him. Then, his head spinning with exhilaration, he crept up to the road. Keeping to the shadows, he followed several paces behind Eddie. That little shit, he thought, he should know better than to be out in a place like this after dark. A soft laughter escaped him and, although the sound didn’t seem to carry far, Eddie suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and turned.
    “Sammy?” ‘Sat you?” he said tightly.
    The man froze in his tracks and hoped Eddie couldn’t see him where he stood.
    Tension rose, he could almost feel it crackling like lightening between them as he waited and Eddie listened.
    “Is anybody there?” Eddie said, his voice tighter still. The man remained immobile and almost laughed aloud as a thrill gripped his stomach.
    Finally, Eddie started to walk toward home again, but the man could tell that he still didn’t feel safe because every now and then he would stop and look around behind him. A few times he called out softly for whoever might be there to reveal himself, but when his only answer was the chirring of the peepers, he started to walk faster and then, finally, broke out into an easy trot.
    The man felt his anger rise when the boy started running; he knew that it would be difficult to continue following without getting caught too soon—before he could surprise his prey. Cursing under his breath, he started to jog along, pacing himself behind the boy, hoping he wouldn’t hear him coming up behind.
    As Eddie rounded a corner, he suddenly stopped short and wheeled around to face his pursuer. A low whimper came from his throat when he saw a dark shadow moving alongside the road. Straining forward, he finally heard the steady slap-slap of the man’s feet.
    Without a word, Eddie turned and ran, clenching his fists and looking back over his shoulder to see if whoever was behind him was gaining on him. The coiled fear he had experienced when he thought someone was following him now blossomed into terror, and that terror drove him on with a speed he never knew he had.
    Eddie was gaining ground, and the man knew that if he didn’t catch up with him before too long, they’d get to the first house on the road and by that first house was a street light. He redoubled his efforts, aware now that Eddie knew he was behind him, but he was sadly out of shape, and it wasn’t too long before he realized that Eddie was pulling ahead.
    They ran through the darkness, the only sounds the steady slapping of their feet on the pavement and the spring-time chorus of peepers. The man looked up and saw the moon, sailing up into the sky, casting dim, powdery shadows.
    First Eddie rounded one turn, and then another, and with air tearing his throat raw, he saw, dimly up ahead, the streetlight: safety. Relief flooded through him as it got closer and closer. He dared not look around for fear of breaking his stride or tripping. Gritting his teeth, he pumped his arms furiously for the last stretch until he drew up beside the lamp post.
    His breath came in hot waves as he leaned over, feeling he would puke. Glancing back along the road, he felt a chilled wave run along his spine when he saw that there was no one there. It hadn’t been his imagination; he was sure of that, but he didn’t see the man crouching low by the road embankment, glaring at him.
    “Can’t catch me!” he hollered, feeling braver for having escaped. By the time he got home, he wanted to tell his parents what had happened, but when he remembered Billy Wilson, he decided against it. Why worry his mother?