Free Dark Screams: Volume Two by Robert R. McCammon, Graham Masterton, Richard Christian Matheson Page A

her young daughter close while her father stirred behind a thin wooden door. The door to their prison he’d forced them to stay within for years.
“If we ignore him when he’s drunk like this, he’ll go away eventually.”
    Right now her imagination had to be a machete, not a mere kitchen knife. Was that why her heart beat so fast as she approached the door to the large bedroom she’d shared with Gail? A few hours ago the room had been filled with light as they’d talked and joked around.
    It was the lack of voices that sucked her in. The lack of people that fed dark memories she’d never shake. Alone. Alone.
    The doorknob was cold. No one had touched the heavy brass recently. The knob squeaked as she turned it. Like before, the door stuck on the hinges but gave way for her to go through.
    I’ll see Gail any second now and I’ll feel like a damn fool,
she thought.
    But no one waited for her. The far wall where there had once been a painting didn’t have one anymore. No painting graced the far wall. Someone had placed a tarp along the floor and had left a plaster compound pail. But this room didn’t need repairs. With each step closer to the wall, she told herself nothing was wrong.
    A hole had been carved into the plaster and the laths behind it. The gray outer brick was exposed. A shock of color protruded from the arm’s-length hole—a pink sweater.
    Gail! Oh, God, oh, God!
Eleanor sucked in a scream and slapped her hands over her mouth.
Don’t make noise.
Her mama had always told her that.
    Gail had been crammed into the one-foot-thick wall. Her neck had been snapped and now her chin rested between her breasts.
    Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.
    Where the fuck were the cops?
Shouldn’t she hear sirens?
    Bile rose up the back of her throat as she stumbled backward until her calves hit one of the twin beds. With a strangled cry, she ran from the room. Unable to be alone. Alone with Gail’s body. Just like her mother. “Brody! Where the hell are you?”
    The living room was empty. As was the sitting room. Staying here wasn’t an option, so she headed for the foyer, but before she left, she used Gail’s phone to dial Brody’s number.
    The faint sound of ringing echoed down the hall from the kitchen. Part of her wanted to stay by the front door. If she was smart she’d rush into the rain and escape with one of the cars. She’d go get help. But what if Brody was hurt? What if he needed her right now and she chose to be afraid instead of helping him?
    And what about Patrick? Was he hurt, too?
    Who the hell had snuck into the house and hurt Gail?
    She followed the ringing toward the kitchen. Along the way she grabbed a metal level from the heap of supplies in the sitting room. The double doors that led into the large kitchen were partially opened. She pushed them a crack as Brody’s phone went silent. Along one marble countertop someone had been busy cleaning up their lunch. The remnants of deli meat and bread had been left out. As if someone had been in the middle of working and fled for their lives.
    She crept around the kitchen island, searching for Brody’s phone until she found it lying on top of a white shirt on the floor. She picked up the white shirt. It smelled faintly of Patrick’s cologne and had crimson spots along the lapel.
    Her chest tightened painfully as a cold sweat formed on her brow. Had someone entered the house and killed everyone? She dropped the shirt, somehow hoping whatever evil had taken Patrick wouldn’t find her.
    Her feet scraped against the floor as she stepped backward. It was time to go. She said a silent prayer that Brody had made it outside because she couldn’t stay in this house for another second.
    Something hard poked into her back. A second later a shower of white electricity shot through her. Her muscles spasmed. Her teeth ground together. The never-ending voltage sent her shuddering to the ground.
    —
    The world suddenly shifted. Ellie blinked rapidly.
    One moment