Dark Rain by Tony Richards Read Free Book Online

human’s ought to be. And were bright gold in color, with the slit pupils of a cat. I could still remember the time Raine’s eyes had been deep blue.
    And when his lips parted, the teeth were slightly jagged, like a cat’s as well. The rest of his face could not be seen at all. His gaze seemed to float freely in the dark. I wondered, for a brief moment, if he still had a body at all. But no, even he wouldn’t go that far, would he?
    As was usually the case, he sounded a little bored and peevish.
    “Do you have to call me that, old chum?”
    “I’m not your ‘old chum’ and I’m not your ‘sport,’” I told him. “And there are far worse things than ‘Woody’ I could call you.”
    The eyes blinked again, extremely slowly.
    “Y ou could simply call me ‘Raine,’” he suggested. “It’s such an interesting name. There are so many phrases one can conjure with it.”
    Conjure?
    “‘Hard Raine.’ ‘Raine of Terror.’ ‘Tis better to Raine in Hell than serve in Heaven.’”
    He was always babbling these days. I was already sick of hearing it, and it hadn’t even been a minute.
    “Why have you brought me here, Woody?” I insisted.
    He looked puzzled for a moment, as though he had plain forgotten.
    But then, “I’m not really sure. I just thought that you could … help me figure a few things out.”
    I tried not to roll my eyes. “Such as?”
    “What’s been happening this evening. It’s terrible. I’d really like to help, if I could.”
    Okay, then. Why not try that notion out?
    “Did you see any of it?” I asked him.
    He does not merely see with his eyes, you have to understand. Has a power of second sight that extends well beyond these grounds.
    “No. At least, not till after the event.”
    Which was odd. He hadn’t left this house in years, I knew. Agoraphobia had become a part of his more general madness. But Woody usually kept a psychic eye on what was happening in town. He regarded it as his, after all.
    “Why do you reckon you saw nothing of the actual killings?”
    He turned that over. “I think there was something blocking me.”
    But then, his thoughts wandered off again. They were always taking new directions.
    “All those poor dead people. Maybe I should try to bring them back?”
    I felt myself go a little rigid at that, afraid he might try. That was definitely a bad idea. In the next moment, however, he seemed to remember something.
    “Perhaps not.” His bright gaze became a little sadder. “I tried it once with dear mama and pops. The result … wasn’t very satisfying.”
    And then, he took a step toward me, his footfall clacking on the ballroom floor. The candlelight reached his face at last, revealing it to me dimly. It was gray and pale, with a high, stark structure and those leaf-shaped ears that were the mark of all his family. He’d grown a beard since I’d last seen him. Long, dark hair now framed his features. Was he imagining himself, these days, as some form of Messiah? It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least.
    His head swung around slightly and he pursed his narrow lips.
    “I would like to pay you for your services,” he informed me, apropos of nothing.
    What was he talking about now?
    “I’m pretty sure, Devries, that something new has come into Raine’s Landing. I can sense it.”
    What? That went entirely contrary to Regan’s Curse. Whatever had gone on tonight, it couldn’t be blamed on any outsider. That just wasn’t possible. No one ever came here. Or at least, no one ever stopped here long enough to make a difference.
    But that wasn’t completely accurate, now was it. Dr. Willets? Jason Goad? So I tried to accept what he was telling me might have some element of truth to it. It was hard to grasp, but not impossible.
    “Don’t you mean ‘ someone new’?” I asked him.
    “No.” Raine was insistent. “Not a human being at all.”
    And he seemed so definite about it. For the time being, it was probably best to humor him.
    “What