Ancient Eyes by David Niall Wilson Read Free Book Online

since.   I know they'd have to pass back by here to get home…"
    There was a question lingering at the end of his words, and Irma shook her head, still not really trusting her voice. Then she added, "I didn't see them going or hear them coming, Ed."
    He nodded almost absently.   His concern over his boys seemed genuine enough, but something else was eating at him, something more important, or more powerful. Since he didn't speak immediately, Irma looked him over carefully, hoping to find a sign of what was really on his mind—hoping that she knew—afraid that she might.
    His hair was disheveled. His shirt was open at the collar, as if he'd stopped part way through fastening the buttons and then had never gotten back to it. His entire aspect was of distraction and confusion.
    "You still have that car?" he asked at last. Irma nodded and found the courage to speak. "I got gas in her just last week," she said. "You going to look for them, Ed?" He nodded vaguely.
    "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
    His nod became a slow back and forth shake of his head. "No," he replied. "I reckon I ain't.   It isn't just the boys bein ' gone," he raised his gaze suddenly so his dark, intense eyes met hers. "It's them being gone now. It's the way everything feels here.   It's…" His hand rose and his fingers brushed absently across his forehead.
    Ed's hair was long and shaggy.   His bangs shot out over his forehead nearly to his eyebrows. Still, Irma knew what she would find if she brushed those strands of hair aside. And she wanted to do that. She didn't want to see what was behind that hair, but she wanted to run her fingers through it and she hoped he would not read that desire in her eyes.
    "I'll go with you," she said. "Come inside. You need coffee, and I have to get cleaned up."
    Ed didn't reply, but he followed her inside, and Irma closed the door behind them. She didn't make it halfway down the hall before she felt him draw near.   Irma turned, but if she'd intended to flee, she was too late. As she spun he caught her clumsily in his arms and covered her lips with his own.
    The heat flashed through her again and she gasped. She struggled feebly, just for a moment, and then he lifted her, carried her easily down the hall with her trembling body pressed to his strong chest, and thought was abandoned. Irma unfastened the buttons of his shirt and it fell open to reveal a hard, muscled chest. He tossed her back onto her bed.
    On the floor, forgotten, the Bible lay face down, open with its pages folded and crumpled beneath it as though they had failed in their duty to hold it upright.
     
    Far below, just turning onto the feeder road leading to the Coast Highway, and San Valencez, Tommy and Angel accelerated. The motor on the old truck was sound, and they didn't get many chances to wind it out up on the mountain. They also didn't get many chances to get a ticket, and after a quick burst of speed, Angel throttled back and they rolled along at a steady, if unexciting, 55 mph.
    It wasn't like him to worry, but things had changed.   Tommy glanced over once, but said nothing. He didn't know what had happened to Angel in the forest behind Greene's store, but he suspected it hadn't been far removed from his own experience, and he wasn't about to share his visions of Elspeth Carlson with his brother, or anyone else.
    Besides, the work that waited was too important for them to be detained in the city.   Others waited for their return. Tommy didn't know exactly how he knew that, either.   He knew those who were called would come, and he knew that those who had been in the forest and had been touched would come. There were those who might try to prevent them, but in the end, they would come. How could they not?
    The list in his pocket was simple and explicit. Wood, nails, paint, enough supplies to start bringing the old church back to life. Enough supplies to expand the nightmare tales of his childhood into stark reality.   Tommy barely