Clockwork Dolls - FF by R. W. Whitefield - FF Read Free Book Online Page B

eyes.
    “Is she OK?” Dave asked.
    Jim looked up, his own eyes full of tears.
    “We need to get her to a doctor, Dave. She won’t talk to me.”
    Dave turned to Maggie. She was about to answer when the wind blew through the room. All the lights in the house came on at once. They brightened, casting harsh shadows as the light got more and more intense, until, finally the bulbs blew in a series of small explosions. Electric sparks ran across the light switches. Something hissed, and suddenly there was smoke in the air and an acrid taste in Dave’s mouth as all the cabling in the walls burned.
    The room went dark. Smoke from the burnt cabling drifted, like fog, across the ceiling above. An engine revved, almost deafening in the small room.
    “What the fuck is happening here?” Jim said.
    Silence fell. Dave heard his heart beat in his ears, three thumps before the engine revved again, accelerating through the gears. The wind blew a gale, so strong that Dave felt it tug at him, threatening to lift him off his feet. Maggie grabbed him by the arm, and they braced themselves against each other.
    Headlight glare filled the room, then just as quickly switched off.
    Everything fell silent again.
    It’s playing with us.
    Maggie and Dave stared at each other. He saw his own fear in her eyes.
    “We have to get out of here,” Dave said. Maggie shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. Look what it did to Jane.”
    Dave looked down, just in time to see Jane’s eyes flutter and roll up to show the whites. She went limp in Jim’s arms.
    Jim shook her, shouting.
    “Jane. Stay with me. Jane!”
    Maggie bent next to him and gently tried to move him aside.
    “Let me see her, Jim.”
    Jim looked up at Dave.
    “What can I do? What can I do?”
    “Let Maggie have a look. Come on…”
    Dave put out a hand. Jim laid Jane down gently and took the offered hand. Dave lifted him to a standing position as Maggie bent down and checked Jane. After what seemed like an age, she looked up.
    “She’s alive, but out cold.”
    Jim tried to pull away from Dave.
    “I’ll get a doctor.”
    Around them, the room fell deathly quiet as if waiting, expectant as Jim’s foot raised to step out of the circles. Dave pulled him back.
    “No, Jim. Don’t break the circle.”
    “Don’t break the circle? I don’t give a flying fuck about any circle. That’s Jane lying there. She needs a doctor.”
    He pulled free from Dave…and stepped beyond the outer circle of crystals. In his haste, he kicked a section of the crystals. They scattered, some shattering against the skirting board, others rolling off into dark corners.
    A wind rode up, howling, as if in triumph.
    Frost crawled across Jim’s body.
    The engine screamed as it revved up to top throttle.
    Headlights spun around the room, faster, almost strobe-like.
    Dave moved to help, but Maggie was already bent over, repairing the circle of crystals with those she could reach. She put a hand on his thigh, holding him back.
    “No, Dave. It’s too late.”
    Dave tried anyway. He started to leave the circle…just as Jim was struck by a force so strong that he flew across the room as if hit by a lorry. His body hit the far wall with a sickening crash and fell to the floor, contorted and broken. He didn’t make another sound, didn’t move.
    The wind dropped. A cooling engine ticked over and then was cut off. The wash of light dimmed and faded until they were left in darkness. The room fell completely silent.
    Maggie and Dave stared at each other again, dumbstruck.
    Jim Barr’s body lay lifeless on the floor, staring straight at Dave.
    * * *
    It was a long night.
    When dawn finally came, Dave was sitting on the floor with Jane cradled in his arms. Maggie stood over them. The frost melted away from the main windows and sun streamed in. An engine started up, revved once, then faded away into the distance. A cool breeze seemed to pass over the defensive circles then everything was once again still.
    Jane’s