Night Mask by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online

no knowledge.”
    â€œHow did you happen to go to work for the Longwoods?” Leo asked.
    â€œThey interviewed us in Dresden, then brought us over from Germany. Arranged for our citizenship... everything. We ... had no idea what we were getting into.” “You both went into the house, didn’t you?” Anna asked.
    â€œYes,” Lani admitted. “Last night. We broke in.”
    â€œDon’t go back,” Anna warned them. “Don’t. That house is just as evil as those who once lived in it. It lives.”
    â€œIt ... lives?” Leo asked.
    â€œBelieve it,” Karl backed up his wife. “It can’t be destroyed. It won’t let you destroy it.”
    â€œMr. Muller—” Lani said patiently.
    The old man held up a big hand. “Listen to me. Do you know how old that mansion is?”
    â€œOh ... forty years old, I suppose,” Leo guessed.
    Anna smiled. “It was built in 1801. Check the county records, if you doubt me.”
    â€œAfter the murders, and the police had finished their investigation, I tried to burn it down,” Karl said. “I set fire to the drapes. The other drape put out the flames. I poured gasoline on the carpet. It wouldn’t burn. It just wouldn’t burn. I thought I had bad gasoline. I went into town and bought more. Nothing in the house would burn. Then the house tried to kill us, both Anna and me. Drape cords became as snakes, whipping around, tangling in our feet, wrapping around our necks. Knives from the kitchen flew through the air. Show them, Anna.”
    The woman stood up and pulled up her blouse. Lani and Leo could see the long scar on her stomach. “I almost died from that wound.”
    â€œI can believe that,” Leo said.
    Karl pointed a finger at the cops. “You hunt them down. Every member of that family. You drive a stake through their hearts. Jack and Jim, their half brother and sister. Those are the four remaining with the bad blood. Kill them, and the house will die.”
    * * *
    Outside the Muller house, the detectives sat in their rented car for a few moments, both of them shaken by the words they’d heard. Lani finally broke the silence.
    â€œThe house is alive? It can’t be destroyed? Kill the four remaining Longwood children, and drive stakes through their hearts? Jesus Christ, Leo!”
    â€œWhat the hell are we dealing with here, Lani?”
    â€œDo you believe in the supernatural, Leo?”
    Leo was silent for a time. “Drive,” he finally said, as dusk settled around them. When they were on the road back to Albany, for they had decided to spend at least one more day in the city, Leo said, “Lani, I was raised a Catholic. If a person believes in God, the devil, angels, Heaven, Hell, then one believes to a certain extent in the supernatural. Some theologians might disagree with that, but that’s their option. Do I believe in werewolves and vampires? No.”
    â€œI’m not sure you answered my question.”
    â€œThat’s all you’re going to get.”
    They rode for a few miles in silence. Lani said, “Drapes coming to life and putting out the flames. Carpet that won’t burn after being saturated with gasoline. Secret rooms in the basement that the local cops couldn’t find. Drape cords that suddenly turn into snakes, or something like that.” She shook her head. “It’s getting a bit much, Leo.”
    â€œI want to check out the age of that mansion.”
    â€œAnd then?”
    â€œCults, devil worship.”
    â€œI want to read what the newspapers have on file about the Longwood family ... all the way back to the beginning. As far as the files go.”
    â€œI want to go into that basement. Push on those knots and see if the wall really slides back.”
    â€œI want to check on Karl Muller.”
    â€œWe’ll be busy tomorrow.”
    â€œYou tired, Leo?”
    â€œYeah. Yeah, I