Out of the Shadows by Timothy Boyd Read Free Book Online

feat was a sobering one, clearly outlining my next course of action and my immediate future.
    I had so far failed to protect two people in my life, but I knew there must be something greater ahead, someone else I would be able to save – that I was meant to save. Annie and Sarah were necessary losses to push me toward the man I was supposed to be.
    I pulled the trigger, and the gun recoiled slightly, causing Sarah’s limp body to twitch.
    The blast silenced the people outside in the hallway. I paid little attention to them, though. My ears were ringing, and my heart was pounding. I holstered the gun and collapsed onto the floor facing her. I had barely been awake for a handful of hours, but I felt as though I hadn’t slept in days. I’m convinced that emotion is a tangible muscle buried somewhere deep within the body, because the level of exhaustion I felt left my body weak and aching.
    I stared at her unmoving profile, watching, waiting to see some kind of movement that would indicate I had failed to preserve her sleep of death. A twitch of a finger. A flick of an eyelid.
    But nothing happened. Fatigue overtook me as I spent long minutes looking at her. Before I could stop myself, my tired eyes fluttered closed, and I slept.
     
    *     *     *
     
    I jolted up from the floor in a wild panic, my heart pounding, my eyes alert, and my hands shaking. I expected to see daylight peeking around the bookshelf that I had pressed against the window, finding that Sarah’s body was no longer lying on the yellow carpet next to me.
    But darkness still controlled the night, and Sarah remained motionless from death. I took a deep breath to calm myself before realizing that I heard no frenzied sounds coming from the hallway. I listened intently, my eyes closed. Unless the human husks stood still on the other side of the door, biding their time until I emerged from the room, the creatures were gone.
    I quietly pulled Annie’s bed away from the door and released the lock, placing my ear against the thin faux-wood. Slowly, I placed my fingers around the doorknob, reaching for my gun with the other hand. I looked over at Sarah’s body one last time. If she had been napping, I would have whispered, “I love you.” But since she had fallen farther past mere sleep, I thought the words instead.
    I turned the knob and opened the door, illuminating the blue-carpeted hallway beyond.
    No one stood awaiting my emergence. I crept through the silent and empty house, all the way back to the burgundy family room where I’d entered earlier. There was no one here other than myself.
    I stood on the threshold between the sickening kitchen of memories and the comfortable family room, taking in the sights of my former home. There was no longer any love to be had here, so I knew what needed to be done.
    I turned into the dining room and headed through the doorway that led to the wooden steps toward the basement. I flipped on the light and was surprised to see the copious spider webs filling crevices, connecting the stair railing with one of the steps and nearly blocking my path at the base of the staircase.
    It saddened me to think Sarah never came down here anymore. Even though it was an unfinished basement with a concrete floor, we used to bring Annie down to play, giving her the freedom of running the length of the house without the hindrance of walls.
    I brushed some webs away and traveled through the dark basement, looking for one item in particular:
    The red gas can.
     
    *     *     *
     
    I marched down the driveway as the cool breeze dried the sweat on my face. Although I never looked back, I knew that behind me the house was ablaze, bright orange tongues of flame licking the twinkling stars, firelight illuminating the night sky for miles around. I heard the tormented cries of the spirits trapped within the walls, as if the house were in its death throes, begging to be saved.
    Memories faded, and years of love burned away. I got