The 5th Witch by Graham Masterton Read Free Book Online Page A

the wind didn’t appear to affect him at all.
    “It is not you calling the shots now, Chief O’Malley. If you have no inclination to be accommodating, then we will have to take control of matters.”

    The wind was blowing so strongly now that some of the guests had to cling to the stone balustrade to stop from being blown off their feet. Even Mayor Briggs was down on his hands and knees. A lime tree in a heavy terracotta urn fell over and rolled across the patio, followed by another and another. Tables tilted, and stacks of plates shattered.
    “For Christ’s sake!” yelled Chief O’Malley. He could see his wife, Charlene, her hair blown into a fright wig, desperately holding on to the low wall around the barbecue. He tried to walk toward her, his pants flapping like those of a motorcyclist traveling at a hundred miles an hour, but the wind buffeted him against the side of the gazebo, jarring his shoulder. He crouched on the ground for a few seconds, trying to summon the strength to stand up again, but when he tried to get up on his feet, the wind beat him back down, and all he could do was kneel there, helpless, like a religious penitent.
    He lifted his head toward Orestes Vasquez, who was standing in the middle of the gazebo, calm and unconcerned.
    “What do you want?” he shouted.
    But Orestes Vasquez closed his eyes and didn’t answer, and it was then that Chief O’Malley heard the first woman scream.
    “I can’t see! I can’t see anything!”
    Another woman screamed, and then a man shouted out. “I can’t see, either! I’m blind! I’ve gone blind!”
    In less than half a minute, all the guests were wailing and crying and sobbing in terror. “I can’t see! Can anybody see? I’m totally blind! Help me!”
    “Charlene!” called Chief O’Malley. “Charlene, it’s Doug! Are you okay?”
    “I’m blind!” Charlene cried out. “I can’t see anything, Doug! Everything’s gone black!”

    “Vasquez,” Chief O’Malley demanded. “What have you done to these people? What do you want?”
    Orestes Vasquez came across and stood over him, so close that all Chief O’Malley could see of him were his sharply creased white pants and his black-and-white alligator shoes with their almond-shaped toecaps.
    “I thought I made myself crystal clear, Chief O’Malley. All I am looking for is a little cooperation. You do your police thing. I will do my business thing. We don’t have to be bosom buddies. We don’t have to go fishing together or wear matching sweaters. So long as we stay out of each other’s hair, live and let live, everything’s going to be fine.”
    The wind began to die down until it blew with nothing more than a sinister, sibilant whistle, and Chief O’Malley was able to climb to his feet. Lida Siado came across and stood very close to Orestes Vasquez, holding his arm. She still had the clamshells in her eye sockets, yet Chief O’Malley had the strange feeling that she could see him quite clearly.
    “Can you give these people their sight back?” he asked.
    “Yes, if you promise to cooperate with us.”
    Chief O’Malley looked around. Some of his guests were stumbling around the patio, calling out for their friends and loved ones like lost children. “Mary! Mary!” “Guy! Where are you? Guy!” Others were even crawling across the flagstones, too frightened to stand. Still more were huddled together, clinging to each other in desperation, as if frightened that the darkness would drag them away.
    “Doesn’t look like I have much of a choice.”
    “Oh, you always have a choice, Chief O’Malley. It’s just that some choices are more palatable than others.”
    “My wife will get her sight back?”

    “Everybody. All you have to do is say the word.”
    Chief O’Malley nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll see what kind of a game plan I can come up with.”
    “I need your promise, Chief O’Malley.”
    Chief O’Malley took a deep, angry breath. He had never made any concessions to a