The Howling II by Gary Brandner Read Free Book Online Page B

evening, and went up to bed early. David fell asleep almost immediately. It was another hour before Karyn began to get drowsy. Then she was jolted back to fullwakefulness. Something was moving around downstairs.
    It was not any distinct sound that she could identify. Just a sort of soft shuffling. Then nothing. For a long time Karyn lay tense, staring into the darkness. She fought to convince herself that she had heard no sound, and she prayed that it would not come again.
    Then she heard it again. Just the suggestion of movement. She wanted it to be Mrs. Jensen, but knew that it was not. The housekeeper moved with a firm, heavy tread, not the furtive shuffling Karyn heard now.
    Her mind groped for possible explanations. The wind. The house settling. Mice. The plumbing. But it was no good. She knew it was none of these. She lay utterly still and listened. For many minutes the only sound Was David’s deep, regular breathing. Her ears ached with the effort of listening. Then it came again. Something sliding, like cloth on cloth. Then a muffled thump, barely audible, but unmistakably real.
    “David.” Her voice was a rasping whisper.
    “Wha - “
    She placed her fingers lightly on his lips to silence him as he awoke. When his eyes were fully open and alert, she took her hand away.
    “What is it?” he said, whispering in reaction to her tension.
    “There’s something downstairs.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Sssh. Listen.”
    They sat up in bed, their shoulders touching, and listened. The seconds ticked by. Karyn’s chest began to ache, and she realized she was holding her breath. She let it out in a long, silent sigh.
    “I don’t hear anything,” David said. A touch of annoyance had crept into his voice.
    “No, I heard something. Really.”
    For another interminable two minutes they sat in the bed, their heads cocked toward the door.
    Nothing.
    “Karyn - ” David began, speaking now in a natural voice.
    “I didn’t imagine it,” she said. “There’s something down there. Or at least there was.”
    “Why do you say ‘something’ instead of ‘someone’?”
    “God, I don’t know. What difference does it make?”
    With a sigh, David threw back the covers. “I’ll go down and look around.”
    Karyn watched as he got out of bed, pulled on a robe over his white pajamas, and went out into the hallway. She felt foolish. Like some giddy wife in an old television sitcom. “Ricky, get up, I heard a burglar!” “Aw, go hack to sleep, Lucy, ees nothing.”
    Briskly she threw off the blankets and got up. At least she did not have to stay up here cowering in bed, playing out her role. Pulling on a quilted robe, she went out the door and headed down the hallway toward the stairs. At the head of the stairs she stopped to look into Joey’s room. The boy was sleeping peacefully. Karyn went on down to join her husband.
    All the lights were blazing now as David flicked them on as he walked from room to room. When Karyn reached the bottom of the stairs he was just coming back from the rear of the house. Behind him was Mrs. Jensen, her face puffy from sleep, her hair twisted around plastic rollers.
    “Nothing down here,” David said. Karyn knew he was making an effort not to let his irritation show.
    “Mrs. Jensen,” she said, “did you hear anything?”
    “Not me. Not until Mr. Richter knocked on my door. But then, I sleep like the dead anyway.”
    Karyn looked around helplessly. “I’m sure I heard a noise down here.”
    “Well, there’s nothing here now,” David said. “You can go back to bed, Mrs. Jensen. Sorry to disturb you.”
    Karyn waited while David went around turning off the lights, then followed him upstairs. They got into bed and he lay rigidly with his back to her. She wanted to reach out and touch him, bring him close, but she could not. She had to listen. But there were no more sounds from downstairs. After a very long time she fell into a troubled sleep.

Chapter 9
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