Werewolf Suspense (Book 1): Outage by T.W. Piperbrook Read Free Book Online Page A

and she fought the sick feeling in her gut. Abby had never killed anything before.  
    She was a goddamn vegetarian, for Christ's sake.  
    But the thing outside wasn't. Whatever it was, she knew that much. It'd already devoured Rob, and she was next. Her body shimmered with fear. Just minutes ago, she'd been in the house with her husband, making plans to go to the hotel. They were going to get warm and get some sleep, and they were going to forget all about this snowstorm.
    How could this have happened so fast? How could the world have spiraled out of control in just a few hours?
    She closed the kitchen drawer. She was about to peer out the window again when a crash emanated from downstairs.  
    Abby went stock-still. Her hands shook on the knife. She heard the sprinkle of glass on cement, then the sound of feet hitting the floor.
    Ohmygod…  
    It's in here. It's coming for me.
    She lunged for the back door, but quickly stopped herself. The creature had entered through one of the back windows; if she went out that way, she'd be in close proximity to it. Instead, she padded into the living room, scanning for places to hide. Her mind flitted from one room to the next, picturing the places she could go: the closet, the bathroom, the attic…
    Where should I go?
    Downstairs, a piece of furniture clattered against the wall. Her heart leapt like a springboard. She couldn't stay here. It wasn't safe. She needed to get out of the house.
    Her cellphone was somewhere outside.  
    Go, Abby, go.
    She crossed back into the living room, grabbing one last peek out the front window. The scene was unchanged.
    She leapt down the stairs, balancing the need to be quiet with the need to move. When she reached the landing, she twisted the door lock. She could hear the beast breathing downstairs below her, moving through the basement. The path to the Pierces' backyard was straight—about a few hundred feet or so. If she could avoid being seen, she could reach her cellphone in under a minute. All she had to do was find it.  
    Heart crashing against her ribcage, she snapped open the lock and flung open the door. Cold air rushed in to greet her. She clutched the knife, then ran out into it.

Chapter Seven

    Abby ran until her breath heaved, her lungs burned, and her legs were sore. The snow crunched beneath her boots. Even though she'd traveled the yard just minutes ago, it seemed to stretch on forever, as if she were trekking across some great plain, passing from one existence to the next.
    That was the way she'd felt all night. Nothing seemed real, and yet she was horribly certain that it was.
    The neighborhood was silent and calm, but she could hear the sounds of the creature behind her, making its way through the basement. She hadn't shut the door. Hadn't had time. Her eyes flew across the neighborhood, praying someone else would appear, but the landscape was desolate and white. It was as if the entire world was gone and buried, and Abby was the last person alive.
    For all she knew, she might be.  
    The Morgans and the Pierces were gone. She knew that much. There was no sign of the Hamiltons. The only other person she'd seen was the man at the end of the road, and she assumed he was dead or eaten.
    Unless he was the creature behind her.
    It seemed impossible. But given the world she'd been thrust into, she had no choice but to consider it. But not right now.  
    She had to focus on getting to that cellphone. Even if she had no service, she might be able to find bars somewhere.  
    Her eyes flew back to the Pierces' driveway.
    She bounded forward, her boots grappling with the snow beneath her, and scanned the ground for her phone as she ran. There was no sign of it. She kept her head down as she passed the Civic, immersed in her mission, terrified to look behind her. Below her were the tracks she'd made on the way in, as well as tracks from the beast—she could see them now, and the prints were larger than those of any animal she'd seen. Both