Wild-born by Adrian Howell Read Free Book Online

from somewhere in the house.
    Then I heard screaming. It was Dad. It lasted a few seconds, and then stopped. The wind had stopped too, and for a brief moment, the house was dead silent.
    “Richard! Are you okay?” cried Mom’s distant voice, full of fear.
    I had to stop Dad. I dashed out of my room and down the corridor. The wind started to pick up again. Soon it was whipping through the house, rattling windows and knocking over houseplants and even bookshelves. I was almost to my parents’ bedroom when I heard Mom scream.
    I opened the door and saw them.
    I’m not going to tell you how my mother died. If you really want to know, you can go dig up the newspaper articles on them about what the police found the next day. There are records of all of this, but I’m not going to point you to them. In short, Dad killed her.
    Then he came after me.
    I tripped backwards over something soft, and realized that Cat had followed me. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back into my room. I could hear Dad roaring in fury. Like a rampaging bull, he came bearing down on my room door as I was trying to shut it.
    The door clicked in place a moment before Dad crashed into it with a loud thud. There wasn’t a lock. All Dad had to do was turn the knob. But by the sound of it, he was clawing at the door like a wild animal. Even so, I felt it was only a matter of seconds before he either opened it or broke it down.
    I turned to Cat and shouted, “Out the window!”
    Cat shook her head, her eyes wide with fright.
    “Jump, Cat!” I said again. “I’ll break the fall.”
    Cat still didn’t budge. I grabbed her and threw her out, doing my best to telekinetically slow her down before she hit the ground. It wasn’t easy because I was panicking and couldn’t concentrate, but Cat quickly stood and looked up at me, so I guessed she was okay.
    I called down to her from the window, “Run, Cat! I’ll hold him off!”
    Cat finally seemed to come out of whatever trance she was in. She sprinted out of the yard, into the semi-dark street and out of sight.
    Meanwhile, I heard Dad roar again, but the clawing noise had stopped. Dad had turned around and gone after someone else. Instinct told me to jump out of my window and follow Cat, but something stopped me. I was sure that whoever had done this to us was still in the house. Maybe Dad had gone after that someone. I had to help Dad. Besides, after all that had happened, I couldn’t just run away without any answers.
    Or maybe I just wanted to see the monster.
    The wind was still whipping up a storm of papers and torn leaves, so there was no way anyone could hear me, but nevertheless I crept as quietly as I could down the hall to the stairs. I peered over the banister and looked down into the living room.
    There was glass everywhere. All the windows had shattered. The curtains had been torn off their rails. In the little moonlight that was shining through the living-room window, I saw him. He was a big, wide-shouldered man, though I couldn’t tell in the darkness whether he was fat or muscular. I could also make out the shape of my father’s body lying on the floor nearby, his arms and neck bent strangely. He wasn’t moving.
    The big man slowly turned his head and looked up at me. And he grinned, but his eyes were cold and fierce. Then he looked away, turning slowly on the spot as he searched the room for something else. I could only see the scene from above. What was he looking for?
    A blink later, his whole body twitched once, and I saw a glint of silver near his neck. Then I saw the metal shaft. An arrow had been shot through his throat. Clutching his neck, the man fell to his knees, and then flat on his face.
    “Come on out,” said a wheezy voice from below. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
    I realized that the house was silent again. The wind had stopped.
    “Who are you?” I called down. My voice was almost steady.
    “I’m a friend,” said the voice, coughing lightly once. “Come on