A Question of Will Read Online Free PDF

voice said it was time,” the boy replied.
    That was...confusing. “What voice?”
    “I do not know who. The voice said it was time for me to talk and be a little boy. And to protect you, Mommy.”
    Now she was disturbed. “Did the voice say what you needed to protect me from?”
    “The bad men.”
    “What bad men?”
    His face clouded with concern. “The men I saw in my sleep. They were hurting people. I woke up.”
    Her hands went to her face. “I had a bad dream too. Maybe the story I read before our naps was a bit too scary. For both of us.” She tried to smile.
    He shook his head. “They are real, Mommy. I know that they want to hurt you.”
    Now it was her turn to shake her head. “It was just a dream, sweetie. A very realistic dream, but just a dream.”
    “Why would two people have the same dream if it was not real, Mommy?”
    She had no answer for that. Still, she felt the need to comfort him, as much as herself. “Look, I’ll call the guards and they’ll tell us that everything is fine. Will that help?” Without waiting for a reply, she searched through her contact list and found the number to the Guard Station. A crisp voice answered after the first ring. “De Gray Estates Guard Station. My name is Mark. How may I assist you, Mrs. Stark?”
    How does he know it’s me? Oh. Caller ID . She was too spooked to think clearly at the moment. “Hi, Mark. I just had a question for you.”
    “Let me guess. You’re holding a small costume party and need to add three or four people to the access list?” He gave a short laugh.
    She laughed too. “Nothing quite so exciting, I’m afraid. It’s somewhat embarrassing, actually.”
    “Mrs. Stark, even if it kills me, I will help you ease your concern.”
    Rather dramatic, wasn’t he? “I don’t think it will come to that, Mark, but I do appreciate the sentiment. You see, my son and I both just woke up from realistic nightmares, and we both thought there might have been a break-in to the neighborhood.”
    “I totally understand, Mrs. Stark. I’ve had bad dreams before like that, where in your dream someone wants to kill you, and when you wake up you feel like the killer is sitting right there in the room with you.”
    Why was he talking like that? It was almost as if...
    Oh, no.
    She suddenly realized that the dream was real, and Mark was speaking under duress, bravely trying to give her information. There were three or four people involved, in some type of costume, and one of them was in the room with Mark. Probably forcing Mark to make sure she had no idea what was happening.
    She needed to help him.
    “That’s exactly what this dream was like. Bad guys hurting people to come after me. It’s almost as if I should call the police and ask them to come and take a look around.”
    “Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary, Mrs. Stark. We’d just be wasting their time.”
    She wondered about weapons. “It’s at times like this I really wish I had a gun. Even if a bunch of armed men charged into my house, I could shoot them.”
    “Yep, you could cut them down, all right. That would be much more enjoyable than them cutting you down, of course.”
    So it was too late to call the police now; they wouldn’t be able to get here in time to make a difference. Additionally, she knew that those coming for her would have some kind of knife for weapons, but probably no guns. “Thanks so much for talking to me, Mark. My husband should be home soon, and he can tell me how silly I’m being.”
    “Not silly at all, Mrs. Stark. Take care of yourself.”
    “Thanks, Mark. Goodbye.” She knew, somehow, that it was a literal goodbye. Regardless of what happened to her today, she wouldn’t be talking to Mark again in this lifetime.
    She did a mental recap. There were three or four people coming her way, armed with knives of some type, but no guns. They had killed or would kill both guards at the entrance. She could call the police, but they wouldn’t be here in