Alone Read Online Free PDF Page A

dreams, either.
    So, what the hell was going on? Was he dreaming, and if so, how much longer would it go on? If he wasn’t, then where was everybody? What had happened to them? It was terrifying enough that Jerry and Danielle were missing, but where were his neighbors? More disturbing, who else might be missing? How far did this situation extend? Just how alone was he, really?
    “I’m dreaming,” he said. His voice sounded small in the silence. “I have to be dreaming. It’s the only explanation that makes any sense. This is all a dream. Either that ...”
    He couldn’t finish the sentence aloud.
    Either that ... or I’m going crazy.  
    Dan looked around his daughter’s room again. Each toy or book or piece of clothing was a memory. His stomach roiled again, as a new bout of fear and dismay gripped him.
    “Where are you?” he moaned. “What has happened to you? What is happening to me?”  
    “Daddy?”
    Dan raised his head and saw his daughter standing in the doorway looking at him.
    “Danielle?”
    “Daddy! Are you here?”
    As Dan leaped up from the bed, he noticed that Danielle’s voice didn’t match her lips. Watching her speak was like watching an English-dubbed foreign film. Her lips moved, forming the words just slightly ahead of the sounds.  
    “Yes, baby.” Dan rushed toward her. “I’m here. Daddy’s here. I’ve been so worried about you. Where have you been?”
    “Daddy, I’m scared.”
    “It’s okay, pumpkin. I’m here now. It’s all going to be—”
    He reached for her, intending to sweep Danielle off her feet and hug her tightly to him, reassuring both his daughter and himself that things would be okay (because Dan had noticed over time that one of the odd things about being a parent was when his child skinned her knee or bumped her head, giving her comfort gave him comfort, as well). Instead of pulling her close, his arms went right through Danielle, as if she were composed of smoke. Dan cried out in surprise. His momentum carried him into the bedroom wall, which he bounced off of. Dan tumbled backward and landed on the carpet with his rump. When he looked around, Danielle was gone again.
    He sat there for a moment, stunned.  
    “Danielle? Danielle, come back!”
    She didn’t. He was alone again. Moaning, he curled into a ball and trembled.
    “No. No no no no no ...”
    The noise started as a whimper, deep down inside of him, before spewing out as a long, breathless shriek.
    Dan wasn’t sure how much time passed—how long he remained there on his daughter’s bedroom floor, curled into the fetal position and screaming with each new breath. His voice didn’t turn hoarse and his throat wasn’t sore, nor did his tailbone hurt from his fall. He supposed that was because he was numb from shock. The pain would probably catch up with him soon enough. He hoped so, at least. He looked forward to it, because feeling pain would take his mind off feeling scared and helpless, if only for a little while.
    Eventually, he found himself downstairs again, seated at the kitchen table. The pad and the paper were where he’d left them, and his notes were still there. Shaking his head, he stared at them. The list was bullshit. In the aftermath of what he’d just witnessed, his options were narrowing. Either he was crazy—which seemed more and more likely—or this was indeed some bizarre dream from which he couldn’t awake. Maybe Jerry was still lying next to him, and would wake up any moment, notice that Dan was having some kind of nightmare, and would wake him.
    He took a deep breath and waited for it to happen.
    Any moment now.
    Any moment ...

 
     
     
    FOUR

    H e waited for a very long time, but nobody came to wake him.

 
     
     
    FIVE

    D an sat there at the table, staring at the wall and not seeing it. Danielle did not appear again. The silence continued, uninterrupted. The light outside didn’t change. The grayness remained. So did his fears and sorrow. But while the haze was