Night Of The Beast Read Online Free PDF Page A

flared in his belly.
    All right, damn it. Then fuck God.
    "I know somebody's gotta be listening. Look, I'll give you anything, okay? But gimme back Karen."
    Jason thought for a moment, cringed and then spat out the rest in a rush. "Even if it's you, the freakin' Devil. You can have me when I'm dead. I want Karen."
    Or what?
    "Or I wanna get even."
    huhahuhahuh...
    A chuckling sound. Just the breeze, squealing past on rusty hinges? Still, perhaps it was a sign of some kind. Better than nothing. Or I really am crazy …Again: "I meant every word, cross my heart and hope to die. Give her back, or lemme get even."
    The world…changed, somehow. Another gust of wind caused a claw of emaciated branches to lean down and rap the ornate window above his bowed head. Am I going nuts? Is this really happening, or am I really crazy like they say I am?Does it even matter, in the long run? From somewhere far up and away, soft raindrops fell and whispered vile promises. Dark corners wriggled, then came alive with something…hot. A being both amused and terribly hungry. Or was this just another hallucination?
    If it is, then I would rather be insane, Jason thought. Besides, it seems real enough right now. And what is real anyway?
    "I meant what I said. That's it for you, God," the boy said. He turned his back to the altar and farted in scorn. "Up yours."
    Huhahuhahuha , again.
    When Jason noticed the nearby bowl of holy water, he pissed in it. That made him feel better. He thought he heard something. This: What are you willing to do, boy? Are you willing to die?
    …Heat and thirst: Nevada.
    Back in Two Trees, while town hobo Spats Rafferty and old Doc Tyler were trading dirty jokes in the shade outside Urich's Drug Store, some odd-looking new guy walked right up to them, calm as you please, and asked for a job.
    Spats was pretty drunk, nearly as drunk as Doc. He pointed one shaky finger at the band of children Candace Stone was herding down a dusty sidestreet. A racking cough. "Well," Spats said, "Maybe ol' Candace would pay you to watch over her kids. Some of them girls is old enough to bleed, and that's ripe enough for me!"
    Spats broke himself up. Doc Tyler didn't find him funny, and neither did the stranger. They were looking at each other like long-lost relatives. Tyler seemed to be trying to tear his eyes away from the smaller man's ugly face. He couldn't.
    Doc finally spoke, his voice mushy and slurred from the vodka. "What kind of work you done before?"
    "All kinds."
    The man has a funny way about him, Spats thought. Can barely hear him, but you can't help tuning in.
    Spats: "Look, Doc, I don't think..."
    The little man interupted him. "Until recently, I was employed at the City Morgue in Paris, Texas."
    Doc's mouth gaped. He had a cowboy with a broken neck all laid out on the table, ready for gutting. Ranch owner wanted him buried proper. And he was too drunk to do the job himself, now. Doc considered, drank and wiped his eyes. "I can use you," he decided. "Startin' today, matter of fact. I reckon kind of part-time, though. Few bucks a week. Only fair to tell you, I may be leavin' town soon."
    "That's fine. But why leave?"
    "Hell, boy, undertaking's a living. Problem is, there's not enough folks around here to do the dyin'."
    Spats folded. Even the stranger smiled at that one.
    "I don't mind," he said. "My name's Jason Smith."
    Doc and Spats introduced themselves. Doc allowed as how he was Two Trees' only physician, as well as its mortician. Spats described himself as a man of leisure. After asking where he might find lodging, the disfigured little man strolled away. It was if the air had been sucked out of that area of the street. Doc blew out his breath like a horse rode hard and put up all wet. He looked terrible, of a sudden.
    "Strange little fucker," Spats said, shaking his head. "How come you hired him? Shit, you got no business left as it is."
    "I don't know," Doc replied, honestly. He shook his head. "Now pass me some of