The Eye of Madness Read Online Free PDF Page A

you join us downstairs?” Burt asked gently. “We have some work to do before it gets dark.”
    It took an enormous amount of will power, but he lowered Barbara’s head to her pillow. He closed his eyes, kissed her on the forehead and turned to face them.
    â€œSally and Charlotte will stay here with Barbara,” Burt said. “It will be okay.”
    Andrews, Vandeputte and Dr. Winder walked out of the bathroom together. Each gave Cecil a respectful smile before going out the door and down the stairs. He could hear the slurping noise of the bathtub drain as the last vestiges of water drained away. What the hell happened in there? He hoped the answer awaited downstairs.
    Cecil turned and gave his wife one last loving glance. Charlotte and Sally smiled reassuringly. He turned and walked downstairs.
    He noticed the house was much brighter. Every light was on and every curtain, blind or shutter was torn down. There didn’t seem to be a single dark spot or shadow anywhere, except outside in the woods. Cecil could see several dark spaces in the forest outside the living room window. These sunless areas seemed to pulsate with a living presence. It was evil. Chills ran up his spine as he gazed at one particular dark spot; he was sure the darkness watched him.
    The men stood in a semi-circle around a rustic cedar coffee table. Everyone was too keyed up and on edge to sit. Cecil tried to ignore the shadows outside and grabbed a nearby rocking chair. He pulled it to the open end of the semi-circle, but did not sit down. He stood facing the group with his hands grasping the wicker back of the chair. Everyone seemed terrified of even the darkness cast by the shadow of the furniture. They stood with their legs as far as possible from the blackness underneath. That is, all but Sam Andrews. He was content to plop down on the sofa with his mud-crusted boots propped up on the coffee table, and a beer in his hand.
    They all regarded Cecil as if he was damaged goods and the wrong word could tip him over the edge of sanity. After several moments of uncomfortable silence, Cecil finally broke the ice.
    â€œTell me, why was the bathtub full of water?” he asked.
    They glanced at each other with blank expressions. Finally Cecil’s best friend, Burt, spoke up. “You climbed in there, Cecil. You lay face down and turned on the water. You were screaming and thrashing bloody murder. We couldn’t get to you at first because of the dark room, but when we could, we were afraid to touch you.”
    â€œWhy couldn’t you get to me and why were you afraid to touch me?” Cecil asked.
    Burt frowned. He answered the question, remaining as clear and concise as possible. “Because you went charging right into the darkness,” he said. “Andrews and I were about to run in behind you when Dr. Winder warned us off. He told us not to go into the dark.”
    Cecil glanced at Dr. Winder who was staring at the floor, listening. He remembered Dr. Winder had called him down to observe the change in the sky and to listen to radio reports. People from China to Europe were warning about the ‘living darkness’.
    â€œHow did you get in the room without being affected?” Cecil asked.
    â€œWe grabbed a broom handle and stuck it into the room to turn on the lights,” Andrews interjected with slurred speech. “I’ll be damned if it didn’t feel like something was pulling on it.” Andrews took a final drag on his beer bottle and sat it on the end table next to him. He achieved a pretty good buzz this morning judging by the empty bottles lined up on the coffee table. Under normal circumstances, Cecil would have thought it was the alcohol talking. However, these were not normal circumstances. Normality in the world had been on vacation the past couple of months and incongruity took its place.
    â€œAfter we got the light on,” Burt interrupted before Andrews could say something