The Secret: A Thriller Read Online Free PDF Page A

Streetlights were still out, and I could see a few stars. So the rain had stopped, anyway.
    I stood quietly. Robbie mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over.
    I went to check the girls’ window. Nothing there either.
    Suddenly, from behind and above me, I heard a loud screeching—it sounded like some sort of primal challenge. But to what, from what? And why was…whatever it was…on top of my house?
    Another screech answered it from down the street, and footsteps came over the crown of the house. Right in front of me, a naked man jumped from above the window.
    I gaped. What the hell? The guy dropped two stories and I lost sight of him…but then he scuttled forward toward the street. His head went back, his arms shot toward the sky in some sort of display, and he screeched again.
    Slowly, I backed up from the window. I didn’t think he could see me, but I didn’t want to take any chances. But his head whipped around and I froze.
    He screeched again, looking right at me, and my gut clenched. I was no longer sure he was human. Though…I was certain he was male. And in a mood to prove it.
    But an answering screech came from down the street. The…creature…took two quick steps and jumped up onto a neighbor’s roof, then from there to the next house, and was gone.
    “Hon?” Rebecca called from downstairs. “Is everything all right?”
     
    * * *
     
    K ids are amazing animals. Through all that, they slept. None of us adults did—the screeching had woken Susie too.
    I told the others about the naked man on the roof…but I didn’t mention the jumping. Or the creature’s face. It had been twisted with rage, barely recognizable as human. If it was human.
    Because: I saw fangs. Monstrous canines, curved and jutting so far out I suspected they would be visible even if the creature closed its—his—mouth. Unless I had imagined them, and I didn’t see how I could have, we were living in a nightmare.
    “Ash?” That was Tim. “I’m going upstairs to…well, if this guy keeps climbing on the roof I want to be close by. Can you watch down here?”
    “Sure,” I told him. “Good idea. Rebecca? Want to—”
    “Like I could sleep? Sure, I’ll help you down here. Let me grab the shotgun.”
    Susie seemed out of it. Tim glanced at her as he went up the stairs, then caught my eye and shrugged.
    “Suze?” I asked. “Think you could go back to sleep? We’re all going to have to crash eventually.”
    She shuddered. “Really, Ash. Sleep isn’t happening.” She turned and went upstairs behind Tim.
    Rebecca touched my arm as soon as they were out of sight. I turned.
    She looked scared. “You saw, didn’t you?” she asked.
    I studied her. “The face? The…teeth?”
    She nodded, and buried her face against my chest. “I didn’t want to say anything. I thought I might be going crazy.”
    “Shh,” I told her. “You’re fine. It’s the world out there that’s crazy. Um. Also, the…thing…out there jumped onto the Conways’ roof. From the street.”
    Rebecca put her arms around me. “What’s happening, Ash? What are these things?”
    “Beats me,” I said, then had a thought I couldn’t keep from saying aloud. “I don’t think Google would help, even if we could get online.”
    She shook her head, her face still against me. “Maybe not.”
    “I’ve got two ideas,” I said. “No, three. Tomorrow I want to see if I can get online somehow, see what the rest of the world thinks is going on here. And if I can’t do that, I think we should pack up and leave Henge forever. A town with no internet access is not worth living in.”
    This is part of why I love my wife: she laughed. “No shit, Ash. There are basic standards. Running water’s nice, but I gotta have my Pandora. And Facebook.”
    I grinned down at her, then got serious again. “Here’s the third thing. We’re going to have to tell Tim and Susie, maybe the kids too, everything we saw.”
    She nodded against me. “Definitely the kids