Where the Dead Talk Read Online Free PDF Page A

a step back, leaving a bloody boot-print.
    During his stint in the artillery, Pomeroy had once seen a soldier get his arm blown off by a misfired shot. The blood loss had been massive, and the fellow hadn’t lasted the hour. Looking at the amount of blood on the floor – not to mention what had covered the kitchen and trailed down the stairs – he could find no good way to explain why those eyes should move at all.
    "Perhaps you soldiers were right," he said, standing up straight. "This really isn’t our business."
    He turned back to the stairs.
    "In any event, no one loses that much blood and lives. Not that I’ve ever seen."
    "But – " Hutchison said.
    "Let’s go, Privates," Pomeroy said over him. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a sound from the darkness.
    "Something moved," Cooper said.
    "I see you. We both see you."
    The three of them froze. A cold voice, from the shadows beyond the root cellar door. Pomeroy put a hand on the rough railing and started up. Hutchison followed. The shadows moved with the lantern.
    "I see something," Cooper said, still not moving from the chimney base.
    "Come hold me," the voice said.
    A shadow crossed the low ceiling and landed in front of Cooper. It stood man-sized. Pomeroy made out a tattered cloak with boots below the hem.
    "Sir, the eyes –" was all Cooper got out before the figure leaped at him. Before Pomeroy or Hutchison could even register what was happening, the sound of vertebrae snapping was clear. As Cooper dropped to the floor with a groan, the figure spun on Hutchison. For a second, Pomeroy saw a pale face underneath muddy hair. The eyes caught the flames of the lantern, sunlight on drops of mercury. Hutchison yelled, hurling the lantern at the figure. The glass shattered, spilling oil and flame down the front of the figure. Pomeroy spun and bolted up the stairs, his shadow pacing the wall next to him. He put his shoulder to the door at full speed. His left foot caught on the top step and he spilled out into the dark hallway, sliding on the floorboards and the trail of dried blood.
    A scream tore from the cellar.
    Pomeroy pushed himself up and looked back to the dark stairwell. In the light of the flames, Hutchison stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up and off into the cellar. The shadow slipped into the stairwell facing Hutchison, still burning.
    "Sir," Hutchison called, "help!"
    Pomeroy yanked back the hammer on his pistol. There was a sudden movement to his right. A boy stood off to the side, looking at him as though he were just a tad less terrifying than the horrors in the cellar. The boy looked from him to the cellar door and back, then slammed the door closed.
    "Open that up," Pomeroy said, waving his pistol.
    "Guns won’t work," the boy said. His voice was rounded and muted, as if his hearing was very poor or gone. Pomeroy pointed the gun at him. A moment later, the door rattled.
    "They’re gone," the boy said.
    "Out," Pomeroy said. He motioned with his gun. From behind the door to the cellar, there was another scream. The boy didn’t move so Pomeroy shoved him forward, then stumbled after the child, down the hall and out the door. There was just a faint color left in the sky, a line of clouds where the sun was going down.
    "Sir?" Private Hawkes called out, astride his horse. Through his pain, he’d still kept watch. "What was that?"
    Pomeroy grabbed the boy and lifted him up onto Cooper’s horse, and thrust the reins into his hands.
    "Don’t ask any questions, Hawke," Pomeroy said. He mounted his own horse. "We’re leaving."
    "But –"
    "No," Pomeroy said.
    He looked at the farmhouse for a moment, then towards the road.
    "Bloody hell," Pomeroy said. He spurred his horse towards the fields, now growing dark.
    "Come," he said to the others.
    The riders disappeared into the twilight. The flames in the cellar of the Chase farmhouse began to spread.
     

These Dark Woods
     
    The waters of the lake were black, reflecting stars that,