Darkfall

From Faye's demeanor as she stepped back to let them in, Jack knew the kids were all right, and he sagged a little with relief. But he said, “Where's Penny? Where's Davey? Are they okay?”

Faye glanced at Rebecca and started to smile, then realized what Jack was saying, frowned at him, and said, “Okay? Well, of course, they're okay. They're perfectly fine. I might not have kids of my own, but I know how to take care of them. You think I'd let anything happen to those two little monkeys? For heaven's sake, Jack, I don't—”

“Did anyone try to follow you back here from the school? “ he asked urgently.

“And just what was all that nonsense about, anyway? “ Faye demanded.

“It wasn't nonsense. I thought I made that clear. Did anyone try to follow you? You did look out for a tail, like I told you to — didn't you, Faye?”

“Sure, sure, sure. I looked. No one tried to follow me. And I don't think—”

They had moved out of the foyer, into the living room, while they had been talking. Jack looked around, didn't see the kids.

He said, “Faye, where the hell are they?”

“Don't take that tone, for goodness sake. What are you—”

“Faye, damnit!”

She recoiled from him. “They're in the guest room. With Keith,” she said quickly and irritably. “They were put to bed at about a quarter past nine, just as they should have been, and we thought they were just about sound asleep when all of a sudden Penny screamed—”

“Screamed?”

“-and said there were rats in their room. Well, of course, we don't have any—”

Rats!

Jack bolted across the living room, hurried along the short hall, and burst into the guest room.

The bedside lamps, the standing lamp in the corner and the ceiling light were all blazing.

Penny and Davey were standing at the foot of one of the twin beds, still in their pajamas. When they saw Jack, they cried out happily—“Daddy! Daddy!”—and ran to him, hugged him.

Jack was so overwhelmed at finding them alive and unhurt, so grateful, that for a moment he couldn't speak. He just grabbed hold of them and held them very tightly.

In spite of all the lights in the room, Keith Jamison was holding a flashlight. He was over by the dresser holding the flash above his head, directing the beam into the darkness beyond the vent plate that covered the outlet in the heating duct. He turned to Jack, frowning, and said, “Something odd's going on here. I—”

“Goblins!” Penny said, clutching Jack. “They're coming, Daddy, they want me and Davey, don't let them, don't let them get us, oh please, I've been waiting for them, waiting and waiting, scared, and now they're almost here!” The words tumbled over one another, flooding out of her, and then she sobbed.

“Whoa,” Jack said, holding her close and petting her, smoothing her hair. “Easy now. Easy.”

Faye and Rebecca had followed him from the living room.

Rebecca was being her usual cool, efficient self. She was at the bedroom closet, getting the kids' clothes off hangers.

Faye said, “First, Penny shouted that there were rats in her room; and then she started carrying on about goblins, nearly hysterical. I tried to tell her it was only a nightmare—”

“It wasn't a nightmare!” Penny shouted.

“Of course it was,” Faye said.

“They've been watching me all day,” Penny said. “And there was one of them in our room last night, Daddy. And in the school basement today — a whole bunch of them. They chewed up Davey's lunch. And my books, too. I don't know what they want, but they're after us, and they're goblins, real goblins, I swear!”

“Okay,” Jack said. “I want to hear all of this, every detail. But later. Now, we have to get out of here.”

Rebecca brought their clothes.

Jack said, “Get dressed. Don't bother taking off your pajamas. Just put your clothes on over them.”

Faye said, “What on earth—”

“We've got to get the kids out of here,” Jack said. “Fast.”

“But you act as if you actually believe this goblin talk,” Faye said, astonished.

Keith said, “I sure don't believe in goblins, but I sure do believe we have some rats.”

“No, no, no,” Faye said, scandalized. “We can't.

Not in this building.”

“In the ventilation system,” Keith said. “I heard them myself. That's why I was trying to see in there with the flashlight when you came busting in, Jack.”

“Sssshhh, “ Rebecca said. “Listen.”

The kids continued to get dressed, but no one spoke.

At first Jack heard nothing. Then… a peculiar hissing-muttering-growling.

That's no damned rat, he thought.

Inside the wall, something rattled. Then a scratching sound, a furious scrabbling. Industrious noises: clinking, tapping, scraping, thumping.

Faye said, “My God.”

Jack took the flashlight from Keith, went to the dresser, pointed the light at the duct. The beam was bright and tightly focused, but it did little to dispel the blackness that pooled beyond the slots in the vent plate.

Another thump in the wall.

More hissing and muted growling.

Jack felt a prickling along the back of his neck.

Then, incredibly, a voice came out of the duct. It was a hoarse, crackling, utterly inhuman voice, thick with menace: “Penny? Davey? Penny?”

Faye cried out and stumbled back a couple of steps.

Even Keith, who was a big and rather formidable man, went pale and moved away from the vent. “What the devil was that?”

To Faye, Jack said, “Where're the kids' coats and boots? Their gloves?”

“Uh… in… in the kitchen. D-Drying out.”

“Get them.”

Faye nodded but didn't move.

Jack put a hand on her shoulder. “Get their coats and boots and gloves, then meet us by the front door.”

She couldn't take her eyes off the vent.

He shook her. “Faye! Hurry!”

She jumped as if he'd slapped her face, turned, and ran out of the bedroom.

Penny was almost dressed, and she was holding up remarkably well, scared but in control. Davey was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying not to cry, crying anyway, wiping at the tears on his face, glancing apologetically at Penny and biting his lip and trying very hard to follow her example; his legs were dangling over the side of the bed, and Rebecca was hastily tying his shoes for him.

From the vent: “Davey? Penny? “

“Jack, for Christ's sake, what's going on here?”

Keith asked.

Not bothering to respond, having no time or patience for questions and answers just now, Jack pointed the flashlight at the vent again and glimpsed movement in the duct. Something silvery lay in there; it glowed and flickered like a white-hot fire — then blinked and was gone. In its place, something dark appeared, shifted, pushed against the vent plate for a moment, as if trying hard to dislodge it, then withdrew when the plate held. Jack couldn't see enough of the creature to get a clear idea of its general appearance. Keith said, “Jack. The vent screw.”

Jack had already seen it. The screw was revolving, slowly coming out of the edge of the vent plate. The creature inside the duct was turning the screw, unfastening it from the other side of the flange to which the plate was attached. The thing was muttering, hissing, and grumbling softly while it worked.

“Let's go,” Jack said, striving to keep his voice calm. “Come on, come on. Let's get out of here right