“So maybe we should try to steal Romeo’s truck?” George asked.
“I saw the keys in it,” Amber said.
“Good,” Ricky said. “So we’ll have between one and three vehicles. We just have to get to them.”
“We think the circuit for the lights is on,” George said. “When we connected it, the other lights dimmed just a bit, so I’m guessing they’re drawing power. Same thing with the lockouts upstairs, which doesn’t help with the monsters already in the house but it stops more from coming.”
“If you’re bringing him,” Mary said, pointing at the dog, “then find something to use as a leash. He’s not going to come otherwise.”
Ricky looked at Albert and seemed to reconsider his earlier resolve. Then, he moved to the workbench and began to search around.
“Everyone has to carry flashlights and at least one stake,” Amber said, pointing to the arsenal that she had assembled. “Remember, you probably won’t see them unless you have lights at several different angles. It’s their camouflage that makes them so difficult to kill. If you do end up spotting their eyes, it’s too late. They hypnotize you with their eyes.”
“Some of them can take away your consciousness completely,” George said to his mother.
Alan nodded at that.
Ricky returned with a length of rope that he knotted to Albert’s collar.
Mary used a roll of tape to secure one of the flashlights to a long spear.
“I left the bag of seed in the kitchen,” Alan said. “Before we left, I threw a bunch around so the floor might be slippery if they haven’t picked them up yet.”
“Are we sure the seeds work?” Mary asked.
Alan said yes at the same time that Amber was saying no.
“In the room,” Amber said, “they were slowed, but some of them made it to us anyway.”
“For the most part…” Alan stared to say.
“That’s not the question. We don’t care what works for the most part. We can’t afford to take any chances.”
“Hopefully the lights will be on up there and we won’t have to take any chances,” George said. “The UV lights in the kitchen are probably on, and there are more in the garage. That just leaves the shed.”
“That’s more than enough darkness for them to take advantage of,” Amber said.
“But we’re on the kitchen side this time,” George argued. “We can open the door and let that light shine down the hall. Besides, we already took care of…”
Ricky silenced his brother with a raised hand to demand that he stop arguing.
“One step at a time,” Ricky said. “We get to the top of the stairs, open that door and see. We know for sure that the UV lights in the stairway work. That’s enough to start.”
Amber glanced around their circle. It appeared that they were all as ready as they were going to get.
# # #
Amber led the way up the stairs. She couldn’t imagine not seeing for herself what awaited. Behind one of the others, she would have panicked.
She turned the knob and let the door swing towards her. She froze at the sound of a moan from behind her. It was Romeo. Amber guessed that it might be the last sound he would ever make. She heard Ricky jerk the rope that was attached to Albert’s collar. The dog wanted to retreat but Ricky wouldn’t let him.
Using her light, Amber made sure that there was nothing above the door. The fuzzy purple light was spilling from the doorway and there were hardly any shadows in the hall next to the stairs. The first part of their journey would be low risk.
Still, she came out slowly and double-checked every angle before she waved for George to follow. The dogs came next with Ricky. Alan and Mary brought up the rear. Tucker came forward until Amber put her hand out. The dog understood to stay back.
She advanced.
Glancing up the stairs to the second floor, she saw some lights on in the hallway. They weren’t bright enough to penetrate the open door of one of the rooms up there. That was fine with Amber. She hoped that the monsters had retreated into their rooms. That would mean that they weren’t lying in wait.
She paused at the front door of the house and then reached up to flip the deadbolt. Her hand paused on the latch and then she removed it. From her experience, the lock wouldn’t keep out the creatures and it might slow their retreat if something went terribly wrong. She proceeded into the library and waited for the others to catch up. The sound from the speakers muffled everything. She barely heard George’s footsteps. If it blotted out the hypnotic tapping from the creatures, Amber was glad for the noise.
“The lights are on,” George said, leaning close to be heard.
Amber nodded. She continued on. Through the kitchen, she could see that the back door was wide open. The cold air was blowing in. Amber stayed close to the left wall to keep away from the darkness of the back yard. George put a hand on her shoulder and she froze in place. When she turned, George was pointing down to Tucker. His upper lip was quivering and the hair on his back was standing up. Amber looked in the direction that he was staring. The tablecloth on the kitchen table stirred. It could have just been the wind, but based on Tucker’s reaction she didn’t think that was the case.
George crept forward. Using the tip of his stake, he flicked at the tablecloth, getting it to slide to one side. With another flick, gravity took over and it rippled to the floor. Amber didn’t see anything for a second. Then, when she pointed her light under the table she saw what looked like a dark blob. It was only visible for a moment before it disappeared.
Ricky crouched and added his light as he wrapped an arm around Tucker to make sure the dog didn’t get too close. Albert was pulling on the rope,
