Micky was sleeping soundly, dreaming of girls and fame and a million other wonderful things. But the sound sleep was not to last.
He was awakened sharply by a strong grip around his neck and a threatening yet familiar voice in his ear.
“Where is he?” the voice asked.
“I don’t know,” Micky gasped, barely able to speak. He didn’t bother to ask who ‘he’ was; he was too scared.
“Liar,” the voice replied, and tossed him to the bed. Micky felt a sharp pain run down his spine, and a sharp pain in his chest. It began to be difficult to breathe, and he gasped for air.
Mike wasn’t able to sleep. He didn’t know why, but something was clawing at him, telling him not to sleep.
He thought he heard a sound in the room, but he couldn’t be sure. He rolled over and tried to sleep, but it wasn’t happening.
Suddenly, he felt a touch on his arm. He rolled over and felt something heavy on his chest. A tightness formed in his throat and his vision began to go. He found it hard to breathe, and he gasped for air.
“Ready to die?” a voice asked him. Mike couldn’t answer.
Davy’s wonderful dream was interrupted by a feeling of fear so strong he woke up and sat up in bed, staring into the darkness. Something was happening, but he didn’t know what.
Acting on instinct, he got up immediately and ran to Micky’s bedroom. He wasn’t certain why, but he simply had to go there.
Micky was lying in bed, but his eyes were open. He stared into space.
Davy rushed forward and shook him. He couldn’t be dead, could he? But Micky didn’t respond. He focused as hard as he could. Maybe…just maybe, he was still alive. He heard a heartbeat, but Micky wasn’t in there.
A shiver of cold fear ran down his spine. Mike, he thought, hurriedly. He had to get to Mike!
He burst into Mike’s bedroom. Mike was lying, exhausted, on the bed. Davy rushed to him.
“Mike?” he whispered. He didn’t want whatever had happened to Micky to happen to Mike, too.
Mike moaned and looked up at Davy. His eyes were glassy, but he was still in there. Still hanging on.
“Davy,” he whispered. “Watch out. He’ll…sneak up…behind you…you won’t hear. Be…careful.” Then he passed out, unable to hold out any longer.
This confused Davy. Mike’s statement didn’t seem to make any sense. All of the sudden he felt like he was in a bad horror movie.
Suddenly, something grabbed him from behind, and then he lost all conscious thought.
Late in the night, Peter found himself inexplicably awake. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t tired, and he couldn’t sleep. Hunger clawed at his stomach, and he discovered he was hungry. Time for a midnight snack.
Getting up, he glanced at Nicole, who was still sleeping silently beside him. He could hardly believe she was real. He remembered a time when he had forgotten she’d existed. But now she was real. And now he was home.
Tiptoeing so as not to wake her, he sneaked out of the room and headed for the kitchen. He passed Thomas’ door on the way to the stairs and smiled, remembering the happy reunion they had experienced. Though he wasn’t Thomas’ real father, and Thomas wasn’t his real son, they were still close, and he’d been glad to see him again.
He headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Not bothering to turn on the light, he opened the refrigerator and began to search for some food.
He thought he heard a noise behind him, and looked up. There was no one. Shrugging it off, he turned back to the refrigerator, thinking of what to eat.
’Daddy,’ he thought he heard Thomas’ voice say. He couldn’t be certain; it was as quiet as the wind. He looked up from the refrigerator and again saw nothing through the darkness. Again he went back to the refrigerator.
A tap came on his shoulder and he turned around again, annoyed this time. But no one was there. A sharp pain went through him, down his spine. His eyes rolled back in his head. He could see nothing but darkness, and he fainted to the ground.
