Dominion of the Damned Read Free Page B

closet.
    Hannah patted the baby’s back as she crossed to the window and looked out at the street. Lights were on in the Gifford house across the street, and in a few other houses as well. Apparently Albert and Marie weren’t the only squatters in the abandoned neighborhood. Her dad’s truck still sat parked in the driveway. Everything looked normal, as though nothing bad had ever happened here.
    She went to the bed and sat down, settling Noah in her lap. She felt numb as she looked around the room. Her entire life, this had been her room. Even after going to college, her parents had kept it for her, and her bed had always felt welcoming whenever she came home to visit. She set the monitor on the nightstand and lay down. Curling up with her brother, she pulled the covers over them both, and closed her eyes, and prayed to wake up. For a few sweet moments, she allowed herself the luxury of pretending that this had all been a bad dream, that she would open her eyes again and find that her dad had never shaken her awake, that she’d never gotten out of bed, that her world didn’t end.
    She opened her eyes. Albert’s voice sounded on the baby monitor. “I hope you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking,” he said.
    “What am I thinking?” asked Marie.
    “We can’t keep him, Marie. We have to give him to the authorities.”
    “I suppose,” she said. “But I didn’t tell them there was a baby when I called. I didn’t even know myself then.”
    Hannah threw the covers off and sat up. She grabbed the monitor and held it close to her ear.
    “Marie,” Albert sounded agitated, “you know what will happen if we get caught hoarding food. They’ll stake us out in the yard and leave us there to burn.”
    “Oh, you worry too much, Albert. How would they find out? Besides, it’s not like that little thing’ll make more than a snack between the two of us.”
    Hannah wondered if she’d actually fallen asleep and this was her dream. She couldn’t be hearing them right.
    “And what happens when that girl starts ranting and raving about her baby being taken? You think she won’t tell?”
    The monitor fell silent for a moment. Then Marie said, “She can’t tell them if she’s dead.”
    “What?”
    “She found us out. She tried to run, and we tried to stop her.”
    “Marie―”
    “We can’t feed from her, I know. They already know about her, and they’d investigate. But we can break her neck, and then the baby―”
    “Marie! Get serious!”
    “I am serious, Albert! Think about it! Think about that fresh, warm b—”
    Grabbing the baby, Hannah charged out of the room. She pulled the pistol out of her waistband as she ran down the stairs. Marie and Albert stood at the bottom of the staircase, between Hannah and the door. She pointed the gun at them. “Move.”
    “Calm down, girl,” Albert said. “We don’t want any trouble here.” He looked directly at her for the first time, and his eyes... the irises were an icy blue, so pale they were almost white, and the pupils seemed to glow, reflecting light the way a cat′s eyes do. It wasn′t normal. It wasn′t human.
    “What are you people?” she asked. “Are you more of those… those things? What, you can talk now?” She didn’t want to think about the implication of what that meant for her parents. The sight of her mother lurching toward her, gnashing her teeth, hungry eyes on the baby, flashed before her and made her feel sick.
    “She knows, Albert,” said Marie. “This is our chance!”
    “Marie, shut up! She clearly doesn’t know anything.” Albert reached a hand toward Hannah. “I don’t know what you think is going on here, but let’s all just―”
    Hannah turned the gun on him. “I should just shoot you where you stand.”
    He looked surprised for a second, but then he smiled. It wasn’t a warm smile. Hannah felt chilled as he said, “Go ahead. It won’t help you.” He took a step toward her.
    Hannah didn’t hesitate.