Peculiar Tales

Peculiar Tales Read Free

Book: Peculiar Tales Read Free
Author: Ron Miller
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tore the door from one of the gun cabinets with his bare hands, flinging the shattered wood and glass to the floor. “I thought I had them fooled at last! I changed my address! I bought this place under an assumed name! I grew a beard! How? How? They must have hired detectives!”
    I had pretty much realized by this point that I wasn’t going to make a Lustron porcelain-clad siding sale and began edging toward the door, hoping that whatever it was beyond the window that was exciting Helsinki so much would keep him distracted from me. I threw a final glance through the window and was amazed to see the fireflies still there. Strange fireflies that didn’t blink and, oddest thing of all, still moved about in pairs, like luminous dancing partners. No, I take that back. The oddest thing was that they all seemed to be moving toward the house.
    The moon cleared the last branches and the room was as brilliantly lit as if someone had thrown a switch. I instinctively turned away from the window, toward the walls covered with the gruesome trophies. The hairy, scaley, feathered, armored, brutish faces glowed in the moonlight as though splashed with phosphorescent paint. Then...
    Then they began to change .
    Where there had once been decapitated boars, wolves, cats and God knows what all, there were now the heads of men. Men of all ages and races, their faces filled with fury and...and surprise. And then I realized that there were not only the heads of men but women, too, some of them heart-stoppingly beautiful, others with the faces of degenerate hags. But worst of all were the children...
    I didn’t wait to see any more of that . I bolted through the door, not really bothering to see if it were open or not, and flung myself headlong down the hall toward the front door. The latter was unlocked, thank God, and my car was still where I’d left it. As I wrenched the door open and started to clamber into the front seat I heard shots from the house, then a terrible, terrible wailing. An ululation—if ululation is the word I want—that rose and rose and rose, then collapsed into a horrible gurgle.
    Before I could even begin to imagine what that had been all about, I had the engine started and was half a mile away from that damned house.
    I don’t know how long I drove before I realized that I wasn’t alone in the car. I could hear something breathing softly in the back seat. I glanced into the rear view mirror but whatever it was was hiding behind my seat.
    “Wh-wh-who...?” I managed to croak.
    “Mr. Barrow?”
    It wasn’t a snarl or a hiss or a growl, so I was reassured. In fact, it was a very pleasant voice indeed...which was even more reassuring.
    “Who is it?” I asked, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer already. As I glanced again in the mirror I saw a pale face rise into the glass. It reminded me, for a terrifying moment, of the moon rising into the window back at the house. But it was who I thought it was: the “ward” I’d met earlier that evening. Her face looked like a hard-boiled egg nestled in black velvet. The only color was in her vast green eyes.
    “It’s me, Mr. Barrow. Mr. Helsinki’s ward...”
    “Yes, of course. Uh, Susi. But what are you doing here?”
    “The same thing you are, Mr. Barrow...escaping that awful house!”
    “You’d better climb into the front seat with me. I have to look at you to talk and if I keep my eyes on the mirror we’re going to get killed because I can tell you right now, I’m not stopping for anything!”
    “I don’t blame you one little bit, Mr. Barrow!” she said as she clambered over the seat back. I was astonished at the grace with which she did that—and maybe a little disappointed at the lack of leg revealed in the process. She seemed to flow over the seat like warm taffy. “Where are we going?”
    “Which way is Helsinki’s place?”
    “Back there,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder.
    “Then we’re going this way,” I replied, pointing

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