The Collected Horrors of Tim Wellman Read Online Free Page B

fell apart right after you said that last part."
    "I know, I know," she said. "Dammit!"
    "Why would Jane Austen be a part of a demonic
ritual, anyway," he said.
    "It's not her or even her book, it's the way the
words fit the situation!" She dusted off her butt and looked
around. "The first part worked, though, the room got older."
    "Yeah," he said. "It's that last part."
    Suddenly Izbet's eyes grew larger and she
gasped. "What time is it?"
    "It can't be more than around five-thirty," he
said as he looked at his watch. "Shit, it's eight-thirty!"
    "Near dark!" She seemed to panic. "The spell, it
took more time than it seemed," she said. "I guess because it was
an age progression."
    "That means..."
    "I can hear them coming!"
    "Them?!"
    "The ancient ones!" she said. She was genuinely
scared. "Lock the door!"
    He quickly turned the blade on the old lock and
jiggled the handle to make sure it had fallen into its slot. "This
won't hold them, will it?!"
    "Shhhh!" She motioned him back across the room,
and then they both slid down the wall and hunkered down
side-by-side in a corner. Above them they could hear the heavy
footsteps. Their voices boomed like thunder and seemed to rattle
the glass in the windows of whatever room they visited.
    "They'll harm you?" Allan whispered.
    She nodded. "But they'll kill you," she said.
"Think about how humans treat ants. They treat humans the same way.
No talking or reasoning with them; they believe they are so far
above you, it's foolish to even acknowledge you as a sentient
being."
    He moved closer to Izbet, as if the small girl
could protect him. "What are they doing up there?"
    "Searching," she said. "I found the house only a
few weeks after Lydia killed herself, but I guess I was careless.
They followed me here. The first time... the first time they found
me it was bad. They knew how to torture those with less power, they
were experts at it. I guess they thought I would never return, so
sure of their handiwork. So, I would just hide in the woods when
they arrived and they never cared to look for me. They only come
here at night, always searching for the spell Lydia had used to
screw their masters over."
    "The spell we found," he said. "So, it's useless
to even try to fight them? We've lost everything, including your
chance to find your soul."
    "But the spell didn't work," she said. "We
missed something. They can't kill me, they can only hurt me, so
I'll always remember what I know, and even if it takes centuries
and a thousand beatings, I'll come back here and keep looking. But
you, I got you into this, and..."
    "You said I could go," he said. "This morning.
So it was my choice to stay."
    They could hear the basement door open and heavy
footsteps come down the stairs. They were in the basement, in the
next room with only the old rotted door separating them.
    "It will probably be fast for you," she said.
She tried to smile and patted him on the cheek with her little
hand. "You would have made a great father. Maybe someday..." She
pointed at the door. "They've found us."
    Suddenly the door shook, then shook again. They
could hear the deep voices, but Allan couldn't understand the
words. The door handle jiggled then the whole door rattled as one
of the things pulled harder.
    But something was wrong. They couldn't get
in.
    "Izbet, what's going on?" he said in a
whisper.
    "I don't know," she said. "They're strong enough
to rip that door apart. They know we're here. That's what they were
talking about."
    "Then what..."
    "But... maybe they don't know," she said.
She hopped up on her knees and pointed at the door. "They just
talked about getting through the door, not specifically about
getting us." She giggled loudly and smiled. "They don't know! This room is safe! It holds and amplifies magic and blocks
the outside world from knowing what the room was used for, so there
was enough of Lydia's magic left to keep them from ever getting in
here, even though they keep trying! They could never feel the