White Walker Read Online Free Page A

behind him, and stopped with his
shoulder against the wall.

Chapter
5
     
    With his heartbeat thundering in his ears, Norman
leaned against the wall of the short hallway that led to the main
floor. Behind him the wind rattled the door in its frame and he
glanced back over his shoulder, half-expecting to find that shadowy
stranger following him into the interior of the building. He didn’t
know what he’d do if that happened. Even though he was no longer
the fat kid, and outwardly he portrayed the image of a self-assured
man, or at least tried to, he felt completely helpless in the
presence of that stranger.
    The door to the ladies’ room across the hall opened
and Andrea stepped out into the hallway.
    “Are you all right, Norman?” she said as she crossed
to him. He felt her hand on his back, resting lightly between his
shoulder blades as she bent over to check on him.
    “I’ll be okay,” he said between gasps. He struggled
against the panic attack. A familiar sensation he hadn’t
experienced in quite a while. In fact it had been over ten years
since his last attack. It happened the night of his graduation from
the local community college with an associate degree in office
management. He’d asked one of his classmates, a cute blonde named
Jennifer, if she’d like to have dinner with him to celebrate their
accomplishment. Her icy response had left him gasping for breath as
he struggled against the panic washing through him, promising
himself he would never allow himself to experience that feeling
again.
    “Are you sure?” Andrea said, concern evident in her
voice.
    “I’ll be okay, just give me a minute,” he said as he
nodded. Andrea’s hand felt good on his back, reminding him of how
his mom would rest her hand on his shoulder or arm when he was
younger. It was a touch that said, I’m here for you.
    He’d have to go see her this weekend. It had been
nearly a month since he’d been by, but she didn’t know that.
Alzheimer’s had robbed her of her ability to keep track of the
passing time. In her mind she was a young woman once again and in
that fantasy there was no room for a forty-year-old son. His father
had left shortly after the Alzheimer’s had reared its ugly head.
She’d always been a little absent-minded. In danger of
forgetting her head if it weren’t so firmly attached , she was
so fond of saying. But absentmindedness had quickly become
disorientation that led to the early stages of dementia as the
disease robbed her mind of her identity.
    The last straw had come when Norman stopped for a
visit and his mother called the police to report a breaking and
entering.
    May I come in? That sinister voice whispered
again, this time in his mind, and he pushed himself up from his
knees.
    “I’ll be all right,” he said as he took a deep
breath and drew himself to his full height.
    Andrea looked up at him with a worried expression
and Norman got a really good look at her. With her head tilted up
the light struck her face in a way that highlighted her plain
beauty. She wouldn’t win any beauty pageants, but she didn’t look
half bad. She was a little on the heavy side, but who wasn’t when
the years started rolling by faster than anticipated.
    “Are you sure?” There was genuine concern in her
voice and he felt flushed with a sudden excitement. He’d been
working here for nearly three years, Andrea even longer than that.
During that time he’d never paid much attention to his co-workers.
He preferred his own company to anything they might offer. He’d
spoken to them in passing, responding to their questions,
acknowledging their comments, but he had never perused the
conversation beyond that.
    “There you are,” Leslie said from the end of the
hall. “We’ve been looking for you two, Ted has called a meeting. I
think they’re going to let us go home.” She turned and vanished
into the main room.
    “Not much to go home to,” Norman said.
    “Ever since my cat died last month, it’s been