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- Herausgeber: Wayne Kyle Spitzer
- Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
Erik peered out the window at the corpse, noticing how the falling snow was beginning to cover it, as it had his forgotten toys, and noticing, too, that the monsters, the velociraptors, which bore nothing in common with the plush toys he had in his bedroom, were nowhere to be seen. Nor were the lights of his father’s car—or anything, for that matter; there was just the corpse (one hand of which seemed to reach for the sky like a twisted, dead tree branch) and the snow, which had whited out everything, rendered the world void. “… this speaks for the most troubling aspect of what scientists are calling ‘the Flashback’: the sudden disappearance of people all over the world, including entire families …” He looked at the sky, at the ceiling of snow clouds, amidst which the lights mentioned on the TV pulsed and glowed, bleeding in and out of each other, shifting colors, none of which he recognized, and knew in that instant—the instant before the raptor came crashing through the glass with its splayed feet first—that nothing would ever be the same; that he would never see his father and sister again and would never return to school and would never, ever be a boy, not even for an instant. And then the raptor did come, and he was knocked backward against the floor with a violence he could not have imagined, and after a moment there was a flurry of gunshots which blew the back of the animal’s head apart so that its full weight fell upon him and he was spattered with blood and brains. And the last thing he saw before blacking out completely was the monster’s dying eye, which stared into his own, an eye which contained in it the same colors as the lights in the sky—until they, too, faded and became as the dead.
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Tales from the Flashback:
“And Let Loose the Beasts of Prey”
by
Wayne Kyle Spitzer
Table of Contents
Title Page
Tales from the Flashback: "And Let Loose the Beasts of Prey"
The End
Copyright © 2018 Wayne Kyle Spitzer. All Rights Reserved. Published by Hobb’s End Books, a division of ACME Sprockets & Visions. Cover design Copyright © 2018 Wayne Kyle Spitzer. Please direct all inquiries to: [email protected]
Based upon “Flashback,” first published by Books in Motion/Classic Ventures, 1993. Reprinted by Hobb’s End Books, 2017.
Parts of this story originally appeared in “X-Ray Rider: Mileposts on the Road to Childhood’s End,” published by Hobb’s End Books, 2018.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this book is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
***
They should be home by now, thought Sheila—even as a pair of headlights flashed across the wall and she rushed to the window, breathing a sigh of relief. But it wasn’t Stephen.
It was a police car.
Erik joined her at the sill. “Are Dad and Tammy home? Whoa, a police car!”
She shooed him away from the window quickly. “Honey, I want you to go to your room, okay?”
“But, Mom—”
“Just do it,” she snapped. “I don’t have time ...” She paused, catching herself—then crouched in front of him and plucked at his hair. “Sweetie, remember how I told you that mommy and daddy would always try to explain things, but that there were times when they couldn’t, at least not right away? And that there were special rewards for little boys who were patient and showed a little faith?”
He nodded slowly.
“This is one of those times, okay?”
“But—”
“No buts,” She ruffled his hair, trying to appear calm even though her guts were doing loopy-loops. “Now shoo. I’ll—we’ll explain everything later, okay?”
“Are they here about the dinosaur?”
She ushered him toward his room. “There was no dinosaur. Your father saw a wild turkey, that’s all. Now in with you, and no listening at the door. Hurry.”
The doorbell rang as she eased his door shut and she hurried toward it. Bald tires. Bald tires and the worst snowstorm in years, maybe ever. Dear God, Stephen. I told you to put on the studs sooner and not later. I told you and I told you but you didn’t listen, you never do, not to me, not to your father, or—
She felt a panic coming on and seized control of herself. No, dammit. Just stay calm. It’s probably nothing. Maybe Stephen had called them. A dinosaur, Stephen? Really? She laughed a little to herself. It’s the countryside just a few miles out of town, babe, not a Jurassic swamp. I know you weren’t fond of moving here, but ...
She unlocked the door and swung it back. The Sheriff was there, along with his deputy, a young, fit man who seemed altogether too intense. She cinched her bathrobe snugly about her. “Hello? May I help you?”
Her heart ran cold as she noted the Sheriff’s expression, which seemed exhausted and strangely forlorn. Just ... Dear God. She saw him glance at her ring finger.
“Good evening, Mrs. ...?”
“Were. Sheila Were.”
He extended a gloved hand. “Sheriff Whitman, Anchor Rock Police.” The glove crackled as they shook. “This is my deputy, Richard Conners.”
Conners shook her hand—altogether too firmly. “Pleased to meet—”
“Has there been an accident?” she asked abruptly. “Is that why you’re here?”
