Curse of the Spider King (42 page)

When bedtime finally came, Aunt Norma tucked them in, not knowing any of their family's normal evening traditions, which made Johnny and Autumn feel even more uneasy. She said a quick prayer and then flicked off the light in each of their rooms.

It took both children a long time to fall asleep. Everything felt so strange. And it all started when they visited that bookstore yesterday.

Life was normal up until that visit. Meeting Nelly, a book for a gift, the changing title, the trip to the cave, and whatever weird thing happened in there. Then Uncle George dying. It felt almost like a dream. A bad dream. Even Sam was out on one of his adventures, which made the house even quieter without his
tip-tapping
nails and frequent barks. Johnny and Autumn closed their eyes. They each hoped for a peaceful night's sleep and that when they woke up in the morning, everything would be back to normal.

“Johnny!” Autumn whispered urgently as she entered her brother's room. “Johnny, wake up!” She shook her brother's shoulder.

Johnny opened his eyes and propped himself up on an elbow. “What is it, Autumn? I'm sleeping here!”

“Shh! Don't make any noise! Something's wrong!”

Johnny rubbed his eyes. “Autumn, seriously. You're just having a bad dream.”

Then they both heard something crash downstairs.

Johnny jumped up. “What was that?”

“I told you!”

Two more crashes, each from different parts of the house. One was the sound of something wooden cracking in the den. The other sounded like an entire drawer of silverware had been thrown to the kitchen floor.

“The phone is downstairs. What are we going to do?” Autumn asked.

“Get under my bed,” Johnny ordered. He pressed her head down and forced her beneath, then noticed she was visibly shaking. “It's going to be okay, Autumn. I promise. I'll protect you.”

She looked at him, fear and question in her eyes. He strode to his closet and pulled out an aluminum baseball bat.

“What are you going to do?” Autumn asked from underneath the bed.

“I'm going to get these thieves out of our house, that's what.” Johnny said.

“Johnny!” she whispered urgently. “What if they have guns?”

“I'll be smart, okay?”

“Please, please be careful.” She pleaded.

Johnny walked to the door and cautiously turned the knob. Autumn covered her eyes and scooted farther under the bed. Johnny slipped through the crack and closed the door behind him.

Holding his bat, Johnny tried to keep his nerves under control. His dad had taught him many things on hunting trips in the deep woods, but the one thing that came to mind was how dangerous adrenaline could be. Shaky, unsteady hands were the hunter's nightmare. Johnny couldn't afford a slipup now.

He crept down the stairs avoiding the creaky spots in the floor with each step, and listening. Seconds later, another crash came from the kitchen, followed closely with what sounded like a bookcase falling over in the living room. At least two intruders for sure. Then someone screamed.

“No, get out of our house! Stop now!”

Aunt Norma!
Johnny jumped down the last two steps, turned around the banister, and charged down the hallway into the kitchen.

“STOP!” he blurted out, brandishing the bat at . . .
at what?

There, holding Aunt Norma to the refrigerator door with one hand, stood a large man in a trench coat. He wore a fedora hat and . . . sunglasses.
Sunglasses in the middle of the night?

The man turned his head to face Johnny. The view Johnny got of the man's surrounding face left him feeling like he was looking at an old man . . . pale, shriveled skin, and wispy white hair. Yet he held Aunt Norma against the fridge—off her feet—with one hand?

“Put her down, NOW! . . . Or I'll crack you with this!”

The voice that spoke back was hoarse and gravelly. It reminded Johnny of Uncle George's cancer-ravaged voice the last time he called. But the voice of this intruder had no trace of kindness. “Are you Albriand, son of Elroth and Tisa?”

Johnny winced at the otherworldly voice. “You got the wrong guy, m-mister.” He reared back with the bat. “Now, for the last time, put my aunt down.”

Aunt Norma fainted, her body hanging limp against the fridge. The man released his grip, letting her crumple in a heap on the floor, and then started toward Johnny.

“I'm warning you!” Johnny tightened his grip on the bat.

The man cocked his head sideways, glaring at Johnny through the sunglasses. Just then another figure, dressed the same as the first, stepped into the kitchen from the living room. Johnny's eyes shifted between the two, a million questions racing through his head. Now the two men started moving toward him from different directions. They were hemming him in.

“Don't come any closer!”

The first one was now skirting the cutting board island and coming toward him.

Johnny wavered a moment. He'd been in scrapes and fights at school before. But he'd never hit anyone with the intent to kill. He felt like the contents of his stomach had curdled. Sweat rolled down the back of his neck. Everything in his world slowed down. He saw Aunt Norma on the floor. He could imagine Autumn shaking with fear under the bed. And it was then that he made his decision.

40

Nowhere to Hide

WITH BRUTAL force Johnny slammed the bat against the left arm of the first man. The blow sent shivers up Johnny's arm as if he'd just hit a tree.

The man didn't crumple to the ground as Johnny had hoped. He grabbed his upper arm and rubbed it like someone who'd been stung by a bee. Then he held up his pale right fist. His knuckles seemed to bulge, and at first, Johnny didn't realize what was happening. Slowly, four bony blades protruded from the fist.

Johnny took a few steps back . . . right into the other prowler. The intruder wrapped both of his arms around the thirteen-year-old. Johnny struggled, but it was like being bound with cables. Still, he managed to shove the bottom of the bat into the man's abdomen. The man let go for a moment, and Johnny ducked out of his arms . . . just as the other man swung his clawed fist. The blades missed Johnny entirely and slashed the other man's face. His shades and hat flew off. He screeched and doubled over.

When the man stood erect once more, Johnny gaped in horror at what he saw. The man had a skullish face, sallow skin, wild white hair, and eyes like white points of fire in huge black sockets. Three gashes marred his face, and luminous purple blood dribbled freely down his nose and chin. He roared at the other and turned back to Johnny.

Johnny spun around and bolted for the stairwell. His mind whirled as he bounded up the steps.
Drefids, like in the book! But here?
Now? It can't be!

Wiping purple blood from his eyes and face, the wounded Drefid strode out of the kitchen. The other, flexing his left arm as he walked, followed as fast as he could. By the time they reached the stairs, both Drefids had their claws extended.

At the top of the stairs, Johnny twisted around the corner and yelled, “Autumn, get out! Through the window! NOW!”

Johnny clutched the bat and looked back down the stairs. It was just in time to see the first Drefid leap. The creature seemed to float up—seven, eight, nine steps, at least—and landed near the top. He put a clawed hand on the balustrade. Johnny moved fast and whipped the bat down as if he were chopping wood with an axe. The blow crushed one of the Drefid's bony blades, and the creature expelled a shriek that rang in Johnny's ears. He didn't wait around for the creature to recover but raced to the end of the hall. Johnny burst through his bedroom door, closed it, and twisted the lock. Autumn was already lifting the window open. “Johnny, what's going on?” she asked, her voice tense. “I heard some kind of growl or scream . . . what—”

“Just get out the window!” Johnny looked to the bedroom door. “We'll walk the roof and climb down the old maple!” It was an act they had performed a hundred times. Johnny walked backward from the door and kept the bat on his shoulder.

“What about Aunt Norma?”

There was a heavy thud against the door. Autumn screamed.

Another strike, this time rattling the hinges. Johnny yelled, “Autumn, GO!!”

A third blow and the wood split. Four razor-sharp bones punctured the door, and a gnarled, bony fist broke through. Autumn trembled so severely she could hardly get herself through the window. Another fist burst through the door, extended the same kind of knives from its knuckles, and then curled around the rest of the wood, ready to rip the door apart.

Johnny dropped the bat and ran toward Autumn. “Go, go, go!”

Autumn jumped out the window and Johnny slid out after her, feet first. But he moved too fast and knocked into her. Autumn lost her balance and fell sideways. Johnny reached out, but it was too late. Autumn cleared the edge of the roof and sailed into midair. She let out one final scream.

“Autumn!”

“I have her!” came a voice from below.

Johnny clambered to the edge and stared down in disbelief.
How . . . ?

“From the bookstore?” Autumn asked, staring up at the woman who'd caught her. “I—I—don't—”

“No need to understand it all right now,” Nelly replied, setting Autumn down. “Come on, Johnny. You next.”

“But I'm too big. You won't—?”

A crash echoed in Johnny's room. The creatures were in.

“Now, Johnny!”

He leaped from the roof, grabbed the thick bough of the maple trees, and dropped. With surprising strength Nelly caught him and set him on the ground. “Both of you, into the SUV,” she said, pointing to the vehicle idling in the driveway. “And whatever you do, don't come out.”

“What?” Autumn exclaimed. “You're not going in there, are you?”

Johnny stood in front of the bookstore owner. “Just call the police!” he said. “Call an ambulance. My aunt's hurt, and those things—”

“The Drefids are dangerous,” Nelly agreed. “But so am I. Now, get in.”

Brother and sister obeyed, and both peered over the backseat as Nelly walked around to the back and opened the hatch. She retrieved what looked to be a long, thin sword in a sheath.

“You have a sword?” Johnny blurted out.

“No questions,” said Nelly, lowering the hatch. “Answers later. Lock the door!”

“Did she just grab a sword?” Johnny asked, face glued to the SUV window.

“I think so,” replied Autumn, still in shock. They watched Nelly bolt into their home.

Seconds later, Johnny's bedroom window—glass, frame, and all—exploded in a flare of blue flame. The Drefids, hair wild and eyes full of fury, appeared in the gaping hole and began to clamber out onto the roof. One was out, but the other seemed stuck. Suddenly, he fell backward and disappeared into Johnny's room. The remaining Drefid turned and, with a shriek, dove back into the house as well.

“What just happened?” asked Autumn.

“Uh—” Before Johnny could finish, there was a tremendous crash from within. Even through the SUV's window, Johnny and Autumn heard sounds of ringing metal, the crack of timber, and anything that could break . . . breaking. They heard shouts in some unrecognizable language, and then grunts, followed by the most horrific screams either of the two children had ever heard.

Autumn squinted. “There's not as much noise.”

Yeah, by half,
thought Johnny.

Two bodies locked in a struggle appeared in the gap where the window had been. In another instant, they were gone, back inside the room and out of sight. More clashing of weapons, a final yell, and then a scream that faded away into eerie silence.

“Is it over?” asked Autumn.

No sooner had she asked than a figure appeared on the front porch. It was Nelly. She no longer carried her sword, but cradled Aunt Norma in her arms.

Nelly strode around the SUV and opened the front door. “You kids all right?” Both just nodded.

“What about Aunt Norma?” Johnny asked.

Nelly gently laid Aunt Norma in the front passenger seat, leaned it back, and fastened the seat belt. “I think your aunt will be fine,” Nelly said. “Still, I think it's best that we take her to the hospital. In any case, I'm not going to leave her in your house.”

Nelly shut the door, ran around to her side, and got in the driver's seat. She started the SUV and then fished around in her coat pocket. She pulled something out and growled, “Blasted Drefid trashed my cell phone.” She banged a fist on her steering wheel. “Just when I needed wisdom.”

“What?” Autumn asked. “What's wrong?”

“Everything! But nothing we can help now,” Nelly replied, putting the car in drive. She did a tight U-turn in their lawn, heading back for the road.

The two siblings were at a loss, their minds blank one moment and then tornadic the next. They drove in tense silence for several minutes. Autumn spoke first. “Those . . . creatures, they're the ones in the book, aren't they?”