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She suspected that he was quick as well as strong Quicker than she, no doubt She could hear hi behind her

If she could only reach the front door, get out onto the porch and into the yard, she would probably be safe She suspected that he would not follow her beyond the house, into the street, where others ht Cove had already been possessed by these aliens, and until the last real person in toas taken over, they could not strut around in a transforirls with impunity

Not far Just the front door and a few steps beyond

She had covered two-thirds of the distance, expecting to feel a claw snag her shirt from behind, when the door opened ahead of her The other priest, Father O’Brien, stepped across the threshold and blinked in surprise

At once she knew that she couldn’t trust him, either He could not have lived in the sa been planted in him Seed, spoor, slimy parasite, spirit--whatever was used to effect possession, Father O’Brien undoubtedly had had it rao forward or back, unwilling to swerve through the archway on her right and into the living room because that was a dead end--in every sense of the word--she grabbed hold of the newel post, which she was just passing, and swung herself onto the stairs She ran pell-mell for the second floor

The front door sla and started up the second flight of stairs, she heard both of the behind her

The upper hall had white plaster walls, a dark wood floor, and a wood ceiling Rooms lay on both sides

She sprinted to the end of the hall and into a bedroohtstand, a double bed with a white chenille spread, a bookcase full of paperbacks, and a crucifix on the wall She threw the door shut after her but didn’t bother trying to lock or brace it There was no tih it in seconds, anyway

Repeating, "MarymotherofGod, MarymotherofGod," in a breathless and desperate whisper, she rushed across the rooreen drapes Rain washed down the glass

Her pursuers were in the upstairs hall Their footsteps boorabbed the handles on the sash and tried to pull theup It would not budge She fued

Farther back the hall toward the head of the stairs, they were throwing open doors, looking for her

The as either painted shut or perhaps swollen tight because of the high humidity She stepped back fro snarled

Without glancing behind her, she tucked her head down and crossed her arh the ondering if she could kill herself by ju it depended where she landed Grass would be good Sideould be bad The pointed spires of a wrought-iron fence would be real bad

The sound of shattering glass was still in the air when she hit a porch roof two feet below the hich was virtually aMary rain toward the edge of the shingled expanse When she reached the brink, she clung there for a ht side supported by a creaking and rapidly sagging rain gutter, and she looked back at the

So after her

She dropped She landed on a ay, on her left side, jarring her bones, clacking her teeth together so hard that she feared they’d fall out in pieces, and scraping one hand badly on the concrete

But she didn’t lie there pitying herself She scrambled up and, huddled around her pain, turned from the house to run into the street

Unfortunately she wasn’t in front of the rectory She was behind it, in the rear yard The back wall of Our Lady of Mercy bordered the lawn on her right, and a seven-foot-high brick wall encircled the rest of the property

Because of the wall and the trees on both sides of it, she could not see either the neighboring house to the south or the one to the west, on the other side of the alley that ran behind the property If she couldn’t see the rectory’s neighbors, they couldn’t see her, either, even if they happened to be looking out a

That privacy explained why the wolf-thing dared to coray and dis into the house, through the kitchen, down the hall, out the front door, into the street, because that was the last thing they’d expect But then she thought: Are you insane?

She did not bother to screa heart sees had too little rooh air to re No breath was left for a scream Besides, even if people heard her call for help, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell where she was; by the time they tracked her down, she would be either torn apart or possessed, because the scream would have slowed her by a fateful second or two

Instead, li but losing no time, she hurried across the expansive rear lawn She knew she could not scale a blank seven-foot wall fast enough to save herself, especially not with one stingingly abraded hand, so she studied the trees as she ran She needed one close to the wall; maybe she could climb into it, crawl out on a branch, and drop into the alleyway or into the neighbor’s yard

Above the slosh and patter of the rain, she heard a lol behind her, and she dared to glance over her shoulder Wearing only tatters of a shirt, freed entirely fro that had been Father O’Brien leaped froe of the porch roof in pursuit

She finally saw a suitable tree--but an instant later noticed a gate in the wall at the southwest corner She hadn’t seen it sooner because it had been screened fro for air, she put her head down, tucked her arate She hit the bar latch with her hand, popping it out of the slot in which it had been cradled, and burst through into the alley Turning left, away froh deep puddles nearly to the end of the block before risking a glance behind her

Nothing had followed her out of the rectory gate

Twice she had been in the hands of the aliens, and twice she had escaped She knew she would not be so lucky if she were captured a third time

10

Shortly before nine o’clock, after less than four hours of sleep altogether, Sam Booker woke to the quiet clink and clatter of so-room sofa, wiped at his matted eyes, put on his shoes and shoulder holster, and went down the hall

Tessa Lockland was hu softly as she lined up pans, bowls, and food on the wheelchair-low counter near the stove, preparing to htly when Saood about it?" he asked

"Just listen to that rain," she said "Rain always makes me feel clean and fresh"

"Always depresses me"

"And it’s nice to be in a war to the storm but cozy"

He scratched at the stubble of beard on his unshaven cheeks "Seems a little stuffy in here to ood"

"I guess so"

"God in heaven!" She banged an e pan down on the stove and scowled at hients like you"

"In ay?"

"Are they all sourpusses?"

"I’m not a sourpuss"

"You’re a classic Gloomy Gus"

"Well, life isn’t a carnival"

"It isn’t?"

"Life is hard and mean"

"Maybe But isn’t it a carnival too?"

"Are all documentary filmmakers like you?"

"In ay?"