Darcy Coates

“It’s…” the word fine died before even reaching Jen’s tongue. She stared through the kitchen window at the grassy stretch running down the side of their house, her heart leaping unpleasantly.

Something long and lanky moved there, its body undulating as it walked past their home.

No…

Something wasn’t right.

The deer paused, as though it could feel her staring. Its head turned toward the window. Jen’s blood ran ice cold.

Tumorous growths sprouted across the deer’s body and face. There were at least sixty of them, growing in bunches, some as large as a tennis ball

“Who was that in there with you?” her mother asked.

Riya, who was pulling her seatbelt down toward the buckle, went still. “What?”

“There was someone behind you.” Her mother turned toward her, and her pupils seemed tiny in her wide eyes. “It’s why I put my lights on. Because someone was behind you, and they were walking closer, and I couldn’t see who it was.”

They both stared into Bobby’s Pizzeria.

The dining room was empty.