Chloe finally let loose:
"The rabbits followed him inside. They filled the living room. And they didn't have ears. Just like before.
"My brother's hands were bloody. His feet too. And he had scratches all over. He was naked."
She paused, looking embarrassed. I told her nothing she could say would shock me. "Tell me like it is," I said.
"My dad was yelling," Chloe continued. "He kept screaming about Satan and sinning and unholy children who don't listen. He wanted to know where my brother had been.
"He tried to reach for his favorite knife on the lamp table, but he couldn't move. The rabbits were all over us. I couldn't see anymore.
"Then.... My dad screamed like he was hurting.
"I couldn't breathe. But the rabbits started leaving. They followed my brother outside, hopping up the street behind him. It looked like a parade.
"When they were gone, I looked for my dad. But...."
"It's OK," I said. "What happened? Was your dad there?"
"No. Well, just his bones. I think just his bones."
She cried like Jo did after losing her mother. I held her, hugging her tightly for an hour.
"I didn't want to be there anymore," she said. "So I ran after the rabbits, all the way into the church.
"My brother was flying. He was in the air. But he looked...sort of...dead. All the rabbits were going crazy, jumping on all the people. Doors were slamming open and shut. We were locked in.
"Someone else was there. I couldn't see him. Just heard his voice. He laughed. I saw more blood. People disappeared.
"I tried to go back outside. But I could only get here."
How in the world do I leave her now?
YOU ARE READING
Secrets from a Church Basement: The Desperate Diary of Fresco Ayers
ParanormalGod won't save your life. But this book might. So says Fresco Ayers, a scientist struggling to save his daughter while protecting the rest of us from unfathomable perils that he helped introduce.
