Children of Darkness Read Online Free Page B

cold from the dream. I text back telling him to come over for lunch if he’s free. As I walk to the door to hang the leash I am still holding, someone knocks on the door as I near it. I jump in the air with a short yelp and my hand flies to my heart.
    “Hey there, stranger,” Coby says as I open the door and he walks through.
    I laugh and set Max's leash on the entryway table. “Nice to see you, too. Even though you almost gave me a heart attack.”
    He scoops me up in a kiss and Max gets jealous, nudging us apart. I walk to the kitchen to make lunch as the boys play in the living room. I slap together some sandwiches and grab some chips, bringing everything to the living room. Max gobbles up his lunch quickly while Coby and I watch a movie on the couch.
    “Why are your muscles so tense?” Coby asks as he wraps an arm around me and I lean over onto him.
    “I had a bad morning, maybe slept wrong. I’m not too sure,” I say.
    He pats my back so that I sit up and places his legs on either side of mine so we’re now back to chest. His hands rub my shoulders and neck as the movie plays. I melt into his touch. “You seriously have magic hands,” I murmur.
    He chuckles and continues to massage me. I am a big pile of goo by the time the movie ends. “I don’t wanna move.”
    “Well, I have to get up for a minute or two so I can put on another movie. You just lay there and look happy,” he says as he gets up and picks from my collection.
    The afternoon passes by quickly as Coby and I cuddle on my couch watching movies. To thank Coby for the best massage of my life, I make spicy chicken pasta for dinner. Coby loves my cooking. And I love cooking for him.
    “I could eat your food every day for the rest of my life,” he whispers to me.
    My face burns and I smile at him. “I’d love to have someone to cook for besides Max.”
    At the mention of his name, Max bounds into the room and nuzzles our legs under the dinner table. We laugh and clear the table, finally moving back into the living room. We pet Max and make sure he feels loved enough to lay beside the couch and not between us. We spend a few minutes talking before Coby looks at his watch.
    “This is the only part I hate about Sundays: leaving you. I have an early appointment tomorrow to meet with the construction crew for the house on Flowing Road. I think it’s going to be the biggest renovation I’ve ever done. The house really needs a lot of work and nothing has been replaced in it since the sixties.” He rolls his eyes and sighs before standing up and stretching. We walk to the door and hold each other for a long moment. “If you need anything, give me a shout. Are we still on for dinner Tuesday?” he asks.
    “Of course,” I reply. “I look forward to it. And good luck tomorrow.”
    He kisses my temple then walks to his car. The sunset over the rooftops and trees is a beautiful sight and leaves me smiling. Then the thought of night creeps into my mind and sends a chill up my spine. I shut the door quickly after watching Coby leave. I turn around and begin checking all the lights in my house. A few bulbs are dangerously close to the end of their life and I groan at the thought of having to change them. The bulbs I use in the house turn dim and flicker, before they finally burn out. I always have a warning this way.
    I grab the pack of bulbs from my pantry and walk to the hallway leading to my front door. I take the stool I keep beneath the entryway table and place it under the light fixture. It is the first bulb to be changed. As I stand on the stool and stretch my arms to reach the fixture, the faint sound of creepy giggles reaches my ears.
    “Max!”
    He comes bounding into the hallway with me and I feel a sense of relief with him at my side. I reach up again and begin loosening the fixture once more. I grab the bulb with a glove and quickly twist it from the socket.
    As soon as the light goes out, I pull the bulb down and stick the new one in its