The Dark at the End

SUNDAY
1

The scream jolted Weezy from her sleep. A child’s scream-not the baby’s trademarked shriek. A little girl “Vicky!”

She jumped off the couch and ran for the bedroom. She’d given it to Gia and Vicky. The bedroom light came on almost immediately, and when Weezy arrived she found a terrified Vicky huddled against her shaken mother…

… and the baby standing at the edge of the bed, chewing on the sheet.

Vicky was babbling. “I-I-I opened my eyes and he was right in front of me, staring at me! I was so scared!”

Weezy couldn’t blame the poor kid. She’d left a night light on in case Gia or Vicky had to find their way to the bathroom. She imagined Vicky opening her eyes and seeing that face just inches away.

Gia had her arms around her and gave her an extra squeeze. “It’s okay, hon. He was just looking at you. He likes you.”

“No! He bit me!”

She held up an index finger. Weezy stood near the foot of the bed, but even from there she could see reddened scrapes where his sharp little teeth had broken the skin.

Gia frowned as she examined it. “Well, now we’ve got a problem. Let’s go clean that up.”

“Should I wake Jack?” Weezy said.

He’d wanted to stay close by but Weezy had no room for him here-Gia, Vicky, and the baby maxed out her sleepover capacity-so he’d crashed across the hall on Dawn’s couch.

Gia shook her head as she hustled Vicky toward the bathroom. “We can handle this. Let him sleep.”

Weezy glanced at the bedside clock- 3:32 -and then stared at the baby. How on Earth had he gotten from the crib to the bedroom? As Vicky rounded the corner and disappeared, the baby screeched, then dropped to his hands and knees and began to crawl after her.

An infant… crawling… and biting.

What had she brought into her home?