That Which Lurks
Page 6
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Next morning, they stocked up on groceries for a couple more days and borrowed a camera from an old friend. The more Josh thought about it, the less likely it seemed that it could be Rex or one of his gang. They wouldn't risk it, especially one on one without brandishing a weapon. The actual ghost of Dad? Really now, that was ridiculous beyond being worth consideration. If Hunter did wake up screaming tonight, he fully expected the camera to catch her thrashing all alone in her sleep.
She remained tense during the day and didn't talk much. Josh hoped she wouldn't keep herself up and ruin any chance of proving his nightmare theory correct. He tried to comfort her, made her tater tots and let her beat him at video games, and relaxed her somewhat. At night, after a few beers, he was happy to watch her drift off quickly. He went to bed himself, resigned to the likelihood of being woken mid-sleep.
Sure enough, she started screaming sometime in the early A.M. He ran to her room to find her shaking in bed, the window open again. He was so sure of himself, he switched the camera to playback mode and showed it to her without first viewing the footage himself. "Look, see. Nothing on top of you. Nightmare."
"Um Josh," she whispered, "you might want to check that video again."
He turned the screen around to face him. His eyes bulged, his mouth gaped, and he very nearly dropped the camera as he found himself eye to eye with Dad.