As Nola began to shout, Carveth tried desperately to calm her. But she was beyond control, beyond all reason. He gripped her tightly by the shoulders.
“Nola. Listen to me. I came here to help you. Not to betray you.”
“No. You’re lying. I know you are. I know you too well. You came to take Candy. But it won’t work. I’d kill her before I’d let you take her away from me. Do you hear? I’d kill her.”
Candy held her hands over her ears trying to blank out the sound of Raglan’s attackers. Then suddenly the onslaught stopped. The brood turned and looked at her, and slowly, one by one, they rose to their feet and moved towards her.
Candy backed away, feeling for the doorway behind her. She had reached the storeroom door when the brood broke into a run, coming for her, reaching for her, their faces bloated and their eyes filled with their hate.
She turned and threw herself into the storeroom, slamming the door shut behind her as the first of the creatures hurled itself against it.
She leaned back, pressing herself against the door as if her small weight could hold it shut, then managed to slide the bolt into place. The door shook and trembled under the force of the attack. The centre panel split and a fist came through, reaching and groping for a hold on her. Candy’s eyes were screwed shut, but she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she opened her mouth and screamed over and over, feeling the door giving way behind her, feeling it yield as the brood increased the fury of their assult, throwing themselves against it, ripping at the wood as they tried to reach her.
Carveth could hear Candy screaming continuously now. Her shouts and the pounding on the door easily carried to the room downstairs.
“Nola, they’ll kill her.” He climbed onto the couch and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her like a doll. “Stop them, Nola. You must make them stop.”
She looked into his eyes. “It’s too late,” she said.
Carveth stared at her. “You want them to kill her, don’t you? You want them to hurt her.” His hands moved to her throat. “Nola. For God’s sake. I’ll kill you if you don’t make them stop.”
Nola screamed, “I won’t let you take her.”
She began to struggle then, kicking at him, trying to force him away. But he held onto her, pushing down on her, his hands pressing into her neck.
From the attic he heard Candy shout, “Daddy. Don’t let them get me. Don’t let them hurt me.”
Nola slipped sideways and Carveth tightened his grip. “Nola. Please make them stop.”
He held her down, squeezing the life from her. She pulled at his hands, but he increased the pressure. And slowly, as he leaned his full weight upon her, the sounds of the attack upstairs began to subside, then finally ceased altogether.
Carveth staggered back and pushed Nola away from him. She rolled over on the couch, her head turning, eyes staring unseeing towards him.
He backed away from her, his chest rising and falling as he fought for air. Then he turned and ran up to the attic.
The child-creatures were sprawled on the floor. Beyond them, at the far end of the attic, he could see Raglan’s body. There was no sign of Candy but he could hear her crying inside the storeroom. He reached through the broken panel and slid back the bolt.
Candy was huddled in the corner, her head buried between her knees, her arms folded over her head.
“Candy.” He knelt beside her. “It’s over. They can’t hurt you now. Everything’s going to be all right.”
He wrapped his coat around her and lifted her into his arms. She pushed her face against his neck as he carried her out of the boathouse and up the hill through the trees to his car.
She wouldn’t let go of him as he lowered her into the passenger’s seat. He held her close for a moment, rocking her backwards and forwards, then gently loosened her grip.
“It’s all right now, sweetheart. We can go home.”
He tucked the coat around her and climbed into the driver’s seat, starting the engine.
As he drove out of the parking lot, the car lurched over a pot-hole, and the coat slipped from her shoulders. Candy was staring down at her lap, her face stiff as a mask.
But there was a pained expression in her eyes as she looked down at her arms and saw the small, translucent buds that were beginning to push up from her skin, pushing aside the delicate blond hairs.
Table of Contents
THE BROOD
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
David Cronenberg's The Brood Page 13
