To sink into that hideous coma.

"I'll go back to bed after Kathy goes to school
"I'll go back to bed after Kathy goes to school.. He couldn't stand thinking about those women. staring as they drove away at the gigantic pail of smoke that rose above the earth like a black wraith of all earth's despair. denting the frame with their frenzied blows. you have turned the poor guileless innocent into a haunted animal. 0." The absurdity of it made him want to break something in his hands. through all the silent streets. his throat tight and convulsed; his lips shaking without control.

""Between the storms and the mosquitoes and everyone being sick. he saw Ben Cortman come walking onto the lawn. Neville was slammed against the house by the impact of his body. You're getting blotto. "Unless the health authorities say schools have to shut down. something purely psychological. down the rear gate. and he heard them muttering discontentedly among themselves. having hungry eyes only for the house and their prey inside the house. he thought.

He ran from one dark room to another.Then she saw the cross and she Jerked her eyes from it with a sudden raffling gasp and her body twisted in the chair. Now it was a room entirely functional. There were so many damned things to do. and dropped the heavy bar into its slots.During this return flow. then. there seemed to be a sort of sound outside. but he knew that was untrue. He might have thought about it.

He grinned and walked restlessly around the living room."You call up Dr. nerve-shattered laughter. he walked to the front door and went out onto the porch. and yet. life and the world had shuddered to a halt."No.Goddamn it. If he was seen they would come out and get him. His eyes moved to Ben.

damn it. crushed it between his two palms. the Dark and Middle Ages." He sat staring moodily at the bookcase. No. strengthless.I. and it relaxed him. It was still there.He started the motor and pulled away from the parking lot.

sweat dripping from his forehead. Finally one day he'd torn off the plywood and nailed up even rows of planks instead. He looked at the radium-faced clock and saw that it was only a few minutes past ten. my blood!As if it were someone else's hand. he thought. and when he drove in the stake. he stood there and watched her die.He took a sip from his drink and closed his eyes as the cold liquid trickled down his throat and warmed his stomach. there were birds sometimes and. Ben in pajamas.

body curled up on the cold floor. ThusHe made himself a drink."The cross!" he snapped angrily. He cracked them on the side of the iron skillet and dropped the contents into the melted bacon fat. poor little cusses.He put her in the back seat and got in the car. It was time he learned why.""What's that?""Oh. instantly his head began throbbing as if his brains were trying to force their way through his skull.Well.

if you don't feel well.." she said. his chest rising and falling.Neville stood there watching. search your soul; lovie??is the vampire so bad?All he does is drink blood. the leftovers. His fingers drew into white-knuckled fists. He knew it had to be that way. He ran it between his fingers.

knocking three of them aside like tenpins. about how Virginia and Kathy were getting along. At six-thirty her eyes opened. later on about the disease. It was the first time he'd ever seen such a thing. But only enough drinks to stultify all introspection had managed to drive away the enervating sorrow that remembering brought.He found the car keys on the bureau and picked them up. the vampire's power was great. He held up his it shaking. There was no solace in liquor.

What few morticians were healthy enough to practice were prevented from doing so by law. He always felt as though he were strangling when he was here.When he had recovered enough to look again. He'd finally had to stop. Still alive. He heard the choking sound in Cortman's throat. Why am I so against it? he thought. but with a single. God. To sink into that hideous coma.