Very gradually, my
sight was coming back to me. I was beginning to be able to make out
more than just shapes: I could see mum and dad, huddled together,
staring at the wall. Oak too, I could make out, sat bolt upright on
a chair. He looked, to me, like an attack dog ready to pounce at any
second. Raven was out of my line of sight, but I could hear his
voice behind me.
Then there was my wife,
looking for all the world just like I felt: huddled over, chewed up
and spat out. She was looking in Raven's direction, an uneasy mix of
confusion and terror painted across her face. I tried to reach out
to her, but her attention was trapped elsewhere. I think she was
completely oblivious to everything but Raven.
Finally, there was the
face in the wall, mouth closed with two short arms sticking out. At
first I thought it must have eaten someone, which filled me with cold
horror, but as I watched I saw those arms were trying to prise the
lips open. I heard a grunt, a sound that came not only from the
wall, but also from beneath my chair, and somewhere by the door. I
would have looked round to find the source of those noises but I was
transfixed by the sight of a head pushing between the lips to join
its' arms.
