Blake Crouch - Birds of Prey

BLAKE CROUCH, JACK KILBORN & JA KONRATH

Birds of Prey - A Novella of Terror

Introduction

The original version of SERIAL, still available as a free ebook, was a 7500-word horror short story written as an experiment. In less than a year, that experiment was downloaded over 200,000 times, and has received over a hundred scathingly negative reviews, with many people claiming it was the most depraved, awful thing theyve ever read.

SERIAL UNCUT was over 36,000 words, much of it brand new. Along with the insertion of additional material too extreme for the original version, it also had a vastly expanded beginning and ending, including an extended section that originally appeared in the novellas BAD GIRL and TRUCK STOP.

But even with this expanded version, there were still some loose ends to tie up, and some story left to tell.

Which brought us to KILLERS, the sequel to Donaldsons and Lucys escapades in the desert southwest.

A now, finally, the lynchpin that ties it all togetherBIRDS OF PREY.

Neatly bringing together characters from Crouchs, Kilborns, and Konraths works, BIRDS OF PREY is a companion piece to SERIAL UNCUT, DESERT PLACES, LOCKED DOORS, BREAK YOU, ENDURANCE, FUZZY NAVEL, CHERRY BOMB, SHAKEN, STIRRED, SNOWBOUND, ABANDON, RUN, and DRACULAS.

If you can handle horrific thrills, proceed at your own risk.

But if you suffer from anxiety attacks, nervous disorders, insomnia, nightmares or night terrors, heart palpitations, stomach problems, or are of an overly sensitive nature, you should read something else instead.

The authors are in no way responsible for any lost sleep, missed work, failed relationships, or difficulty in coping with life after you have read BIRDS OF PREY. They will not pay for any therapy you may require as a result of reading BIRDS OF PREY. They will not cradle you in their arms, rock you back and forth, and speak in soothing tones while you unsuccessfully try to forget BIRDS OF PREY.

You have been warned

Love,

Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, and JA Konrath

A Watch of Nightingales

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 1969

Get in here, boys! Jeanette shouted. Its happening, and youre missing it! Andrew! Orson! Come on!

The eight-year-old twins raced each other down the hall and into the living room, where they skidded to a stop on the green shag carpet.

You have to see this, their mother said, pointing at the television screen.

Whats wrong with Dad? Orson asked.

Andy looked over at their father who sat on the edge of an ottoman, leaning toward the television with his forearms on his knees and tears running down his face.

Nothing, son, he said, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. Just never thought Id be alive to see something like this.

Can we go outside? Andy said.

Its too late, Jeannette said. Yall need to get ready for bed.

Aw, come on, Mom. Just for ten minutes, Orson begged.

Five minutes, their mother said. And dont make me come out there looking for you.

The boys rushed out the front door into the night, the screen door banging shut after them.

It was July and warm, lightning bugs floating everywhere like airborne embers, sparking and fading, sparking and fading.

Look at me! Andy screamed, running out into the long, cool grass in the front yard. Im floating!

When the boy stopped, he glanced back toward the driveway, saw his brother lying on his back, staring up at the sky.

Andy moved back toward him in exaggerated hops, pretending to bounce along through reduced gravity.

He lay down on the warm concrete beside his brother, their shoulders barely touching, and stared up into the sky.

The gibbous moon shone with a subdued brilliance through the humid southern night.

I can see them up there, Andy said.

Orson glanced at him, brow furrowed. Really?

Andy smiled. Of course not, Im just kidding.

I knew that.

They were quiet for a bit, and then Orson said, I think theres something wrong with me.

I know, my stomach always hurts after Moms meatloaf, too.

No, its not that.

What?

You ever feel different? Orson said.

Different? Like how?

Like from other people, stupid.

I dont know. I dont guess so.

Yeah, thats because youre normal.

So are you.

No, Im not.

Yes, you are, youre my brother.

That doesnt make me normal, Andy.

I know you and theres nothing wrong

But you only know my outside. You dont know whats inside. The thoughts I have.

What thoughts?

Just thoughts.

Normal ones?

I dont think so.

Like what? Andy asked.

I dont want to tell. Theyre mine.

Tell me.

Orson looked over at Andy. Now there were tears in his eyes. Glassy in the moonlight.

Youll tell Mom and Dad.

No, I wont.

You promise?

I promise.

Orson looked back into the sky.

Everyones real excited about whats happening.

I know.

But you know what Im thinking?

How could I?

Orson hesitated. Then: No, I dont want to say.

Orson. Andy reached over and took hold of his brothers hand. You can trust me. Always.

Orson blinked twice, and then said, I wish Neil Armstrong would die up there.

Why?

Orson shrugged. I dont know. But I wish his friend would leave him on the moon or the Eagle would blow up or a space monster that no one had ever heard of before would crawl out of a hole and eat him. Everyone would be sad, and Id be.so happy.

Andy stared at his brother, an airy fluttering in his stomach now, and it wasnt his mothers meatloaf.

You can let go of my hand if you want, Orson said, and that look on his face would never leave Andyfear and defiance and rage and a deep, deep sadness.

The screen door banged open.

Their mothers voice echoing through the woods across the street, calling for them to come inside and get ready for bed.

Andy squeezed his brothers hand tighter.

A Day at the Beach

North Carolina Outer Banks, 1977

They were a happy, black-eyed family, and the day was perfect.

Late August.

The heat broken by the breeze coming off the ocean.

A few stray clouds way out over the Atlantic, but otherwise, the sky pitch-blue and already beginning to deepen toward evening.

Rufus Kite and his five-year-old son had started after lunch, and now, six hours into the project, it loomed over the beach like the ruins of a Scottish castle. Theyd constructed a moat all the way aroundtwo feet wide and a foot down to the water table. Luther had even put a crab inside as a standin for a real monster. The tide would be upon them anytime now, and already the noise of the surf was getting louder as it inched closer. Luther sat in the middle of the castle, surrounded by two-foot walls, digging trenches and passageways while his father dripped wet sand along the top wall. It looked like disintegrating masonry.

Ten yards behind the castle, Luthers mother and sister reclined in beach chairs under the shade of an umbrella, Maxine tearing through the last fifty pages of a Ludlum novel, Katie curled up sleeping in her chair, the eight-year-old a deep bronzethe only member of the Kite clan who could catch a tan.

Theyd driven onto the beach eight hours ago, the kids riding in the back of the old Dodge pick-up truck as Rufus drove all the way out to the southern tip of the islanda spit of sand jutting out into the sea.

At this time of day, they had it all to themselves.

A man had been fishing a few hundred yards up the beach for the last several hours, but he was gone now.

A fishing trawler loomed like a ghost on the horizon several miles out, nearly invisible through the haze.

If we build it big enough, Luther said as he packed the damp sand, fortifying the wall, maybe the tide wont knock our castle down?