Second Child Part 41

"Out," Jeff said, and started to turn away.

"Stop right there, young man!" Charlotte commanded. She marched into the foyer and stood at the bottom of the stairs, then reached out and switched on the chandelier that hung in the stairwell. A bright flood of light bathed Jeff's face, and Charlotte gasped. His face was streaked with dirt, and on his cheeks there were smears of blood. There were black circles under Jeff's eyes-as if he hadn't slept in days-and he was breathing hard, his chest heaving as he panted.

Then he lifted his right hand to his mouth, and before he began sucking on his wounds, Charlotte could see that the skin was torn away from his knuckles.

"My G.o.d," she breathed, her anger suddenly draining away. "Jeff, what's happened to you?"

His eyes narrowed. "Nothing," he mumbled, and once more started to mount the stairs.

"Nothing?" Charlotte repeated. She turned to Chuck, now standing in the door to the den, his eyes, too, fixed on their son. "Chuck, look at him. Just look at him!"

"You'd better tell us what happened, son," Chuck said. "If you're in some kind of trouble-"

Jeff whirled to face them, his eyes now blazing with the same anger that had frightened Linda Harris earlier that evening. "I don't know what's wrong!" he shouted. "Linda broke up with me tonight, okay? And it p.i.s.sed me off! Okay? So I tried to smash up a tree and I went for a walk. Okay? Okay? Is that okay with you, Mom?" Is that okay with you, Mom?"

"Jeff-" Charlotte began, shrinking away from her son's sudden fury. "I didn't mean...we only wanted to-"

But it was too late.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Jeff shouted.

He came off the bottom of the stairs, towering over the much smaller form of his mother. Then, with an abrupt movement, he reached out and roughly shoved Charlotte aside, as if swatting a fly. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as her body struck the wall, and then she collapsed to the floor. For a split-second Jeff stared blankly at his mother, as if he was puzzled about what had happened to her, and then, an anguished wail boiling up from somewhere deep within him, he turned and slammed out the front door.

Secret rituals masked in science...hidden cellars where steel cages gleam coldly against the dark...a cry of unfathomable rage and pain...In Silverdale no one is safe from cry of unfathomable rage and pain...In Silverdale no one is safe from...Creature.

SHADOWS.

They call it The Academy.

Housed in a secluded, cliff-top mansion overlooking the rugged and picturesque Pacific coast, it is a school for special children. Children gifted-or cursed-with extraordinary minds. Children soon to come under the influence of an intelligence even more brilliant than their own-and unspeakably evil. For within this mind a dark, ingenious plan is taking form. A h.e.l.lish experiment meant to probe the ultimate limits of the human brain.

A novel of unrelenting, nerve-jangling suspense, Shadows Shadows is John Saul at his most terrifying. is John Saul at his most terrifying.

John Saul is "a writer with the touch for raising gooseflesh," says the Detroit News, Detroit News, and bestseller after bestseller has proved over and over his mastery for storytelling and his genius at creating heart-stopping suspense. Enter his chilling world, and prepare to realize your own hidden fears... and bestseller after bestseller has proved over and over his mastery for storytelling and his genius at creating heart-stopping suspense. Enter his chilling world, and prepare to realize your own hidden fears...

Available wherever Bantam paperbacks are sold!

By John Saul:

SUFFER THE CHILDREN.

PUNISH THE SINNERS.

CRY FOR THE STRANGERS.

COMES THE BLIND FURY.

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS.

THE G.o.d PROJECT.

NATHANIEL.

BRAINCHILD.

h.e.l.lFIRE.

THE UNWANTED.

THE UNLOVED.

CREATURE.

SECOND CHILD.

SLEEPWALK.

DARKNESS.

SHADOWS.

GUARDIAN.

THE HOMING.

BLACK LIGHTNING.

THE BLACKSTONE CHRONICLES:.

Part 1-AN EYE FOR AN EYE: THE DOLLPart 2-TWIST OF FATE: THE LOCKETPart 3-ASHES TO ASHES: THE DRAGON'S FLAMEPart 4-IN THE SHADOW OF EVIL: THE HANDKERCHIEFPart 5-DAY OF RECKONING: THE STEREOSCOPEPart 6-ASYLUM

THE PRESENCE.

THE RIGHT HAND OF EVIL.

NIGHTSHADE.

THE MANHATTAN HUNT CLUB.

MIDNIGHT VOICES.

BLACK CREEK CROSSING.

PERFECT NIGHTMARE.

IN THE DARK OF THE NIGHT.