J. Gonzalez - Back From The Dead

Tim reached for her, his own eyes swimming with tears now. He couldn’t leave her. Not like this.

The phone continued to ring.

Behind him, his mother’s tortured voice rose in a heart-wrenching whine of loss.

“I can’t leave you,” he said to Chelsea, his voice choked up as he sobbed. “I can’t leave you here, I can’t let them — “

I can’t let them take you away from me .

Tim reached out, his hands drifting past and around Chelsea to the hooks that secured the tie-downs in place to keep her immobile. He was within hugging distance of her now, her stench enveloping him. The phone brayed endlessly as he worked at unfastening the tie-downs that held Chelsea to the dining room table.

As her bonds fell away Tim felt the dam break. The ringing phone wasn’t even registering now, nor was the police presence outside. Chelsea’s eyes remained on his as something like love passed through her features.

Her hand touched his arm, her fingers rubbing his skin. Tim reached out to her, his heart filling with such an intense love for her that he let a sob break loose. Nothing could keep them apart.

“Honey,” Chelsea croaked through dead lips.

And when he went into her embrace finally, all other sensations were eclipsed by the simple fact of enfolding himself completely with the woman he loved, even as the police finally stormed up the back deck and began the process of shattering the glass door to gain entry.

J. F. Gonzalez is the author of fifteen previous novels of terror and dark suspense including Primitive, Bully, The Beloved, Survivor , and is co-author of the cult-classic Clickers , and the sequels Clickers II: The Next Wave and Clickers III: Dagon Rising (with Mark Williams and Brian Keene respectively). His short fiction is collected in four volumes, of which the latest, The Summoning and Other Eldritch Tales , is available now from Darkside Digital as an exclusive electronic title. Not content to rest on his laurels, he also works in other media including film, the technology sector, and other areas of publishing. He lives with his family in Pennsylvania and is currently working on his next novel.