Invisible Armies

Chapter 14

Danielle feels frozen, like the awful mornings she has sometimes when she wakes up fully conscious but unable to move for long minutes, like all she can do is stand here at the base of the stairs and watch, as if carved out of bronze, unable to act or defend herself when the men outside invade the house, to this maddening, coruscating soundtrack of howling dogs.

"They're outside, they're right outside," Angus says, standing up. There is a crash, and a bolt of of fear hits Danielle, but she does not even flinch, even involuntary motion seems beyond her. It takes her a moment to understand this new sound was only Angus's chair falling behind him.

Then Keiran leans forward and blows out both candles. In the darkness she can move again. As if it was the light which paralyzed her. She takes a step just to prove to herself it is possible, and freezes again. She does not know what to do.

"What are you doing, we can't see!" Estelle says urgently.

"The light will give us away," Laurent says, his voice reassuringly low and calm. "We have to be invisible. Stay quiet, low voices. Don't panic. If we panic we are lost. The front door, is it locked?"

"Yes," Keiran says. "I locked it when we came in." "Then we have a minute at least."

"To do what?" Danielle asks.

"Prepare to be invaded. We need weapons, a place to barricade ourselves."

"Knives," Estelle says. "I'll get the knives."

"Careful," Angus says. There are grating sounds as Estelle steps on the broken glass, her feet protected only by thin flip-flops, moving through the kitchen by feel.

"Wood," Danielle says. "Everything's wood. They'll burn down the house."

She walks gingerly through the darkness towards the other voices, arms feeling in front of her. She cannot see anything, walls or furniture, the darkness is absolute.

Keiran says, "They would have already."

"They still want us alive, I think," Laurent says. He alone does not sound terrified. "They want to frighten us out. Or they wouldn't have thrown that stone. Outside we are easy prey. Inside, a house in darkness is dangerous territory for everyone, even if they are armed and we are not."

Danielle's feels her way towards him as he speaks, her groping hand touches his shoulder, grips it like a liferope. He puts his hand over hers.

"They may prefer us alive," Keiran says, "but I bet this time they'll settle for dead."

A sudden intake of breath from Estelle. "What is it?" Angus asks, alarmed.

"Cut myself. That's all. Glass. Nothing major. Here are the knives." More crunching noises. Estelle carefully distributes kitchen knives in the darkness. Danielle winds up with the sawtoothed bread knife. She thinks this is crazy, the enemy surely has guns, these knives will be more dangerous to themselves in this darkness, but at least it feels good to have some kind of weapon in her hand, even a bread knife. It takes the edge off the bubbling panic that threatens to overflow and swallow her whole.

"Upstairs," Keiran says. "The master bedroom."

Laurent nods. "Yes. But first, everyone quiet a moment. Maybe we can hear them."

But they can't hear anything over the dogs, howling as if to warn of the end of the world.

"Never mind," Angus says. "Let's get upstairs. Be careful."

They join hands into a connected line, Angus in the lead, Laurent at the back. The procession to the master bedroom, which takes ten seconds in the light, stretches to a full two minutes in the darkness. Danielle feels a little better when they are upstairs, as if a flight of stairs makes them safe. The dogs finally start to quiet down.