Chapter 12

The entire household woke up at exactly four-thirty the next morning. All the doors of all the rooms rattled ferociously as if something was trying to break the doors off the hinges. The occupants of the rooms sat in their beds, staring at the doors, wondering what exactly was happening. Joe and Cynthia worried about their kids, but a calming presence made them relax slightly.

It was only when the kitchen started sounding as if it was exploding that they became worried. Joe jumped up and tried to rush out of the door, but it was firmly locked and wouldn’t budge. Hurried footsteps could be heard in the hallway outside their door and then there was a shout, an unknown voice demanding whatever was rattling the doors and windows to leave.

Whatever it was ignored the command, in fact, it almost appeared that someone was trying to push through the doors and another was holding the door shut. Joe felt himself being picked up and then taken back to his bed. He turned to look at his wife, who