Falling Rain

    He woke to the sound of falling rain.  He lay there , not wanting to get up , letting it sooth him , as it did when he was a boy. It was after midnight. All was quiet , but for the rain , and the white noise static of the television , which cast a ghostly blue light. He switched it off and headed upstairs to check on his daughter before getting into bed.  Lauren was fast asleep , a smile on her cherubic face.

    In his own room across the hall , Frank slid quietly into bed , trying not to disturb Sue. But almost immediately he noticed that she was not there. He pulled back the covers and felt her side of the bed. It was still warm. And a hint of her perfume lingered in the air. He smiled.

    He went back down stairs , calling her name softly , despite the steady drone of the rain. He eased open the kitchen door , and was startled by a sudden flash of lightning and a deafening blast of thunder. In the brief illumination , he glimpsed a silhouette seated at the table.

    "Sue , is that you?"
   No answer. Frank hesitated a moment before placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly at his touch ; her skin felt clammy. 
    "What are you doing sitting here in the dark?"

    When she didn't answer , he said ,"Do you mind if I turn on the light?"
    "No, leave it off!" she whispered urgently. "Please!"

     "Why? Sue , what's wrong?"

    "I don't want you to see me like this."

    "Like what? What are you talking about?"

    There was another flash , followed by more thunder , but this time , in its  light , Frank saw something he refused to believe. For a few seconds he thought that ... no , he could not have seen what he thought he had seen. It must have been a trick of light and shadow. Slowly , he reached for the light switch ... and flicked it on. His eyes widened and he cried out , stumbling backward through the door and into the living room. He landed hard on his back , not daring to take his eyes off the swinging door , waiting for Sue to come out.

    After a few seconds , the light was switched off , and she came out. "I told you to leave it off Frank!" she hissed. "I told you to leave it off! Why didn't you listen?"

   When he switched on the light , Frank had seen something that would disturb his dreams the rest of his days : Sue's entire face had been missing.

   She reached for him - to embrace him , or to punish him for not listening to her , Frank was uncertain - hissing repeatedly , "Why didn't you to leave it off!"

   For a brief moment , he wondered how she could speak with no face , and then he was scrambling up off the floor , and up the stairs for Lauren's room , shouting her name. The girl stood in the door way. Frank nearly ran into her , knocking her over.

    He didn't have to turn on a light to know that her face was also gone.

    He ran back down the stairs , losing his footing on the third step ,  tumbling the rest of the way. But he was unhurt. He picked himself off the floor , and stumbled to the door.

   "You can't get away , daddy!" Lauren said from the top of the stairway. Frank froze. How could she talk with no face!?
    "It wants you , too!"

    Before Frank could reach the door , it blew open , letting in a sudden blast of wind and rain. Something monstrous stood in the doorway. Something that caused all of the saliva in his mouth to dry up , and his bladder to loosen. Even in the intermittent flashes of lightning , Frank could see that it had no real discernible shape. It seemed to be nothing more than an amorphous mass of stinking , pulsating flesh.

   Before Frank could scream , the thing latched onto his face and began feeding.