Petrified by Graham Masterton

Around four o’clock, though, I went into the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. I was right in the middle of pouring it out when I went so cold that I started to shake. I knew right away that my Charlie had gone. His soul had been stolen right out of him while I was out of the room. Death had sneaked in and paid him a visit and there was nothing in the bed but a body that looked like Charlie. It took me a long, long time to feel warm again, I can tell you.’
    â€˜I’m sorry, Mrs Lugano. I didn’t mean to distress you. Thank you for your time.’
    Mary Lugano stood up and accompanied Jenna to the door. ‘Do you have any idea what this flying thing is?’ she asked her, before she opened it. ‘I mean, do the police have any idea? Did something escape from the zoo? Something that they don’t want us to know about?’
    â€˜I don’t have a clue what it could be, Mrs Lugano. I only hope that whatever it is, it’s flown off for good, and won’t come back.’
    â€˜I wouldn’t count on it,’ said Mary Lugano. ‘I get the feeling that it’s circling around, looking to catch somebody else. That’s what evil does, doesn’t it? It circles, waiting for its moment. Just like Death did, when Death sneaked in to steal my Charlie.’
    Jenna took the elevator down to Aartment 1723 where Kenneth Keiller and Christine Takenaka were waiting for her, along with Dan and two police officers. A forty-inch plasma TV was flickering silently in the background, tuned to Everybody Loves Raymond .
    Kenneth Keiller was a huge man who almost filled the whole living room. He was at least six feet three inches tall and he must have weighed close to three hundred pounds. Once he had obviously had a bodybuilder’s physique, but beer, pepperoni pizza and lack of exercise had taken their toll, and his belly hung over his belt like a small boy sleeping in a hammock. His head was shaven and his face was as podgy as the Laughing Buddha’s.
    Christine Takenaka was tall for a Japanese woman, flat chested and very thin. She had long black hair and the kind of features that made her look permanently vexed.
    â€˜My partner here tells me that you saw the creature pretty good, Mr Keiller,’ said Jenna.
    â€˜It was only for a second,’ Kenneth Keiller told her. ‘It flashed right past my window and it must have been doing ninety clicks an hour, minimum.’
    â€˜But you still saw it quite clearly?’
    â€˜It was some species of lizard, in my opinion. I saw them when I was stationed in the Philippines, in the jungle. The locals call them dragon lizards, but they’re only small, maybe twenty centimeters from nose to tail at most. But this one was a heck of a lot bigger than that. This one was fricking enormous. And it had horns on top of its head. And look what it did to those two poor bastards on the roof.’
    â€˜We don’t conclusively know that the creature was responsible for that.’
    â€˜Oh, no? What else could have smashed them apart like that? It couldn’t have been a heely-copter because we would have heard it. And to tell you the truth, they looked exactly like they’d been hit by a truck, except how do you get a truck to the top of a twenty-two story apartment block?’
    â€˜Well, we’re still collecting evidence,’ said Jenna. She took out her notebook again. ‘Can you tell me what color it was, this creature?’
    â€˜I don’t know. Brownish, I think. Brown or gray, maybe more like khaki.’
    â€˜Could you describe it to a sketch artist for me? I’m sending one round here tomorrow morning.’
    â€˜Sure thing. Any time. I’m never doing nothing much, except watching TV.’
    â€˜How about you, Ms Takenaka? Could you describe it?’
    Christine Takenaka shook her head so that her silky black hair swung from side to side. ‘I saw only the creature’s