Sure enough, he heard its lumbering footsteps.

He needed more light by the glass doors. If the thing decided to enter through the path of least resistance, Andrew wanted to see it as well as possible so he could shoot it in the face. Carrying a candle over and placing it on the floor to the side of the door, he turned and saw Nikki grabbing another. Next, he pulled Ryker’s chair into the center of the cottage so he wouldn’t be hit by flying glass. Then he gripped the bed frame and looked to Nikki.

“We’ll put the bed next to him,” he said.

Nikki nodded. The legs of the bed made a terrible racket as they dragged it away from the window. Kate slept on, worrying Andrew further.

The sound must have caught the monster’s attention, because it stopped moving. Andrew crept toward the doors, hearing its labored breathing. His finger curled around the trigger as he backed up.

Andrew’s thoughts wavered. Should he wait for it to come crashing inside? Or should he take it by surprise? He could have Nikki throw open the door and just start shooting.

Don’t wait until it’s in here. Once it gets inside, Kate and Ryker are vulnerable.

“Do you hear that?” Nikki whispered.

Andrew could barely hear her over the thrumming of his blood.

“It…it sounds like someone’s talking,” she said, fresh terror creeping into her eyes.

He needed to take a couple of steadying breaths to calm himself. When he did, he heard it.

It was a dull, continuous mumbling, a string of nonsense sounds. The more he listened, the more it sounded like a kind of Native American chanting. There were no words, or words as he understood them, just a low, guttural monotone. It was far more chilling than the ear-piercing screams and howls.

“What the fuck is it saying?”

Andrew shook his head. “I don’t have a clue. It’s definitely not English.”

The sound of its voice terrified him more than anything else that had taken place. What was it saying? Was it speaking to them? To another creature? To itself?

It was still muttering when they heard one of the back porch steps creak.

Go out there now when you know exactly where it is!

It was the right thing to do, but he couldn’t force his legs to move. The strange chanting of the creature was almost hypnotic.

Another groan of wood as it took the next step.

Nikki touched his back and he nearly screamed.

When it reached the third step (just three more to go!), Andrew broke from his stupor. He saw his hand reach for the door handle, but he was so numb with dread he couldn’t feel it.

Just pull and shoot. Even you can’t miss from this range.