Instantly, Miriam was beside her. She stepped right up to the door. “It’s locked,” she shouted, “locked and set!”

The shadow disappeared.

Sarah began to want very badly to get out of here. But she couldn’t just leave the woman, not like this. “Call the police,” she said. Her speech was actually slurred. Despite the obvious danger she felt curiously calm.

“No!” Miriam grabbed her shoulders and shook them. It rattled her teeth in her head, it was like being gripped by a powerful machine.

Remember, she is not human. Not human! Whatever might be going on here, it could be very different from appearance. Sarah must not allow herself to forget that. And for the love of heaven she must not fall asleep. What was the matter with her?

“I—I’m sorry,” Miriam said. She found some Kleenex in a drawer and took a couple of sheets, blew her nose. “Let’s go to the front of the house. He won’t bother us there.”

Sarah was led into a library, somewhat darker than the other rooms. “History,” Miriam said, waving her arms at shelves and shelves of books, “do you believe in history?”

Sarah was beyond answering complex questions. With the clarity of exhaustion she heard a horn honk outside. The shadows were deeper here. There were ancient-looking volumes, and glass-fronted boxes containing stacks of scrolls. It was not a pleasant room. In a way, with its musty smell and black old books, it was quite horrible. Sarah wished Miriam would just get out of this place with her. “We would like you to return to the clinic.”

Miriam’s look was almost coy. “Why should I? So you can put me in a freak show?”

“So we can relieve your suffering.”

Miriam came over to her, took her hands. This close the woman seemed almost larger than she should be. Sarah wanted desperately to take a step back. But she couldn’t move, she was just too tired.

Miriam’s speech was measured, her eyes watching Sarah closely.

“Sarah, we have a great deal to learn from one another, but I’ve just sustained a shock and I need some time to pull myself together. Please forgive me if my behavior seems strange.”

“I still don’t understand why you don’t call the police. They would give you some protection—”

“For a time. But what happens when they go away? And they will, sooner or later.”

“OK, it’s your decision. I’d do it, though. You’re being menaced. Whoever it is could get in here at any moment.”

Her words made Miriam flash a glance toward the hallway that led to the back of the house. “An alarm will go off if he comes in. I’ll have plenty of warning.”

“But what if he does something else—sets the place on fire while you’re asleep, you never know what such a person might do.”