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- I checked up above me and-
- Time froze.
- Try to imagine the stench of rotten meat. Imagine the languid, arrhythmic pulsing of a corpse filled with maggots. Imagine the scent of stale body odor mixed with mildew, the sound of nails screeching across a chalkboard, the taste of rotten milk, and the flavor of spoiled fruit.
- Now imagine that your eyes can experience those things, all at once, in excruciating detail.
- That's what I saw: a stomach-churning, nightmare-inducing mass, blazing like a lighthouse beacon upon one of the buildings above me. I could vaguely make out a physical form behind it, but it was like trying to peer through raw sewage. I couldn't get any details through the haze of absolute wrongness that surrounded it as it bounded from the edge of one rooftop to another, moving more than fast enough to keep pace with me.
- Someone screamed, and I dimly noted that it was probably me. The car hit something that made it shriek in protest. It jounced hard up and down, wham-wham. I'd drifted into the curb. I felt the front wheels shimmy through the steering wheel, and I slammed on the brakes, still screaming, as I fought to close my Third Eye.
- The next thing I knew, car horns were blaring an impatient symphony.
- I was sitting in the driver's seat, gripping the wheel until my knuckles were white. The engine had died. Judging from the dampness on my cheeks, I must have been crying-unless I'd started foaming at the mouth, which, I reflected, was a distinct possibility.
- Stars and stones. What on God's green earth was that thing?
- Even brushing against the subject in my thoughts was enough to bring the memory of the thing back to me in all its hideous terror. I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut, shoving hard against the steering wheel. I could feel my body shaking. I don't know how long it took me to fight my way clear of the memory-and when I did, everything was the same, only louder.
- With the clock counting down, I couldn't afford to let the cops take me into custody for a DWI, but that's exactly what would happen if I didn't start driving again, assuming I didn't actually wreck the car first. I took a deep breath and willed myself not to think of the apparition-
- I saw it again.
- When I came back, I'd bitten my tongue, and my throat felt raw. I shook even harder.
- There was no way I could drive. Not like this. One stray thought and I could get somebody killed in a collision. But I couldn't remain there, either.
- I pulled the Beetle up onto the sidewalk, where it would be out of the street at least. Then I got out of the car and started walking away. The city would tow me in about three point five milliseconds, but at least I wouldn't be around to get arrested.
- I stumbled down the sidewalk, hoping that my pursuer, the apparition, wasn't-
- When I looked up again, I was curled into a ball on the ground, muscles aching from cramping so tight. People were walking wide around me, giving me nervous sidelong glances. I felt so weak that I wasn't sure I could stand.
- I needed help.
- I looked up at the street signs on the nearest corner and stared at them until my cudgeled brain finally worked out where I was standing.
- I rose, forced to lean on my staff to stay upright, and hobbled forward as quickly as I could. I started calculating prime numbers as I walked, focusing on the process as intently as I would any spell.
- "One," I muttered through clenched teeth. "Two. Three. Five. Seven. Eleven. Thirteen..."
- And I staggered through the night, literally too terrified to think about what might be coming after me.
- Turn Coat Chapter 4, Page 26-28
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