“
They’re real,” she said again in that hoarse voice. “They can hurt us.” “What are, sweetie? Bad dreams?” She shook her head and pointed a finger at the floor. Somehow Dan knew she wasn’t just pointing at the floor but beyond it, and the only thing he knew that lay beneath the boards of the bedroom floor was the study below. But she wasn’t pointing to the room, he thought. No, she was pointing to something in the room. She leaned in close and whispered, “First they took the old woman. Then they took Ginger. And then the girl with the skin pictures.” “Skin pictures?” “On her back,” Jessica said, and Dan felt his blood run cold. “Who? Who told you that?” “The man with the broken name,” she said as she turned over and hugged Mr. Bun. Then, as if she had answered a simple math question, she whispered, “Goodnight, Daddy.
”
”