Page 121 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

Angeline pulled away from Maverick. She spun around trying to orient herself. A large free-floating piece of wood smashed into her ankle, and she wailed with pain. The ceiling above them was coming apart, caving in places with water pouring through.

They were going to die down here. She grabbed Maverick’s hand, but he was looking at something behind her.

The soldiers, two of the men from outside, carried flashlights and were waving at them.

“Over here,” one of them yelled. “Come quickly.”

They both froze. Was it safe? Were they really trying to help? Finally, one of the men ran toward them. “Come now or this place will be your tomb.”

It broke some kind of spell they were under. He led them toward a dark doorway which was mercifully unblocked.

They ran, limped, struggled, with the men behind them, up the shallow steps that wound up and up, walls covered with rot and graffiti, decades of neglect and vandalism. It seemed like it would never end,that they were trapped in the spiral, and this was it for both of them, for all of them.

Finally, when they were in the lobby, running toward the exit, the men turned around and ran back into the building. She heard voices shouting, saw flashlight beams in the darkness. The soldiers were helping everyone out of the building. Footsteps behind them, running, voices, cries. Groaning, crashing.

And then she and Maverick were out in the rain, and it felt like a gift, a blessing. A storm they would have normally run from, hidden from, felt like freedom. Angeline turned to see who else got out behind them. But they were alone.

“Run,” she heard someone call from inside. “Keep moving. Clear the building.”

Who would get to safety? Who, as Maverick liked to say, would live to play another day? The thought made her laugh, hysterical, then start weeping.

Maverick dragged her farther, farther away.

“Holy shit,” he yelled over the wind and the rain. “It’s coming down. Enchantments, it’s falling.”

Angeline stood rooted, staring at the building, which seemed to be shrinking. Ahead of them, the Range Rover sat waiting. The line of men guarding the exit was gone.

Petra had said that the men weren’t there to protect the land, they were there to keep people from hurting themselves. She’d meant it. They must all be inside the building, helping people out.

She kept watching—for Hector, for Gustavo. No one emerged from the entrance. Oh, God, what had they done?

Angeline sank to her knees, wailing, and finally Maverick just picked her up and ran for the vehicle. Stunned, she climbed inside. A glance to the back seat revealed the two duffel bags, undisturbed in the back. The key fob was in the center console. Maverick gave her a look and started the engine, then peeled out.

Behind them, with a final, seismic groan, a roar of crashing wood, stone, concrete, plaster, Enchantments fell.

Angeline watched, horror dueling with disbelief, as Enchantments folded in on itself and collapsed with a roar.

Maverick never looked back, kept looking ahead, the Rover easily moving through the swamped roads.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered. Who got out? Who didn’t? The tragedy of it all settled over her, and her tears became sobs. When she turned back toward the road, what she saw there caused her to issue a scream.

“Maverick, stop!”

A woman, ghostly white, stood glowing in the road. Robed, erect, staring.

Maverick brought the truck to a screeching halt. “What? Angeline,what?”

Angeline stared; the other woman’s eyes bored into her with a kind of sad judgment.

“Petra,” she whispered at Mav, who just shook his head.

“No,” he said, putting a hand on her arm.

When she turned back to the road ahead, it wasn’t Petra at all.

It was a giant bird, using its powerful beak to rip at the flesh of its prey. A buzzard, tawny feathers glistening wet from the rain. Startled by the headlights, it lifted its wings in a show of anger and let out a high-pitched cry, eyes glowing, beak bloodied. Then it flapped off into the storm.

Maverick and Angeline just stared at the road a moment, then at each other. Finally, Maverick gunned the engine, and they roared away into the night.

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