Page 111 of The Lady on Esplanade
Camille shifted me closer to the edge of the top step, my head lolling forward, my eyes cast toward the bottom of the stairway, where Felicity had now joined Beau on the same step.I watched as she linked arms with her brother.We are stronger together.The wordsbeing chanted were now clear to me, and if I could have, I would have joined in.
“Actually, wecanprove it,” Beau said.“A strand of hair was found stuck in a prong of the engagement ring.It’s been sent to the lab for forensic analysis, but we all know whose DNA we’ll find, don’t we?”Beau took another step toward us.“Let me help you get Nola downstairs, and then we can talk.”
I felt Camille shift her stance, getting into position.We got this.This time the words hadn’t been inside my head.Bonnie was here, and I wasn’t alone.
With energy reserves I didn’t know I possessed, I flung out my arms, attempting to grab onto anything I could.One hand grasped at the railing, my fingertips barely gripping the wood.Camille’s knee struck me in the middle of my back, expelling all the air from my lungs while knocking me forward and dislodging my frail grasp on the railing.
I had no wind left to scream.In eerie silence I was propelled down the steep stairs in what seemed like slow motion.Beau lifted his arms, reaching for me.Our eyes met right before I shut mine, unwilling to see what happened next as I prepared for the inevitable collision.
Except there wasn’t one.Something pulled me back, suspended me in the air for what felt like minutes, just long enough for me to grab onto the railing to keep myself from falling.
Camille, on the top step, teetered from the momentum of her kick.Her arms circled like small propellers as she lost her balance and fell headfirst down the stairs.Beau turned his back to the railing, somehow managing to slow her fall.She landed on her shoulder, striking the kitchen floor with a loud crack.She screamed, then rolled over on her back, her good hand clutching her shoulder, which sat higher than it should have.
I looked down the stairs at her, trying but failing to feel sympathy through the nausea and dizziness that were currently spinning inside me.I slid down onto the top step and gulped in air, refilling my lungsand attempting to clear my head.Small, invisible feet ran past me and down the steps, leaving behind a feeling of panic.The scent of Youth-Dew had evaporated completely, letting me know that Sybil had exhausted her strength.And that this nightmare was far from over.
Felicity rushed to Camille’s side.“I’ll call nine-one-one and say we need an ambulance.”
Beau took the steps two at a time to reach me.He knelt next to me, then pushed back my hair and looked into my face.“Are you all right?”
I managed a nod.“I didn’t…” I slurred, then stopped, knowing he could smell the bourbon.
“I know.You don’t need to explain anything to me.”
“My mom…was…here.Bonnie.”
“Yeah.I figured that’s who it was.I saw Adele, too.”
“And Sybil.Mark…killed her.”
The last light of the day filtered through the windows, a frost now covering the lower corners of each pane, on the inside.I shivered.
“He’s here,” Beau whispered.
I nodded as my eyes drifted closed.“I need to…sleep.”
He shook me gently.“Not a good idea,” he said, keeping his gaze trained on something behind me.“Let me get you outside.”
An icy finger touched the back of my neck as Beau leaned toward me.Then a tug on the hem of my jeans bolted me out of my inertia.My mouth opened in a silent scream as I was yanked across the room into the dark corner where the bed stood.I grabbed at whatever I could, splinters and broken glass stabbing my palms, blood mixing with nervous sweat.
I slammed against an old console TV and snagged a brass ring pull with my index finger, jerking me to a temporary stop.
“Nola!”Beau shouted, crawling toward me and grabbing my wrists just as my finger slipped out of the ring pull.He hooked his foot on the leg of a heavy oak bookcase as something small landed on my head and then on my arms and Beau’s fingers.The dying lightfrom the window was reflected by the dark, glossy wings of hundreds of flying cockroaches falling from the ceiling.
I screamed.And screamed.
“It’s okay, Nola!I’ve got you!”Beau shouted over the fluttering of papery wings and the din of hard-shelled bodies hitting the wooden floor.
Felicity appeared at the top of the steps.She dropped to her knees and crawled to us, her movement slowed by unseen currents of viscous air as she swatted at the large insects without flinching.She grabbed hold of the back of my shirt with one hand, then put her free hand on Beau while hooking her feet around the other front leg of the bookcase to protect her from the suction pulling us all toward the bed.
“We’re stronger together,” she said.With her eyes on Beau, she said, “Mom said that.When we were on the steps.”A roach fell on her head, and she shook it off as another ran over my arm.I shuddered but dared not pull away.“That’s how I knew.That…I’m like you.”
“We’re stronger together,” Beau repeated as a percussive wave of air swept through the room.Four bright orbs of light, one smaller than the others, hovered around us.We’ve got this.The echo of the silent words reverberated around the room and through the invisible currents.
“They’re still here,” Beau said, close to my ear.“Their energy is depleted, but they’re here.”
One of my sneakers flew off my foot as unseen hands pulled on both legs, and I began to slip away from Beau and Felicity.I looked behind me, through the falling rain of cockroaches, and saw, beneath the bed, the dark abyss that was sucking me closer like a hungry mouth.
“Nola—close your eyes!”Beau shouted.
