He bore the mark of a whip. His neck was raw and bloody, as though he had been lynched.
Tanner was there, too, looking down at him.
“Is he dead?” Brittney asked fearfully.
Tanner did not answer. Brittney knelt beside Edilio. She could see grains of sand move as he exhaled.
Alive. Barely. By the grace of God.
Brittney touched his face. Her fingers left a trace of mud behind.
She stood up.
“The demon,” Brittney said. “The evil one.”
“Yes,” Tanner said.
“What should I do?” Brittney asked.
“Good,” Tanner said. “You must serve God and resist evil.”
She looked at him, eyes blurring with tears. “I don’t know how.”
Tanner looked past her, raising glowing eyes to the hill that rose behind Brittney.
She turned away from Edilio. She saw Zil fall to earth. Saw Dekka sinking slowly in a pillar of dust. Saw Astrid with her little brother. Saw children running up the hill, still panicked.
“Calvary,” Tanner said. “Golgotha.”
“No,” Brittney said.
“You must do as God wills,” Tanner said.
Brittney stood still. Her feet did not feel the warmth of the sand beneath them. Her skin did not feel the slight breeze from the ocean. She did not smell the salt spray.
“Climb the hill, Brittney. Climb to the place of death.”
“I will,” Brittney said.
She began to walk. She was alone, everyone else ahead, she the last to climb the hill.
Dekka was just coming down to earth. Astrid was racing ahead, pulling Nemesis with her.
How did she know to call him that? She had known Little Pete before, back in the old days. She knew his name. But in her mind the name Nemesis had formed when she saw him. And a surge of pure rage.
Is he the evil one, Lord? She stopped, momentarily confused as Astrid and Little Pete ran ahead.
Her arm twitched. Stretched. So very strange.
And her braces were turning liquid, leaving only a metallic slick on sharp teeth.
Zil lay groaning, his legs twisted at impossible angles.
Brittney passed him by.
She would meet the evil one when she reached the top. And then would come the battle.
“Everyone hold hands,” Mary said.
The children were slow to react. But then, one by one, their little faces turned to the sunset, they reached out for each other.
Mary’s helpers, carrying the babies, stood in the line with all the others.
“It’s coming, children,” Mary said.
“Hold tight to each other…
“Be ready, children. Be ready to jump. You have to jump so high to go to your mommy’s arms…”
Mary felt it beginning, just as she had known it would. The time had come.
Fifteen years before, at this very hour, at this very minute, Mary Terrafino was born…
Sam could hear nothing but a hurricane wind in his ears. He could feel nothing but the manic gyration of the skateboard under his feet, rattling up through every bone in his body. That and Brianna’s hands on his back, pushing him, and again and again grabbing him, righting him, guiding him on a ride that made the craziest roller coaster Sam had ever experienced look like a quiet stroll.
Up the road from the power plant.
Down the highway, slaloming through abandoned or crashed cars.
Then a blistering few seconds of tearing through town.
A turn so sharp he was airborne and completely off the board, flying through the air.
Brianna raced out in front of him, grabbed his two kicking feet and guided them back onto the board. Like a sack of cement. Sam couldn’t believe he hadn’t broken both legs, he hit so hard. But Brianna’s hands held him steady, pushing and guiding him.
Then a blur and a sudden, shocking, gut-wrenching stop.
He was pretty sure he’d been screaming the whole time.
“We’re there,” Brianna said.
Time stopped for Mary. People froze. The very molecules of air seemed to stop vibrating.
Yes, just as others had described it. The poof. The big one-five.
And there, oh God, her mother.
The mother of Mother Mary, Mary thought. Not beautiful, maybe, not so very beautiful in reality as she had become in memory. But so warm and so inviting.
“Come on, honey,” her mother said. “It’s time to lay down the burden.”
“Mom…I’ve missed you so much.”
Her mother held her hands out, a waiting hug. Waiting. Arms open. Face smiling through tears.
“Mom…I’m scared…,” Mary said.
“Come to me, baby girl. Hold tight to their hands and come to me.”
“The littles…my kids…”
“All their mommies are with me. Bring them out of that awful place, Mary. Set them free.”
Mary stepped forward.
FORTY-THREE
0 MINUTES
ASTRID SCREAMED, “GRAB the children! Grab the children!”
She leaped to get a grip on the child nearest to her. Others just stared. Kids gaped, stunned, as Mary stepped, as if in a dream, off the cliff.
Mary dropped from sight. She was still trying to take steps as she fell.
Her grip was tight. Kids fell with her. A chain reaction. One pulling the next, pulling the next.
Dominoes off the cliff.
Justin tried to pull back when Mary pulled him over the edge of the cliff. But he wasn’t strong enough to loosen her iron grip.
He fell.
And the little girl who held his other hand fell after him.
Tanner was there, too, looking down at him.
“Is he dead?” Brittney asked fearfully.
Tanner did not answer. Brittney knelt beside Edilio. She could see grains of sand move as he exhaled.
Alive. Barely. By the grace of God.
Brittney touched his face. Her fingers left a trace of mud behind.
She stood up.
“The demon,” Brittney said. “The evil one.”
“Yes,” Tanner said.
“What should I do?” Brittney asked.
“Good,” Tanner said. “You must serve God and resist evil.”
She looked at him, eyes blurring with tears. “I don’t know how.”
Tanner looked past her, raising glowing eyes to the hill that rose behind Brittney.
She turned away from Edilio. She saw Zil fall to earth. Saw Dekka sinking slowly in a pillar of dust. Saw Astrid with her little brother. Saw children running up the hill, still panicked.
“Calvary,” Tanner said. “Golgotha.”
“No,” Brittney said.
“You must do as God wills,” Tanner said.
Brittney stood still. Her feet did not feel the warmth of the sand beneath them. Her skin did not feel the slight breeze from the ocean. She did not smell the salt spray.
“Climb the hill, Brittney. Climb to the place of death.”
“I will,” Brittney said.
She began to walk. She was alone, everyone else ahead, she the last to climb the hill.
Dekka was just coming down to earth. Astrid was racing ahead, pulling Nemesis with her.
How did she know to call him that? She had known Little Pete before, back in the old days. She knew his name. But in her mind the name Nemesis had formed when she saw him. And a surge of pure rage.
Is he the evil one, Lord? She stopped, momentarily confused as Astrid and Little Pete ran ahead.
Her arm twitched. Stretched. So very strange.
And her braces were turning liquid, leaving only a metallic slick on sharp teeth.
Zil lay groaning, his legs twisted at impossible angles.
Brittney passed him by.
She would meet the evil one when she reached the top. And then would come the battle.
“Everyone hold hands,” Mary said.
The children were slow to react. But then, one by one, their little faces turned to the sunset, they reached out for each other.
Mary’s helpers, carrying the babies, stood in the line with all the others.
“It’s coming, children,” Mary said.
“Hold tight to each other…
“Be ready, children. Be ready to jump. You have to jump so high to go to your mommy’s arms…”
Mary felt it beginning, just as she had known it would. The time had come.
Fifteen years before, at this very hour, at this very minute, Mary Terrafino was born…
Sam could hear nothing but a hurricane wind in his ears. He could feel nothing but the manic gyration of the skateboard under his feet, rattling up through every bone in his body. That and Brianna’s hands on his back, pushing him, and again and again grabbing him, righting him, guiding him on a ride that made the craziest roller coaster Sam had ever experienced look like a quiet stroll.
Up the road from the power plant.
Down the highway, slaloming through abandoned or crashed cars.
Then a blistering few seconds of tearing through town.
A turn so sharp he was airborne and completely off the board, flying through the air.
Brianna raced out in front of him, grabbed his two kicking feet and guided them back onto the board. Like a sack of cement. Sam couldn’t believe he hadn’t broken both legs, he hit so hard. But Brianna’s hands held him steady, pushing and guiding him.
Then a blur and a sudden, shocking, gut-wrenching stop.
He was pretty sure he’d been screaming the whole time.
“We’re there,” Brianna said.
Time stopped for Mary. People froze. The very molecules of air seemed to stop vibrating.
Yes, just as others had described it. The poof. The big one-five.
And there, oh God, her mother.
The mother of Mother Mary, Mary thought. Not beautiful, maybe, not so very beautiful in reality as she had become in memory. But so warm and so inviting.
“Come on, honey,” her mother said. “It’s time to lay down the burden.”
“Mom…I’ve missed you so much.”
Her mother held her hands out, a waiting hug. Waiting. Arms open. Face smiling through tears.
“Mom…I’m scared…,” Mary said.
“Come to me, baby girl. Hold tight to their hands and come to me.”
“The littles…my kids…”
“All their mommies are with me. Bring them out of that awful place, Mary. Set them free.”
Mary stepped forward.
FORTY-THREE
0 MINUTES
ASTRID SCREAMED, “GRAB the children! Grab the children!”
She leaped to get a grip on the child nearest to her. Others just stared. Kids gaped, stunned, as Mary stepped, as if in a dream, off the cliff.
Mary dropped from sight. She was still trying to take steps as she fell.
Her grip was tight. Kids fell with her. A chain reaction. One pulling the next, pulling the next.
Dominoes off the cliff.
Justin tried to pull back when Mary pulled him over the edge of the cliff. But he wasn’t strong enough to loosen her iron grip.
He fell.
And the little girl who held his other hand fell after him.
