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“I… I didn’t know,” I stutter. I stand up and go over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. The gesture disgusts me, but if I can play this out long enough, Pocus will come in and get me.
“I’ve missed you,” I lie, leaning into him. He pulls me against him. “Tell me more about your plan,” I whisper into his ear. I feel him smile against my neck.
I manage to make a hole large enough for Charlie to crawl through, but there’s still the matter of getting her to agree to try it. I go back over to the desk and whisper at her urgently.
“Charlie. I’ve found a way out for you. You might be right, and I might die today, but that doesn’t mean you have to. You can get out of this. I’m going to make sure you do.”
She looks up at me with trepidation. To my relief, she crawls toward me. I lead her to the closet and help her carefully get through the hole in the wall. I push myself through as far as I can and manage to wiggle through with some effort.
The window is unlocked, thank fuck. At least one thing is going right today. The idiot probably didn’t expect that he would need to lock it. I pull it up quickly and punch out the screen, which is already hanging precariously.
“It might be a bit of a jump,” I tell her. “But you’re the bravest, strongest girl I know, Charlie. I need you to run and hide, okay? As soon as I get out of here, I’ll send you a code that it’s safe.”
“What if you don’t get out of here?” she asks tearfully.
I pull her against me in a tight hug. To my surprise, she doesn’t react. Maybe seeing my death already has made her immune to my touch.
“If I don’t get out of here, my friends will come get you. I promise you that, okay? And I don’t break my promises.”
She nods. I’m not sure if she believes me or if she’s anxious to get out of here. Either way, I can’t blame her. I lift her toward the window and help her climb out. She looks back at me once before leaping from the window. I hear a thud, but when I peer out, she looks up at me and gives me a thumbs-up. She’s okay. Now to get Meredith.
I open the bathroom door and find myself in a narrow hallway. I emerge into an open living room where I see Meredith embracing a man. His back is to me, but she opens her eyes and sees me. She tries to mouth something, but I don’t understand. I think she’s trying to tell me something. Unfortunately, the man notices her gesture and pulls back from her.
In a split second, she raises her leg and kicks him hard. He stumbles toward me, and I grab him, telling her to run. She immediately goes for the door. When she tries for the handle, it doesn’t budge. The man wriggles out of my grip and runs toward her, laughing as he goes, but I tackle him to the ground.
He turns over to face me, and I see it’s that punk cop. You’re fucking kidding me. This little weasel has been causing all this trouble? No wonder he needs to manipulate children, he’s a fucking toothpick.
I hear Meredith struggling with the door, banging on it as if that’s going to help. I pull my fist back and punch Damien over and over with my good arm, letting out all the rage I’ve been carrying for the last few days. This ends now. He can’t get away from me. I have him pinned down, but I feel him moving underneath me. He reaches for something. Before I can react, he has a gun pointed at me. He doesn’t hesitate at all. He pulls the trigger.
A loud ringing sounds in my ear and everything goes hazy. I fall back onto the floor, and time suddenly has no meaning. He scrambles up, standing over me with the gun in his hand. Maybe he does it in seconds, maybe it takes him hours. I can’t tell anymore. The pain radiates through my chest. I don’t have much time left. This is what Charlie saw. I’m going to die, and it will all be in vain. Meredith is still trapped, Charlie is hiding somewhere, and I’m all alone, bleeding out on the floor of this dingy trailer.
As my vision gets hazier, I see a burst of light. This must be the tunnel everyone talks about. I laugh, thinking about how everyone jokes about staying away from the light. But the light isn’t moving closer to me. It fills the space and overtakes my senses. I turn my head to the side, wondering if the light is there too, and I find it’s even brighter.
But a dark shadow moves toward me. Fuck, I’m going to hell, aren’t I? The demons are coming to get me. As the figure gets closer, I realize it’s not a demon at all. Pocus’s face comes into view. He’s saying something to me, but I can’t hear him. I’m worried Damien will shoot him too.
When I turn my head again, though, I see that Bones is there. He’s tackled Damien to the ground. Seer has Damien’s gun and he’s pointing it at his head.
“It’s about time you guys showed up,” I whisper weakly. Then everything goes black again.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Icover my ears and recite a nursery rhyme Miss Abigail taught me. It doesn’t make the loud banging stop. I know that sound is a gun. I heard it before when Momma died. I hear another shot, and I rock back and forth, singing the nursery rhyme louder. I don’t care if someone finds me. I can’t hear that sound anymore.
My face is wet with tears and snot. The front of my shirt is already wet from where I’ve tried to wipe my face. Momma would be mad if she were here. She always told me to use tissues. But there are no tissues here. I’m alone, hiding under the trailer in the dark. Mr. Graveyard is dead, I know it. I saw it when I touched his face.
The bad man is the one who shot him. I saw that too. He won’t make it out alive. But I’ll stay hidden until Mr. Graveyard friends find me. I promised him I would. I won’t let him down. He said he doesn’t break his promises, so I don’t want to break mine.
I hear many footsteps above me. Meredith is crying. Mr. Pocus must be here with his friends. Graveyard said they would come. But can they stop the bad man? I hear running in the house. Meredith is screaming my name. I’ve never heard her sound so scared before. I want to come out from my hiding place, but I have to wait for Mr. Graveyard’s friends.
“Charlie,” Pocus calls. I can tell he’s outside. He’s close.
I get up quickly and crawl through the broken metal. I run around to the front of the trailer and he sees me.
“Meredith, she’s here,” he calls inside the house.
Meredith comes running out of the house, her hair wild in the wind. She’s running toward me and I sprint toward her. I never liked hugging Meredith before. I could always see the bad man when she touched me. I always knew he was coming for me. But I run into her arms and squeeze tight because I’m so glad to see her. And I don’t see the bad man anymore.
I hold her tighter. She wraps her arms around me, squeezing hard. I don’t know how long we stand like that, but I finally feel safe. The bad man can’t get us anymore. He’s gone, I think.
