Uprising (18 page)

We’re headed to the basement Sherry, to let those people out before they all get killed. Hopefully, they’ll all be too scared to care if we’re Keepers or not. Stay right there with Lily. Don’t move.

I nod. As soon as he rounds the corner, out of sight, the lights flicker and a clanking sound resounds. Rattling glass. I glance up and see what the noise is coming from. I scream.

I yell for everyone to move. They look up. I hear gasp and yells. Even the Lighters stop and look, and then run. Everyone scrambles and scatters in all directions as we all see the massive chandelier coming down. It shatters and smashes in the middle of the room sending pieces of glass everywhere. The boom from the crash is enormous and I feel it rattle the floor when it hits.

I shield Lily and when I look back, thankfully, no one was hurt. Merrick is safely by the staircase.

Crandle appears, falling, jumping down all flights of stairs down the middle to land on the rug and glass in front of us all. Gracefully on his feet.

“Going somewhere?” he bellows, laughing deeply.

The Lighters are stacked behind him now and our crew retreats some towards the door, towards Lily and I. The Lighters look more fierce every time I see them.

This can’t be how it ends? After all this, we die here, in evil’s house, right on the brink of our escape?

Crandle continues to laugh, reading our thoughts, at least my thoughts of defeat. I’m not giving up, I’m just accepting the way it is. Crandle will kill them all then take me away with him for God knows what purpose.

He steps forward and motions with both arms moving forward in a push movement for the Lighters to attack. I brace myself, smothering my face in Lily’s hair and murmuring for her not to look, it’ll be over soon.

But then I hear Calvin yelling, pulling our attention, he steps out from behind Lana, towards the Lighters. I can hear the glass crunching under his feet.

“You killed Mrs. Trudy,” he accused and yelled as Lana holds his shirt sleeve to restrain him, I could hear the tears in his voice.

When Crandle threw back his head and laughed again he started all the Lighters on a laughing frenzy. Calvin hands and arms started to glow a faint red. His breathing accelerated. His arms pulsed with each breath and then he threw his hands forward, all I could see was a blazing swirl of red and orange and black.

I could feel the heat and my eyes wanted to squint from the bright light. Calvin was spouting fire from his hands, and arms and fingers. I recoil with Lily on instinct into the door jam and cover her ears and eyes from the sight and sound of them burning.

Crandle and the other Lighters scream and screech, pulling at their flesh and faces and clothes as the licking flames consume them. Yelling, cursing, running, and falling. I look away, not wanting to see death. Not wanting to remember. Then I feel Merrick touch my arm and as I look up, I see Jeff coming around the corner, with a mass of dirty, thin, some bleeding, frightened people behind him.

The burning Lighters are running around and touching and bumping things in the chaos, not purposely but just trying to put out the flames on themselves. I can see small spurts of light where their skin is burned away.

The Taker comes forward, engulfed in flames and looks at us so disdainfully as he burns. His face is stoic and surreal. He knows what’s happening. He also knows he’ll come back as another Taker. This isn’t over.

Then he threw his head back and his body exploded in a burst of cold air and light. It was strange to see the fire all around us and yet feel the cold wind we always felt when one of them dies. There is lightning like with the others but it’s raging in every direction not just up. It was quick. A few seconds and he’s reduced to nothing.

The curtains catch fire in the big room by the front window first, then the cloth table runner and huge fake flower arrangement on the hall table go up in the blaze.

Merrick and Jeff start ushering all of us out, including the basement people, who look too scared to care who helped them, just happy to be alive. Jeff was right.

I see all the cops and ambulances already outside, probably because of our earlier encounter in the street with the Lighters.

“Oh no. How are we gonna get past them?” I ask, still shielding Lily but not moving since I can’t walk with crutches and carry her too.

“Blend,” Merrick answers and pulls his arm around me, taking Lily first.

By this time we are all dirty with soot and coughing, we look like everyone else as we make our way down the porch and through the yard to the street. I don’t see any of our group out and about other than the ones that were in the house.

No one stops us.

No one looks at us.

No one cares.

We casually walk, spread out to the van and other vehicles further down the street.

We hobble over and make it at last. The part of our group who was supposed to stay behind and fight the Lighters is there already, packed into the vehicle, hiding and looking grim. Hoping to come out of this unscathed was a fools hope. We lost Trudy and as Miguel explains, they lost Mike. I guess, all things considered, we should be grateful for
only
losing two.

What? Be grateful? The Lighters should never had come her in the first place! If they hadn’t, Trudy would still be here. Course, I wouldn’t even know her, or Merrick. But that’s not a fair trade. This should never have happened.

“So what do we do with it?” Miguel ask, referring to the Lighter still tied up in the van.

“Well, it can’t give us any more information. I suppose we should kill it,” Jeff advises matter-of-factly.

“Kill it? But it’s defenseless,” Celeste announces in a shrill panic, like we don’t know that it’s tied up.

“It’s not defenseless, Celeste. It would kill you the first chance it got. Should I let it go first, then wait for it to try to kill me before I strike it?” Jeff’s response was calm, but I can tell he’s tired and agitated and ready to go home and be done with this day.

“Well...no, but...I’m sorry. I know you’re right it just feels...wrong,” she whispers, looking at the ground.

All I can think right now is that I’m freezing, my leg is throbbing, Lily is tired and traumatized as is Calvin. I’m ready to take what’s left of my family home.

“Enough,” Miguel says bitterly. “One of those bloody things killed Mike and I’m not letting it go. I’ll handle it. Everyone else get in the cars and go home. We’ll stop someone out of the way in the van and take care of him. We’ll meet you at the store.”

We drive a while, Merrick, Miguel, Jeff, Danny and Celeste, Lily and the Lighter, in the van. We are driving slowly, Miguel says he’s looking for a good spot. Good spot for what? Just do it already if that’s what we have to do.

I don’t want to be responsible for the death of anything. But if we leave him alive, what of the ones he’ll hurt later as I know he will. Can I actually condone this? Or can I say it’s for the greater good to be rid of one more evil thing?

I’m just ready to go home. I can’t take another freezing uncomfortable night. Lily is sleeping soundly on Merrick’s lap. He’s warmer than me. He didn’t even argue with me about it. Lily was to sit on his lap and that was that. I sat next to him, his arm around me instead, as it should be.

At least I know this night can’t get any worse. We’ve dealt with more Lighters, Takers and Markers in the past day than we have all other months combined. If I never see another one of any of them, it’ll be too soon. But I know I will.

No sooner I think, I hear a strange sound. A warped gunshot almost. Muffled, silenced. Glass flies everywhere, pelting my head and back, my hands flying up instinctively for protection. Merrick, tucks Lily and I under his arm.

I feel the van jostling and jerking. Miguel has lost control and I see him hunched over the steering wheel, a blood spot on his shirt in the back growing bigger.

Oh no! We are heading right for the bridge. Will the control fence keep us from going over?

The question is answered and the answer is no.

We bust through the side and careen over the edge. All I see through the windshield as we head over and down is dark water and nowhere else to go. The van is plunging into the river.

This is it.

The force from crashing into the water sends us banging into the back of the front seat. The Lighter flies over our heads, slams all the way into the front windshield, still tied up. It’s head smashing against it with a loud thud. I can hear Lily screaming.

I don’t see what happened to Danny and Celeste in all the commotion. My vision is blurred and the sounds are muffled. Then I slowly begin to come back into my own consciousness and regain my composure. I see Celeste unconscious and Danny’s head is bleeding.

Water starts to pour into the broken back window. That’s when I realize with finality what has happened. Miguel, still passed out on the steering wheel, thank God he was wearing his seatbelt, has been shot. I can see the bullet hole in his shirt now, that’s why we lost control. But who shot him out in the middle of nowhere? Lighters don’t use guns.

Merrick starts to panic. He’s shaking, his arms are squeezing us so tightly. His eyes are wide with fear. Lily is whimpering softly against my chest.

Sherry... I don’t know how to swim.

“Babe...”

I start to explain the mechanisms of swimming and that I’ll help him but I remember about my leg and make shift wooden cast, I don’t even know how I’m gonna get myself to the top let alone Lily and him. As if he was reading my mind, Danny comes to the rescue.

“Sherry. If you are sure you can make it, I’ll take Lily.”

“What about Celeste?”

“I’ll...hold Lily and pull Celeste behind me,” he says but he hears how impossible that would be and frowns.

Oh God help us.

“Jeff?”

“I can’t swim either, Sherry.” His voice shaking and he didn’t look much better than Merrick.

How are we gonna do this? Two panicky Keepers who can’t swim, a toddler, an unconscious women, an injured man and a cripple with only one good swimmer?

The van is half full of water now and we have to get out. Now I’m the one panicking.

“Just go, Danny, take Celeste. I can help Merrick with Lily. We’ll be fine. No time! Go!” The water continues to rise and it’s at my stomach now. “I mean it! Go.”

“What about you-”

“Mewwick. I’m scarwed,” Lily cries, fighting to get higher on his chest.

“Don’t be scared, Lily bug. We’ve got you. Danny. Go! No time to argue. You know I’m a good swimmer. I’ll be fine! Go! Now!” I yell and if I could compel like Muses or Lighters I’d use it right now to make him go without another word.

He grunts in frustration and looks reluctant but pulls Celeste towards the back, taking a deep breath and out of the window under the water level and up towards the surface.

“Merrick. Jeff, listen. Merrick, I need you to help me with Lily. Jeff. You’re gonna have to try to get Miguel out and to the surface. All this is going to be is holding your breath and kicking until you reach the surface ok. You can do this. I know you can. I believe in you both. Let’s go!”

Merrick grabs Lily and I and we head for the window.

“Ok Lily, Merrick, when I say three, take a deep breath and hold it in and grab on tight to me ok. Jeff, just follow us the same way out. Merrick, Jeff, kick with all you’ve got, ok. I love you.” And the tears choke my words but I have to finish them. “I love you both. I love you too, Lily.”

“I love you, honey.” Merrick kisses my forehead. “We’ll be ok. I’ll kick with all I’ve got,” he speaks but he doesn’t look convinced, in fact, he looks like this is goodbye but I can’t even think about that.

The water is to my chin now.

“Don’t do that. No goodbyes. Now let’s go. I’ll see you at the top. Both of you.” I look at Jeff and then back. “Ready Lily? Hold your breath. One...two...three!” I shout and we plunge under the water and squeeze ourselves through the window as we try for making an impossible attempt to the surface.

Water Under The Bridge

I’m kicking with my one good leg. I’m holding tight to Lily still. She has stopped moving and my lungs are burning, I can’t see how I’m still alive but somehow I press on. My leg is protesting not so silently. I will keep on going until I lose consciousness.

Merrick is still grasping my arm, helping me hold Lily and he’s kicking as well. I can’t see in the murky, dark, freezing water but I can feel his jerky movements. The only light is the headlights from the van below us. I feel something pulling me from consciousness.

Death.

It’s coming. I can feel it. The last few seconds before the final darkness. My eyes are begging to close and surrender to it. My face twitches, my lungs burn and ache. I strain with everything in me, kick with the last effort I can muster. Kick! Kick!

My lungs can’t possibly hold another second but somehow I press on and on and then...and then...

Then, finally, I break through the surface and the icy cold breath, though stinging and painful as it is fills my lungs and I’m alive.