We roll into a laundry barrel and it comes crashing down. Instead of dirty laundry water, foaming blood splashes everywhere. It is warm and crimson as it soaks me. We all stop and stare at the blood pouring out of the barrel. An impossible amount of it flows out like an endless river.
Laundry floats by. Shirts and pants soaked in blood, empty and crumpled, lost and soulless without their wearers.
Scorpions the size of sewer rats ride the islands of crimson clothing. They have enormous stingers with a drop of blood at the tip. When they see us, they curl their tails and spread their wings with menace. I’m pretty sure scorpions are not supposed to have wings, but I don’t have time to think about that because someone screams and points to the sky.
Along the horizon, the sky darkens. A dark, boiling cloud blots out the setting sun. A low buzz like the beating of a million insect wings fills the air.
The wind picks up and quickly grows to hurricane force as the churning cloud and its shadow race toward us. People run in panic, their faces suddenly lost and innocent like frightened children.
The scorpions take to the air. They congregate and pluck someone out of the crowd. Someone small with withered legs. She screams, “Penryn!”
“Paige!” I jump up and run after them. I sprint blindly through the blood which is now ankle high and rising.
But no matter how hard I run, I can’t get any closer to her as the monsters haul my little sister into the oncoming darkness.
CHAPTER 24
When I open my eyes, dappled sunlight streams through the window. I am alone in what was once a lovely bedroom with high ceilings and arched windows. My first thought is that Raffe has left me again. Panic flutters in my stomach. But it’s daylight, and I can handle myself in daylight, can’t I? And I know to head for San Francisco, if Raffe is to be believed. I give it a fifty-fifty chance.
I pad out of the room, down the hall and into the living room. With each step, I shed the remnants of my nightmare, leaving it behind in the dark where it belongs.
Raffe sits on the floor repacking my pack. The morning sun caresses his hair, highlighting strands of mahogany and honey hidden among the black. My shoulder muscles relax, their tension seeping out at the sight of him. He looks up at me, his eyes bluer than ever in the soft light.
For a moment, we look at each other without saying anything. I wonder what he sees as he watches me standing in the stream of golden light filtering through the windows.
I look away first. My eyes roam the room in an effort to find something else to look at and settle on a row of photos sitting on the fireplace mantel. I wander over there to give myself something to do other than stand awkwardly under his gaze.
There’s a family photo complete with mom, dad, and three kids. They are on a ski slope, all bundled up and looking happy. Another photo shows a sports field with the older boy in a football uniform doing a high-five with dad. I pick up one that shows the girl in a prom dress smiling at the camera with a cute guy in a tux.
The last photo is a close-up of the little kid hanging upside down on a tree branch. His hair spikes out below him and his mischievous smile shows two missing teeth.
The perfect family in a perfect house. I look around at what must have been a beautiful home. One of the windows is broken and rain has stained the hardwood floor in a big semi-circle in front of it. We are not the first visitors here, as evidenced by scattered candy wrappers in one of the corners.
My eyes drift back to Raffe. He is still watching me with those unfathomable eyes.
I put the photo back into its place. “What time is it?”
“Mid-morning.” He goes back to rummaging through my pack.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting rid of things we don’t need. Obidiah was right, we should have packed better.” He tosses a pot onto the hardwood floor. It clunks a couple of times before settling down.
“The place is cleaned out of food, every last scrap has been licked away,” he says. “But there’s still running water.” He lifts two filled water bottles. He’s found a green daypack for himself, and he puts one bottle in it, the other in mine.
“Want some breakfast?” He shakes the bag of cat food that I had carried in my pack.
I grab a handful of the dried kibbles on my way to the bathroom. I’m dying for a shower but there’s something too vulnerable about stripping down and soaping up right now, so I settle for an unsatisfactory wipedown, toweling around my clothes. I at least manage to wash my face and brush my teeth. I pull my hair back into a ponytail and prop a dark cap on it.
It’s going to be another long day and this time, we’ll be out in the sun. My feet are already sore and tired, and I wish I could have slept with my boots off. But I can see why Raffe didn’t bother to take them off, and I’m grateful for it. I wouldn’t have gotten far without my boots if I’d had to run into the forest.