Slow Dance in Purgatory

“Shad is here in the school, and I don’t know what happened or why, but he’s here, and I have to find him.”

Johnny cursed, whipping around in a circle, his head lifted as if trying to catch a scent. “The fire and smoke are messing with my abilities. It’s as if all the energy is being drawn into the fire.” He turned back to Maggie and began herding her back towards the door. “You have to go, Maggie. I promise you I will find Shad, and I will get him out. Everything is going to be okay, but you’ve got to get out of here.”

Maggie had no interest in being soothed or coddled. She wouldn’t be leaving without Shad. Suddenly, the enormity of the situation descended upon her. Shad wasn’t the only one trapped in the school. Johnny would find Shad. She had no doubt about that. But he wouldn’t be able to leave. If the school was destroyed, what would happen to Johnny? She stared up into his beloved face with dawning horror.

“We have to find Shad, and then we have to get this fire out!” Terror pulsed through her, far worse than before, and she was sprinting back down the hall before Johnny could even react.

“Maggie! Stop. Please!” Johnny swooped down on her, obviously still able to convert some energy into speed. “You can’t go running off without knowing where he is, or worse, whether or not the next corner you come to will lead you straight into a blazing inferno.” He took a deep breath, clearly trying to rein in his need to grasp her in his arms and physically expel her from the school to the safety beyond. He knew she would just turn around and come right back in. He had to find Shad and get them both out of the school – now.

“Stay right here….please! If you love me at all, just wait here. Let me find Shad. If I focus I will be able to feel him through this smoke, but I need to hurry. We don’t know where he is.” What he left unspoken was that it might be too late.

“Go!” Maggie cried. “I’ll wait, I promise.”

Johnny was gone immediately.

“I won’t leave without either of you,” Maggie vowed, sinking down to the floor. The air was clearer down there, and Maggie coughed a little, praying that Shad wasn’t anywhere near the east end. She had only been waiting a couple of minutes when, from the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of movement. Was it Shad? Had he broken free on his own but been disoriented enough by the smoke that he was heading further into the building instead of out to freedom and fresh air?

Maggie called out, but the figure didn’t pause. She didn’t stop to consider that she wasn’t keeping her word.

“Hey – come back! You’re going the wrong way!” She raced after the swiftly moving form, the smoke getting denser and denser as she neared the rotunda. She reached the place where the hallway split, leading up a flight of stairs to the third floor or down a flight to the main. The smoke would be thicker the further she rose – surely the person she was following wouldn’t ascend the stairs into thicker smoke. She ran down the stairs and out into the open circle of the rotunda. She hunched down and struggled to see where the elusive figure had gone. He didn’t move like Shad….could it be that Derek and his friends were still in the school? Someone had put Shad in that locker, that was for sure. Were those voices? It sounded like someone was arguing above her. The rotunda made the sound echo oddly. Maggie wasn’t sure where the voices were coming from, but they were boy’s voices, and she thought one of them said Johnny’s name. Shouts were heard and someone yelled, “Look out!”

A gunshot rang out above her. Maggie screamed and covered her head, peering up through the haze to find the source of the shot. Three figures stood on the highest balcony. As she watched, two of them whirled and, in movie-like slow motion, fell over the balcony, limbs tangled like a human spider. The figure next to them stepped forward, watching as the ground rose up to meet them.

Maggie screamed again, horror and nausea washing over her in ghastly waves. She crawled to where the figures lay, one bleeding profusely, one his head bent oddly, staring off at nothing. Déjà vu washed over Maggie.

“Johnny?”

This was all too familiar. She reached her hands out to stem the blood seeping from the wound on the bleeding man’s chest. Her hands passed through him without resistance. This was Johnny, but it wasn’t. This wasn’t really happening – not now. She was watching a re-run play out before her, complete with original cast members long since departed. Johnny lay there gasping, his eyes on his brother, not seeing her at all. He spoke his brother’s name and cried out in wrenching despair. He was close to the end. It was almost more than she could bear, even knowing what happened next.

“Noooo! I won’t go. You can’t make me leave,” Johnny fought against death’s grasp.

A figure suddenly loomed over them, and Maggie cried out, staring up into the face of the third person from the balcony.