“Collins, you’re next!” Coach Martell barked while looking at his clipboard.
Chad swallowed hard and looked first at the balding man in the blue and black jumpsuit that held his future in his hands. Chad stepped up to the rope, beads of sweat on his brow. Chad bent his head back following the length of the rope with his eyes to the very top to were the green tape was taunting him like so many times before. This was his last chance to finally make it, or get the only “D” on his otherwise perfect report card. If you gave him a problem to solve in calculus; to write an essay for English, or any other subject in school; Chad would’ve pass it without any problem.
“Move it Collins,” the whole class chastised him this time. Chad jumped up and grabbed on with both hands while at the same time crossing his legs and digging his tennis shoes into the thick rope. Chad shimmied with all his strength towards the top of the rope. He kept telling himself not to look down, not to let the sweat on his forehead keep him from reaching his goal. It took two long weeks to get to this point; two long weeks of all the guys in class making fun of him because he was the only one left that couldn’t climb the rope all the way to the top. This was his chance to prove all of them wrong, but also to impress Amber.
Chad’s muscles strained with each movement of his arms and legs working together in concert towards the crescendo of his ascent. Finally, and with all his body straining to keep his place, Chad reached out his fingers which were just inches away from the coveted green piece of tape. Chad swallowed hard and for a minute took in the surroundings below. He had the best view in the gym. He could see the girls’ class at the far end of the gym and there she was, Amber. She wasn’t like most girls he’d dated before. The first time Chad had his mom meet Amber, it was very awkward. Here he was introducing his mom to this girl with short cropped black hair, dark brown eyes, black finger nails and lipstick. She looked more like a vampire than the girl next door. But after they talked for a few minutes, his mom realized that Amber was a very intelligent girl and that the way she was dressed had nothing to do with who she was.
“Collins!” Coach Martell barked again. It startled Chad so much so that he almost forgot where he was for a second and nearly let go of the rope. Chad quickly recovered and with one last effort touched the tape with the tip of his fingers. He’d finally made it! Just as Chad tried to savor his victory, the class bell rang. He suddenly started to slip and the rope became too hard to hold onto anymore. Chad slid down the rope. The friction burned at the flesh of his hands, arms and legs without any remorse. Chad cried and let go of the rope when he was still a few feet off the ground. He landed hard on the padded mat with a loud, painful groan. An explosion of laughter erupted from the group as Chad withered on the mat with his hands tucked in his armpits trying to sooth the pain. Amber saw what had happened and rushed over. She shoved the boys out of the way, gave the coach a sharp look for just standing there too, and then knelt beside Chad. Amber helped Chad to his feet and walked him to the nurses’ office.
“Thanks,” Chad said.
“I was impressed,” Amber answered. “Until you crashed and burned.”
“Burned is right,” Chad replied looking at his hands. They were red and felt like they were on fire.
“Maybe this will make you feel better,” Amber said. She looked around first making sure they were alone and kissed him. Her lips tasted like black licorice. Chad forgot his pain for a minute.
“Better?” Amber asked when their lips drew apart.
“Yeah,” Chad answered as they stopped in front of the nurses’ office.
Amber walked him inside and after explaining the situation to the nurse; she left to go back to class. The nurse had Chad sit down and took a look at his hands. She got some antibiotic cream and gauze from the cabinet. The moment the cream touched the flesh of his hands, the pain instantly went away. The nurse wrapped his hands.
“I have to call your mom,” she picked up the phone.
“Oh great.” Chad lamented.
Chad looked in the mirror, but it wasn’t the reflection he was use to. The young man in the mirror wore dark clothes and looked very Goth. Chad moved his head to the side to check out his newly pierced ear. Amber gave him a crucifix as his first earring. He picked up and opened the gift wrapped box that was sitting on the edge of the sink. Inside was a pair of fangs. Chad snapped them into place. Chad left the bathroom and walked down the hallway to his room. Today was his eighteenth birthday and Amber was going to take him out to celebrate. She told him to dress Goth because they were going to a special place tonight where she’d planned on giving him an exceptional birthday gift. Chad hoped Amber would approve.
Just as he turned off the lights, the door bell rang. Chad knew it was Amber and flew down the stairs to answer it. When he opened the door, Amber immediately smiled with approval.
“You two have fun,” Nedra said brushing wisps of grayish blonde hair from her face as she walked into the front room. She’d just gotten home and was still in her nurses’ uniform.
“Thanks mom,” Chad replied.
They said their goodbyes and were on their way.
A full moon was rising as Amber and Chad walked towards the abandoned building at the end of the long gravel driveway. They weren’t alone; Amber’s brother Seth and his girlfriend Gabriel, along with his friend Jazz and girlfriend Melissa were with them.
“You sure this is okay,” Chad asked. He’d just noticed the ‘no trespassing’ sign.
“Yeah it’s okay,” Seth answered. His hair was thick and black and he had several earrings in his left ear with a beaded chain running to one in his nose.
“Look what we hav’ here,” Jazz teased Chad and Amber as he flashed his fangs. He went on, “A couple uv baby bats.” He was a thin, tall kid with frizzy black hair. His eyes looked more like holes in his head because of the dark eye shadow he wore.
“Knock it off Jazz,” Melissa yelled at him. She had more of a Victorian look but still wore the black makeup and hair like the rest.
“Just teasin’ that’s all,” Jazz answered.
“And will you quit using that dumb accent,” Seth warned raising his fist like he was going to punch Jazz.
“Okay, okay,” Jazz grumbled. He liked the accent.
The six teenagers stood in front of a formable looking wood door. Chad wondered how they were going to get inside. That’s when Seth produced a homemade lock pick from his trench coat pocket. They all watched as he easily slid the pick into the archaic lock and with a couple of turns had the door open. Seth put the pick back in his pocket and gave the door a shove. The creaking it made upon opening, reminded Chad of all those old horror movies he’d watched on late night TV. He also remembered that no good came from the people going inside those haunted places either.
The entrance way was very dark, so Seth took his lighter and flicked it on so they could see. Jazz, Melissa, Gabriel and Amber did the same.
The first thing that caught Chad’s attention was this painting of a nude woman on the wall next to the stairs leading to the second floor. She was breathtakingly beautiful with her cascading layers of golden blonde hair, and very sensuous with her perfect form. The more Chad stared at it, the more he swore she could’ve stepped off the wall and joined them. Chad felt it belonged in an art gallery in New York.
“They keep trying to cover the damn thing up,” Jazz said all the while copping a feel of the woman’s breasts. “They painted over it, sanded it, and used paint remover on it. But it keeps reappearing. How is weird is that?”
“It keeps coming back?” Chad swallowed hard.
“Don’t listen to Jazz,” Amber reassured him. “It’s just one of the stories about this place. They’re just trying to scare people away.”
“It’s true,” Jazz started to say, but Melissa jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Jazz yelped and backed away. He didn’t like it when she did that.
“Time to go upstairs,” Seth said as he led the way.
The rest followed. Chad glanced back over his shoulder at the lady on the wall. He could’ve sworn that at the same moment her eyes turned and she looked back at him.
When they got to the dorm room, the three girls disappeared into the large walk-in closet. They emerged a few minutes later with a dozen large candles and an Ouji Board. The girls set the candles in a large circle. Jazz took out the Ouji board and game piece. Amber lit the candles and joined the rest whom were already seated on the floor.
“What should we ask it?” Melissa said.
“Haven’t a clue,” Gabriel added.
“I don’t know,” Chad replied.
“I know, I know,” Jazz answered. “I’ll ask about my family.”
Jazz placed his finger tips on the triangular game piece. He asked, “Who’s the next to die from the hands of the mysterious Night Blade?” The game piece didn’t move. Jazz tried to force it, but it refused.
“Let me try,” Seth pushed Jazz out of the way. He reached in his pocket producing a tatty piece of cloth. Seth took his pocket knife and cut his finger letting a small drop of blood fall on the cloth. Next were Melissa, Jazz, Gabriel and Amber; but when it came to Chad he didn’t want any part of it.
“Come on,” Seth said. “It’s just a game.”
“No way,” Chad protested further.
“Please Chad,” Amber pleaded, nuzzling his neck with a kiss.
It tickled whenever she did that, but it also made him always give into her whatever it was that she wanted.
“Okay,” Chad said. He took the knife and nicked his index finger. The sting only lasted a second and soon his blood was mixed with the others. Seth placed it on the game piece and immediately it started moving. As everyone watched the triangle floated across the surface of the game board finally coming to rest over the letter “D”.
“D for Death,” Jazz said with a howling noise.
“Knock it off Jazz.” Melissa hit him in the chest.
“Will you two stop it,” Amber said, but then froze. Then they all heard it.
“What is that?” Chad peered into the darkness just beyond the circle of light.
“It sounds like someone tapping on the window,” Seth answered.
“You guys are scaring me,” Gabriel said.
“But we’re on the second floor,” Melissa said.
“I’ll go look, you bunch of wimps.” Jazz jumped to his feet. He left the security of the light and walked across the room over to the window. All eyes were on Jazz’s dark silhouette. There was nothing, and then came the scream. It was a horrible, terrifying scream and Jazz bolted back to them.
“It’s after us,” Jazz said. His face was white and breath labored.
“What’s after us,” Melissa and Gabriel cried.
“The Night Blade,” Jazz screamed.
“I’m going.” Seth stood up. He entered the abyss.
Seth walked over to the window. He peered outside but saw nothing. All Seth heard was the rustling of the branches in the trees; nothing else. He was about to turn and leave when it felt like an icy hand slid across his back finally coming to rest on his shoulder.
“Knock it off,” Seth cursed to himself.
Seth returned to the group.
Jazz burst out in uproarious laughter.
Seth had had enough. He rushed over and tackled Jazz to the floor. Seth started punching him repeatedly. Jazz begged Seth to stopped, but he didn’t. It took the others to finally drag Seth off of Jazz, who crawled away over to the safety of the window.
“You’re crazy,” Jazz spouted off, wiping the blood off his lip.
“You’re a jerk,” Seth cursed back.
“Will you two just stop it?” Amber scolded them.
“I think we should stop.” Melissa suggested.
“I agree,” Gabriel added, looking at Seth. “We should go to our room.”
Everyone else split off to the other dorm rooms, but Amber and Chad remained behind.
Chad sat on the tatty, musty smelling mattress. Amber stood in front of him and slowly unbuttoned her blouse. His eyes were immediately drawn to her lacey black bra.
“I couldn’t find anything to buy for your birthday,” Amber said removing her blouse and bra letting them drop to the floor. “So you get to have me.”
Amber pushed Chad back on the bed and straddled him. They started kissing. Chad’s felt as if his heart was going to burst. Amber stripped the rest of her clothes off and did the same to Chad.
“How does that feel,” Amber murmured as she felt him enter her.
“It feels warm,” Chad answered.
The darkness held on tightly in spite of the sunlight which was poised and ready to take its place. The Sheriff’s department had received a report that a group of teenagers had disappeared during the night while trespassing from the grounds at JFK Prep.
Sheriff Delsmann slowly drove up the gravel road as another squad followed closely behind. To her left was a shabby looking trailer. In front was an historic monument of faded brick and broken windows.
Sheriff Delsmann parked her car and got out. There were two people waiting for her. A woman in her late fifties, whom was quite slender, dressed professionally, and her silver hair had nary a strand out of place. The man, whom appeared to be in his late forties with grayish black hair, was wearing a security guard uniform.
“Georgina Rowlands,” she said. She pointed to the first man, “This is Tommy Johnson. He is the on-sight security guard.”
“Sheriff Delsmann, “Talia replied.
“A pleasure,” Georgina answered.
Andrew quietly and carefully negotiated the woods of the JFK Prep campus. After the incident at the Higgins’s home, Andrew set up a meeting with Nedra. When they had met, Nedra recalled that Wyatt had told her that JFK Prep was one of the popular hangouts with the younger members of the coven. She told him that sometimes they either came to hook up or perform blood rituals. Andrew had also contacted Peter at the Bayport Police department about information on Night Blade. According to the files, in the past six years there had been numerous reports of teenagers and adults vanishing on the JFK Prep grounds and the surrounding area. All of them were vampires. The only description of Night Blade was that he or she was average height and build. There wasn’t very much to go on. The only way to find out who Night Blade was would be by capturing them before someone else were killed. Nedra had called him last night very upset and crying. After Andrew had managed to calm Nedra down, she told him that her other son Chad had disappeared with his girlfriend Amber and some other teenagers. Nedra knew that they were going out to celebrate Chad’s birthday last night and that they were probably going to JFK Prep. So not only was Andrew at JFK Prep to find Wyatt, but also the missing teenagers.
He approached the main gravel road that led up to the dormitory building. Andrew quickly ducked down when he saw two squad cars make their way up towards the dormitory. Andrew waited a few minutes and using the trees as cover again, he made his way to where two people were waiting. There were some low, thick bushes not too far, for Andrew to hide. He slipped beneath them unnoticed. Andrew settled in and listened in on their conversation. “Please follow us.” Andrew heard Georgina say.
They all walked in the direction of the side entrance.
“We’ve gone through several contractors, because of,” Georgina interrupted. “Oh, how shall I put this? It was because of certain incidents happening on the property.”
“What incidents?” Talia asked.
“Well,” Tommy jumped into the conversation. “A lot of vandalism being done by kids breaking into the place. There are also strange things happening on the grounds.”
“What things?” Talia asked.
“Never mind,” Georgina replied.
Talia stopped and turned around. She had a feeling that someone was following them, but she saw nothing.
Andrew used the surrounding cover to trail behind as the five of them walked to the side of the dormitory. He listened with great interest as Georgina and Tommy explained what had been happening on the JFK Prep grounds. Andrew swiftly drew himself up tightly against the wall, blending into the shadows. He did so when Sheriff Delsmann turned back and looked in his direction.
Once they reached the side of the dormitory, a heavy wooden door greeted them which looked ominous and foreboding. Georgina used her key to open the door. Once inside, the painting of a nude woman immediately caught Talia’s attention along with her deputies. She walked up to it.
“Who painted it,” Talia looked at Georgina.
“I am not sure,” Georgina answered. “But we tried to cover it up and it just reappears.”
“What do you mean it reappears,” Talia asked.
“We’ve painted over it.” Tommy was exasperated. “We even tried paint remover.”
“Paint remover?” Talia exclaimed. She ran her fingers gently across it, feeling the brush strokes and imperfections of the wall that made up the beautiful painting. “It looks untouched.”
“I have to be going.” Georgina glanced at her watch. She looked at Talia. “I have a meeting this morning with another contractor.” Georgina handed Talia the keys. “Just lock up when you leave and give the keys to Tommy. If you remember, his trailer is by the main entrance.” Georgina was ready to leave the building, when Tommy took Talia aside to speak to her privately about something.
“Just watch out,” Tommy warned. “There are some strange things going on here.” He glanced at the painting of the woman. “They say the ghost of one of the founders, Father Oswald, roams the building and surrounding ground. They say he punishes those who desecrate this place. I’ve seen him myself; a man wearing a tatty hooded robe.” Tommy laughed.
The two of them left Talia and her deputies alone.
Once they were gone, Talia gave her instructions.
“I’ll search the dormitory. You two search the surrounding grounds. We’ll meet up in an hour at the cars.”
As soon as her deputies departed, Talia ascended the stairs leading to the second floor of the abandoned dormitory. She walked down the hallway and stopped at one of the dorm rooms. Talia turned the doorknob and entered the room.
The dorm room was plain looking. The walls were faded and the paint was chipping. There were several cracks in the ceiling. Only a single partially boarded up window provided very little light in the room. The remnants of melted candles were on the floor. Talia thought it was very strange for six teenagers to simply disappear. In the corner was an old mattress; it was of no importance. There was no evidence that the youths walked off or were forcibly removed. Talia noted some of the buildings were interconnected as she drove up the main road of JFK Prep. The only one connected to the dormitory was the St. Ambrose Chapel. She headed back down to the first floor. It was still dark inside the dormitory, so Talia flipped her flashlight on.
Andrew was about to move, but froze as the two deputies exited the dormitory. As soon as their flashlights came on, the deputies began their search of the surrounding grounds.
Andrew left his hiding place when they disappeared out of sight. He immediately headed to the side entrance. The heavy wooden door creaked when Andrew opened it. He stepped inside and turned on his flashlight. Andrew shone it on the painting of the woman. She seemed to stare right through him. Andrew shuddered. He was about to head up to the second floor, when the glow of an approaching light appeared at the top of the stairs. Andrew ducked back outside and slowly closed the door.
Talia heard a low creaking noise as she stopped at the top of the stairs. She shone her light at the door, but no one was there. Talia blew it off as nothing and descended the stairs. Talia continued her search of the first floor of the dormitory. She was looking for any kind of footprints, or signs of someone being dragged. Talia saw none. Just ahead at the end of the hallway was St. Ambrose chapel.
Andrew felt the coast must be clear by now, so he went back inside. He immediately headed up stairs and walked down the hallway. Andrew stopped at one of the doors. He turned the knob, opened the door and stepped inside.
The dorm room was plain looking. The walls were faded and the paint was chipping. There were several cracks in the ceiling that spread across it like spider webs. Only a single, partially boarded up window provided very little light in the room. The remnants of melted candles on the floor reminded Andrew of a bizarre-looking birthday cake. In one of the corners was a tatty mattress. It must have been left over from the time when the dorm rooms were used by students that attended the school.
Andrew walked over and knelt next to the mattress. He examined it closely. It was stained with bodily fluids. Andrew removed a small magnifying panel from his coat pocket. He leaned down closer to the mattress, but found nothing else. Andrew put the magnifying panel away and was about to stand up, when he noticed it. The ‘it’ was the fact that the dust outline around the mattress had been disturbed ever so slightly. One wouldn’t have noticed it unless they were where he was right now. More importantly, it meant that someone had flipped the mattress. Andrew carefully lifted up the mattress and shone his light on the back side. It was stained with blood, not weeks, months or years old, but fresh blood. Whoever was on the mattress was bleeding.
Andrew set the mattress back down and stood up. He searched the rest of the room for more blood spatters. The weird part was that there were none. How could that be? If the people on the mattress had been bleeding, how could they have been carried from the room without leaving some kind of blood evidence behind? Where did they hide the bodies? There were a dozen or more questions running around in Andrew’s head. He decided to continue searching the rest of the grounds for Chad and the others.
As Talia neared the chapel, her flashlight caught a hooded figure dressed in black standing ready to enter the chapel.
“Hey you there!” Talia shouted. She broke into a full run, but the person quickly slipped inside slamming the doors shut behind them. Talia hit the doors to open them but was stopped instantly! She stumbled backwards landing on her butt. Talia cursed and immediately rose to her feet again. She tried the door. As Talia suspected, it was locked. She had to find another way inside. So she backtracked outside and ran down the pathway to chapel. Talia found a side door. She grabbed the door knob and gave it a twist. It opened! Talia withdrew her gun and stepped inside. She had just taken a few steps toward the center of the room, when the door slammed shut. Talia spun around and shone her light at the door. No one was there. Talia turned her attention back to the search.
She was in a study, a priest’s study. The wooden desk was badly weathered, and the leather chair cracked with stuffing coming out. Both were covered with a layer of undisturbed dust. She was about to enter the sanctuary, when Talia felt a blow to the head. She crumpled to the floor and was out cold.
Andrew followed the first floor hallway up to the doors of St. Ambrose Chapel. The doors were locked. He would have to find another way inside. Andrew backtracked and went outside.
Andrew found a side door. He grabbed the door knob and gave it a twist. It opened! Andrew withdrew his gun and stepped inside. It was a priest’s study. The wooden desk was badly weathered, and the leather chair cracked with stuffing coming out. Both were covered with a layer of undisturbed dust. Andrew walked around the desk when he saw scrawled in the dust the words, ‘Gewalt wirkt Gewalt’.
“Violence equals violence,” Andrew repeated aloud in this time in English.
As Andrew turned towards the sanctuary door, he saw Talia lying on the floor out cold. Andrew knelt down and made sure she was okay. He rose to his feet and was about to enter the sanctuary, when he heard approaching footsteps. It must be the deputies, so Andrew beat a hasty retreat into the sanctuary.
When Sheriff Delsmann didn’t show up at the prearranged meeting spot, the deputies decided to go find her. After searching the dormitory and since the inside door was locked to the sanctuary, they had to find another way inside. That’s when they found this door.
With weapons drawn, they stepped inside. It was an office. Once inside, they found Sheriff Delsmann lying on the floor unconscious. They knelt down and revived her.
Talia awoke a bit groggily. She was surprised to see her deputies.
“Where did the masked figure go?” Talia asked looking around the room.
“We saw no masked figure,” they replied.
“We need to search the sanctuary,” Talia said, finally standing up.
“Are you okay enough to do that,” one of the deputies asked worriedly.
“I’m fine,” Talia insisted. “Let’s go.”
Andrew stood, staring in awe at the majesty of St. Ambrose Chapel. Even though the pews were covered with years of dust and showing signs of decay, Andrew imagined the day they were still brightly stained and filled with the faithful. He felt sad that all of the stain glass windows had been smashed, forever obliterating the dramatic scenes depicted of the passion of our Lord. While researching JFK, Andrew read that Father Oswald and the other priests whom founded this former seminary were from Germany, so that might explain the words written in German. But how did this tie in with the attack on the Higgins family or the missing teenagers for that matter. There were still just too many questions. What Andrew needed were more answers. Andrew started towards the main doors of the sanctuary when he heard the door to the priest’s study open. He immediately dropped to the floor and started to crawl along on his belly beneath the pews.
Talia stepped through the open doorway first with her gun at the ready. Seeing that things were clear, she motioned for the deputies to follow. All three stared in awe at the impressiveness of the sanctuary. Despite the years of wear, it still had a certain sense of spirituality that couldn’t be explained.
Talia led the way towards the altar, but froze suddenly in her tracks at the sound of creaking. She spun around just in time to see one of the massive wooden doors in the back of the sanctuary open just a bit. But no one was there. Talia motioned for the deputies to follow as they went to investigate. They had only taken a couple of steps when the door closed again. Was it a ghost or something more human? Talia wondered. The three of them continued towards the back of the sanctuary. Along the way Talia noted that it looked like someone had crawled along the dusty floor on their belly.
“Knight!” Talia bellowed. The deputies were taken aback by her sudden outburst.
“What?” they answered.
“Andrew Knight is on the grounds,” Talia answered. She pointed wildly at the closed doors. “It was Knight who I saw going into the sanctuary dressed in black wearing a mask. He must have been back to make sure we wouldn’t find the missing teenagers.”
“We saw no one,” the deputies replied.
“We need to find Andrew Knight and arrest him,” Talia screeched.
Andrew rose to his feet once the door closed. The sun was just peeking at the horizon. He started walking along the path that led back to the main dormitory. It was a bit chilly and he could see his breath. The hairs on the back of Andrew’s neck bristled when the sound of the heavy wooden doors creaked open. He turned around and saw Talia along with the two deputies. Their gaze immediately rested upon him. He had been discovered! Andrew took off running down the path that led to the wooded acres on campus instead of the one to the dormitory. He needed to find a hiding place fast.
Talia and her deputies had just exited the St. Ambrose Chapel when she saw Andrew walking up the path towards the main dormitory. He stopped and turned around to look back at them. When he saw them, he took off running towards the woods.
“After him,” Talia took off. The deputies followed.
Andrew had a few minutes head start, hopefully it was enough time to escape or find a place to hide. Unfortunately the woods were sparse and the snow not deep enough to blend in. Andrew practically flew down the winding path and soon came to a small kidney-shaped lake. The woods were thicker at the far of the lake, where there was some open water. There was no other way to go, but across the ice. He started across and had not notice the partially snow covered sign that read ‘Danger-thin ice’.
Talia and her deputies were just coming around the last bend in the winding path that led them to a small lake. She was about to give pursuit, when one of the deputies grabbed hold of her coat and yanked her back. Talia shook free and shot him an angry look. He walked over to the sign and brushed off the snow. The sign warned of thin ice. Talia turned and watched Andrew, who was about half way across the ice. A satisfying smile slowly spread across her face.
“Hey Knight!” Talia shouted above the wind.
Andrew stopped when Talia called out his name. He turned around to look.
Talia cupped her mouth and shouted, “There was a sign that warned of thin ice!”
Andrew heard her. This was not good.
“Don’t move,” Talia shouted. “We’ll radio for help.” Talia turned to one of the deputies. “Call the local fire department and see if they have water rescue equipment.” The deputy immediately did so.
Andrew couldn’t risk being arrested. It would seriously impact his investigation. More over Sheriff Delsmann would certainly come up with some charges to keep him in jail for a long time. Either way she would have him arrested. Andrew looked at Talia standing there all smug. He gave her a salute and headed across the ice.
Talia’s mouth dropped. She couldn’t believe what Andrew was doing. The idiot was continuing across the ice. Was he so desperate to get away from her? Talia almost couldn’t watch and was about to turn away when they all heard it. It started out low and soon came to a thunderous sickening cracking sound. The ice was giving way. Talia rushed to the edge of the lake and stopped.
“Don’t move!” She screeched. It was too late. They all saw the terrified look on Andrew’s face as the ice split open and swallow him up. He was gone in a matter of seconds!
Talia tried to go after him, but the deputies restrained her.
It seemed like an eternity before the local fire department emergency crew arrived. Talia was pacing back forth, impatiently waiting for them to get their ice gear on and airboat ready to go. An overwhelming feeling of remorse suddenly washed over Talia. She never imagined that her lust to have Andrew put away would have ended this way. It was no longer a rescue mission, but a recovery one.
Leslie was still wearing her fuzzy slippers and bathrobe. Her ash blonde hair was swept up and held in place with a red banana clip. She finally had a day off from work at the hospital. On those days it was always her turn to make breakfast.
Leslie had just finished whipping up the scrambled eggs when her daughter Hannah threw open the kitchen door and rushed inside. She was all flushed and panting to catch her breath. Hannah brushed her brown hair out of her eyes.
“Mom,” Hannah gasped, trying to catch her breath from running.
“What is it?” Leslie asked.
“I…I was feeding the horses when this man came stumbling into the barn,” Hannah finally blurted out. “He looked at me and just fell down in the hay.”
“What?” Leslie stammered.
“His lips were blue and his clothes looked wet,” Hannah said.
“Show me,” Leslie said. Before they left, Leslie grabbed the portable defibulator from underneath the sink. She had bought just in case there was ever an emergency and for the fact that they lived out in the country far away from the hospital in Bayport.
When they got to the barn, Hannah led her mom to where the man was laying in the hay on the floor. He wasn’t moving.
Leslie knelt down and put her cheek over the man’s mouth. He wasn’t breathing. Leslie checked for a pulse. There was none. “Go call 911,” Leslie immediately ordered Hannah. She took off like a shot back to the house.