I stare up at him defiantly, then kick toward him with one of my feet.
He yelps and jerks to the side to get out of reach.His knee catches against a stack of books.The books scatter, knocking into another stack—and one of the candles.My heart jumps into my throat—what have I done?—as the candle falls onto a pile of ancient magazines.
Flameswhooshas the magazines catch fire.
“No,” Cormac hisses, spinning around.He grabs a filthy shirt from the foot of the bed and tries to stifle the blaze.
The shirt catches fire immediately, bursting into flames in his hands.He screams.
“Madison!”Damiano calls.Someone pounds at the door.
Cormac’s sleeves are on fire.He shrieks and turns in circles, panicking.I watch in horror as he slips on another pile of magazines.His legs fly out from under him and he screams as he falls backward.
The back of his head slams directly onto the corner of the bedframe.His mouth opens once, twice, like he’s struggling to breathe, but then the light fades from his eyes.They stare, unblinking, directly at me.Is he dead?I think he’s dead.
Meanwhile, smoke fills the room.The roaring fire continues to rage.
14
SETH
Ishove at the wall again.I heard banging sounds from down there, I know it.
Followed by a scream that wasn’t Madison’s.
The panel in the wall gives a tiny bit, but something strong is keeping it in place.I don’t know what, and I don’t care, either.I just know we have to get through it.
“Is that smoke?”Damiano points to the base of the floor.
I smell it before I see the wispy gray tendrils creeping upward.Fuck.“Yes.Madison!”
I kick at the doorframe, hoping to weaken whatever hinges or handle might be hidden on the other side.I don’t know what’s going on down there.But we need to get Madison out.Either she’s unconscious, or gagged.Those are the only reasons she wouldn’t call back to us.
“We’re coming, Madison,” I shout.“We’re on our way.”
“I’m calling 911,” Hannah says.
I tune out her conversation with the dispatcher while Damiano and I take turns shoving at the door.Sweat trickles down my temples.The thick, acrid scent of smoke fills my nostrils.We kick at where I think the lock might be blocking our progress.It’s a heavy fucking door, and none of our usual tricks are working on it.
All this time, this door was here.Madison might not have been as alone as she thought she was in this house.It would explain everything, but the thought of her being silently watched from inside her own home makes me sick.
Hannah ends the emergency call.She and Kristoff take turns with the door as well, the four of us crowded into the tiny pantry.We’ve shoved away the shelf that used to sit here .Cans and bottles are scattered all over the floor.
“SEFD is en route.”Hannah kicks aside some cans that are getting in our way.
“They will not get here in time.”Damiano curses as he shoves against the door.“We have to get her out.”
He’s going to hurt himself if he keeps on like he is.We need an ax, or a weapon of some kind.I will find a fucking chainsaw if that’s what it takes.
“Hinges.Someone shoot the hinges.”I point at where I think they are.
Kristoff takes out his weapon, fires at the edge of the door.
The panel falls crookedly.Hannah and Kristoff ease it to the floor as I barrel past them, entering the flickering, orange-lit basement.
A fire roars.I blink through the smoke, struggling to find a sign of Madison.
I have to put my arm over my mouth and nose to keep from choking.Fuck, it’s bad in here.I hope Madison is close to the floor, away from the worst of it.I crouch down, searching.
