Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kara turned to the side and retched again, dry heaving until her chest hurt.
Paul’s eyes stared right past her. A stream of dried blood ran from his open mouth to his chin.
Kara choked on her voice. “P…P.” She pushed with her feet to inch backward.
“Oh, God,” she said. “Oh, God.” Her eyes darted frantically around the small room.
The walls were too close, the smell too overpowering.
Panic sent her to her feet, her hands flat against the wall behind her.
She inched toward the doorway, her eyes locked on Paul’s dead body.
She quickly peered out of the room—which way to run?
The wrong way could lead to Roland, the right way to safety—or more dead bodies?
Oh, God, what if he killed Paige and Joe?
Jackson? Kara looked back at Paul again, her mind a whirlwind of terror.
She fought the urge to curl up behind one of the barrels and hide until someone, anyone, found her.
How long had she been gone? Why weren’t the police looking for her?
Kara closed her eyes, counted to three, took a deep breath, and bolted down the hall to the right.
Relief swept through her when the hallway up ahead widened.
She recognized the hall leading to the elevator, and knew the way to the secret entrance she’d used with Dean; it was down the dark, narrow passageway and to her right.
The elevator landed with a clank and thud.
Kara ran down the dark hallway, toward the secret entrance, her arms ahead of her, her gait frantic and unsteady.
She reached the end of the passage and turned right; as she headed into the center of the open chamber, she slipped on a puddle.
She yelped, landing hard on her tailbone.
Shocks of pain radiated up her spine. Tears poured down her cheeks.
She pushed off the floor and to her feet, her butt and legs covered with thick, red liquid.
Kara stumbled backward. Blood. Her low moan filled the room.
She slapped her hand over her mouth. Stumbling forward and leaning over the puddle of blood, she heaved.
With nothing left to expel, she gagged. Kara backed toward the boarded up entrance.
She had to get out of there. She was next.
She clawed at the slats of wood. Splinters tore into her nail beds.
She grit her teeth, pushing out pained, hindered breaths with each pull.
Sweat beat down her forehead. Come on, come on.
Kara stole looks behind her toward the silent, darkened passage from which she’d come.
A chunk of wood fell away. She took purchase on the edge and pulled with all her might.
A slash of the night sky filtered in through the opening, along with a few raindrops.
She scrambled to pull away more of the wood.
The center splintered and cracked, but the edges held firmly against the wall.
A muffled scream filtered through the hallway behind her. Shit! Kara frantically tried to pull the rest of the wood free. Grasping with both hands at the splintered pieces, she set her foot against the wall, and pulled back using all her weight.
She turned toward the scuffle in the hallway—a loud slap, a pained gasp, the sound of the wind being knocked out of the weaker opponent.
Kara fell backward when the wood broke free, landing on the floor with a yelp.
She rolled onto her knees. Every movement sent searing pains through her limbs.
The full evening light now shone through the opening.
Safety. She had to reach it. She crawled toward the opening.
Her fingers clawed at the concrete as heavy, determined footsteps neared.
She used her sneakered feet to scramble up to the opening again, pulling with all her might.
Her toes slipped down the wall. She pulled herself up again, her muscles pierced with pain.
She hooked her elbows into the hole, ripping a gash along her right arm.
She prayed for strength. Her face stung from the coolness of the outside air and the rain that pelted her raw, bloodied cheeks.
She eased her body out the window and hung there, painfully, while she clawed at the soft, rain-soaked ground.
She heaved her chest up and out of the opening, and dragged her body from the building, scraping her stomach against the shards of rusted metal and broken wood.
Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath of the fresh air, kicking her legs free of the building.
She burst into tears. The cold, hard rain pelted her back.
Her chest and hands pushed deep into the mud.
Kara let out a shriek of disbelief. The smell of the wet earth, and the sound of the canal rushing beyond the trees, formed a familiar safety net in her mind.
She cried aloud. She’d made it out alive!
Shuffling within the building sent her flying to her feet, stumbling forward. Kara gasped, tears mixing with the streaming rain. She ran for the hole in the fence, her arms outstretched, her fingers reaching for the cold metal.
“Bastard!” Her mother’s terrified voice rang out behind her—from within the room where she’d just escaped.
Mom? Kara whipped her head around. Oh, God!
Her fingers clenched the freezing fence, her body trembled and shook.
Her mother. He had her mother. She had to get help.
She stared at the dark and menacing opening to the building.
She couldn’t go back in. She couldn’t! She’d get help—it was her only option.
She pushed her body through the fence. A broken chain link gouged her shoulder; searing pain radiated down her arm.
Her mother’s shriek pierced the air.
Mom! Kara stood frozen, her fingers clenching the fence, blood dripping down her arm. She stared back at the building, her heart thumping against her chest like a runaway train she had no control to stop.
Another scream—a loud slap.
“Mom!” she yelled.
Silence.
Had she made a mistake? Was it not her mother? She turned and bolted toward the parking lot. “I’ll kill her!” Roland’s deep, angry voice boomed through the night.
Kara stopped dead in her tracks.
“Run, Kara!” Mimi wailed.
Kara’s legs tensed. She turned around slowly, her head shaking, her teeth clenched. The upper half of Roland’s body stuck out the broken window. Mimi’s head was squeezed between his bicep and chest, her eyes bulging. Blood was splattered on her cheeks.
Roland disappeared back into the building. Mimi’s shrill screams trailed off.
Kara didn’t stop to think—she sprinted back to the building, falling to her knees in front of the hole.
Roland grabbed her by the hair and pulled her forward. She kicked and screamed, punching uselessly against his massive strength.
“Kara!” Mimi beat on Roland’s back.
He swatted her away with one swift movement, throwing her to the ground like a rag doll as he yanked Kara’s body over his shoulder and into the room.
“Mom!” Kara screamed at the sight of her mother’s bloodied face. Their eyes locked seconds before Roland threw Kara to the ground, sending her sprawling, face first, onto the cold concrete floor.