Chapter 44
Abigail watched in horror when Haatim disappeared into the crevice. It seemed like watching through a blurry window, as she remained only vaguely aware of her surroundings. Still locked in mortal combat with the demon, it tried to finish crushing her.
All of her focus on the fight flew away at that moment. Her fear and worry that she couldn’t defeat Surgat took a backseat to her worry that would lose Haatim forever.
With all her strength, she lashed out and reached for him through the black void. She wouldn’t let him die. Not after losing Arthur. No, she refused to lose anyone else, and least of all Haatim.
The demon roared in her mind, trying to crush and push her back. Instead of engaging it, though, she forced her way past it and disregarded Surgat totally. Abigail found reserves of strength she hadn’t even known existed and focused on one simple idea …
She wouldn’t allow Haatim to die.
Angry and determined, she seized control of her body and forced the demon into submission. Then she reached toward Haatim through the darkness.
Haatim didn’t want to open his eyes. The air rushed around him, and raw panic hit during the interminable fall into the abyss. However, in addition to the panic, he also felt a tranquil peace wash over him. If he had to die like this, then he could accept it.
Seconds ticked past while he plummeted, and he imagined what his body would look like broken and shattered at the bottom. Would it hurt when he hit? Would he feel anything? He prayed that he would die on impact and not suffer for hours before, finally, expiring. Haatim didn’t want to die alone in a hole after hours or days.
More time slipped past, and the whistling wind buffeted him as he fell.
Then, suddenly, he stopped.
At first, he believed that he’d hit the ground, though felt no pain to go along with his lack of momentum. It felt as if he lay on a bed of air, buoyed by something he couldn’t explain. His eyes popped open, and a pinprick of light above led out of the rift and to the sky.
Then, he floated upward.
Confused and bewildered, he looked around. Some entity or energy pulled him toward ground level. He flew out of the hole and settled on the street only a meter away from Abigail.
His friend looked exhausted when she collapsed to the ground next to him, but very much herself. Even her eyes had reverted to the brown that he’d known from so long ago.
The eyes that he’d fallen in love with the first time he’d met her.
“Abigail?”
“I’m here,” she said.
He scooped her into a tight hug and pulled her close. She shivered, cold, but he felt her hold him back. “Thank God.”
She didn’t respond. Slowly, they separated, and he glanced around. Haatim had forgotten about the demons, but when he looked up, he saw that most of them fled. Some ran, others flew, but they all tried to get away from them. Off to the right, the car still sat parked, and Frieda, Arthur, and Dominick stared at them with shock on their faces.
The ground continued to shake violently, and wide fissures spread all around them. The devastated city sprawled around them. Half of the buildings lay destroyed, some on fire, and utter chaos surrounded them.
“We need to go.” Haatim climbed to his feet and reached out to Abigail, who took his hand, a look of confusion in her eyes.
“Is it … over?”
“Not yet.”
They ran toward the parked vehicle. Arthur threw open the door and stepped toward Abigail as she came, an expression of sheer awe on his face. He had found a coat and pair of shorts now, probably from Dominick’s gear. They appeared a little small for him.
Arthur wrapped her in a big hug. “Abi!”
“I thought … I thought I’d never see you again,” she said.
“We need to go,” Dominick said. “The reunion has to wait.”
As if to emphasize, the ground shook even more, and then tipped sideways and sank. Quickly, they jumped into the car, and Dominick drove toward the road that led out of town.
The cracks lay all over now, expanding even further, and still, demons flew through the air. Dominick weaved around the cracks and rifts, bouncing over torn sections of pavement.
Haatim looked back at the town and wreckage. The demons scattered, disappearing into the woods and flying off into the sky. Soon, the place would have gone entirely.
“What’s that?” Dominick asked.
“What?” Haatim turned to face forward. The others all sat staring ahead. Things blocked the road.
“Demons,” Haatim said.
“Hundreds of them.” Arthur nodded. “They’ve blocked the way. They don’t want us to leave.”
Dominick slowed, but the vibrations of the ground caught up with them. The collapse had a compounding effect, and already, this section seemed about to fall too. “We can’t get through them.”
“Keep driving,” Abigail said. “Go faster.”
“There are too many!” Dominick said, but did do as asked. He kept going, picking up speed. Behind them, the road gave way and disappeared.
“Abigail?”
“Keep going,” she said.
The demons waited just in front of them, maybe fifteen meters ahead. They formed a wall to block them, claws and talons out and ready.
“Abigail?”
“Go!”
Haatim gritted his teeth and glanced over at her. They couldn’t make it through the horde blocking their way, and nor could they go back. But, if she thought that their car could get through the group, then she’d turned into a crazy woman.
When he glanced at her, though, he changed his mind.
Her face looked focused, and she had her eyes closed, concentrating and barely breathing. When they reached just a few meters from the horde, she opened her eyes, and they glowed.
Except, not red anymore. Now, they glowed with a golden light, pure and beautiful.
An explosion sounded. All the demons erupted. Not into puffs of smoke or cement but into black and green ichor. It splashed all over the car, blocking the windows. Just as well they’d come to a stop.
In shocked silence, Dominick eased past the goop and pulled out of the city and onto the road. A moment passed, and then Dominick reached up and flipped on the windshield wipers. It did little in clearing away the goo, but it gave enough to keep driving.
Another ten minutes passed, still in shocked silence. When Haatim looked over at Abigail, her eyes no longer glowed. She looked sleepy, but otherwise all right. Then she glanced at him with a quizzical expression, but he couldn’t think of anything to say.
Finally, Dominick said, “What the hell was that?”
No one answered. They continued in silence, heading away from Raven’s Peak. After a while, rain fell and washed the disgusting entrails and ichor off the car.
Abigail laid her head on Haatim’s shoulder and fell asleep. Still not speaking, they continued onward, looking to put as much distance between them and the city as possible before stopping for the night.
It took a long while for it sink in for Haatim, but when it did, he found himself smiling.
It had finished.
They lived.
