A sickening crunching thud sounded at the same time as I registered Lucy digging her claws into my scalp and leaping to her freedom, a tiny yowl shrieking from her as she jumped. We’d made it halfway down the stairs, to the landing where we needed to turn back to reach the concrete floor of the shelter, but the force of our fall had punched us against the wall of the landing.
With an agonized groan, Daniel immediately went limp in my arms before the force of the terrifying wind behind us tumbled us once more. We bounced down the rest of the stairs, turning us again, until, this time, I was the one holding Daniel in a desperate attempt to keep him safe as we fell backward.
“D-D-D-DADDY! NOOO!”
We landed heavily, Daniel punching the air out of my lungs as the full weight of his body fell heavily on top of me.
At the same time as my breath left me, I felt a nauseating crack as my skull hit the floor of the shelter.
“Oh…,” I breathed out softly.
“M-M-M-MARSHALL!”
As darkness played at the edges of my vision, I felt Daniel get tugged to the side, his body shifting on top of me, which made my own move. Other than the sensation of him being moved, I didn’t feel his weight. It was more of a shifting pressure on my chest.
I tried to lift my arms to help, but they didn’t react.
Why couldn’t they move?
The roar of the wind above us continued, debris following the whims of the squall with nothing to stop it.
Something registered in my fading consciousness that Rose was the only one in the shelter that was capable of moving Daniel off me, but she was supposed to be in the bathroom.
Daniel had told her to move to the bathroom, the safest part of the shelter, especially if the door was open.
“Rose…,” I breathed as I blinked ever so slowly, forcing my lips to form the shape of her name. She shouldn’t be helping me. She should be safe. In the bathroom.
“N-NO!”Rose’s wide, tear-streaked eyes hovered over me, her pupils flicking everywhere but seemingly focusing on a spot just above my left ear. Her hands fluttered above me, fingers twitching uselessly as they approached and retreated in jagged movements.
It’s okay,I wanted to say, but my lips couldn’t form the words. I wanted to reach up and tuck her hair behind her ear, let her know everything would be okay, but my hand wouldn’t move no matter how much I willed it to.
Why can’t I move my hand?
Movement above her caught my attention.
Something red.
A scrap of material floating on the wind that was still forcing the shelter door to swing wildly.
The ferocious noise of the tornado was finally waning, and the sliver of red material slowed its violent movements until it was floating in the air, not unlike a feather carried on the gentle gusts of the breeze. My eyes tracked it as it flitted from one side to the other until it dropped out of my field of view.
Pretty, I wanted to say, my blinks getting heavier.So pretty….
Before, finally, the darkness that had been teasing at the edges of my vision encroached more and more, and then all that was left was a tiny pinprick of light.
The sounds of Rose’s heaving sobs and Bucky’s pitiful whining were the last things that registered, gradually fading until a long, mournful scream was all that was left.
And then there was nothing but darkness and silence.
Nothing but peace.
Chapter Seventeen
Daniel
Tight,shakingpressureonmy shoulder was the first thing that registered through the darkness.
The second thing was the muffled, underwater sound of Rose sobbing and Bucky whining piteously.
