11:30 p.m. Sunday, December 31
Rushing in panic down the dim hallway of the cabin that had been the Renshaws’ dream, Sylvia heard the rasp of Lina’s furious footsteps closing behind. Nearing the corner leading to the safety of the bathroom, Sylvia reached out in desperation. She felt a breeze behind her, followed by the sudden constriction of hair at the back of her head….
“Aaahh” Sylvia howled in pain and fear as the girl yanked a fist-full of her gray curls. Her scream was loud enough to wake the wilderness. Grasping behind her head, she frantically tried to pry loose the clutch ripping at her hair. As Lina continued to tug, Sylvia staggered backward toward the living room.
“Why?” Sylvia demanded, bristling with a short-lived fury that cooled into dread.
“Here I thought you was better’n Mama,” Lina hissed over her shoulder. “Well, you ain’t getting your way with my Luke this time.”
When Lina gave a final spiteful yank on Sylvia’s hair, Sylvia felt the leather soles of her dress shoes slip on the smooth tile. Despite her rising terror, her senses noted the shift in the angle of the walls. Feeling the faint movement of the displaced air, she overbalanced, even as her hands raked the cedar trim lining the threshold leading to the bright living room.
Bob, how could I have been so blind?
While Sylvia’s thin arms flailed, unable to prevent her from toppling backward, she glimpsed Lina’s marred face, now riddled by obsession. Sylvia closed her eyes with nothing left but prayer. Her fall broke when she slammed seat first onto the floor and a fracturing pain shot like a pole driven up her spine. The thrust of her fall pitched her back and tears pooled in the corners of her eyes before her head connected with the cold hard floor. The tile she helped lay released her pain in a flash of darkness.
-- : --
Rushing through the gathering snow past the black silhouette of the towering hemlock, Warner crashed through the leafless wild winter brush. Snagging his foot on an unseen root sent him tumbling onto his hands and knees into the freezing snowfall. To maintain his forward motion, he spider-crawled and caught himself until Bella bumped into him from behind. The dog yelped and Warner toppled forward into the snow again. He immediately regretted giving her a glare when he saw the gray duct tape still clinging to her muzzle. Shoving himself up, he scrambled to the edge of the grass and raced toward the light streaming through the glassed-in prow of the cabin. Hold on, Mom!
Jumping onto the icy concrete of the front porch, he drew his father’s gun. Charging to the French doors, his momentum carried him crashing into them.
-- : --
Luke was staring down at the grandmotherly woman lying unconscious on the floor when it struck him—it’s happening again—like it did with Holly. Looking up at Lina, he felt his control snap beneath a new determination. I’m not running this time. Charging forward like an explosion, he grabbed Lina by the arm and shoved her away from the prone woman.
Lina collided with the leather chair by the stove, but caught herself on the wall.
“Jesus Christ! What’re you doing?” Luke demanded. Shooting forward, he gripped her delicate neck with his strong hands. When she cried out and began to struggle, he backhanded her, raising an angry red welt across her cheek. Her eyes widened and she lifted her hand to her jaw.
“Why’d you do that?” She looked frightened and confused. “You never hit me like that before.”
“Holly ain’t here, is she? Never was. Neither is Chad.” Luke pressed his face nose-to-nose with Lina’s scarred face. Maintaining a firm grip around her neck, he dug his thumb into her throat. She made a choking noise and her eyes began to water. “You got a lesson coming. You’re the reason Holly left me—and you ain’t hurting nobody no more, ‘specially not some old lady.”
Gasping, Lina began struggling to draw breath and Luke pulled his right hand back for another blow. A loud thud hit the French doors and he tightened his hold before turning his head toward the interruption. The door crashed open and slammed into the turned over side table.
“Chad?” Luke asked with the last of his hope.