Chapter Six

Carissa felt torn between the desire to flee, as most of the others were doing, and waiting to see what happened next. She could not help wondering if closing the box might help. She still felt a strong pull from the box, as if it waited for her touch. Taking a step forward, Carissa's toe brushed against the outer edge of the pentagram drawn on the ground. Burning heat ran up her foot as her shoe melted.

She kicked it off and moved back, praying to the powers around her that she was not too late. Carissa's left foot visibly blistered with burns. She hopped to the jug holding the purified water for the bowl on the dais and dumped it on her foot. The stinging pain eased slightly, even though it did not stop. She shed her cloak and tore the tail from the shirt she wore. Pouring what little water remained, she wrapped her foot with the damp cloth, and hobbled away. She'd had enough.

* * * * *

Hearing moans and cries as she made her way painfully through the woods, Carissa looked around to see some of the followers on the ground. Some writhed and cried out while the flesh disappeared from their bones. Others were already silent, bleached skeletons like her mentor. Covering her mouth to keep from screaming, she averted her eyes and kept going. Nothing she could do for any of them. She needed to save herself.

Cars bumped into each other, engines raced, and still people cried and screamed when Carissa finally reached the field where they parked their vehicles. Such a panic filled the remaining followers they were like a herd of cattle in a stampede. Even as she watched, a truck ran over two people; the driver so bent on escape, it never slowed.

Carissa hopped around the fringes until she reached her small car. She desperately needed to get to the hospital to have her foot tended. "Blessed be, blessed be," she repeated over and over. She veered left and right, avoiding other vehicles as she raced to get away from the horrors behind her. Her foot felt as if it were on fire and might burst into flames at any moment. It was all she could do to keep her mind on driving to the emergency room.

Finally, she wheeled up to the emergency entrance, pushed open her door, and fell into the arms of a security guard. Carissa whimpered, "My foot...burned..." and then she fainted from the pain.