“Be ready, children. Be ready to jump. You have to jump so high to go to your mommy’s arms…”
Mary felt it beginning, just as she had known it would. The time had come.
Fifteen years before, at this very hour, at this very minute, Mary Terrafino was born…
Sam could hear nothing but a hurricane wind in his ears. He could feel nothing but the manic gyration of the skateboard under his feet, rattling up through every bone in his body. That and Brianna’s hands on his back, pushing him, and again and again grabbing him, righting him, guiding him on a ride that made the craziest roller coaster Sam had ever experienced look like a quiet stroll.
Up the road from the power plant.
Down the highway, slaloming through abandoned or crashed cars.
Then a blistering few seconds of tearing through town.
A turn so sharp he was airborne and completely off the board, flying through the air.
Brianna raced out in front of him, grabbed his two kicking feet and guided them back onto the board. Like a sack of cement. Sam couldn’t believe he hadn’t broken both legs, he hit so hard. But Brianna’s hands held him steady, pushing and guiding him.
Then a blur and a sudden, shocking, gut-wrenching stop.
He was pretty sure he’d been screaming the whole time.
“We’re there,” Brianna said.
Time stopped for Mary. People froze. The very molecules of air seemed to stop vibrating.
Yes, just as others had described it. The poof. The big one-five.
And there, oh God, her mother.
The mother of Mother Mary, Mary thought. Not beautiful, maybe, not so very beautiful in reality as she had become in memory. But so warm and so inviting.
“Come on, honey,” her mother said. “It’s time to lay down the burden.”
“Mom…I’ve missed you so much.”
Her mother held her hands out, a waiting hug. Waiting. Arms open. Face smiling through tears.
“Mom…I’m scared…,” Mary said.
“Come to me, baby girl. Hold tight to their hands and come to me.”
“The littles…my kids…”
“All their mommies are with me. Bring them out of that awful place, Mary. Set them free.”
Mary stepped forward.
FORTY-THREE
0 MINUTES
ASTRID SCREAMED, “GRAB the children! Grab the children!”
She leaped to get a grip on the child nearest to her. Others just stared. Kids gaped, stunned, as Mary stepped, as if in a dream, off the cliff.
Mary dropped from sight. She was still trying to take steps as she fell.
Her grip was tight. Kids fell with her. A chain reaction. One pulling the next, pulling the next.