Nightfall (Devil's Night 4)

I didn’t want him to die.

“Give her to me,” Micah growled.

I was pulled off someone’s shoulder and into Micah’s arms, looking over and seeing that Michael was the one who had been carrying me.

I snarled at him.

“I got her,” Micah told him.

Michael nodded and ran ahead, and as soon as he was gone, Micah dropped me to my feet, holding my hand as we ran with everyone else. I looked over my shoulder, stumbling.

The greenhouse was separated from the main house. Not that I cared about the snakes, but that was a rotten way for any living being to go. They should be safe, though.

We ran through the woods, and I barely noticed the cold as the thunder roared over us and the rain spilled heavier.

“Where are we?” Will asked them.

“You’ll never guess,” Damon told him.

“How long will it take to get home,” Will prodded.

And everyone just laughed, whatever that meant.

We raced through the trees, and I gasped for breath as my legs turned to rubber under me.

“Micah,” I pleaded for him to slow.

But he just pulled me along, and then I saw it, through the trees in the distance.

I squinted, trying to blink away the blur that was always there. I needed my glasses. Shit.

Was that a… A train?

We scurried over the rocks and leaves, past the tree line to a train spanning to my left and right on tracks as far as I could see.

Did Aydin know this was here? They all must’ve known. We hadn’t run that long—maybe ten minutes?

Maybe he thought it was abandoned.

Everyone ran to a car in the middle, and I looked at the beautiful black steam engine, old but well restored. Curtains hung on the inside of the windows, and the engine chugged a steady rhythm.

“Go!” Erika shouted. “Go now!”

Everyone climbed into the car, and I looked behind me one more time for any sign of Aydin or Taylor.

I do know where you’re going, he’d said.

I didn’t even have to act like I didn’t know, either.

Back to Thunder Bay.

“Close the doors!” Michael shouted and hung out the door, waving, probably to the conductor.

We all piled in, some dark-haired woman grabbing Will’s wrist and cutting off his bracelet with a bolt cutter. She planted a quick kiss on his cheek, and then moved to Micah and Rory, severed theirs from their wrists and tossing them all out the window.

The train moved under us, and I swayed, but before I could even look around or figure out who the other women were, someone grabbed my arm and whipped me around.

“You hesitated,” Will growled, black streaks covering his body from the fire. “In the cellar… You hesitated! Again! And you were going back for him when you never came back for me. Ever!”