Schism

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The smoke was thinner at the bottom of the stairs.  William crouched low and took a deep breath.  He saw the burn on his left leg seeping, but The Caretaker kept most of the pain away.

He stared, saw her wrapped around his whole body.  How did she do it?  The fog normally dulled out his senses, but it wouldn't block out a burn as serious as this.    The fog was more of a distraction than anything else.  It kept his attention from his body and moved it to the voices.  It was something bigger coming down and muffling his own consciousness, especially awareness of the physical and emotional.

Bryan had asked if the maintenance man was like him.  Was the work The Caretaker did to help him similar to what the maintenance man did with fire?

The Advisor brought a window up in front of William and they looked through it into the next room.  A body lay slumped against the bed, but the maintenance man was gone. 

He went to the next room, The Advisor said.

The Hunter left the doorway and moved down the hall, around a corner.  William followed, still at a crouch.  A dozen yards down the hall stood an unmarked door.  He tested it gently.  Locked.  But there was no deadbolt and it opened inward.

The Hunter left a target beside the knob and wrapped himself around William.

William had the urge to fight it, but stopped.  He raised a hand and pulled The Advisor in as well.  His vision cleared even more and the smoke became less of a hindrance.  He kicked the door and the lock gave way.

The room was filled with heating and electrical equipment, some of it generations old.  He brought up a new window in the fog and realized that he was controlling where it went, not the voices.  It was their abilities that made it possible, but he had directed it.  That was new.

As he started to pan around the room, sweat poured from his body.  He felt his chest begin to burn.  He saw the maintenance man hidden behind a boiler at the back of the room.  He was staring at William.

Move.  It felt like all the voices urging him at once.  William tumbled back through the door.

The pain faded.  William ran his hands over his chest and took in a cautious breath.  As soon as he had left the room, the burning had stopped.  He looked through the window again and saw the man still hunched behind the boiler, staring at the doorway.  He had to see William to burn him. 

Move back, The Advisor said.  William stepped back from the door and seconds later fire spread out from the frame and nearby walls.  It spread quickly down the hall in both directions.  William took another step back and watched.  Harold had to see William to burn him, but he didn't need to see the building to set it on fire.

His body low, William checked the window again.  Harold was still behind the boiler, but wasn't watching the door.  He pressed his face low to the ground for a deep breath of air and hoped that the sound of the fire would cover his footsteps.

Holding his breath against the heat, William rushed through the fire and into the room.  His jacket smoked and the burnt fabric of his pants caught fire again before he made it into the room.  He ducked and scurried behind the near side of the large boiler and took a deep breath as he patted the flames out. 

More fires sprang up inside the room, each one closer than the last.  The man knew he was inside, but not exactly where.  He watched the fires spread.  This was the moment the voices pushed him too far.  This was his time to die.  But, Jess was outside and safe.  That is what mattered.

"He wants Jess, doesn't he?" he asked the voices.

The Caretaker answered.  He thinks he loves her.

Somehow William had known that from the way the man had screamed at them down the hall.  He was obsessed with her, and would go after her if William didn't stop him.  That meant he couldn't die yet.

William peeked around the side of the boiler, close to the wall.  At the far end of the room was a row of electrical panels and another steel door.  He checked the window again and saw the man huddled against the far side of the boiler, just like he was. 

William stood.  He didn't know how fast the man could burn him from inside.  The heat had built quickly inside his chest.  It wouldn't take more than a few moments to be incapacitated and then killed.  He had to get as close as possible without being seen.  Maybe then he could kill the man.  That would keep Jess safe.

He leaned up over the top of the boiler.  Going over the top, he might get close enough.  He put a hand up to hoist himself up.

No.  The Advisor stepped out and stood before William.

He heard pounding from across the room and looked around the boiler.  The steel door swung open and William saw a man there.  It was Jared Smith, the man from the warehouse, the one who wanted him dead.  "Harold!" 

William stared.  The voices had told him he needed to bring these two men together.  Did they want him to kill them both?  Were they both after Jessica?

"Harold, come on," the man in the door said.  William waited a moment.  Why hadn't the maintenance man run for the open door?  What was holding him back? 

These two, with her.  This is how she will see.  William jerked his attention to The Advisor.

"I have Jessica.  Come with me."  Jared said.  William's heart skipped a beat at the words.

She is all right, The Caretaker said.

William stepped out from behind the boiler and saw the maintenance man, Harold, running for the open door.  The other man ushered him outside and Harold turned for only a moment.  Fire grew from every surface of the room.  It engulfed the back door.  There was no way William could get to it.  The voices circled around him and he ran for the hallway.

*

(Author’s note: Can William help Jess and what will she do to get herself out of trouble?  Even with Bryan’s help can he beat Harold and Jared working together?  If you can, please leave a review on Amazon.com and consider purchasing a copy of Schism…think what a great gift it would make!  Thanks for the votes and comments!  Talk to you soon.)