Chapter 7 - The DelugeI lunged forward, grabbing the heavy iron lever of an old emergency drainage valve protruding from the stone wall and wrenching it downward with all the pent-up fury of my thirty years of life.
CRACK!
The rusted valve gave way with a deafening screech.
Instantly, thousands of gallons of pressurized mountain water burst from the overhead pipes with the force of a tidal wave.
"Agh!" Marco screamed as the icy torrent slammed into him, knocking the shotgun from his hands. The weapon clattered against the stone floor and was immediately swept away into the rushing darkness.
"Grab my hand!" I shouted over the deafening roar of the water, catching Mia around the waist as the surge rose to our knees.
"The exit!" she screamed, pointing toward an iron ladder embedded in the wall twenty feet ahead—a maintenance hatch leading up to the back alley behind the bakery.
The water was freezing, slamming against our legs like concrete blocks. Behind us, Marco thrashed in the current, trying to fight his way upright against the torrent, cursing my name with his dying breath as rising debris pinned him against the tunnel wall.
I hoisted Mia up the rusted iron ladder, pushing her through the heavy metal ground-level grate. She scrambled out into the freezing night air of Cedar Hollow, coughing and shivering.
I climbed out right behind her, slamming the iron grate shut and locking it with a heavy padlock I snatched from a nearby utility hook.
We lay flat on our backs in the alley behind Hollow Bakery, staring up at the clear West Virginia stars, our bodies shaking violently from the freezing mountain water.
"Are you... are you okay?" Mia whispered, wiping mud and flour from her face.
May you like
I sat up, looking down at the leather ledger clutched tightly in my right hand. The water had soaked the edges, but the ink inside remained intact.
"I'm better than okay, Mia," I said, my voice steady, cold, and entirely transformed. "I'm awake."
