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into a corner, watching Kevin around
the edge of a temporary divider as he staggered past him. From the
back of the room came the unmistakable sound of a child crying.
Kevin stopped and turned in the direction the sound had come.
Another child cried out, or maybe it had been the same one. Teddy
didn’t know. His only hope was that Kevin couldn’t hear his heart
thundering in his chest.
    Monitors crashed to the ground, towers were tumbled
over, telephones jangled as they were smashed under Kevin’s
feet.
    “Where are they?” Kevin shouted, his words echoing
through the darkness.
    From the back of the room came a faint red glow that
steadily grew brighter. From within the glow came the sound of
several children sobbing in terror. The red glow became yellow
flames that flickered through the shadows. Teddy slowly raised
himself up until he could see over the top of the divider. Kevin’s
silhouette was backlit by the growing flames dancing against the
wall. The sickly sweet smell of roasting flesh filled the room,
causing Teddy to gag at its scent. Kevin spun around at the sound
and moved towards him. Teddy quickly backpedaled as he tried to get
some distance between them. His feet became tangled in the mess on
the floor and he fell backwards as Kevin closed the distance
between them.
    Then he was on him. Kevin’s powerful hands wrapped
around his throat as he was lifted from the littered floor. He was
raised off his feet as he tried, without success, to dig his
fingers in between Kevin’s hands and the flesh of his throat. He
struggled to breath as his windpipe was constricted from without,
his heartbeat thundering in his ears, the flow of blood to his
brain severely restricted.
    “Where are they?” Kevin shouted, his eyes glowing
with a pale blue light that awakened a bone numbing chill. He had
been turned, Teddy realized; Kevin’s soul was lost in the White
One’s domain. Cursed to forever wander the frozen wastes.
    “Stop it,” A woman shouted from the flames
flickering along the back wall. From his vantage point he saw the
silhouette of a woman in a long dress against the backdrop of the
flames. Around her were smaller shadows, the silhouettes of
children huddled about her.
    With the image came the burning sensation of flames
searing his flesh. On its heels came the understanding that she had
done everything in her power to protect those she had been charged
with caring for.
    Kevin dropped Teddy and turned to confront the
woman.
    Teddy struggled to his feet, pulling himself up
using a desk, coughing and gagging as he sucked in air tinged by
the scent of roasting flesh. A sickly sweet odor that he realized
wasn’t really all that bad once you became accustomed to it.
    As Kevin approached the woman, she stepped forward
to meet his advance, the yellow flames around her revealing her
face. With the exception of her curly hair. she could have passed
as Judy’s twin. Flames rose up behind her. The air around him
thickened as smoke formed roiling clouds above his head.
    Children cried out in terror as the flames
intensified, driving that which inhabited Kevin backwards as his
flesh melted away to expose muscles of glacial ice. Flames
encircled his body, cutting off his escape, feeding on an unknown
source as Kevin melted right before his eyes. Icy muscles sloughing
off to expose crystal clear bones as he sank into a pool of water
that quickly evaporated, the steam rising into the air to vanish
into the black clouds of smoke crowded close to the ceiling.
    From the hallway came a faint chattering sound that
drew his attention. He felt compelled to follow the noise. To
discover its source, torn between finding out the connection
between Judy and the shadowy woman who could control the fire, and
learning what secrets might be hidden in the shadowy depths of the
hallway. The world around him grew darker as his attention was
drawn to that chattering sound.
     

Chapter 14
     
    That strange chattering sound grew even louder