a warning hand.
“Shh … ,” said Katrina. Her face was glowing. Everyone sat still, not even breathing …
The air changed, turning both heavy and cold around them … and then the temperature plunged, as if the room had suddenly frozen. Katrina gasped and hugged herself. Laurel shuddered violently. All their breaths were showing in the air in misty white puffs.
“Jesus Christ … ,” Tyler said, through chattering teeth.
And then rocks began to fall from the ceiling. Not a violent shower, but as light as rain. Large rocks, small rocks, fist-sized, pebbles. They materialized from just below the ceiling and fell softly to the floor, as slowly as drifting leaves. There was no noise, no sound at all as the stones hit the floor, not so much as a muffled thud. But Laurel could see that on the floor, some of the rocks were steaming, wisps of white mist.
“Oh my fucking God … ,” Tyler said, from miles and miles away.
Katrina clapped her hands like a child. Her face was glowing, and she laughed, that tinkling, musical laugh. Brendan and Tyler were simply frozen, staring around in awe.
Laurel reached out as if in a dream and held out her hand. A rock fell on her open palm and for a moment it was light as a feather—and then all she felt was heat. She pulled back her hand and the rock fell with an audible thud on the floor.
“Hot … ,” she said. Her voice sounded faraway to her.
Tyler stood slowly. Katrina was already on her feet, and she opened her arms as if to catch the falling rocks, embrace them. “Yes … yes …” Her face was ecstatic. “More!” she cried out. “More!” She spun in the room like a child.
“No,” Laurel said, and a black wave of dread crashed over her. “No!” She grabbed Katrina and shook her, shouting in her face. “Stop it now.”
Katrina stiffened in Laurel’s grasp. Her eyes were dilated to black saucers … but as Laurel dug her fingers into the girl’s forearms, she saw Katrina slowly returning to awareness. It was warmer around them—the intense cold was fading. Laurel was suddenly aware that it was pouring rain outside, storming, with thunder and lightning cracking through the sky in brilliant bursts of illumination.
“No!” Brendan’s voice suddenly burst through the room.
Laurel turned to look. The rock showers had stopped. The stones lay around the room, steaming, but still.
Brendan turned on Laurel and the rage in his eyes was terrifying as he advanced on her, through the rocks littered on the floor. His whole body was shaking. “What are you doing? Why did you do that?” He was nearly screaming at her. “What the hell are you thinking? We were there, we had it—” Even Tyler cowered back from Brendan’s fury, his eyes suddenly haunted, as if he were seeing someone quite else.
Laurel was so stunned at Brendan’s anger she couldn’t speak, but she was certain, certain, that it had to be stopped, that to go further would be to lose themselves in something from which they might never return …
Lightning split the sky again, a burst of white light.
“Get out of here,” Brendan shouted at Laurel. “Get out!” And behind him, Katrina looked at Laurel, her eyes glassy with triumph.
Laurel backed up from Brendan, then turned and ran from the room.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Even then she didn’t leave, though; she had no thought of the front door, of her car, of escape. Instead she ran up the stairs like a chastened child ordered to her room, past the window overlooking the drenched garden, and up… . She didn’t stop until she’d reached the upstairs hall, where she halted in the middle of the floor, panting, half-crying, barely able to breathe.
Her knees buckled and she realized she was shaking from head to foot with adrenaline. She was barely able to lurch to the green leather divan against the wall in the hall, where she collapsed, leaning her head against the back of the seat, swallowing against a sudden wave of nausea.
My God … my God … did that just happen?
What just happened? With her eyes closed she pictured the softly falling rocks … and felt chills through her body at the sheer unreality of the memory. It was like a painting, like a dream … only it wasn’t.
She felt exhilaration … and terror. Her mind battled between the two. We have to get out, one part of her shouted, while another part of her wanted to cry out, just