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"Co past the church, "let’s--" Suddenly, he froze

Pru let a beat slide by "Greg?"

He didn’t reply He could feel his eyebrows bunching together in a sudden frown Out of the corner of his eye, he could’ve sworn there’d been a light? No, a flash But that was probably the headache

"Greg?"

"I don’t know," he said to Pru "But I thought I heard so"

45

Fro yet His fingers fluttered and flapped like dying starfish The close air in this back storage rooed with the heady stink of wet pennies Hunched over the body, both hands full of Cutter’s le-minded ferocity that reminded Sarah of a filht down a full-grown moose Once the animal was on the snow, the wolves ripped open the abdo Horrified, Sarah watched the boy’s Adam’s apple bob in a s as he simultaneously crammed in another mouthful The boy had one of the worst cases of acne she’d ever seen His face looked broken and bruised With all that blood s sacs of yellow pus, the Changed looked diseased, soet out of here Clawing to her feet, she lurched in a stu into the door At the sound, the Changed twisted, seee up fro, she blundered down the narrow alley of the kitchen, banging like an errant pinball between counters With no flashlight, she was blind, driving forward on h the dark, she felt a sudden, slight change in temperature, a puff of even colder air froroped, found the corner, and then she was half falling, half sprinting up the stairs

Her ears caught a thu for her Not ed boy was faster Sarah tore a screa breath froray-green glow of the vestibule Once she made it up and then out of there and into the breezeway, if she could just make it to the doors, lock him out of the school

My keys A moan fell out of her mouth Her keys were behind her, on the floor She doubted she was fast enough to outdistance this boy anyway Even if she could, there ht be more Cutter was dead There was no reason for anyone to check on theuards switched off And what if someone did notice that the side door was open and ca? This Changed would be on theered into the vestibule Frorunts, a stued the distance between one stair and another Can’t lead hiht toward the bell tower door, she fu down on the icy iron thumb plate, she cocked her elbows, jerked back hard The door was oak and as solid as any other in the church, but itopen with a rusty squall Cold air spilled and she saw a shimmery curlicue of narrow stone steps Bell tower ht

A sudden gush of air sucked at her back and stoppered her ears Soh froe light that splashed her shadow onto stone For a crazy ht, but he was co direction Then she heard Tori call, "Sarah? Where are you going? What’s hap--"

No Darting a glance left, Sarah saw the boy stor up the last few steps "Tori, run!" Sarah spun on her heel and waved the other girl back "Run, ru--"

Surging froed threw hi, Tori raised both arht hand as she unliun, racked the pump, socked the butt to her shoulder--

And in that s, Sarah fumbled for her pistol just as the boy ducked his shoulder, dropped below Tori’s line of fire, and sprinted across the vestibule at a dead-on run Tori let out an explosive oomph as the boy s to the stone Soht hand and was trying to bring it around when the boy balled his right fist, still smeary with Cutter’s blood, and smashed Tori across the jaw A yelp jerked froun loosened, and in one swift, practiced ed boy swept up the weapon and jammed the muzzle under her chin

"N-no" Tori’s bloody lips were purple in the yello of the flashlight "Pl--"

"Stop!" Sarah poked the Sig out in both hands, but the gun wavered and she was shaking so badly her knees wobbled The Changed went rigid, and she thought, Now, shoot hier--and nothing happened The trigger didn’t budge

"The safety!" Tori shrieked "Sarah, release the--"

Too late