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“Oh, Jalan!” Alain drew the a out,taunt, “Jaaaalaan” He really hadn’t taken having that vase broken over his head very well

I ja both shoulders into the gap and splinteringstretched acrossspider onon ht I looked to the left Black sy and twisted insect caught in its death throes To the right,up from where the blind-eye wo the sides of the building, like vinesor crawled up There was no way she could reach so high She planted her hideous seeds as she circled the building, painting a noose of sy until the noose became a net

“Hey!” Alain, his gloating turning to irritation at being ignored

“We’ve got to get out of here” I pulled free and glanced back at the three of the on, bemused “There’s no time—”

“Get hiust

The drop to the street had been knocked off the top of the list of today’s s, where it had nestled just above Alain and friends The writing on the wall iht off the list and into the privies I stuck both arh the hole I’d made and launched myself out Ihalt withdark and very cold stretched acrossfor all the world like a web spun by the world’s toughest spider The strands of it closed my left eye for me and resisted any further advance

“Quick!”

“Grab him!”

Pounding feet as Alain led the charge When it coood, but my current situation offered little purchase I seized the sill with both hands and tried to propelan advance of a few inches, jacket ripping The black stuff overto throw rip even a little

Now, nature ifted me a pretty decent physique but I do try to avoid any strenuous activity, at least whilst clothed, and I’ll lay no claith Raw terror does, however, have a startling effect on me and I’ve been known to toss extraordinarily heavy items aside if they stood between me and a swift escape

Anticipating the arrival of Alain DeVeer’s hand on ht level of terror It wasn’t the thought of being dragged back in and given a good kicking that worried h it normally woulda lot It was the idea that whilst they were kickingaboutfor mercy, the Silent Sister would conite, and we’d each and every one of us burn

Whatever had stretched acrossany farther forwards, all its elasticity used up It feltacross ainst, I hung, one-third out, two-thirds in, thrashing helplessly and roaring all manner of threats and proht have paused to have a laugh at er than I expected before someone laid a hand on me

They should have taken the erous proposition Fuelled by desperation I struck out andthat crunched like a nose Someone made a noise very si when I broke the vase over his head

The added thrust proved sufficient The wirelike obstruction bit deeper, like a cold knife carving through h it were ave rather than the obstruction, as if I cracked and it ran through me, but either way I won free and tumbled out in one piece rather than two

As victories go it proved fairly Pyrrhic,the liberty to pitch out face first with a two-storey drop betweena fall, you know that you’ve dropped way too far Too far and too fast in general for there to be any reasonable prospect of you ever getting up again Soround with eaccumulated beneath the privy outlet I hit with a splat