Connections:
Part 6
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Twelve.
Vin managed to gain one more step but the cost was much higher than he anticipated. Left with no handrail to grasp he had thought he might gut it out and gain the final seven steps by hopping up them. One hop was enough to prove to him that wasn't going to work. His head pounded, his ears filled with a roar from the pulsing pain in his skull, his eyes watered and his vision blurred and the resulting gasps of pain only intensified the sharp agony in his left shoulder where his collarbone moved and broken ends ground together from the movement.
Blinking through the tears and the fuzzy vision he looked at the six remaining stairs and knew that even, if he could will himself to hop up them, he would not have the strength to make his way through the house and onto the street where he could only hope someone would stop to help him but in this section of Purgatorio, not only were there not many people, those that were around were unlikely willing to help him.
Opting for the less dignified and hopefully less painful move Vin lowered himself to the stairs and eased his body into a sitting position.
Thirteen.
That action, he realized, helped him to gain another step. Now sitting so that he was looking down into the basement he could grasp the handrail that he had held when he had initially started down the stairs oh so long ago.
Stretching his right arm above his head and back he grasped the rail and pulled while pushing with his left leg against the stairs and in so doing, managed to gain another step.
Fourteen.
Deciding momentum was on his side he repeated the action and moved upward again.
Fifteen.
It was then that the flash of lightning shattered the darkness and he could see the basement below, the very basement that he had been laying in barely a half hour earlier. Water, foaming, swirling, angry water filled the basement and seeped over the stairs. Vin knew that even if the ground was saturated enough to flood the basement there was no way this much water could have accumulated in the basement in the span of the past several hours.
As he watched in amazement the water level rose again; it was already above the tenth step. Gathering his energy once again Vin hoisted himself higher.
Sixteen.
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JD grabbed his cell phone before the first ring ended. Bringing it up to his ear he scowled when all that reached his ears was static and then silence as the phone cut out. Figuring it had been a wrong number he hit the caller ID button and was shocked when a familiar line of numbers was displayed: 6-12-15-18-5-19-20-1-14
"What the hell?"
JD nearly dropped the phone as it suddenly lit up and began to ring a second time. This time when he pressed the Talk button a familiar voice reached his ears.
"JD."
"Josiah?"
"Wave."
"Huh?"
"Look to your left and wave."
JD looked and saw Josiah's Suburban coming towards him at a fast clip, red bulb flashing on the dashboard.
"What's going on, what's happened?"
"I don't know, son, hit your light, swing around and follow me."
JD hit his light, flicked his signal, checked the traffic on the road and pulled a U-turn expertly swinging around and trod on the gas pedal to catch up to Josiah's Suburban.
"Josiah, something weird happened a moment ago."
"Let me guess, something to do with Florestan?"
"How'd you know?"
"JD, look at the sky over Purgatorio."
JD looked further ahead, his eyes widened and his pulse quickened as he saw the circle of swirling black clouds massed over Purgatorio, all around it the sky was gray and a fine line of rain appeared to be falling but underneath the black clouds sheets of rain poured and flashes of lightning sparked through the air.
"Josiah---"
"I tried calling the others, cell phones seem to be going hairwire. Got through to you finally but only 'cause you appeared right in front of me."
"What's going on?"
"No idea, but my bet is Vin needs us."
"I'm right with you."
JD's fear vanished as the adreneline of the moment started to pour into his system. He set his cell phone down, keeping the line open to Josiah and gripped the steering wheel determinedly. He wasn't familiar with all the street names in Purgatorio but he bet one of them was named Florestan.
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Seventeen.
The foamy black water was licking at Vin's shoes as he gained another step, there was only one more to go and he would be free of the basement, no cell phone to call for help but he'd feel better having some air and space, even if it was filled with lightning and howling wind.
Gathering himself for the final upward thrust he felt the stairs on which he was resting shift and in horror he saw the entire structure had come free from the main floor of the house. Throwing all of his energy into one movement he pushed off the falling stairs and managed to grasp the molding of the door frame and pulled himself free of the basement.
Sprawled on the floor he kicked and pedalled backwards, ignoring the stabbing protests of pain from his leg and collarbone and cleared the basement completely so that he was plastered against the cupboard in the kitchen staring at the gaping hole that led down.
Eighteen – plus.
Gasping for air, dizzy from pain, pulse racing from the rush of adreneline Vin stared as the murky black water came over the edge of the stairs and began to stretch towards him only to stop. Amazed Vin watched as the inky wetness began to recoil on itself and then began to ebb and flow as if it was fighting whatever force was pulling it back into the basement.
The battle was fought for several moments until a moan sounded softly through the air and then built and built in volume and intensity until it reached a screaming pitch so intense Vin had no choice but to press his hands to his ears trying to block out the painful noise.
Suddenly the screeching wail ended and the entire structure seemed to shudder as silence came over the house, even the thunder, lightning and pounding of falling rain ceased. Vin watched transfixed as the inky water stilled and then just as suddenly as it had appeared it began to recede.
Breathing a sigh of relief Vin looked around him and for a moment he thought, not only do I think I'm going crazy, I know as soon as I tell the boys about this, they'll know I'm crazy.
The thought had barely passed through his mind when Vin heard a high-pitched keening that started out low and then built. As the sound increased he felt the house shudder and shake. As the few items left in the house began to fall from the counter onto the floor Vin clawed to his feet and began stumbling down the hall to the entrance.
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Buck had been alternately watching the football game and dozing as the rain fell steadily outside. He had been particularly impressed with the quarterback for Texas A&M. The kid was a junior and had only this season taken over the starting position. His name was Gavin Florestan and he hailed from Denver so he was a hero in most of Denver's eyes. Buck liked him 'cause the kid was smart and scrappy and seemed able to fire the football with amazing accuracy, picking his receivers and delivering the ball to them through the tiniest window of opportunity.
The game was a good one too, both teams had strong offense and defense and the game was in the final minutes of play with Texas having the ball and driving hard trying to get into field goal range as the score was tied. With a patience and maturity that most young quarterbacks don't show as they don't have the experience, Gavin, found an opening where one didn't exist and fired the pigskin through it into the capable hands of his favorite receiver who secured the ball and sprinted towards the end zone. Texas A&M only needed to gain about 20 yards to put them securely in field goal range but instead the combined effort of quarterback and receiver saw the team scoring another touchdown, breaking the tie and chalking up a major victory.
Buck leapt to his feet cheering just as loudly as the fans in the stadium onscreen and the jumbotron in the center of the stadium started displaying replays of the play that brought about the winning touchdown, Buck leaned into the screen eager to see the ball thread between two opposing players and just as that image appeared on the screen the jumbotron picture shifted to static and then words began flashing in giant capital letters
BUCK HELP FLORESTAN AVENUE
Shocked Buck almost fell onto the couch as he stepped back quickly, his legs bumping into the couch behind him. Shaking his head and checking his beverage consumption, one beer, one soda he rubbed his eyes and looked again. Again the jumbotron picture was displaying various angles of the throw, the catch and the touchdown in slow motion. As he watched the picture dissolved and giant block letters flashed at him:
BUCK HELP FLORESTAN AVENUE
Unable to speak and barely able to process what was happening Buck heard his cell phone ringing. Fumbling for the phone he had left on the coffee table Buck managed to wrap his hands around it never taking his eyes off the screen but the message did not repeat.
"Hello."
"Buck?"
"Chris?"
"Yeah, I think there's trouble, I'm speeding your way, we gotta ride."
"I'll be ready, I think I know where we have to go."
TBC…