Prom Night in Purgatory(79)

“Billy followed us in. Didn’t you see him?” Roger snickered. “Johnny won’t be far behind. He’s rather protective of the little guy.” The hand that wasn’t holding the gun touched his bruised jaw gingerly, as if remembering just how protective.

Maggie didn’t know Billy had followed them in. She had drawn him there, and he would draw Johnny. Fear slammed through her. No! She wouldn’t let Roger have Johnny. She whirled on Roger, pushing him with such rage and aggression that he stumbled back, the gun falling awkwardly from his hand. The smirk smeared across his mouth still remained, almost as if he couldn’t believe she had dared cross him. In a flash, Maggie was out of the room, running down the hallway, her red shoe abandoned in flight like a desperate Cinderella, racing against time.

She thought she would hear the gun explode behind her, but she neither slowed nor swerved, flying down the corridors she had seen engulfed in flames in another time. And she wasn’t running from her prince but to him, hoping against hope that time was on her side.

The main hallway on the third floor made a large circle, looping around from the center rotunda’s highest balcony. Maggie wanted to scream but knew her cries would only call Johnny to her and toward the threat that pursued her, so she fled silently, her legs pumping and her bare feet slapping against the glossy new floors.

Johnny stood by the balcony rail. His back was to her as he tried to usher his frantic brother down the stairs. The hallway in which she ran was dark; the brush of moonlight filtered in from the high windows left shadows all around. She thought she could hear Roger behind her but couldn’t separate his breathing from her own. She tossed a glance over her shoulder, expecting to see that he was within an arms length of bringing her down. The hallway beyond was silent and completely empty.

“Johnny!” Billy cried out, pointing at Maggie as she hurtled down the hallway toward them. Johnny swung to greet her, and his face was grim and hard.

“Maggie!” The relief in his voice echoed down the hallway and into her heart.

“Go! We need to go, Johnny.” He swung her up against him, his arms around her, his face in her hair.

“Maggie, where in the hell have you been? And what the hell are you doing here?” His voice was angry, but he held her tightly, contradicting his tone.

“Johnny!” Maggie sputtered. Billy looked dumbfounded, watching the ladies man that was his big brother embracing the mysterious brunette in a siren red prom dress...and no shoes.

“Johnny!” Maggie wrenched herself from him and cried out as Roger Carlton materialized out of the shadowy hallway beyond. He had circled around and come out on the opposite side. Billy and Johnny both stood with their backs to him, unaware that death had come to call. He raised his gun, aiming for Johnny’s back.

Maggie didn’t consciously decide in that moment to do what she did. It wasn’t an act of heroism or sacrifice. It was simply the instinctual nature of a woman to stand between death and those she loves, and that is what she did. She stepped around Johnny, covering him, her arms extended like wings to shelter him. In the same instant, Johnny swung around and, seeing Roger, cried out a warning to his brother. But Roger wasn’t aiming for Billy. The gun exploded and Roger’s bullet struck Maggie, throwing her back violently into Johnny’s arms.

“Maggie!” Johnny cried out in horror as she collapsed against him, causing him to fall back heavily and struggle to keep his feet. Roger shot again, but his aim was skewed with adrenaline, and the bullet veered just right of Johnny’s left shoulder, embedding itself in the wall beyond him.

Johnny wrapped one arm around Maggie, easing her to the floor, sheltering her with his larger frame as he warded Roger off with his left arm extended.

Roger just smiled and leveled the gun at the wounded girl. And then her image flickered. For the briefest instant she was gone, leaving nothing but a pool of blood beneath her. She reappeared almost instantly. Roger stared, the hand that held the gun wavered as he blinked his eyes and shook his head vigorously from side to side. Johnny didn’t see Maggie shivering in and out like a mirage. His eyes were trained on Roger and the gun in his outstretched hand.

Without warning, Johnny lunged for Roger, reaching for the gun as he barrelled into his chest. Roger was caught completely unaware, his attention riveted on Maggie. He flew back, squeezing the trigger once more as he collided with the wooden balustrade that separated safety from space and life from Purgatory.

The momentum carried Roger up and over the railing, and Johnny scrabbled to extricate himself from Roger’s clinging limbs, only to find himself hurtling beyond rescue with his enemy wrapped around him. Their eyes locked for a split second, maniacal green on sky blue, and then they were falling, tumbling through the air in a sloppy cartwheel. Maggie’s scream punctured the air as yet another shot rang out, drowning out Billy’s cry of horror as he watched his brother plummet to the tiled entrance two stories below.





~24~ A Time for Peace





Roger Carlton lay with his legs twisted beneath him, his head cocked at an odd angle, staring blankly at the domed ceiling high above. Billy had never seen death before, but he had no doubt that Roger was dead. He had definitely taken the brunt of the fall -- Johnny had fallen on top of him and then rolled to the side. But Johnny wasn’t moving either. Roger had managed one final shot as death rose to meet him. The gun was still clutched in his hand, resting on his abdomen, his finger curled around the trigger. That last shot had pierced Johnny high on the right side of his chest.