“Wait!” cried another voice—the man who called himself Kesev, whom the Mother called Iscariot. “Mother, please wait!”
Their seaward drift slowed.
“Yes, Judas?”
“What of me?”
“What of you, Judas?”
“Am I to be left here alone? Haven’t I suffered enough? Two thousand years, Mother! Haven’t I earned forgiveness?”
“Forgiveness does not come from me, Judas. You know that.”
“Then intercede for me, Mother. Don’t leave me here alone. Everyone I’ve ever known has left me. Please...I do not deserve this anymore.”
The Virgin paused, as if listening, then extended her free hand toward Judas.
“Come.”
Judas rushed forward, leaped to catch her hand, and when their fingers touched, he floated up to join her, clutching her hand in both of his.
Dan saw tears in Judas’s eyes, and felt them well up in his own. Carrie...Carrie was leaving.
He fought the urge to call her back, knowing she wouldn’t, couldn’t respond. He’d lost her—not now, not today, but yesterday, when Emilio had put a 9mm hole in her heart.
The three of them drifted through the ruined window frames, out into the storm, toward the gargantuan swirling, roaring column of water that loomed outside.
Dan ran to the frames, clung to one, leaning over the precipice that fell away to the pounding surf below. He sobbed unashamedly and let the tears flow down his cheeks. He watched longingly as their progress accelerated and their retreating forms shrank.
Soon they were lost in the mist.
Moments later, the cyclopean waterspout began to retreat, shrinking as it moved off into the Pacific. Gradually it thinned from a thousand yards across to a slender tornado-like funnel, and then it was gone.
The storm, too, was gone. Magically, the encircling winds died, the fog melted away, the clouds dispersed. Midday sunlight burst free and flooded the sky, warming Dan’s face and spirit.
He clung there a few moments longer, wiping his eyes, gathering his wits, girding himself to face a world without Carrie. Finally, when he turned away, he saw Senator Crenshaw leaning over the hospital bed, whispering to his unconscious son.
“Did you hear that, Charlie? You’re going to be well again. All I’ve got to do is give away everything I own. But that’s no problem, Charlie. I’ll set up trusts for everything, even for Paraiso. That way all my assets will be out of my control, but we can still live here. And I’ll put my nomination bid on hold. I won’t do anything until you’re better, Charlie. After that, you’ll see the goddamndest campaign you ever saw in your life. You just wait and see, Charlie.”
As Dan walked past he couldn’t resist saying, “You just don’t get it, do you.”
“What?” Crenshaw said, straightening. “What do you mean?”
“Weren’t you listening?”
“Of course, I—”
“Then think about what you heard, fool.”
Dan could not spare any more time here. A new world waited outside. He could feel it.
He hurried up the stairs and burst out into the new fresh air. He had no idea what he’d find when he got back to civilization, but he knew the events of the past few moments would change it forever.
For better or for worse? And for how long? He would see.
He dearly wished Carrie were here to explore it with him. And maybe she was. She’d touched his life so deeply, he knew he’d always carry a part of her with him.
He thrust his hands into his pockets and realized that Carrie was still with him in a more tangible way. He pulled out her baggies of powder and clippings and stared at them. Whatever he found out there in the new world, he was sure now that the new age of miracles was not over yet.
Perhaps it had just begun.
Find Harmony, children
And you will find Heaven
~~~
THE END
F. PAUL WILSON is an award-winning, NY Times bestselling novelist whose work spans horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, young adult, and virtually everything between. His novels have been translated into twenty-four languages. Currently he is best known as creator of the urban mercenary Repairman Jack. (http://www.repairmanjack.com)
Also by F. Paul Wilson
The Adversary Cycle
The Keep
The Tomb
The Touch
Reborn
Reprisal
Nightworld
Repairman Jack
The Tomb
Legacies
Conspiracies
All the Rage
Hosts
The Haunted Air
Gateways
Crisscross
Infernal
Harbingers
Bloodline
By the Sword
Ground Zero
Fatal Error
The Dark at the End
Nightworld
Quick Fixes – Tales of Repairman Jack
The Teen Trilogy
Jack: Secret Histories
Jack: Secret Circles
Jack: Secret Vengeance
The Early Years Trilogy
Cold City
Dark City
Fear City
The LaNague Federation Series
Healer
Wheels Within Wheels
An Enemy of the State
Dydeetown World
The Tery
Other Novels
Black Wind
Sibs
The Select
Virgin
Implant
Deep as the Marrow
Mirage (with Matthew J. Costello)
Nightkill (with Steven Spruill)
Masque (with Matthew J. Costello)
Sims
The Fifth Harmonic
Midnight Mass
The Proteus Cure (with Tracy L. Carbone)
A Necessary End (with Sarah Pinborough)
Short Fiction
Soft & Others
The Barrens & Others
The Christmas Thingy
Aftershock & Others
The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus & Oddity Emporium
Quick Fixes – Tales of Repairman Jack
Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong
Editor
Freak Show
Diagnosis: Terminal
The Hogben Chronicles (with Pierce Watters)
Omnibus Editions
The Complete LaNague
Calling Dr. Death (3 medical thrillers)
HAUNTED HOUSE
A novel of terror
Jack Kilborn & J.A. Konrath
Are You Brave Enough?
BEYOND AFRAID…
It was an experiment in fear.
Eight people, each chosen because they lived through a terrifying experience. Survivors. They don’t scare easily. They know how to fight back.
BEYOND TRAPPED…
Each is paid a million dollars to spend one night in a house. The old Butler House, where those grisly murders occurred so many years ago. A house that is supposedly haunted.
BEYOND ENDURANCE…
They can take whatever they want with them. Religious items. Survival gear. Weapons. All they need to do is last the night.
But there is something evil in this house. Something very evil, and very real. And when the dying starts, it comes with horrifying violence and brutal finality.
There are scarier things than ghosts.
Things that torment you slowly and delight in your screams.
Things that won’t let you get out alive.
HAUNTED HOUSE
People are just dying to leave.
Jack Kilborn, author of AFRAID, TRAPPED, and ENDURANCE, brings back some favorite characters from those earlier novels and puts them through his own unique brand of hell. One that hurts real bad. One that will scare you to death.
Are you brave enough?