Page 13 of Corpse Roads

“Just do it, for fuck’s sake.” I grab my phone to call the superintendent. “Sabre has a new client.”

CHAPTER 3

HARLOW

THE RAGING SEA - BROADSIDE

Adelaide’s tear-stained face stares back at me from her cage. Blood is gushing from between her legs, creating a crimson tidal wave.

“You stupid little whore!”

Pastor Michaels’ malicious scream cracks through the basement. He’s staring at the mess inside the opposite cage, the keys dangling from his fist.

“You’ll never have my baby,” Adelaide says with a blood-stained smile. “My life isn’t yours to take.”

He shouts obscenities, fumbling to get the key into the cage door. I watch through my tears as Adelaide raises her hand, reaching for some invisible light that we can’t see.

“No!” Pastor Michaels bellows. “You cannot die!”

Her hand drops, landing on the swell of her pregnant belly. I watch her mouth slacken as her soul departs from this mortal plane.

Adelaide is dead.

Pastor Michaels turns to me, his eyes dark with accusation. “You did this. I was going to save that baby from damnation! You’ll pay for this, Harlow!”

* * *

With a scream lodged in my throat, I startle awake. For several disorientating seconds, I can still see Pastor Michaels striding towards me, removing his belt with threatening grace.

A frenetic beeping sound cuts through my terror, slamming me back into the painful husk of my body. Bright lights burn my retinas. I blink hard, my cheeks wet with streaming tears.

As my vision settles, I’m certain I’ve died. Everything around me is so clean. Light floods the white-dipped room, more than I’ve ever seen. The shadows that clung to my childhood are nonexistent.

Where am I?

Is this… heaven?

I search for the long-sought-after angels that blessed so many of Pastor Michaels’ sermons. Every violent act he committed was supposed to bring him closer to his reward.

But he isn’t here, and I was never destined to see God’s light. How did I escape the basement? Is this real? It can’t be.

Tendrils of truth seep beneath my skin, offering disjointed snippets. It’s like staring into the bleak depths of a frozen lake, and the answers are trapped beneath the surface.

Trees. Stars. Biting wind. Exhaustion. Agony. Did I… run somewhere? I can feel the pain of sharp rocks slicing my bare feet to shreds. Knives tearing into my ribcage as broken bones were jolted around. The rest is a blur.

“Miss? Can you hear me?”

Someone is gently touching my arm. A woman, her smile wide and encouraging. I try to flinch back, but the layers of wires and needles wrapped around me are like a prison.

“Take a deep breath for me. I’ll go and get the doctor.”

She disappears from the room. I grab the line that’s feeding air into my nostrils and yank it out. This isn’t my home. I have no idea where I am. I need to leave, before he finds me.

More memories come as I fight to escape the bed. Towering trees. Soft, spongy moss beneath my bleeding feet. Icy water. Concrete. Old bricks. Lights. Engines. Cardboard and whistling wind.

“Hello?”

I’m slammed back to reality again. Someone else is staring down at me beneath a headful of greasy hair, with a rounded face that’s lined with wrinkles.

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