Chapter 14
Before Tessa could react to Evan’s warning, a sharp crack of thunder echoed across the valley, though there were no rain clouds directly overhead.
The temperature in the gas station lot plummeted instantly, turning their warm breath into thick white plumes in the night air.
Evan attempted to stand up, but the ground beneath his knees froze instantly, binding his pants to the ice-covered asphalt.
"Tessa! Take the truck and go!" Evan screamed, fighting wildly against the ice crawling up his legs like living vines.
"Evan!" Tessa cried out, her instincts screaming at her to help him, despite the terrible truth she had just learned.
"Get out of here!" Evan roared, his eyes filled with a tragic, final clarity. "Protect what's left of her!"
Hank grabbed Tessa by her arm, dragging her forcefully back toward the open passenger door of the massive semi-truck.
"We gotta move NOW, lady!" Hank shouted, hauling her up into the cab and slamming the heavy door shut behind them.
Inside the cab, Maisie sat upright in the passenger seat, her pitch-black eyes fixed calmly on the window overlooking her father.
Hank threw the truck into gear, stomped on the accelerator, and spun the heavy steering wheel to bypass Evan’s black pickup.
The heavy tires screeched as the semi-truck burst out of the gas station lot, roaring back onto the dark, empty freeway heading south.
Tessa looked back through the cracked side mirror, her heart breaking into pieces as she watched the horrific scene unfold in the distance.
Under the dim moonlight, thin tendrils of white frost completely enveloped Evan’s body, locking him into a frozen statue in the middle of the lot.
Beside him, the pale ghost of Abigail stood side-by-side with his frozen form, holding his frozen hand like a loving sister.
Tessa turned back around in her seat, clutching her knees to her chest as violent, uncontrollable sobs wracked her body.
"What is happening to my life?" Tessa cried out, burying her face in the thick wool blanket Hank had given her.
The truck sped through the darkness, putting miles of highway between them and the nightmare lingering on the Oregon border.
Beside her, Maisie slowly turned her head toward her mother, the unnatural blackness in her eyes gradually receding.
The deep blue color of her natural eyes returned, filled once again with tears of a terrified three-year-old girl.
"Mommy?" Maisie whimpered softly, reaching out her tiny, warm fingers to touch Tessa’s arm. "Where is Daddy?"
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Tessa pulled her daughter into a desperate, tight embrace, kissing her hair while tears soaked into the little girl's clothes.
"Daddy had to stay behind, baby," Tessa sobbed quietly into the dark cab. "It's just you and me now."
