"Honey, I'm just going to be a second. While I'm gone, practice
walking."
"Be careful, please." He gave a cautionary wave. "They don't want us
leaving here alive."
"Just get ready." I quietly pulled back the door and peered out into
the dark hallway. It was empty, abandoned, no snakes, with only a light
breeze flowing through.
When I stepped out, the fresh air hit my face and I had a moment of
intensity that made me realize what I really wanted to do, first and
foremost, was see Tz'ac Tzotz one last time. A last farewell to one of
Sarah's children. Stupid, yes, a private folly of the heart, but I had
to do it.
I was halfway down the hall, experiencing flashes of color before my
eyes, when I heard a voice.
"They're all praying for you. It's almost time."
I turned back, startled, barely able to see. Finally I made out
Marcelina, in her white shift. We were standing a few feet from the
stairs, where I wanted to go, and I was tripping, my reality almost
gone. I think she knew that, because she reached out to help me stand.
"Marcelina, where's Sarah?" I grasped her hand, which helped me to keep
my balance. "Is she still down there in that . . . place?"
"She's been so looking forward to the ceremony. She wants them to bring
her--"
"You don't know where she is?" I realized nothing was going to go the
way I'd hoped it would.
"They all love her. They're taking good care of her."
"Well, I love her too. And I have to get her. Now." I was whispering to
her, trying to save my strength. "Marcelina, promise me you'll stop all
this. It's so horrible. So sad."
"It's our life," she whispered back, then turned her face away.
I didn't know what else to say, and I was terrified Alex Goddard might
materialize, so without another word, I pulled away and started up the
steps.
When I reached the top of the stairs, the hallway was lighted by the
string of bulbs along the floor, and I made my way as fast as I could
to my room at the end. I pulled my passport out of my bag, along with a
charge card, slipped them both into my pants pocket, and headed back
down the hall.
When I got to the door of the room where Tz'ac Tzotz and his mother
were, I gave it a gentle push and peered in, but the glow from the lamp
above the bed showed it and the crib were both empty. . . .
No! They must have already taken the children. Next they'd be coming
for me. I realized I'd been a fool not to head straight for the lab. I
should have just gone--
The room went completely dark, together with the hallway, a pitch-black
that felt like a liquid washing over me. The main power, somewhere, had
abruptly died, or been deliberately shut off.
Then I heard a thunder of footsteps pounding up the steps, hard boots
on the marble.