Enigma Black (4 page)

“I will drive you to the entrance of the third floor, and we’ll wait for you there,” George said. “No side trips, young lady. You will go straight to that bathroom and come back to the car. Do you hear me?”

“Dad, I made a simple mistake. No need to brand me with a scarlet letter just yet.”

George parked just outside the doorway to the third floor mall entrance, motioning for me to get out with a big sigh. Giving him an apologetic smile, I shut the door and entered back into the mall.

Had I had any inclination that this would be the last time I’d ever see them, I would have stolen another glance in their direction. I would have done anything I could muster to save them, to capture the very essence of their faces, to engrave them in my mind forever. Of course, there was no way I could have known that final imperfect moment was going to be the last time I’d ever see them.

With speed that would make even an Olympian proud, I ran through the mall. The crowds had thinned out somewhat, but not enough to make my journey to the restroom a walk in the park. There was the usual monotony of screaming children, people stopped haphazardly in paths clearly made for travel and others gathered around in idle chatter about their holiday plans. It was almost as if the mall itself were conspiring against me. As the minutes ticked away, I could visualize the vein on George’s neck bulging out further and further until it finally burst in a bloody mess. The thought of this made me shudder, prompting me to decide that the only way to get around my problem was to go through it.

“Excuse me, pardon me, coming through; girl on the move here.” I pushed my way through the mobs of holiday revelers. Crowds were just one more reason to hate the holidays-as if I really needed another one.

It’s funny how, when you’re in a hurry, time seems to stand still, making a simple trip to the restroom seem like a hike across the Yukon. Of course, knowing that George was growing closer to having a coronary by the second didn’t help matters. After what felt like half a century, the restroom came into view. In my elated rush to finally get there, I completely neglected to look where I was going, and it was only after I crashed to the floor that I saw the felled candy cane that had mysteriously managed to jumped out in front of me. Attempting to compose myself as I stood up in pain, I muttered some words that most certainly would have eradicated my name from the fat, jolly man’s “Good List”.

The fall managed to pop a cork of negativity in my mind, forcing me to realize that, even on an average day, the odds that my purse was still exactly where I’d forgotten it were pretty slim. Nonetheless, I knew if I were to come back empty-handed I would hear about it from George and Carol for at least the rest of the year, and Jake for a good six months. I let out a sigh preparing to meet my fate as I limped into the ladies room discovering, to my amazement, that the fates were smiling upon
me
after all. My purse was there in all its denim glory on the sink where I’d forgotten it. Now, whether or not my wallet was still in it, was probably a whole different story. I decided that I would worry about that later as the mere presence of the purse itself would be enough to appease George and Carol for the time being. Quickly, I snatched it by its faded, denim straps and made a bee line out of the restroom back into the mall.

My knee was throbbing from having been bashed against the linoleum floor. Great, I was probably the only person to have ever suffered a battle wound from a hard day of shopping. I hobbled along until I came to a bench that just so happened to be located next to the same candy cane of doom that had attempted to foil me. In pain, I rolled up my pant leg to inspect the damage. Already I could tell that my pasty skin was beginning to bruise around the point of impact, and it was noticeably beginning to swell. Disgusted with my lack of coordination, I pulled my jeans back down and headed back in the direction of the third floor parking ramp.

It’s amazing how life can change in just a mere matter of seconds. One moment you’re walking casually through a mall browsing for Christmas presents for your loved ones; and the next, everything goes black. Exactly two things happened before my world was quite literally ripped out from underneath me: First, there were a series of pops resembling those of an automatic firearm; then there was a flash of light so bright I swore the sun had crashed into the earth.

Amidst those thunderous blasts and that flash of light, life as I knew it came crashing to an end.

Chapter Four

The Ledge

I’d never been through an earthquake before, nor had I ever heard of one of this magnitude occurring on the East Coast. Therefore, in hindsight, an earthquake seemed like a fairly odd conclusion for me to have rendered as I felt the Earth shake beneath my feet and beheld the sky falling in around me.

In response to the chaos unfolding around me, I immediately attempted to steady myself against a railing separating the third floor from a sixty foot drop. Discernible screams of fear and shocked surprise erupted, breaking through the commotion. Intermingled with those screams were gruesome cries of anguish whose presence was silenced by the sound of concrete striking the floor. Smoke invaded The Lakes blending in with the hurricanes of dust generated with each explosion—three in all—creating the perfect storm. In the aftermath of the final explosion, the railing that served as my sanctuary began to buckle.

The steel squealed in defeat as the piece supporting my body suddenly swung out over the center of the mall, bringing me with it. In shock, I looked down at the floor below my dangling feet, noticing that the majestic thirty foot fountain, the crowning glory of The Lakes, now stood in nothing more than piles of broken concrete.

My heart raced rapidly inside my chest as my body hung over the chasm. Tears welled inside my eyes from the fog of smoke encasing me, impairing my vision. A sudden tremor shook throughout the mall causing the third floor to shift once more, and the portion of the railing I clung to with every ounce of my being creaked as it slowly started to break away from its foundation. Holding on tighter to the metal bars, I knew that if I didn’t act fast I, too, would be in pieces like the concrete beneath me.

Taking a deep breath, I slid my body upwards to the third floor. Inch by inch, I hoisted myself along the railing in a near vertical climb up the side of what had once been the floor beneath me.

“Keep going, Celaine, you aren’t going to die here… not like this,” I repeatedly told myself unconvincingly.

Halfway to relative safety further disaster struck. Droplets of water rained down from the mall’s sprinkling system, dripping unrelentingly down the sides of the metal railing, rendering it a virtual slip-and-slide in my hands. Any grasp I’d had on it was suddenly compromised, forcing me to slide back down. If I couldn’t find a way to battle my way back quickly, I would be in dire trouble.

Before that day, I hadn’t realized just how amazing the sheer human will to live was. At the point when I should have lost my grip, my adrenaline kicked in. With this new burst of energy came an overpowering determination that only intensified as I forced my body back up the railing. Before I knew it, I’d surpassed the point where I’d slid down. Water continued pouring in steadily from both the sprinkling system and the remnants of the mall’s ceiling, soaking me to the bone. The bitterly cold December air from the outside began creeping its way inside sending my damp body into shock.

“Inch by inch,” I repeated to myself.

I could feel the varietal mountain I was climbing, beginning to tremble again, making me fully aware of the fact that I didn’t have much longer before the final avalanche struck. It was a culmination of every horror movie I could think of, except I kept telling myself that the lifeless figures scattered on the floor below me were nothing more than mannequins. That illusion was shattered when I saw the blood.

The railing shuddered again, forcing my body to swing precariously back and forth. I looked back up the metal pole and gasped in shock upon realizing that less than an inch of steel was left binding it to the rest of the railing. Desperately, I made one last heave, propelling myself away from the pole and, to my relief, my hands managed to grasp the jagged edge of the third floor foundation. Using the remaining energy I could manage, I pulled my body safely to the floor just as the railing broke loose, crashing to the rubble below.

On the debris-covered floor, I lay sobbing. Dust and smoke created such an impenetrable haze that, if not for the mini fires spouting from the perforated gas lines, I wouldn‘t have been able to see at all. In pain, I managed to stand up and assess myself. There were a few minor cuts on my arms, but they were otherwise unscathed. I knew that would not be the case elsewhere. As I inspected the burning pain in my thigh, I noticed blood flowing down my leg from an extensive cut leading from the upper thigh halfway to my knee. My jeans had been torn all the way down on one leg, exposing my skin. These new wounds made the throbbing knee I’d experienced earlier seem insignificant in comparison. 

With my thoughts beginning to clear, I remembered the whole reason why I was even still in the war-torn mall. I let out an audible gasp, the tears welling in my eyes.
Oh God, no
, I thought to myself, remembering that George, Carol and Jake were waiting for me outside. Hobbling along the rubble, I ambled towards the department store that separated me from the parking ramp. It was in this direction that the explosions had come from.

Above me, a piercing snap erupted. Looking up to see the source of the sound, I found myself diving out of the way to avoid a skylight as it crashed to the floor, sending shards of glass flying in my direction. Picking myself up from the floor again, I felt my skin prickle. Broken glass had cut into my hands, but neither that nor the pain mattered to me at the moment. The entrance to the department store was just yards away, and I was going to make it or die trying. I scaled the mountain of debris comprising the remnants of the department store entrance. Survivors who’d been in the store at the time of the blasts were scrambling to get out, looking at me as though I were suicidal for wanting in.

“You’re heading to the worst of it!” a woman, covered in dust from head to toe, shouted at me.

I ignored her, continuing my climb into the department store. To say that this was the worst of it had been an understatement. War zones probably didn’t look much different than the sight that was before me now. 

Clouds of smoke infiltrated my lungs, bringing a bout of incessant coughing so unrelenting my ribs began to ache. In my attempts to counteract the assault, I crouched down to crawl in the more breathable air on the floor, my hand touching something that felt familiar. A scream escaped my lips as I realized that I was holding a hand that was no longer connected to a body. Throwing the hand off to the side, I continued my crawl to the ramp. My stomach turned, and I knew that I had to keep my eyes forward if I was ever going to make it without passing out.

Almost there
, I thought to myself. The door to the parking ramp was close to being within my grasp; a virtual blinding beam of light shone through it. A beacon in the blinding fog. At that moment, I found it funny how I hadn’t noticed there being a light at that door before. The department store had always seemed so dark in the direction of the ramp. Even more amazing still was that the entryway appeared to be intact. With my target in sight, I took a deep breath using my remaining strength to spring to my feet, running the rest of the way to the door.

The automatic door was now more manual than automatic. I banged on it with my fists, attempting to do the job the explosion had been unable to accomplish. When that failed, I braced a leg on one side of the frame and, with my aching arms, attempted to pry the door open like a human crowbar. No luck. After a couple more minutes of kicking, smacking and invariably flipping the door off, I realized that what I was doing was not going to work. Undeterred, I scanned the rubble for an idea. A piece of scaffolding stuck out like a sore thumb within the concrete. Lunging towards it, I prayed it would be suitable to pry the door open. Just as I bent down to grab it, I felt one hand on my shoulder and another one around my waist attempting to pull me back.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” A man whirled me around to face him. His eyes were wild, his hair gray from soot. He appeared to be a security guard or an officer of some sort. It was too hard to tell based on what was left of his tattered uniform. “There’s nothing left. Do you hear me? The ramp is gone. You’re going to get yourself killed trying to go out there.”

Even though I heard the words he spoke, they made absolutely no sense to me. What did he mean when he said the ramp was gone? It had been there just twenty minutes ago. Deciding that the good officer must be crazy, I broke away from him and proceeded onward in my quest to pry the door open, grabbing the piece of scaffolding from its concrete tomb.

“No!” he screamed at me again, lunging to restrain me.

I’d had enough. As much as I didn’t want to do it, I felt like I had no other option but to disable the officer, as reasoning with him was clearly not going to work. Raising my arm, I forcibly swung it back, striking him in the chest. The force of my elbow to his rib cage caused him to release his grip on me enough to where I was able to break away. Once free, I whirled around, swiftly kicking him in the legs as hard as I could in the hope that it would incapacitate him long enough for me to pry the door open.

Fetching the metallic bar from the rubble, I jammed it between the seal and the frame of the doorway, pushing it with all my strength. At first, it put up an admirable fight, but after several solid jabs it finally conceded defeat, slowly squeaking open. Smoke—thicker and black in color—poured into the store from the outside, sending me into another coughing fit. Holding my breath, I gave the bar a few more solid pushes until enough room opened up for me to squeeze my entire body through the door. Through the clouds of smoke, I took off down the crumpled concrete. In the suffocating fog, snowflakes stabbed my face like tiny daggers, grinding salt in my wounds.