The Failed Rescue

Sarah ignored the warning. She lunged, her shoulder dropping as she drove her weight into Elena’s midsection. The flashlight spun across the floor, its beam strobe-lighting the dark foyer as Elena stumbled back against the glass banister.

"Lily!" Sarah screamed, her voice tearing through the sterile quiet.

She didn't wait to see if Elena would recover. She bolted down the dark hallway, her boots skidding on the polished stone. She knew the room. The third door on the right, the one with the digital lock that now sat dead and dark due to the power surge.

She threw her shoulder into the door. It resisted, then gave way with a splintering groan.

The guest room was bathed in the sickly red glow of the emergency exterior lights bleeding through the sheers. Lily was sitting upright in bed, her hair a tangled crown, her eyes wide and white in the crimson gloom. She looked like a ghost trapped in a fever dream.

"Lily, baby, get up." Sarah rushed to the bedside, her hands fumbling for her daughter’s shoulders. "We have to go. Right now. I’m taking you home."

Lily flinched, pulling back toward the headboard. Her movements were jerky, her coordination fried by the chemical cocktail in her system. "Mom? What are you doing? Why is there glass on your clothes?"

"It doesn't matter. Just come with me."

"No." Lily’s voice was thin, reedy with a terrifying, hollow certainty. She looked past Sarah toward the door. "Aunt Elena said you’d come. She said you’d try to hurt us because of the voices."

"There are no voices, Lily! Look at me!" Sarah grabbed her daughter’s face, forcing her to see the rain-streaked desperation. "I have the logs. I have the report. She’s poisoning you."

Footsteps clicked in the hallway. Methodical. Unhurried.

Elena appeared in the doorway, silhouetted by the red light. She was holding a damp cloth to her temple where Sarah had struck her, but her posture was as rigid as a surgical tool.

"She’s having an episode, Lily," Elena said, her voice a calm, hypnotic anchor. "Look at her eyes. Look at the weapon in her hand. This is the violence I warned you about."

Lily looked at the heavy iron crowbar Sarah was still clutching. She looked at the blood on Sarah’s shin. A sharp, piercing shriek broke from the girl’s throat.

"Get away from me!" Lily scrambled off the far side of the bed, her legs buckling as she hit the floor. She didn't run to the window or the door. She crawled toward Elena, her fingers clawing at her aunt’s silk robe. "Aunt Elena, help! Make her stop!"

Sarah reached out, her heart shattering in her chest. "Lily, no. I'm your mother. I’m the one who loves you."

"You're a monster!" Lily sobbed, burying her face against Elena’s hip.

Elena placed a protective hand on Lily’s head, her eyes meeting Sarah’s over the girl’s shaking shoulders. The victory in Elena’s gaze was absolute, a cold, predatory light that extinguished the last of Sarah’s hope.

Sarah said she'd never leave her daughter. But Lily was screaming for the police, pointing right at her.