Chapter 7

Evelyn's POV

The darkness and the thunder sent the children into a panic. The sound of crying filled the building from end to end.

I pushed through the cramping in my abdomen, grabbed a flashlight, and worked with the other teachers to get everyone up to the second floor.

"Ms. Hartley, we have a problem." The school director was sweating through his shirt. "The backup generator is in the basement. But the security door down there has an electronic keypad lock. With no power, it can only be opened by the mechanical override key or a master code. Mr. Channing has both."

My stomach dropped.

I pulled out my phone and dialed the number I hadn't called in a very long time.

It rang for a while before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

It wasn't Ethan's voice.

It was Serena's, light and sweet, with just a hint of a smile in it.

"Ms. Hartley. Ethan's in the shower right now. We're in Hawaii. The rain here is something else too, actually. He wanted to make sure I wasn't scared, so he's been staying close. You know how he is."

My knuckles went white around the phone.

"Put Ethan on. The school is flooded. I need the generator code right now."

There was a rustling sound. Then Ethan's voice came on, taut with irritation.

"Evelyn. What are you doing at the school in the middle of a typhoon? Why aren't you at home?"

"Ethan, the first floor is flooding. The power's out. The kids are terrified."

My voice was shaking from the effort of holding it together.

"Give me the master code for the generator. Please."

A short, humorless sound from his end.

"Evelyn. If you're making this up to get me to come back, it won't work. I checked the New York news. There's rain, yes, but nothing that would flood a school. Can you please stop using those kids as a prop every time you want to compete with Serena for my attention?"

"I'm not making it up! The water is already inside!"

I was nearly shouting. The cramp in my abdomen spiked so hard I almost couldn't stand.

"That's enough." His voice went flat. Absolute. "Serena needs me right now. If you actually want to help, figure it out yourself. Don't call again."

The line went dead.

I stood ankle-deep in cold, filthy water, listening to silence.

Competing for attention.

Dozens of children with disabilities. A baby barely holding on inside me. And to him, this was me acting out, trying to win a fight with Serena.

I lowered my phone.

I turned to look at the children huddled in the dark, shaking and crying.

I breathed in slowly.

"Keep everyone calm up there."

I handed him the flashlight and turned toward the staircase that led to the basement.

The water in the basement was up to my knees.

The cold cut straight through to the bone. Every step sent a jolt through my lower abdomen. The cramping had turned into something grinding and relentless, like something was being slowly dragged apart inside me.

I swept the flashlight across the walls until I found the heavy security door.

I searched the room by feel until my hand hit the fire cabinet in the corner.

Inside: a rusted fire axe.

Ethan. You wouldn't give me a way through. So I'll make one myself.

The water in the basement was dark and freezing.

I gripped the axe with both hands, filled my lungs, and brought it down hard on the keypad housing.

The force of the impact traveled all the way up my arms. The axe nearly flew out of my hands.

I locked my jaw and swung again.

One. Two. Three.

In the dark, there was only the scream of metal and the sound of my own ragged breathing.

The cramping had gone past the point of endurance. Cold sweat poured down my face and mixed with the rain still dripping from my hair.

I felt warmth spreading down my legs, disappearing into the freezing water around my feet.