The rotten smell suffocated me. I turned on the path to face the Trinity trees, but night hid them. The squelchy sound intensified.
Something was definitely coming. From everywhere all at once.
It seemed like everyone was holding their breath. No one moved. Even the rain had stopped.
A faint cry from the direction of the Trinity trees pricked the silence and slashed through my heart. "Leigh!"
I knew that voice. "Jo!"
I took off at a dead run.
"No," Ica yelled behind me.
The darkness rippled. My feet lifted from the ground. I hovered just above it, caught in mid-sprint. I couldn't move, couldn't even turn my head. Another cry sounded from the Trinity. A plea for help. Desperation jetted through me. But everything in my body was locked.
A deep cracking drowned out the squelch sound. The earth growled.
"Now, Herman," Tram yelled.
"No! It should be me. The three of us will be - " Ica interrupted herself with a piercing scream.
I fell to the ground in a heap.