Justin grabbed Verana from her brother and carefully cradled her in his arms as they took off running for the trees. Once they got to the trees, he turned around noticing that the townspeople were not following them, their attention was turned to the sky. Dark and threatening clouds unfurled before their eyes. 

He looked down at the twins. Verana’s face was stained with blood and she lay motionless in his arms. Arbus trembled against his side, his eyes locked on the sea and his mother standing knee deep in the water, her arms raised to the sky as rain began to pour. She was chanting while the other townspeople stood behind her joining in a lower chant. Lightning struck the open sea in front of the townspeople; the sky was set aglow. An unearthly moan began to emanate from the sea as a wave formed. Arbus let out a scream of terror. 

Mariana spun to face the trees where the three hid. Her face contorted into an unnatural and wicked display. Her hair flowed in the wind like untamed snakes and her dress clung to her body drenched from the rain. Justin rose quickly, shifting the girl carefully to one arm, her head resting on his shoulder. He put his arm around Arbus and whispered, “we have to run….Now!”

The boy looked up at him terrified but nodded. 

Justin looked once more at the angry sea seeing the waves becoming increasingly bigger and more threatening. 

Justin yelled “Let’s go!” 

They ran quickly cutting through the trees and struggling to stay afoot in the loose dirt and sand. Justin could see Jasper’s house in the distance. He planned to put the kids in his car and take off as fast as he could and never look back at this town. Justin could hear the voices in the distance and knew they didn’t have much time. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and as soon as he carefully set Verana into the passenger seat he opened the door for Arbus. He slid in the driver's seat and shakily turned the key in the ignition. 

There was no sound. He turned it again. Nothing. He jumped out of the car and popped the hood to see that his battery had been removed. 

He looked up and could see the mob of crazed townspeople running their way. Arbus was crying and Justin looked at the children feeling completely like he had failed them. All of a sudden, an old black pickup truck tore in front of him. The  driver door flew open and Todd jumped out and said, “get the kids in the truck and get out of this town and never look back.” 

The passenger door opened and Maribeth slid out and she reached an arm out in his direction and said, “Justin you have to go now!”

Justin looked up at Todd and then at Maribeth. Confused and panicked he said, “what about you two? I can’t just leave you!” 

Todd looked at Justin and said, “I have seen a lot of kids die. I never did a thing for any of them. I let my brother down and I know they killed him too. I am as guilty as the rest of them. We can buy you three some time. Now go!” 

Justin again looked at Maribeth and she smiled softly and said, “ Justin it is alright! Stop overthinking it and go before it is too late!”

Todd walked to the other side of the truck and cocked his 12 gauge. Maribeth turned around and adjusted a shotgun in her arms.

Justin opened the passenger door of his old car and picked Verana up and looked back at the shaking boy and said, “I know you are scared but let’s get you and your sister to a safe place.” The boy crawled out of the car and flinched as he heard a shotgun fire. Justin grabbed Arbus’s arm and pulled him along. He helped the boy in the driver's side and then crawled into the truck placing Verana in between them. 

 A loud pop sounded from the side of the truck. Todd screamed, “GO!” followed by a round of his shotgun. Justin looked up to see a giant wave flooding the beach ahead of them. The sound was deafening as he ripped the truck into a u-turn and hit the gas. He hit the main road and just kept going. He could see the water pushing closer to him, everything was being demolished as it approached them. He tried to push the thoughts of Todd, Maribeth and the other townspeople away as he drove faster than he had ever driven before. 

When they had been driving for a while, he noticed that the boy had fallen asleep. He headed in the direction of the next closest town to look for a hospital. He heard the soft words of Verana as she said “Mister….are we safe now?” He looked over at her and nodded. She smiled as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.