07 The Return_ Midnight - L. J. Smith

Meredith quickly ran by the flaming garage and then stopped. From behind her she heard
a cry of horror. There was no time to try to soothe whoever had cried, no time to think.
The two fighting women were too busy to notice her—and Theo was in need of help.
Inari was truly like a fiery Medusa, with her hair writhing around her in flaming, smoking snakes.
Only the crimson part burned, and it was that part that she was using like a whip, using one snake to
wrest away the silver bullwhip from Theo’s hand, and then another to wrap around Theo’s throat and
choke her. Theo was desperately trying to pull the blazing noose from her neck.
Inari was laughing. “Are you suffering, petty witch? It will all be over in seconds—for
you and for your entire little town! The Last Midnight has finally come!”
Meredith glanced back at Matt—and that was all it took. He ran forward, passing her, all
the way up to the space below the fighting women. Then he bent slightly, cupping his hands.
And then Meredith sprinted, putting everything she had left into the short run, leaving her
just enough energy to leap and place one foot into Matt’s cupped hands, and then she felt herself
soaring aloft, just within distance for the stave to slice cleanly through the snake of hair that was
choking Theo.
After that Meredith was in free fall, with Matt trying to catch her from below. She landed
more or less on top of him and they both saw what happened next.
Theo, who was bruised and bleeding, slapped out a part of her gown that was
smoldering. She held out a hand for the silver bullwhip and it flew to meet her outstretched fingers.
But Inari wasn’t attacking. She was waving her arms wildly, as if in terror, and then suddenly she
shrieked: a sound so anguished that Meredith drew in her breath sharply. It was a death-scream.
Before their eyes she was turning back into Obaasan, into the shrunken, helpless, dolllike
woman Matt and Meredith knew. But by the time this shriveled body hit the ground it was already
stiff and dead, her expression one of such unrepentant malice that it was frightening.
It was Isobel and Mrs. Saitou then who came forward to stand over the body, sobbing
with relief. Meredith looked at them and then up at Theo, who slowly floated to the ground.
“Thank you,” Theo said with the faintest of smiles. “You have saved me—yet again.”
“But what do you think happened to her?” Matt asked. “And why didn’t Shinichi or
Misao come to help her?”
“I think they all must be dead, don’t you?” Theo’s voice was soft over the roar of the
flames. “As for Inari—I think that perhaps someone destroyed her star ball. I’m afraid I was not
strong enough to defeat her myself.”
“What time is it?” Meredith abruptly cried, remembering. She ran to the old SUV, which
was still running. Its clock showed 12:00 midnight exactly.
“Did we save the people?” Matt asked desperately.
Theo turned her face outward toward the center of the town. For nearly a minute she was
still, as if listening for something. At last, when Meredith felt that she might shatter from tension, she
turned back and said quietly, “Dear Mama, Grandmama, and I are one, now. I sense children who are
finding themselves holding knives—and some with guns. I sense them standing in their sleeping
parents’ rooms, unable to remember how they got there. And I sense parents, hiding in closets, a
moment ago frightened for their very lives, who are seeing weapons dropped and children falling
onto master bedroom floors, sobbing and bewildered.”
“We did it, then. You did it. You held her off,” Matt panted.
Still gentle and sober, Theo said, “Someone else—far away—did much more. I know
that the town needs healing. But Grandmama and Mama agree. Because of them, no child has killed a