"Henry, wait!" I shouted, immediately jumping out of the car after him. I heard Sean swear behind me, but I was already gone.
There's no time, Ava, I heard Henry say in my head. It seemed like whatever link we had, it was getting stronger—I could hear him from farther away now as I sprinted behind him.
The dark entity is so much stronger now, Henry said. We only have one chance—its next cycle won't be for another four hours.
"Henry, what are you talking about!" I yelled into the wind behind him, struggling to catch up.
He stopped at the wall. The ground underneath us was brand new, freshly planted grass—the wall in front of us slowly running large, dark streaks of pulsating goo.
It's now or never, Ava, Henry said urgently. It's hibernating.
Hibernating?
I could hear Sean's voice still yelling at me as the police car slid up next to us. He got out, along with the exotic-complexioned lady in the long coat that had the broken ankle. She seemed dazed and confused by what was going on, not saying anything and still moving delicately on her fixed ankle, even though she didn't need to.
"Ava, what are you—" Sean said, hopping out of the car.
Henry suddenly punched his fists into the black wall.
"Henry, no!" I shouted, remembering what I had seen from long before—the smoke coming off as the liquid dissolved whatever it touched.
Henry ignore me, scooping up two massive handfuls of the black sludge running down the walls—
And pulling it apart.
The black slime tore apart like thick, gooey cement. I could see the glass of the front entrance doors peeking out from under the blobby part Henry was tearing apart. He swiftly kicked out the glass while holding armfuls of the pouring, black liquid; the lower part of the glass doors exploded out, leaving a small hole in the glass and through the flowing mass of the dark entity.
Hurry, Ava, he said. I can't hold it much longer!
He wants me to go through that? I looked hesitantly at the hole, thinking of dropping to my hands and knees to crawl through it. I literally just got back home, can't I at least take a break?!
The entire building suddenly... shuddered.
Nope—you can't. Welcome to Earth.
Ava! Henry's voice reverberated around my mind like a frantic, flexible rubber bullet.
I took one last look at Sean—a face that still looked the same to me as it did when I was five, begging to tag along and follow Sean and his friends as they got to go off and do the funnest stuff, have the best adventures, pretending to be cops and robbers, finding old sewers and playing hide and seek and baseball and riding his bikes through new and exciting places, exploring the world.
While I was left alone at home... with my stupid ass Barbies.
There was so much I wanted to say to his worried face... because I knew he would blame himself for this the rest of his life. No matter what I said, what I showed him, the evidence in front of him—
To Sean, this would always be his fault.
And that was the last thing in the world I wanted to condemn my brother to.
The entire building began to... vibrate, a low level earthquake that more like a mechanical massager buzzing the bottom of your feet.
"I'm sorry, Sean," I said through the tears, wanting to give him one last hug, even though I knew for a fact he would physically stop me if he got the opportunity.
"...and I love you," I finished. "Even though we didn't always get along... you were the best big brother a sister could have ever asked for."
I started crying as I turned away—
And dove through the hole in the dark entity Henry had made.