Free The End of the World As I Know It (The Ghosts & Demons Series Book 2) by Robert Chazz Chute, Holly Pop Page B

in…Sam’s office.”
    In black and white text, the screen lit up: WELCOME TO HELL, TAMARA. MEET ME IN SAM’S OFFICE.
    Key had spoken to me through a dead woman, but not through an interdimensional rift. He was lying to me from Sam’s office.
    I heard no sirens promising that help was on the way. Hands trembling, I tried calling 911. At first, I dialed 411 instead. I tried again, got a dispatcher and told her to send firefighters and SWAT.
    The front of the building was already engulfed in flames and I heard popping sounds. Some of the chemicals in the prep room were very flammable. I wanted to rush to Sam’s office, but there was no way in.  
    I stared at the flames, frozen in firelight. Welcome to Hell.
    The dispatcher was talking to me, trying to get me to speak. I brought the phone to my ear. “Are they coming?”
    “Yes. What’s your name, ma’am? And why are you asking for SWAT?”
    “Tell them ‘shots fired.’ Expect dead bodies.”
    “Shots? Dead bodies at a funeral home? Is this a joke?”
    “Joke? No. Bad things coming…”
    “Ma’am?”
    “They’re all coming, right?”
    “Yes. EMS are on the way.”
    “Sorry. I have to go.” I ended the connection and glanced back at the body of Eldora Clemnan. “Nothing to say?”
    The dead woman was appropriately silent.
    “I wish you’d shut up like that before.” I slammed the accelerator to the floor and drove as fast as I could around the back of the building.
    “You know what, Eldora? I’m suddenly sure of what to do!” I yelled. “ Stupid sure!”
    I spun the wheel so I could back up to the garage. The keypad at the back door wouldn’t work without power, but I had a key to the garage, sort of. I was driving it.
    The tires spun beneath me and I lurched hard in my seat as they caught traction on the wet pavement. The rear of the bus crashed through the garage door, crumpling and splitting the sheet metal easily.
    Lesson 118: Locks keep out friends and extraordinarily timid and polite burglars. When dealing with most locked doors in an emergency, slamming through with a Honda Odyssey usually works.
    I crashed the back bumper into the coach hard. I thought going through the garage door would be more difficult so I used too much speed. However, if I saved Sam’s life, she would forgive me for wrecking the bus and the coach eventually.
    Leaping out of the bus, I pulled a sword from the sheath of my umbrella.
    The garage filled with smoke quickly. Before I went in the next door, I paused at the industrial sink. My eyes were already watering and I’d be coughing in a moment. I grabbed two n95 masks and ran them under cold water before pulling them both over my face. A wet mask is useless against germs, but against the black smoke ahead, I thought it would buy me another minute or two. I pressed the thin metal strips at the top of the masks trying to seal it as best I could.  
    I touched the door, briefly at first, then longer. It was warm, but not hot.
    I threw the door open just as a stiff wind blew in through the wrecked garage door behind me. Red and orange flames leapt high with fresh oxygen.
    Dancing flames possess an ethereal beauty, but they didn’t that night.
    Welcome to Hell, Tamara.
    Kids, don’t try this at home.

Chapter 14
    I tried not to run full tilt. I’d seen a good member of the Choir die running into danger and I was determined to be methodical.  
    I found the two Lindas in the office by the back door. Key had decapitated them. The blood spray had hit the ceiling in two crimson fountains. Their bodies were propped in their chairs, right and left shoulders leaning against each other so they wouldn’t fall to the floor. The monster had arranged their bodies carefully (for my benefit, I was sure.) Each woman’s limp hands held a head in her lap. Key had switched the heads so each dead Linda held her friend’s head. Their dead eyes stared at me. I’d had quite enough of that for one day.
    Down the hallway, I found Clyde