Chapter 11 - The Breaking of the Pact
"No!" Daniel roared, a surge of adrenaline overriding his terror. He threw his entire body against the invisible barrier, slamming his shoulder into the invisible glass. It didn't yield an inch. He began to hammer his fists, his wedding ring striking the surface with sharp, metallic pings.
Elena didn't scream anymore. Her face hardened into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the heavy brass key ring she used for the house—the keys to the front door, the back door, and the padlock on the shed. She held the heavy brass house key tightly in her fist, sharp end outward, and slammed it directly into the center of the invisible wall with all her weight.
Crack.
A spiderweb of white fractures spread instantly across the invisible barrier, accompanied by a sound like breaking ice.
Grandmother Elena’s serene smile faltered for a fraction of a second, her youthful face twisting into an expression of sudden, sharp annoyance. "You cannot break what is forged in blood," she hissed, turning toward the boy. "Finish it, child."
Lucas’s foot began to descend into the pit.
"Elena, together!" Daniel yelled, realizing what she was doing. He grabbed her hand, wrapping his fingers over hers around the heavy brass key, and threw their combined weight forward against the fractured barrier.
With a deafening crash that sounded like plate glass shattering inside a cathedral, the invisible wall imploded. Shards of hard light rained down on the forest floor, dissolving into harmless mist before they touched the ground.
Daniel and Elena tumbled forward through the gap, sprawling onto the dry leaves just feet from the edge of the pit.
Lucas was already leaning out over the glowing abyss, his small body tipping forward into the heat.
Elena scrambled across the dirt like an animal, lunging forward and grabbing the back of Lucas’s yellow and blue t-shirt with both hands. She hauled him backward with a primal scream of maternal desperation, dragging him away from the edge just as a massive pillar of fire shot upward from the pit, scorching the air where he had been standing a second before.
Lucas hit the ground hard, gasping for breath, the blackness vanishing from his eyes as he blinked in confusion. "Mommy? Why am I dirty?" he whimpered, rubbing his eyes.
Grandmother Elena stood on the other side of the pit, her form beginning to flicker and dissolve like smoke in a gale-force wind.
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"You think you've won," she sneered, her voice echoing as the forest around them began to tear apart at the seams. "The foundation remains. And the door is still unlocked."
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