The "spirits" inside the spiral line dissolved in an upward spray of liquid light. The floor appeared at the outer edge of the design, and the void began to recede toward the center circle. The lights still within Payton's circle rushed through the opening into the void as though fleeing a forest fire. After a few seconds, the void was gone, and so were all the lights. Echo leaped to her feet and moved toward me. "You burning, lonely squat of shit! What have you done?" I put my hand on the pocket with my ghost knife. If I survived her first attack, and maybe her second, I might have time to use it. "You tried to put one of those things in me!" Suddenly, Payton screamed. He clutched his broken elbow and writhed on the floor. The flesh inside his arm shifted and realigned. "You killed them!" Echo shouted. Her eyes were wide and her teeth bared. "You murdered them!" Jon rushed to Payton and laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "Hold it together, big guy. I know it hurts--believe me, I know--but it won't take long." Echo crouched low.
