The old man hesitated for half a second, then sprinted for Mike. He nearly managed to wrap his hands around the back of Mikes' head before I hit him with the sword. I was trying to use the flat of the blade, but I was drowning in adrenaline and my rushed swing was much harder than I'd planned. The blade slammed into the possessed man's shoulder. I couldn't hear the thwack, but I could feel it. The edge was still turned in enough to open a nasty gash. Sorry, old timer. The old man fell. Mike stood, his face scrunched in pain. I was pretty sure I'd gotten the old guy before he could do any damage, but red was spreading across the front of Mikes' hospital gown. Oh, right. The whole reason he was here was he got shot. Must have torn open the bullet hole. No time to worry about that now. I used the sword to point at Lady, still buried under Gina's body. Mike grimaced, but shuffled over. Stephanie climbed to her feet and followed as two more Shadow Men raced into the room wearing meat suits. A patient and a nurse, judging from the outfits. Fire and holy symbols were hell on wheels against Madeline's darlings, but they'd be useless once the bastards took over a body. The sword was the only thing we had that could stop them, and I was the only one left to wield it. I wasn't really comfortable with the idea, but Mike was bleeding, Lady was too hurt to fight even if she wasn't buried under Gina, and I'd be damned if I would risk Stephanie even if she was up to fighting on our behalf. Which, judging from her terrified expression, she wasn't. I darted forward sword extended. The possessed nurse leaped forward, and I panicked as she tried to impale herself. The spirit might not care if its vessel died, but I still did. More importantly, if the sword got stuck in her the other possessed guy would rip me apart. I managed to jerk back just enough to avoid killing the nurse. The tip of the sword still hit her, and she'd definitely need stitches, but she wasn't dead and the sword wasn't trapped. I'd call it a win. I managed to flick my wrist and whap the other guy with the flat of the blade just as his hand closed around my shirt. Just like the nurse, he dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Damn, I wished my ears would stop ringing. I risked a glance behind me. Mike and Stephanie had moved Gina's corpse. They were helping Lady to her feet. Lady's face was pale, but she didn't look nearly as scared as the rest of us were. Her eyes blazed with anger and purpose. Over the ringing in my ears, but I heard Lady yell, "I can banish them, but I need two minutes uninterrupted." "Not here!" I yelled back, "We need to move!" She nodded. A shadow burst out of the wall. I swatted it with the sword by reflex. As the thing unraveled, I decided to pretend I'd done it on purpose, and strode purposefully out of the waiting room. I expected the hallway to be chaos. It wasn't. The waiting area near the ICU had been pretty much empty except for some nurses and our little group. I imagined the ER was a crazy funhouse of Shadowbound and possessed patients, but it would be several seconds, maybe even minutes, before they descended on us en masse. I wanted to stretch that time as far as I could. We walked down the hall in the opposite direction, trying to get as far from the Emergency Room as we could. We were going too slow. My heart was beating a mile a minute. My chest heaved. My legs burned with the need to be running. I looked back, about to hiss at the others to pick up the pace. I swallowed the words at what I saw. Lady was pale and shaking, shuffling forward in obvious pain. Mike was hunched, walking backwards with his cross in one hand and a lighter in the other. Blood trailed down his leg, leaving red half footprints with each step. Stephanie was still unharmed, but she was panting as hard as I was, and tears fell freely from her wide, scared eyes. We'd made it a quarter of the way down the hallway when Mike barked, "There!" I looked back to see him pointing at a door. A bathroom door. It made sense. There were rooms everywhere, but most of them had big glass windows facing the hallway. The bathroom just had one entrance. I waited for everyone else to shuffle inside, belatedly realizing I should have been the rearguard from the start. Most of the commotion I was slowly able to hear again was coming from the ER, and I was the only one with a way to stop Shadowbound once they'd taken a body. I took one last look before I stepped into the restroom. Nobody else was coming. Yet. "Fuck," Mike grumbled as he fiddled with the door knob. "It's cramped in here." The bathroom was clearly only meant for one person at a time, and the four of us took up most of the available space. "I'm just glad the door locks," I half whispered. It was a solid looking door, too. Mike set his shoulder against it, ready to brace if the Shadows tried to break it down. "Lady, do your thing." The Lady of the Lake reached out, gently grasping the sword I was holding with her thumb and middle finger. She pressed her pointer finger against the edge of the blade. Freshly cut, she knelt with a groan, wiping the blood on the floor. Making magic symbols, I guessed. I made a mental note to have her wash her hands soon. Bathroom floors aren't something I'd want touching an open wound. I couldn't hear anymore screams or crashes. Whatever was happening in the ER was probably over. The Shadowbound were coming. I felt a brief surge of hope that they wouldn't find us hiding in the toilet, but a glance at Mike reminded me of the bloody trail leading right to us. Lady kept drawing. She paused every few seconds to squeeze her finger for more blood. She began to speak under her breath. Or maybe sing? No, she was chanting. Lady was chanting some magic spell while she finger-painted. At the speed she was going, I guessed her estimate of two minutes had been overly optimistic. Footsteps. A lot of footsteps. Running down the hall. Mike grimaced, setting himself. Stephanie raised her pentacle. Lady continued to finger-paint. My grip tightened on the sword. The footsteps ran past us. A few seconds later, there was a loud bang. A door had been kicked in. People started screaming. "Shouldn't they be after us?" Stephanie whispered. "How should I know?" Mike hissed back. "Madeline's dead," I reminded them. "If she's not telling them what to do..." "Shit," Mike got it. "They'll do what they want. Hurt as many people as they can." "We should-" Stephanie swallowed. "Can we hep?" "We are," I told her. "Lady's doing her magic banishy thing. We've got to keep her safe til she's finished." The screams cut off. Running footsteps could be heard again. Mike cursed. People were dying out there. I knew every fiber of his being wanted to run out there and save them. I... only kind of felt the same way. I'd never been a fighter. Never been one to jump into danger. I wanted to save people if I could, but I was terrified of going out there. I was relieved that hiding in the bathroom was the best way to help, and I hated myself for it. How could I be such a coward? "Hey," Mike barked a whisper. I looked up. "You just killed a fucking vampire." He held out a fist. A small laugh huffed out of me. Coward? I'd killed fucking Madeline. "Damn right," I whispered back, bumping my knuckles with his. Mike might be an idiot, but there's a reason he was my best friend. Not that I'd ever tell him. We waited. Lady painted. Eventually, she had a small circle with squiggly lines weaving in and around it. She stood in the circle and her chanting grew louder. Now that I could hear it better, it sounded... Irish? Gaelic? I don't know. It was all lilting and musical. I half expected to see the lights dim, or feel a tingling, or any of the other stuff you see in the movies when a wizard casts a spell. I didn't. There was just Lady in her sweatpants, singing in a normal voice without any cool sound effects. Kind of a let down, really. But even if I couldn't see it, there must have been something more to what she was doing. She'd drawn all kinds of attention. A shadow burst through one of the walls. Mike set it ablaze with his lighter. Two more came from the other side, but Stephanie warded it off with her pentacle. They were going for the Lady In Sweats. Mike stepped away from the door, cross extended to cover our sorceress. Stephanie circled the other way, trying to ward off the sudden wave of Shadows. I went to work with the sword, slashing and stabbing. I didn't hit very many, but I did make them pull back. It was enough, if we could keep doing it. We just had to keep Lady safe until she completed the spell. The footsteps were back, sprinting towards our door. I hesitated for half a second, then want back to slashing at the Shadows. It was all the three of us could do to keep them off the Lady In Sweats. I just had to hope Lady finished her bullshit before the Possessed battered down the door. Lady chanted louder. She was nearly shouting now. Still no cool special effects, but she had to be finishing the spell. She had to be, right? A ringing thud came through the door. I spared a glance long enough to note it had bent in its frame a little. An idle inane observation reminded me that all the doors in the hospital opened outwards. Probably a fire safety thing. The door thudded again. Lady finally reached a crescendo. The Shadows went into a frenzy. They crowded too close, and Mike managed to set a bunch on fire. Two burning silhouettes crashed into Lady. She staggered, but didn't fall out of the circle. Eyes closed, one arm raised, she shouted a final incantation. The Shadows were gone. No screeches or fading out. No special effects. Just gone. I heard a few more thuds from the other side of the door. Then silence. We all looked at each other. With the spell finished, Lady hunched forward, face contorted in pain. I wondered what it felt like to shout with a broken collarbone. It was probably unpleasant. She panted pained, shallow breaths for a few seconds, then gasped. "It's done." "No more Shadows?" Mike's eyes roved the restroom, scanning for threats. "They are banished," Lady assured him. "Thank God." Mike lowered his cross. I let my arm drop, not caring if the sword scratched the floor. My muscles burned and I was out of breath. Sweat had filtered in through my bandages, making my wounds burn and itch. I was shaky and slimy and exhausted and starving. If I had to choose between food, sleep, or a shower, I'd probably break down and cry. "Let's got out of here," Stephanie said. "Before the cops show up." "Yeah," I agreed. I pointed at Lady. "But first things first. You need to wash your hands."