“He knows me," she said softly. "And Josh, from some of the functions we've attended together. He might even have seen Alex in the courtroom last week. Sarah. Go around the corner and tell me if you see anyone."

The young woman was back in seconds, shaking her head.

“Empty, Mom."

"ALL right. Nice and steady. Sarah, go hold the outside doors open."

For the rest of her life, Yasna remembered the moments which followed.

The cool air of the hospital, smelling as always, of old flowers and antiseptic. The click of their heels echoing back off the walls, the slight squeak of one wobbling wheel as they pushed Althea's bed down the corridor. The acid taste of fear in her mouth.

As they exited the building, a truck with a small U-Haul trailer attachment pulled up to the curb. As soon as it had screeched to a halt, a young man jumped out and heaved up the door of the trailer.

“Hurry," Josh said. He and Alex lifted the bed, letting the legs collapse as they slid it into the bed of the trailer. Alex and Maria scrambled in, and the young man pulled down the door and bolted it closed with a bang.

“Oh, fuck," Sarah said. She was looking back towards the building they had just left. "Mom? Is that him?"

They all whirled to face the hospital. Through the glass doors, at the end of the hall, a figure was standing, looking at them. It was much too far away for Yasna to make out any details about his face or expression, but she still received an impression of vicious, soulless hate. The sort of hate which would see the whole world drowned in death and blood and merely consider it a satisfactory start.

"Yes," Rachel said. "That's him." Her voice seemed oddly serene, but

Yasna could see how pale her face was. "Into the truck. Jeremy, it is not possible to drive too fast. Do you understand me?"

Suddenly released from their immobility, the five of them dashed for the doors of the truck. Yasna found herself jammed into the front seat between and Jeremy and Josh. Rachel and her daughter were in the back seat.

"Go," Sarah chanted, almost moaning with fear. "Go, go, go!"

“I'm going!" Jeremy shouted, sounding almost as scared as she. With a lurch, he put the vehicle in gear and the truck pulled away from the curb, slowly gaining speed, hampered by the trailer and the narrow, constricted aisles of the parking lot.

Yasna looked in the side mirror, and felt her blood run cold. Far faster than a human could run, the figure was blazing down the hall. It did not pause when it reached the doors. Instead, it raised its hand, and they blewapart in a hail of shattered glass and twisted metal.

Still accelerating, the figure pursued them across the parking lot, even as the remnants of the doors pelted down on to the roof of the truck. A huge chunk crashed down on the windshield on the passenger side, starring the glass and making Yasna flinch in fright.

"Jeremy?" Rachel's voice was tight.

"Gotta get out of here," he muttered tensely, turning a corner and accelerating towards the exit onto 58th Street. "Once I get out of this damn maze and onto the expressway, we can lose him. I don't care if he is a demon. There's no way the bastard can run eighty miles an hour.

“Can he, Rachel?"

"No," came her voice from behind.

“Forty miles an hour tops." A pause.

“Well, maybe sixty. But only for short stretches.”

"Oh, God," Sarah's voice choked out from behind them. "Here he comes!"

The demonic form behind them was rapidly catching up, its legs and feet a churning blur, taking impossible long steps. Jeremy finally maneuvered the bulky truck out of the parking Lot and stomped on the gas, making the vehicle leap forward. But Kincaid cut the corner, using the angle to close the distance even more.