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Back The Lighthouse Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. PART ONE
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. PART TWO
  13. 12
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 18
  18. 19
  19. 21
  20. 22
  21. 23
  22. 24
  23. 25
  24. 26
  25. 27
  26. 28
  27. 30
  28. 31
  29. 32
  30. 33
  31. 34
  32. 35
  33. 36
  34. 37
  35. 38
  36. 39
  37. 40
  38. 41
  39. 42
  40. 43
  41. PART THREE
  42. 44
  43. 45
  44. 46
  45. 47
  46. 49
  47. 50
  48. 51
  49. 52
  50. EPILOGUE

Amy shook her head. It was pointless trying to talk with the commotion unfolding around them. She mouthed the words “It’s okay,” then returned her attention to the lighthouse. She tried telling ­herself that this was all in her head, that it was just her imagination running wild, but she had enough sense to know what was real and what wasn’t, and that man, with his dark and sinister stare, was most certainly real. She resolved to tell Ryan as soon as she could.

When the job was done, when the last planks had been torn from the wall and the crimson door was fully exposed, the two Franks gave each other an enthusiastic high five.

The door was almost twice the size of an ordinary one, with an arch at the top and an iron latch for a handle. Upon giving it a twist and seeing that it was locked, Handsome Frank made for his tools and returned with a sledgehammer.

“Step back now, Son.”

Frank Junior did as he was told.

Wielding it like a baseball bat, determination etched into his face, Frank lined up the head of his hammer with the iron lock and took a few mock swings, then steadied his feet for the real thing.

One swing was all it took. The brute force of his strike blasted the door open.

Everyone fell silent. For the first time in decades, the townsfolk of Seabrook were getting a look inside—and what they saw drew a unified gasp. The interior was spotless! What should have been a room of dust and rubble appeared to have been perfectly preserved. The walls shone brilliant white, the checkered floor sparkled with polish, and even the staircase, which was said to have collapsed over thirty years earlier, was completely intact. Everyone was dumbfounded. It was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Even Ryan, who counted himself one of the biggest skeptics of all, was lost for words. Handsome Frank stepped toward the threshold, put one hand on the wall, and tentatively leaned in.

The sight of someone about to enter the lighthouse had transfixed the crowd so fully that hardly anyone noticed the first drops of rain. Amy felt one land on her head then another splatter on her shoulder. Then, without warning, the sky bellowed with thunder and the heavens spilled open. No one had a chance to catch their breath. Rain started pouring down so thick and fast it was as if a dam had burst in the sky.