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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

“This is it,” Chloe said, coming to a sudden standstill. “This is as far as I can go. The rest you have to do alone.”

“What am I supposed to do now, Chloe? Where am I supposed to go!”

Chloe pointed her finger and cried out, “That way!”

Amy wiped her eyes, which were filled with tears and rain and confusion. She turned her face to the wind. All she could see were sand dunes. “The beach? But why ?”

“No, not the beach—the lighthouse!” Chloe took hold of Amy’s hands. “You have to listen to me, listen very carefully—there’s someone waiting for you inside the lighthouse, someone you can trust. They’re going to help you, okay? All of this is going to make sense very soon, I promise—but you have to go now. You have to run, and you have to run fast, and no matter what, whatever you do, don’t look back.”

28

28

After sprinting the length of the beach and climbing over the outcrop’s slippery rocks, Amy was once again face-to-face with the lighthouse. She looked around, just to make sure she was alone, then pressed her face against the wire mesh fence and stared at the tower’s giant door. Who was waiting inside that building? Who could Chloe possibly have meant when she said, someone you can trust ? Amy was all alone. With her dad now gone, vanished without a trace, there wasn’t a soul in this town she dared trust.

Her heart beating impossibly fast, she glanced skyward to the top of the lighthouse. Its lamp room was still aglow. The same column of light that had caused everyone to flee in terror was still blazing across the sky. Common sense told her that she shouldn’t be there, and yet at the same time, for some strange, unknowable reason, this powerful beam seemed to be calling to her, beckoning her to come inside.

Come on, she told herself. You can do this.

Amy stumbled along the fence line and found the spot where Frank Junior had cut through the wire. She stepped through to the other side and cautiously approached the door. With a small push, she nudged it open.

The first thing she noticed was a flickering light coming from an old-fashioned lantern, sitting on the lowest step of the staircase. She bent down to pick up the lantern, but the moment she had it in her hands a monstrous gust of wind blew through and slammed the door shut. She spun around and lunged at the door, but it was too late—the lock, which had been obliterated by the nub of Frank’s sledgehammer, had somehow materialized back into place. She twisted the latch and tried to jimmy it open, but it was no use—it wouldn’t budge. She had been sealed inside the building.