Previous chapters of the Vista Falls story:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

How should the story continue? Voting is open on the current chapter!

Last time, Mr. Jaquith called Mr. Dinello and told him about the spooky drawing they had been found on the wall in the museum’s upstairs corridor. Mr. Dinello responded that he and the teens were looking for Kate who had run off following an argument with her Aunt Ivy, but that he would come back to the museum as soon as he could. Meanwhile Sam and Jenny Colbert—who were with Mr. Jaquith upstairs in the museum—smelled smoke. They left to investigate, leaving Mr. Jaquith in his wheelchair upstairs to wait for him. Mr. Jaquith began to feel uneasy and suddenly, a shadowy figured pushed his wheelchair from behind, sending it careening toward the museum’s marble staircase. Meanwhile, Blaine had convinced Kate to go back to the hospital. As they entered the emergency room, Kate heard a woman scream. She knew immediately that it was her Aunt Ivy. Frozen with fear, Kate didn’t know what to do. What happened next? Here’s what you decided.

Chapter 16: Out of the Frying Pan
By Joseph Crisalli

At that very moment, at the hospital, Kate and Blaine walked in to the emergency room to hear screaming, also.

It was a high-pitched sob.

“Aunt Ivy.” Kate whispered. She stopped in her tracks.

“That’s your aunt screaming?” Blaine asked, his eyes widening.

“Yes.” Kate said, her voice barely audible. She began to shake with fear. “Something’s happened with Vera. I can tell…”

Blaine took Kate’s hand. “We have to go there right now.”

“I can’t.” Kate trembled. “I’m scared.”

“Kate…” Blaine urged his friend.

Kate stumbled toward the nurse’s desk. “I’m Kate…my cousin Vera is here with heart trouble.”

The nurse looked up at Kate sympathetically.

“That’s my aunt.” Kate continued. “I hear her crying.”

Still, the nurse said nothing.

Suddenly, Angelina Johnson came around the corner. She spoke quickly to the nurse, “Marion, the Molton girl has gone into Cardiac Arrest. We need you STAT.”

It was then that Nurse Johnson saw Kate.

“Oh, Kate. I’m sorry.” Nurse Johnson said hurriedly. “You know we’ll do all we can.”

With that, the two nurses rushed off.

Kate stood very still at the reception desk. Blaine came over and put his hand on her shoulder.

“We need to go to your aunt, your uncle and Lucy.” Blaine said.

“I know.” Kate said softly. Yet, she didn’t move.

“Kate…” Blaine repeated.

“I’m praying.” Kate whispered.

At that very moment, Mr. Jaquith was also praying. Just as his wheelchair reached the top step, he managed to set the brakes. The chair stopped within inches of tumbling down the stairs.

Mr. Jaquith gasped and panted as his heart raced. As he began to realize what had just happened, he turned his chair around to look for the person who had shoved him. He didn’t see a person. What he saw instead was a billow of black smoke beginning to fill the hallway.

The silence of the corridor was pierced by the shrill scream of the fire alarm. Mr. Jaquith wheeled his chair toward the service elevator, but realized that it wasn’t working. The museum’s maintenance crew had shut it off after everyone had been trapped inside.

The only other elevator was in the very direction from which the smoke was coming.

Mr. Jaquith began to cough and wondered what he would do. He remembered the explosion at the Trotter Wildlife Sanctuary and how he had been trapped—his legs crushed underneath the fallen staircase. That was the accident that left him unable to walk.

“Twice in my life,” Mr. Jaquith sighed. “Twice in my life…” His eyes welled up with tears. “Trapped.”

Meanwhile, Sam and Jenny Colbert were headed down the steep staircase to the museum’s basement. The smoke was very thick and grew worse the further down they went.

“We have to get out of here!” Sam Colbert said to his new wife. He heard the screaming above them as people rushed to evacuate the reception hall.

“There’s screaming.” Jenny said, pulling her husband’s hand.

“It’s our guests trying to get out.” Sam said. “I need to go up there. I’m the Chief of Police and you’re an officer.”

“Sam, no!” Jenny shouted. “I hear screaming down there. In the basement. Listen.”

“Oh no!” Sam said. “It sounds like the DeLorcas!” He listened again. “It is the DeLorcas!”

What should they do?

Sam should try to help the DeLorcas while Jenny goes upstairs to help the others evacuate?
They should both try to help the DeLorcas?
They should try to use a cell phone to call for more help?