<strong>Piledriver Lane</strong><br/><br/>"I'm sorry, ma'am," said the woman on the other end, her voice quickly growing snippy.  "That's the fastest we'll be able to get over there.  I'll ask them to hurry."  If she said anything else, it wasn't heard as the phone was dropped.<br/><br/>Forcefully grabbing the young man, dragging him away from the smoke caused a sudden reaction.  The smoke seemed to catch flame, burning through the blood with no receptacle for the smoke.  He started to hack, gagging at the smoke which now started forcing its way from his body thanks to the broken ritual.  He tried to speak, but the hacking from the darkness expunging itself from his body was just too difficult.<br/><br/>The girl looked back to Lorraine, trying to speak but unable to vocalize for an entirely different reason.  Exhaustion and terror was breaking over her, but she didn't really look to have any fight left within her.  The blood leaking from her body had slowed down to a barely perceptible trickle.