Emma bent to pick up a nearby brick from a discarded, spider-web covered pile.

When she straightened up, the Easter Ripper's body was nowhere to be seen.

Alarm bells sprang up in Emma's heart. She lunged toward the abandoned shotgun, all her reluctance to return to the house transmuting in a second to necessity-

And the Ripper grabbed her from behind as her bad ankle gave out beneath her, finally failing when she needed it most.