At a full run she hit the open doorway, and was knocked back against the far wall.
"What the hell's going on?" Logan grabbed her, pushing her aside as he rushed the room himself.
"She won't let me in. " Desperate, Stella beat her fists against the cold until her hands were raw and numb. "She's got my babies. Help me. "
Logan rammed his shoulder against the opening. "It's like fucking steel. " Rammed it again as Harper and David hit it with him.
Behind them, Mitch stared into the room, at the figure in white, who glowed now with a wild light.
"Name of God. "
"There has to be another way. The other door. " Roz grabbed Mitch's arm and pulled him down the hall.
"This ever happen before?"
"No. Dear God. Hayley, keep the baby away. "
Frantic, her hands throbbing from pounding, Stella ran. Another way, she thought. Force wouldn't work. She could beat against that invisible ice, rage and threaten, but it wouldn't crack.
Oh, please, God, her babies.
Reason. She would try reason and begging and promises. She dashed out into the rain, yanked open the terrace doors. And though she knew better, hurled herself at the opening.
"You can't have them!" she shouted over the storm. "They're mine. Those are my children. My life. " She went down on her knees, ill with fear. She could see her boys sleeping still, and the hard, white light pulsing from the woman between them.
She thought of the dream. She thought of what she and her boys had talked about shortly before the singing. "It's not your business what I do. " She struggled to keep her voice firm. "Those are my children, and I'll do what's best for them. You're not their mother. "
The light seemed to waver, and when the figure turned, there was as much sorrow as madness in her eyes. "They're not yours. They need me. They need their mother. Flesh and blood. "
She held up her hands, scraped and bruised from the beating. "You want me to bleed for them? I will. I am. " On her knees, she pressed her palms to the cold while the rain sluiced over her.
"They belong to me, and there's nothing I won't do to keep them safe, to keep them happy. I'm sorry for what happened to you. Whatever it was, whoever you lost, I'm sorry. But you can't have what's mine. You can't take my children from me. You can't take me from my children. "
Stella pushed her hand out, and it slid through as if slipping through ice water. Without hesitation, she shoved into the room.
She could see beyond her, Logan still fighting to get through, Stella pressed against the other doorway. She couldn't hear them, but she could see the anguish on Logan's face, and that his hands were bleeding.
"He loves them. He might not have known until tonight, but he loves them. He'll protect them. He'll be a father to them, one they deserve. This is my choice, our choice. Don't ever try to keep me from my children again. "
There were tears now as the figure flowed across the room toward the terrace doors. Stella laid a trembling hand on Gavin's head, on Luke's. Safe, she thought as her knees began to shake. Safe and warm.
"I'll help you," she stated firmly, meeting the grieving eyes again. "We all will. If you want our help, give us something. Your name, at least. Tell me your name. "
The Bride began to fade, but she lifted a hand to the glass of the door. There, written in rain that dripped like tears, was a single word.
Amelia
When Logan burst through the door behind her, Stella spun toward him, laid a hand quickly on his lips. "Ssh. You'll wake them. "
Then she buried her face against his chest and wept.
Epilogue
"Amelia. " Stella shivered, despite the dry clothes and the brandy Roz had insisted on. "Her name. I saw it written on the glass of the door just before she vanished. She wasn't going to hurt them. She was furious with me, was protecting them from me. She's not altogether sane. "
"You're all right?" Logan stayed crouched in front of her. "You're sure?"
She nodded, but she drank more brandy. "It's going to take a little while to come down from it, but yes, I'm okay. "