structure. I had won! The evil hotel's core was being consumed; but I had to move. Now! The wall was rocking, and flaming debris was flying off the roof in flaming arcs through the night. Thunderclaps of crashing timbers produced ear-splitting noise that drowned out all other sounds. I couldn't think.

I fought my way down the smoke clogged metal fire escape until I was just above the unbroken window. A paroxysm of coughing caused by the acrid, curling, black smoke consumed me and I doubled over. I lost my balance and fell down the steps. Shards of glass blasted out as if fired by a shotgun as I passed the window.

I couldn't breathe. The air was knocked out of me. My back and side were cut. I could feel the sting of the glass, but I was alive. I could barely move, but instinctively I knew I had to or be killed by the wall should it fall. I crawled, slowly at first, then faster. It was like a nightmare where every effort seems to take an eternity while the thing chasing you is moving at hyper speed.

The hotel's wall was bulging outward slowly. Stones began to separate from its top edge and tumble towards me while the wall continued to lean in my direction more and more. I had to crawl to safety. The wall gave way entirely and toppled outward on its way to the ground. I was crawling as fast as I could. It was almost on top of me. I might make it after all.

***

My groggy mind told me I was in a bed. I felt the clean, soft sensation of a pillow under my head. It was a hospital room. One wall was glass and I saw busy nurses and doctors outside. A nurse looked up, smiled at me, and said something to a doctor. Both of them came to my bedside.

"I'm Doctor Taylor. How are you feeling Mr. Kelly?"

"I have an awful headache, but I don't feel too bad. How did you know my name? Where am I and what happened?"

"One thing at a time. First, police found your identification in your wallet. Second, you're in St. Louis University Hospital in Intensive Care. You were found by firemen who were battling a blaze at an old hotel just south of here. It seems you have some minor burns, cuts and were hit by debris from the hotel when it collapsed."

"Yeah, my back got cut from flying glass as I was running to report the fire."

"Your cuts are not the problem. Evidentially you were quite close to the building when it collapsed, and the lower half of your body was trapped under part of its wall."

Suddenly, I thought about my legs. "What's wrong with the feeling in my legs? Am I okay?"

"Mr. Kelly, you've sustained a serious injury. Your lower back is broken. Right now you're paralyzed from the hips down and ..."

"Will I be able to walk? How long is this going to last?"

"With injuries of this kind, recovery of the use of your legs is a very remote possibility. You were lucky you weren't killed Mr. Kelly. When you are stronger, we'll discuss your injuries in more detail. If you need anything, Nurse Cockran here will see that you get it. For the moment, I've told the police that you're too badly injured for questioning. There's time for that after we transfer you out of ICU."

"Doctor, was the building that collapsed totally destroyed?"

"From what I heard, it was," and he and the nurse turned around and went out the door before I could think of anything else.

There would be no more deaths in the Lyceum. The infamous Room 6 was no more, and the godforsaken spirit that possessed the hotel was destroyed. Its malevolent evil was no longer a threat to the men in my family. I had burned out its core and destroyed its structure. The family curse was no more.

Yeah, I got the Lyceum all right, but at what cost? Look where it got me. I was alone, flat on my back, IVs in my arm, monitoring equipment attached to me, and I was paralyzed below the waist.