midnight
`` Flood ! Oh , my God , Flood ! '' The voice was broken . `` You 've got to stay here , and you 're to remember not to get the funk , even if I do n't come before midnight . I 'll be here then , if I 'm alive . If you do n't keep your word -- but , there , you will . '' Both hands gripped the graceful shoulders of the miscreant like a vice .