Monster

Well, I have a normal story, except the fact that I was murdered, and my killer remained unknown for... And driven by who knows what, to kill innocent, little me. What could I have done to deserve my fate that day? No, it wasn't my wrongdoing, they played

 

I sat there, staring at the white wall in front of me as I sat at the metal desk. The bright hospital lights hurt my eyes, but I didn't move. The cop sat in the chair, scribbling on his paper. His last name was Tennit (from what I read on his uniform) and he was brown hair, cut short around his head. He looked extremely young, I imagined him to be new on the job from his young, eager eyes and his young cheeks.

“So there was three guys?” he asked me, looking up at my blank face watching the wall as if waiting for some unexplained movement to occur within it. Its blank face stared back at me, almost do the same as I was to it, but I hadn't moved. My eyes that stuck from my dried tears rolled to look at his young face, rough with acne scars.

“Yes,” I whispered and blinked lazily. Tennit scribbled some other words on his piece of paper. He had been asking me questions about everything for what I guessed to be an hour. The ambulance took Jack away immediately and I followed in another ambulance behind them. We both had been taken to Berding Hospital to be examined (it was the hospital nearest my home).

“And are these men the same men who robbed the CargoMarket?” Tennit asked.

“Yes.” I whispered again. What happened replayed in my head over and over again, shooting ahead to the present, sitting and watching the wall, waiting for someone to tell me Jack was alright. He had been rushed to surgery was what I heard. I begged the doctors to give me some information, but of course they had none. He could have been dead by the time I entered the empty office Tennit asked for to interview me in private. The whole room reeked of that certain hospital smell that gave me the shivers. I held my arm tightly against my side, trying to stop its thumping and stinging as I waited.

“Alright, that will be all.” Tennit said and stood up from his seat. I did the same, a little slower, and followed him out of the room. “We will catch these guys, Anna.” He whispered to me. My head snapped to him and I looked into his brown eyes. I doubt it. I thought as he nodded and walked away. I spotted my parents and my mom ran over and hugged me.

“Ow.” I said, wincing at my sore body. She jumped away and held my shoulders.

“I'm sorry.” Her eyes were filled with tears. She sniffled and wiped them as Dad kissed my head.

“They will catch the guys, Anna. Most of the force is looking for them now.” Dad said, but I didn't listen. I didn't want to think about that crazed man, smiling at me.

“Is Jack alright? Do you know yet?”

“We know nothing--”

“Anna!” Someone screamed down the hallway. I leaned to the side and looked at Jack's mom running towards me. Mom moved to the side so she could hug me. I hunched my back and braced myself for the blow of love and anxiety she was about to hit me with. She wrapped her arms around shoulders and cried on me.

“Hey, Tori.” I whispered to her and held my breath.

“Are you okay, darling?” she asked, wiping her tears from her face. Her dirty-blonde hair looked a little messy. I could tell she was in a rush when she left her house, I expected that, her son was just shot a few times. I couldn't help but to cry when I saw her, though. I hadn't seen her forever, and I felt her pain. Jack was all she had left, Jack's father died years ago when he was ten. Tori and I had been close friends, mother and daughter I'd say.

“Hello, Tori.” my dad said to her. Jack's mom looked over and hugged my mom, squeezing her tightly. My mom squeezed back, she understood her feelings and knew she had to help her stay together.

“Did they tell you anything?” my voice cracked. She let go of my mom and looked down at my pathetic body.

“No, darling, I just know he is in surgery. They told me they will be a few hours, then I might be able to see him.” I nodded and my dad squeezed my shoulder. “Anna, you look so sick. Have you been checked yet?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.” I whispered. I felt weird thinking of how bad she thought I looked. I looked so different from the last time she saw me, years ago.

“These fools will be caught, even if I have to cuff 'em myself!”

“Anna, let's go sit in the waiting room.” Mom said. I nodded and followed them all down the hall and elevator. I could hardly walk, my steps got weaker and weaker every time I thought of Jack. I dragged my feet, holding my face and letting my mom help me walk.

“Mom, I need to use the restroom.” I said quickly.

“Okay, honey. We'll be down here.” she said. I nodded and walked to the bathroom door as quickly as I could. It wasn't occupied, thank goodness. I swung the door shut behind me and stood against the door.

“Oh, God!” I wailed and pulled on my scalp of messy hair. My knees buckled and I fell to the cold, tile floor under me. I couldn't breath. I started to hyperventilate as I looked down at my discolored arm and smacked the door behind me. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why, Jack?” I sobbed. I wasn't worth it, Jack. I wasn't worth it.

An odd taste formed in my mouth. A metallic taste, like I had just sucked on rust. I licked my lips slowly, thinking of what the taste was exactly. I put my finger to my lips and wiped them of my tears that had ran down the sides of my nose and cheeks. My tears? I wiped my face and licked my fingers. Yes, it was my tears. They had no sweetness to them, they tasted like a rusty nail, or a cold steel you just stuck your tung to. I looked at my fingers, my longs nails looked different. I didn't remember painting my nails silver, I hadn't even painted them for a few days. I held my breath, my chest aching, as I stared at my hands. My nails had a silver tint, and my veins were darker than ever and bulging even more under my thin skin. I quickly stood up and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was very messy, it needed brushed, and my eyes had dark circles around them. I looked dead (even more dead than usual). This time, it was scary. My hand felt my hollow cheeks and wiped them of their moisture. Then, they wiped my eyes also and stared at myself, hoping for an improvement. Who cares, I will never see Jack again. I might as well die, at least I'll fill in my look. I quickly looked around the bathroom for something sharp. What am I thinking, there isn't anything in a hospital bathroom. No, Anna, you can't do this. God does not want you to.

“You should have killed me...” I whispered softly and fell back to the floor. “I'm a monster! Look at me!” I squealed in my whisper, yelling in a quiet bathroom made me echo, the last thing I wanted was for a nurse to run in to see what the screaming was about.

Then, all of a sudden, I laughed. I laughed hysterically at the corpse in the mirror, I didn't even know why. My bright teeth sparkled behind my dark mouth. Then, a bolt of pain shot through me, and I laughed, holding my sore arm. It pulsed with pain and I knew something was terribly wrong, though I continued to laugh and smile. I lifted my head and looked into the black eyes staring back at me from the reflective glass I traced my finger along. The eyes darkened before me, shading with evil. I cocked my head and smiled at the figure staring back at me. I noticed my pale finger, with the silver nail sharpened enough to slice steel and the black veins taking over my flesh.

I hunched over and walked to the wooden door, still amused. No! No! A voice screamed in my thoughts, but the body surrounding it didn't listen. My right hand flew up to the wooden door, smacking it in its face, and I tore the splinters of out it with a single swipe. Knock. Knock.

“Anna?” I heard my mom's voice. I said nothing, I only grinned and grabbed the door handle, feeling my fingers tingle with excitement to grab the woman's flesh and dig my claws into her. No! No! “Anna? Are you done, honey?” My smile dropped and I fell to the floor.

“Anna? Anna? Can you hear me?” I heard a woman's voice say. I opened my eyes and saw Dr. McGuire with her face inches from mine. My eyes shot open and I gasped. “Anna, be calm.” I jerked my body up but couldn't, my wrists and ankles were.

“What's going on?” I screamed and looked down at my wrists. I was in a hospital room, I could tell that much. Not only could I smell that weird smell, but I could see the blank, white walls.

“Anna, stay calm. I will explain everything. Anna, stay calm.” I yanked on the restraints and gasped for air. There was a security guard standing off to the side and two more doctors sitting on the other side of my bed. Dr. McGuire put her hand against my chest and held me still. I stared at her with wide eyes as my sore body ached. “Anna, be calm for a few moments while I explain, honey.”

“Where are my parents!” I screamed at her. My hands were in fists as I waited for her answer. I felt my heart break under my veined chest and frail ribs. My life couldn't possibly get any worse.

“They are here, now listen to me calmly, Anna. We are not going to hurt you. We have studied the affects of the B.L.V. on your blood and came up with some startling results. Your white blood cell count has not grown from the B.L.V. entering your body, which means your body accepts it, and your red blood cells have absorbed the B.L.V. and now carry it throughout your body along with your oxygen. It still runs through your bloodstream, being absorbed by each organ a little more each day. Usually, a human's heart will stop immediately when the B.L.V. reaches it, but yours did not. And since your body absorbed it, we fear the reactions your mind will have on the new chemical.”

“Then why am I tied?” I yelled. The three doctors looked at each other, then back down at me.

“We do not want you to hurt anyone, say if you get so angry or so depressed. We don't know how the B.L.V. will react to such stress. Do you know that you damaged a bathroom door in a hospital?We found marks as if a bear tried clawing its way through. Do you remember?”

I stared at her with wide eyes. I had no idea what she was talking about. I shook my head and felt my mind race.

“No, it couldn't have been me. Are you sure? I don't remember anything like that. I just went to the bathroom, that's all. I didn't do anything wrong!” I yelled. They all looked at me, startled. The two men whispered back and forth.

“Well, Anna, you do not remember, but you did. Then, you fainted on the floor. The B.L.V. can escalate any of your emotions, causing serious problems. It can raise your blood pressure at any time and leave with no trace, we cannot track it, nor stop it when it does act up. It will change your thoughts for the worse, and you will become a totally different person. Think of it as a ghost, it comes and goes as it pleases, and is unable to be tracked. And if your blood pressure does raise, we do not know how high it will raise, and we will not be able to treat it since you do not naturally have high blood pressure. Our treatments will do nothing for you. Our treatments will not affect the B.L.V. if you would have an outbreak.” My eyes widened and my fists shook. Dr. McGuire looked down at me with pity in her face. Her moist eyes stared at me, her body frozen in its same position. “This can cause you to have a stroke, heart attack, or it may even kill you, Anna. We depend on you to stay calm at all times.” she whispered.

“We must continue to test you and find out more about this chemical. We need your full cooperation.” the doctor standing on my left said. I read his tag and saw his name was Allen. The other man was named Ted, who just watched me and wrote things down on his clipboard.

“How long?” my voice cracked, looking at all three of the doctors. The two men said nothing, and Dr. McGuire rubbed her head.

“We are not sure, darling. Just until we are sure your body can handle certain situations. We hope to even maybe cure you of this.” Dr. McGuire said. The other doctors scribbled more on their clipboards. God, why is this happening to me? I closed my eyes and relaxed my body. I was three hours from Jack, dying or living. I knew nothing of his condition, and would probably never see him again. I was a monster, and he was on the line of death.

“I want to see my parents.” I said. They looked at me and Dr. McGuire nodded. She gave a look to the security guard and walked out with the other two doctors.

“We will have a nurse watching you at all times. We will send her in with your parents. I'll be back to check on you tomorrow morning. Anna,” she looked back at me, “stay calm. You are in safe hands,” she said and left with the doctors. I looked out the window of my room and saw darkness. I wondered what time it was.

“Anna, honey.” Mom said as her and Dad walked in. They looked terrible, as if they hadn't slept in weeks. I could tell they had been crying, even my dad. I was ashamed for them to see me like this, the nurse walked over and sat in the chair with a clipboard, writing something down on it. I ignored her and felt my hot tears fall down my cheeks. “Anna, honey, it's okay. Don't cry,” Mom said and touched my arm.

“Honey, you are fine. Please don't be sad, this isn't your fault. They just want you here so they can protect you. You did nothing wrong.” Dad assured me. I couldn't help it, the tears flowed. Mom wiped them off my face and held my hand.

“Anna, you are fine. Don't be sad.” the nurse said. I looked over at her and she smiled. “You are fine, please don't be sad. Remember what Dr. McGuire told you, Anna.” she said. I held my breath for a moment, remembering how I couldn't get upset. I took deep breathes and tried my hardest to relax, but my body shook.

“We will be here every day, darling. See? Everything will be fine. We will pray for you every day and soon you will be home again.”

“I want to see Alice and Ben. Can you bring them tomorrow?” I asked helplessly. I just wanted to see their young faces. It felt like I hadn't seen them for years.

“Sure, Anna. We are fine, see? Don't cry.” Dad said. I nodded and relaxed a little. But everything wasn't fine, they only were saying that to keep me calm. Around me, everyone felt the same terrifying fear that I would have an outbreak, and nobody would know how to stop it. Everyone around me was in danger, and the only way to keep them safe was to keep me tied to my small bed. Three hours away, Jack awaited his fate, and I would be called one day to hear the news if he had lived or died (because of me). Could my life get worse? I doubted it, but I was wrong.