Alter
Sample Chapter
“You’re killing her,” the man sitting on the street laughed. “Don’t go in there!”
The tall, dark haired lad that he spoke to paused. In his arms lay a young woman. Her red-stained clothes were sticky against his skin. Fresh blood still ran down her arms. A rush of adrenaline filled his veins. He shifted the woman’s weight, breathing deeply to ease the pain pulling at his chest.
“They’re a bunch of madmen inside. Don’t trust ‘em!”
The young man shook his head, ignoring the words of the vagabond on the street. He hurried through the automatic doors.
“I need help!” he shouted. “Can someone help?”
Immediately he saw two emergency room nurses hurry to him.
“Can you tell us what happened?” one nurse asked.
“Follow me,” another quickly led him through an inner set of doors.
“I found her,” he was ushered into a curtained room. He laid the girl on a hospital bed. “She’s bleeding from her arms, and I think her legs too.”
He held the young woman’s hand as they hooked her up to various machines. They beeped and chimed harsh tones that made his ears ache. Through the flurry of activity, he tried to understand what the machines were communicating. As the doctors worked, he turned his attention back to the girl. He waited for her chest to rise and fall, for her eyes to flutter open, for her fingers to move.
“Sir!” A nurse yelled behind him. “Sir, can you answer any of these questions?”
“Uhh,” he turned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”
“How do you know her?”
“I… uh,” the young man struggled to focus.
The girl’s lips moved. He leaned forward. Her eyes opened and she stared dreamily around the room.
“It's alright,” he said. “You’re going to be safe.”
Her eyes turned to him, “What’s happening?”
Memories of a mirror flashed through his mind. The rush of wind. The smell of leaves. He remembered finding her on the ground, covered in blood.
“These people are going to help you.”
“Killian,” she said, “Don’t leave me.”
Her eyes rolled back. One of the machines rang out a long, piercing note.
“Sir? Sir! I need you to come with me.”
Strong arms pulled him away from her side. He felt a hand against his back which steered him out of the room. The door clicked gently behind him as rushed voices slipped through the cracks.
“Sir? I need you to focus. Can you tell me her name?”
“Is she going to be alright? I need to stay with her.”
“Sir!”
Fingers snapped in front of his face, snatching his attention away from the closed door to the woman before him.
“Sir. Take a deep breath. I need you to tell me her name.”
“It’s…ah…her name?”
“Yes. What is her name?”
“It’s…,” he looked down at his blood soaked clothes. “We were in the woods…”
“The woods?” The nurse asked as she scribbled on her notepad. “You can tell me how you found her in a moment, but did she tell you her name?”
“She said it right before…”
“It’s very important we know her name, sir.”
“Kaylin,” he remembered. “She said her name was Kaylin.”