Page 15

Story: Black Shadows

I vigorously shake my head, my blood running cold. There is no way that can happen. I just want to disappear. Fade into nothing.
“Raelyn, I can’t stress enough how important it is to try to catch this person.”
I let out a huff as I slam my hand down on the hospital bed. I continue to shake my head. I can feel my heart start to race, and panic sets in. My breathing speeds up, and I hear Nurse Diana come over to me and try to talk to me.
“I need you to calm down, okay? Just relax. We won’t do the test, okay? Just breathe for me.” She lays me back against the bed that is tilted up in a sitting position. “I need you to take deep breaths and relax.”
I let out a sob and turn away from the both of them. I just want to leave. This nightmare is too much for me. My brain doesn’t want to work, doesn’t want to remember the whole story. I just see bits and pieces of it. Everything is jumbled, and my mind is tired of trying to put it together. The nausea is making my stomach do somersaults, and I can taste bile again.
I’d say I want to go home, but I don’t know where home is.
I can’t remember where I came from; the fog is too thick.
Part of me wishes that whoever saved me from that fire would have just left me in there. Let the fire consume me. Let itburn the flesh he touched off of me. Let it take my last breath, and whatever was left of my soul.
Then, maybe then, I would find peace.
Chapter Five
RAELYN
A knockon the door pulls my attention away from the white wall I was staring at. My vision still has trouble focusing, but it’s getting better. I still feel like I am being held down by a weight, and my exhaustion levels are high. Just getting up to use the bathroom tires me out.
Nurse Diana comes in and smiles at me, but I do not return the gesture. “Raelyn, how are you feeling?”
I purse my lips and continue to sit in silence. HowamI feeling? My body aches, my nose won’t stop running, and my anxiety is at an all-time high. Oh, and the nausea is a fucking walk in the park. I scoff and turn my head back toward the wall I was staring at before she came in.
As if she is reading my mind, she says, “Well, the detox drugs will lessen the withdrawal symptoms, but not completely. So, it’s totally normal that you are still feeling some of the effects of the drugs you were on.”
She walks closer to my bedside and places her hands on the railing.
“Listen, there are some police officers in the hallway, and they just want to take a moment to talk to you. Would you like me to stay in the room with you?”
Without hesitation, I nod. There’s no way I can handle any of this alone right now.
Nurse Diana gives me a weak smile as she pushes off the rail of the bed. She summons the officers from outside in the hall to come in, and they slowly make their way inside my hospital room.
There’s a tall officer who offers me a polite smile. He is stocky, while worry lines etch his face. His salt and pepper hair is combed to the side to try and hide his balding, but it does nothing to cover it up. His partner is a woman who looks to be in her early thirties. Her hands rest on her belt as her eyes study me. Her raven hair is pulled back into a bun, and her face is devoid of any makeup.
She offers me no smile or any greeting, just stands there like she is trying to peer into my soul. I swallow over the lump in my throat as I study her. She must be the bad cop.
“Miss Raelyn, how are you doing? I am Lieutenant Hilt, and this is my partner, Officer Ransom.” The man nods to the woman next to him. “We want to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay?”
My eyes dart between them. They both step closer toward me, and it makes me feel incredibly nervous that I find myself trying to scoot back in the bed. I shake my head and let out a whimper. They immediately take a step back at my reaction.
Lieutenant Hilt holds up his hands and nods. “Look, you have been through a lot over the last couple of days. I just want to make sure you’re okay. Can you tell me your full name?”
I bite my lip and shake my head.
“Do you know your full name or date of birth?” he asks.
I frown at the truth. I don’t. I have no idea what my full name is, when I was born, or where. I’m no one. I’m a ghost. My eyes slowly meet his, and I shake my head.
“Okay, no problem. Did you live at that house, Raelyn?”
Again, I respond with a no.
Lieutenant Hilt hums. “Do you know how you ended up at that house? Were you visiting?”