The lights in the hospital dimmed around me, the only sounds the beating hands of the clock in the hall outside and the penetrating beeping of the heart monitor beside me. Occasionally the sounds would overlap, only to quickly lapse out of sink as I stared at the ceiling.

All I could feel were the needles sticking into the inside of my elbows and the pulse monitor pressing down on my thumbnail.

Being sick was boring.

Not the niggling boredom that nagged at the edge of my mind whenever anyone tried to lecture me. But an intense, burning boredom that burrowed into my cranium like a parasitic worm.

I couldn't stay still, but with the machines trailing from my arms I couldn't move.

Another layer added to the ticking when my nail began to work at the masking tape holding the drip into my veins. I chipped away at the glue until it peeled backwards, taking the needle with it as it plummeted from the bed to the floor along with a single drop of red blood.

I unclipped the pulse monitor from my thumb, grateful of the released pressure and let it clatter to the floor beside the drip.

The ticking was left up to the clock.

I pulled myself from under the pristine sheets and planted my bare feet on the cold tiles to find myself in a knee-length white hospital gown. It didn't pay to wonder how I had ended up in it.

I stumbled down the unfurnished corridor, feeling as if I were in a bad horror movie. Then as if my thoughts were echoed by the universe itself the ceiling caved in on top of me.

I tucked to my knees to protect my head and awaited the fall of brick and mortar that never reached me. I looked up at the perfectly fine ceiling and stood shakily on my feet. It was just my mind playing tricks on me.

I continued down the hallway in search of a staircase to take me back to ground level. I found a door leading to a staircase and rushed forward, dropping from the landing into blank air. I fell at terminal velocity down the blank shaft and looked down at my feet planted firmly on the top step.

My heart was racing now as I sprinted down the staircase, trying to escape from the overflowing panic inside me.

I burst into the ground floor foyer, panting in relief. I cast a cautious gaze around the room and my eyes settled on a single shadowy figure sitting on one of the chairs at the cafe beside where some work was being done on a brick wall.

I paced towards the figure carefully and it stood, the shadows unfolding with it into tendrils of darkness, forming a huge unyielding cloud.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" The voice laughed cruely, almost bursting my eardrums in the process.

It began to pace towards me and my eyes scanned the room for the nearest weapon I could find. I rushed towards the building site and picked up a strong red brick. Weighing it in one hand as the creature approached.

"PUT DOWN THE BRICK, KERRI." The voice boomed again and I heaved the masonry onto my shoulder.

"Don't come any closer!" I warned but my voice sounded pathetic and wavering, even to me.

The shadowy monster took another step towards me, doubling in size as it did so so it loomed over me. The edges of my vision tinted white in panic and I heaved the brick into the air with all my strength. It sailed through the monster and connected with something with a very human cry of pain.

The shadows fell backwards and collapsed in on themselves, leaving a pale boy lying unconscious on the floor. His blonde hair was stained with blood and the brick lay beside him innocently.

"Jason!" I cried, rushing to his side and examining the wound. Forgetting - of course - that I was in a hospital filled with medical professionals. The brick had only nicked his head but it was still bleeding nastily.

"Help!" I cried into the night, the shout choked with my sobs. "Help!"

Eventually someone came running and I was ushered away from him in a blur of concerned faces and white corridors.

Somewhere amidst the chaos, I blacked out.

Notes

Brason <3

(Only half the chapter uploaded on the first try which was weird so I had to retype it using the frustrating predictive text on my phone -.-)

- Phoebe ;)