Monday, March 4, 2013
I
took only an hour and half for him to find her, but it was the longest hour and
a half of Monday’s life.
Monday
was pressed up against the counter, she wanted to look away from Dion, but all
she could do was stair at him in. Monday tried to come up with what she had
done, but off all the emotions she felt- anger, repulsion, horror- the only way
to describe what she felt was relief. He can’t hurt me anymore, Monday thought.
The feeling of ease washed over her, but there was darkness to it. This must be
the Nightling side of her being freed.
And
then the horror hit her like a tidal wave. This is not what she wanted; she
hated Dion, but never wanted him dead. When he would touch her at night, when
he made her call Alyson a liar in court, when Alyson was bullied at school for
“ruining” Monday’s family and he banned Monday from talking to her. Even when
Alyson killed herself and he called Alyson every name in the book, Monday never
wanted him dead. Gone, but not dead.
There
was a knock at the back door and Ezra came in. Monday had never been happier to
see him. She ran into his arms, smearing his white shirt with blood, “I didn’t
mean to, I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s
okay, we’ve got you,” he said, his voice shaking as much as Monday’s. Monday
looked over his shoulder surprised to see Edith come in behind them. Edith
looked around the room without a hint of surprise on her face. She went over to
Dion and felt his neck for a pulse, “what do we do next Edith?”
“First
things first, we need to get rid of the body,” Edith said. She picked up the
knife lying next to Dion and came over to Monday. Before Monday could stop her,
Edith reached out for Monday’s arm and made a long, shallow slice, cutting
through some of her stitches.
“What
the Hell are you doing?” Ezra yelled, pushing Monday behind. Edith turned to
him, knife still in hand.
“Covering
up. Her blood needs to be at the scene or else it will raise question. We need
to be out of here as soon as possible, go put the body in the truck and I’ll
help her out inside.”
Ezra
nodded and went over to Dion. He couldn’t lift him; instead he dragged him
across the floor. As Ezra worked on getting Dion in the trunk, Edith looked
around the kitchen for something. After trying out a few draws, she took the
meat hammer and smashed the window open from the outside. Meanwhile, Monday
just stood around, blood dripping off of her arm.
Ezra
came back inside, “He’s in. No what do we do?” Edith looked around the room,
“Not much we can do. We need to get back to Syringa and drop of the body before
tonight. I don’t want the stench in my car.”
They
walked to the door but Monday stayed put, feeling unable to move. Edith came
over and put an arm around her, and told her in a gentle voice “We need to go
and get you out of here. You want to be somewhere comfortable for tonight. You
can’t stay here.”
Monday
looked up at Ezra, “Can I bring something with me?” He looked at Edith who nodded
her head. “There is a picture on my nightstand. Can you grab that and my blanket?
My room in the one in the front of the house.”
Ezra
left to grab it as Edith led her out of the house and to her car. Edith had a
small black car that Monday hand to climb in the back seat from the front. As
Edith buckled her in., Ezra came back with her blanket and picture. They backed
out of the driveway and Monday took one last look at her home. Edith pulled out
and drove off fast, causing Monday slam into the side of the car. Edith
navigated the streets with ease while Monday lend against the window. She
wrapped up into a tight Cancun with her blanket in the cramped back seat “What
happens now?”
Ezra
turned around in his seat, “We need to see Lenny first and drop of the body,
then head up to the headquarters.”
Too
many questions were popping up in Monday’s boggled mind, “Who?”
“Lenny
is an undertaker that takes care of bodies.” Ezra said. He turned in his seat
to Monday, “Just try to relax.”
She
watched out the window as the cars raced by, but couldn’t see them; her mind
was elsewhere. She pictured herself a Nightling, her large wings spread out
behind her and her black eyes hungry and vicious. When Alyson called her before
she killed herself, Alyson told her “You did this to me” Monday wondered if
this was revenge from beyond the grave.
The
cold glass and the movement of the car had put Monday asleep. When the car
jolted to a halt in front of a small building with tan bricks, Monday woke up
and looked out the window to see a short man approach. Edith and Ezra got out
and Monday climbed out after them. Lenny was short; he only had an inch or two
on Monday. Under his lab coat was a gray polo shirt with Oasis Mortuary on it.
“Nice to see you all again,” Lenny said with a slight lisp, “What do you have
for me today?”
Monday
stayed on the side of the car as Edith popped the trunk
Lenny
was taken aback, “How many times did she stab him?” Monday looked away, but
felt a hand her shoulder, “Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse. I once had a first
timer who came in with out the head. It took them a few days to find it. A
little stabbing is nothing, but it does get the point across.”
“Save
the puns for later Lenny, I have a deadline.” He nodded and went back in
without a word. Monday saw him come back out with a medal stretcher. She got
back in the car to wait. Inside, she couldn’t hear them, but she watched as he
rolled the body away. Blood flashed before her eyes and Monday buried herself
in the blanket even more. Lenny wheeled Dion away; blood was already on the
white sheet that covered him. Edith pulled out of the drive way and Monday
watched, fixated, on the red blood stain: the color wasn’t has funny anymore.
When
they were back on the road, Monday lend forward in her seat. The mortuary was
on the outskirts of the city, Monday looked up and could see the towering heart
of the city and somewhere inside, felt a little better; this was home to her.
Monday expected Edith to Genesis tower, but instead turned away. Ten minutes
later, she parked in front of the bakery. Monday followed Ezra out of the car,
but Edith called her back, “I’m only doping him off. You can sit in the front.”
“Why
isn’t he coming with us?” Monday asked, looking back at an ashamed Ezra. Ezra
took her blanket and picture, “I- need to get a few things done around here.
I’ll meet up with you later.”
Without
Ezra, Monday felt scared. “Don’t leave me,” she said to him, but he ignored her
and left her behind. Monday rode in the front seat as Edith drove away, keeping
an eye on the bakery until it was out view.
“Where
are we going?” Monday asked nervously. The house was staring to decay and more
trees emerged.
“I
told you, headquarters. Marcus’s office is just a city front. We need to go
somewhere more remote.” The city was behind them and the road was less smooth.
The buildings turned to trees until Monday couldn’t even see Syringa behind
her. The gravel road bounced the car and made Monday shake more; Edith turned a
corner onto a road. Monday’s horror quota was reaching its max; the road name
was spray painted over and now read Demon Road.
“Why
is this road called Demon road?” Monday asked.
Edith
shrugged it off, “More local ghost stories. People have been seeing ghost down
here since the 80s but I haven’t seen one yet. It’s a nice cover, Marcus was
able to get the building cheap and no one comes out here, except for the
occasional college kid looking for a rush. Although it is a fitting name.”
“Why?”
Monday asked. Edith’s face fell, “It’s why Ezra wouldn’t come with me.”
“The
headquarters in the woods is the one thing that gives Nightlings nightmares.”
Edith said. She pulled off of the road into a dirt road and to Monday’s
surprise, a building came into view.
In
a wooded clearing, next to an old sign with ST. GILES in faded red letters,
stood a small stone church; complete with stain glass windows and a tall
steeple on top with a rusted cross up high. Time wasn’t kind to the building;
Ivy was growing up the side, roof tiles had fallen off, and glass was missing
from a few windows.
“You
meet in a church?” Monday asked. Monday stepped out of the car with Edith as
she locked her car-not that anyone could find it out here in the woods- and
nodded, “it was cheap. The Daylighters pay for us, but we didn’t need much.”
Monday
followed Edith to the front door, and after finding with an old lock on the
double doors, Monday followed her inside. The entryway had stone floors and
wood paneling on the walls. The only light that came in was the broken windows
that casted a colorful shadow on the cold room. Monday could see passed the
archway and into the sanctuary; it had the same wood walls and stone floors,
but was filled with old wooden pews, some of them were broken and pushed to the
side. Monday looked to her left and between the bathrooms, was a door that gave
her chills.
Between
the two doors, was a third one that stood out from the rest. It was metal door
with multiple locks on in. To Monday’s horror, Edith went over and unlocked it.
Edith pulled Monday into the entryway and turned on the lights. Monday felt her
blood run cold. The room was nothing but a shelf with different bottles and
medal drawers, but in the middle was what looked like an old hospital bed. On
the edge of the bed were leather straps that had a red tint to them, the same
red tint that was on the floor. There were no windows and the walls were
covered in egg creates, the perfect place to scream and no one could hear you.
Monday
clinched up as she heard the door close behind her.
“You
still have a few hours, but the transformation will take its toll. We can start
by running some test.” Edith patted the bed and Monday slowly sat down. Edith
opened a draw and handed her a hospital gown, “You can change into this and get
out of your clothes. I’m sure you don’t want to be covered in blood.”
Edith
turned around as Monday changed, the blood had seeped through and she was
covered in red splotches. Edith dumped Monday’s pajamas into a medal bin and
swabbed Monday’s cut arm with a cotton swab, “I’ll bandage your arm back up in
a minute, but first I need to get you blood type. Whatever blood you drink has
to be compatible, or it can cause problems.”
“How
do you even know all this?” Monday asked. Edith turned away from her to test
the blood, “There is a book that you might want to check out. Another
Nightling, Dr. Dakota Frank, wrote a book called The Science of the Dark, all
about Nightlings, with his wife Clara. It took a while to convenience Marcus to
let him publish I, he gave in. He thought that it might satisfy the enthusiast
out there. It didn’t go well with the Daylighters thou when they saw the amount
of press. They backed down when the enthusiast just added it to the mythology.
You can find it in the fiction section. Here we go, you’re AB+. A good blood
type to have. Lenny will have your stepfathers soon and while see if their
compatible. Sometimes, Nightlings will favor their first kill. We just need to
make sure that you can have hi-”
“I
don’t want him,” Monday said, holding her bad arm. There wasn’t a clock in the
room as time seemed to stop. Edith pulled out a needle and thread but before
she could work on Monday pulled away, “Last time I gave you my arm you sliced
it open.”
“Relax;
I know what I’m doing. I wasn’t always Marcus’s secretary. I was in med school
once.” Monday didn’t know if it was nerves or some Nightling perk, but she
couldn’t feel the needle in her arm. When Edith was done bandaging it up, she
checked her phone for the time. “I’ll start hooking you up for tonight. The
first night is always the hardest and the bloodiest. The transformation has
been known to kill those who go through it unsupervised, luckily for you; you
have me to watch over. Once I hook you up to the I've you won’t feel a thing.”
“How
organized are Nightlings?” Monday asked. Edith just smiled, “We have to keep
organized to keep under the radar. Which is why you’re not leaving here for a
while.”
“Why?”
“The
best way that I’ve found to decrease possible injury or exposer is to sedate
for the first night. After the first night, then I’ll keep you drugged, but
you’ll be awake. Each day, the pain meds will be decreased to a manageable
level. It takes years to be able to change pain free; luckily, Marcus can write
you a prescription. At most, you’ll be here about 2 to 3 weeks.”
She
said it so calmly: just 2 to 3 weeks, Monday thought, 2 to 3 weeks of torture.
Alyson’s stupid voice popped in her head, “I deserve this.”
“No
one deserves this, stop being so overly dramatic,” Edith said, “This is why I
hate kids. They’re always the worse.”
“Then
why are you having one?” Monday said, regretting it after wards, “I’m sorry, I
shouldn’t have asked that. My mind is just being stupid right now.”
“I
can imagine. You’re scared right now. They all are.” Edith had a melancholy to
her voice. She went to the cabinet and pulled out an IV, “You’re about 2 hours
away. I can give you something to relax you, and then put you under.”
Edith
hooked Monday up to the IV and she felt her arm run cold. Already, she felt a
little bit better. Edith took out her phone and took a picture of Monday. “What
was that for?”
“For
your record. I need a before and after shot. Turn you head to the left, then
the right. Good.” Edith put the phone away and pulled tablet out of her purse.
She hooked up a keyboard to it and started asking Monday questions, “just
answer the questions honestly. Full name?”
“Monday
Marie Caldecott”
“Birthday?”
“June
13.” Edith asked Monday for everything from height and weight, until Monday
felt an ache in her back. Edith looked at her phone for the time again, “5:45. Your
body is getting ready for the change.”
Edith
came over and switched IV’s on Monday. “It’s going to be okay. “Edith said,
holding her hand. It seemed rehearsed, but genuine. “You might wake up during
the night and the I can readjust your meds accordingly. If that happens, I need
you to do two things.” Edith Strapped Monday down to the bed Monday looked up
at her but she was blurry. “I you wake up, try not to harm me or yourself and
if your need to scream, the scream as load as you can. No one will hear you for
miles.”
“You’re
not going to leave me are you?” Monday asked, her words slurred. Before Edith
could answer, she faded away.
What could have
minutes or hours later, all Hell broke loose.
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1 comments:
Pace is good, tensions is good. Errors are distracting but manageable. I like your continued progress and that you are sticking with it.
Two problems for me, and a question.
Problems:
1) Blood type is important. Man, that's hard to buy into. When they were drinking bottles of blood before, they were blood typed? If a Nightling makes a kill, they have to carry a blood typing kit around with them? See nothing good to come of this choice.
2) Longest hour and a half of Monday's life. I believe that, but your following 2 paragraphs don't really support it. What did she do for that time? Press up against the counter and stare? For an hour and a half?
Question: Did the kill accelerate the transformation? That needs to be clearer. Otherwise, it just all seems like random coincidence.
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