You Know I Make You Wanna Scream

The ambulance wasn’t exactly slowing down as it turned a sharp curve, heading directly toward me. I’m guessing the driver didn’t see me on the side of the road, which was something I would need to change.

I sprung up to my feet, ignoring the pulling strain I felt surge through my bruised muscles. I began waving my arms around briefly before it honestly became too much to handle. I cradled my left arm with my right one, silently cursing myself for being so unfamiliar with the world of pain.

Luckily, the ambulance pulled over to the side of the road. A team of paramedics rushed to my side, blurting out hundreds of questions.

“Miss, are you ok? What are you doing out here? Why are you bleeding?”

I tried my best to collect my strength and straighten my posture, but ended up falling into his arms. “Please,” I breathed out, “you have to help me! I was kidnapped and managed to escape, but my friend…she’s…she’s still up there. She’s in extreme danger!” I frantically pointed up the hill from which I had just fallen, hoping he would get the hint to begin their search and rescue up there.

He chuckled lightly as he lifted my body up onto the stretcher with some assistance from the other man. “You have nothing to worry about, miss. No one would be crazy enough to live up in those woods. Those old cabins and shacks have been abandoned for years.”

He shined a bright light in my eyes as I was wheeled to the rear end of the ambulance. “You seem to be conscious for the most part, but you’ve taken a couple bad blows here and there,” he observed, jotting notes down onto a clipboard. Thank you, Doctor Obvious…

The paramedic closed the dual doors behind him and gave the other up front a nod, perhaps to confirm that everything was good back here and it was safe to continue driving. Only problem was things were far from good.

“You’re not listening! They live up there, and they…they…” I protested strongly before I felt my head fall back onto the stretcher as darkness veiled me.

*Richard Manor's POV*

The clock struck 10 pm behind my head. Business had finally slowed down. I lazily tossed my white jacket over onto the spare chair and sat down at my desk, sighing as I eyed the stack of paperwork in front of me. Work never really goes away in a hospital.

Just as I was about to sign a document, the sound of screeching wheels flew down the hall. Looks like an ER patient arrived. I reluctantly stepped out into the hall to access the situation.

Maybe the nurses could just handle this one.

A girl, about eighteen years old, was being moved from the stretcher over to a hospital bed. There was a lot of blood pooling from her head, in addition to several cuts and bruises that seemed to populate her body. I followed the paramedic who presumably drove her here into the room and asked what happened.

“This is Myra Thompson. We found her on the side of the highway. I think her left arm may be broken and she definitely had a concussion. She slipped into some delirious story after I asked her what happened,” he explained.

“What kind of story?”

He shrugged, “I dunno, something about being kidnapped and that her friend was still with the kidnappers who lived somewhere above the hill.”

“Everyone knows that no one has lived up there in years. Hmmm, I suppose you may be right. She might have experienced some hallucinations. Well, let’s get her head wound treated and then work on casting the arm,” I ordered before slipping out of the room and letting the nurses get to work.

I sat back down in my chair and stared blankly at the paperwork in front of me. Something felt off. It wasn’t the guilt of not observing the procedure in the other room…or the fact that I planned on clocking out early tonight.

A part of me wanted to believe that girl’s story, and I’m not quite sure why. Those woods have been abandoned for quite some time, which surely made it seem like she was delusional. But, at the same time, that could be the perfect place for someone to drag a couple of kidnapped girls to – nice and secluded.

No…no, I can’t get involved. It could totally ruin my reputation; the last thing I need is a police record or something along those lines. I must just be low on caffeine. Yeah, that’s it. My drowsiness is just messing with me. I walked down to the cafeteria and poured myself a fresh cup off coffee before returning to my paperwork.

*Normal POV*

I jolted upward in the stiff hospital bed, being greeted by a sharp headache. An amplified beeping noise flowed into my right ear, while some fuzzy words entered my left. My vision was sealed off by bright white light.

Everything was starting to add up. I made it to the hospital. Moreover, I’m still safe. I blinked a couple times to adjust to my new surrounding before scanning the room in search of someone who could help me. I needed to help Randi, before it was too late. The men she was stuck with were capable of murder, which by default made them essentially capable of just about anything.

A nurse stood nearby, checking the IV tubes. “Please, I need to see the doctor. It’s urgent!” I pleaded.

“Of course,” she nodded knowingly as she exited the room.

A man in a long white coat entered the room with a strangely placed smile on his face. The metal tag on the upper chest pocket read “Dr. Manor.” He pulled a clipboard out of the shelf presumably below the bed and observed the data. “Glad to see you’re awake. How are you feeling, Myra?”

I didn’t feel like beating around the bush, which meant I didn’t have time for his formalities. “I am just fine. My friend is the one you should be worried about. Obviously no one here is willing to help me…I need to get a hold of the police.”

His smile disappeared from his face as he nervously ran his fingers through his slightly graying hair. “Myra, nobody lives up in that hill. Based on the severity of your concussion, we believe you may have just hallucinated,” he sighed.

I leaned forward and narrowed my eyes at him with a hardened expression. “How dare you call yourself a doctor? Someone’s life is on the line right now and you’re trying to blow it off. What the hell is wrong with you people? Why would I make something like this up? Randi is in trouble god damn it!” I seethed.

Doctor Manor’s eyes flickered toward me momentarily after hearing Randi’s name…it was almost like he knew her or something. The look quickly passed as he tried to cover everything up and calm me down. He told me we could possibly call the police tomorrow if I just get some rest now. How could he expect me to relax when all I can think about is Randi?

Nevertheless, I agreed to his terms and waited until he left the room before turning over and crying into the pillow.

About half an hour later, the nurse entered the room quietly and said, “Miss Thompson, you have a visitor. He got here right in time, too! Visiting hours end in fifteen minutes.”

I nodded and used my wrist to wipe away the tears. Who could possibly be visiting me at 11:45 PM? Or better yet…who would even know I was here? Did that asshole of a doctor contact my parents? Wait, the nurse said 'he.'

It must be Chris! This is just what I need. Chris can get me out of here and we can go to the police together. I propped myself up in the bed and stared at the door in anticipation. I felt my smile slowly crumble into bits of false hope as my eyes met those of the man at the door. It was Brian.

He slowly stepped inside and locked the door behind him. I found myself slowly sinking under the covers to hide from the sick smile playing across his lips. He must’ve been so proud of himself. “Well, well, well look like you were smarter than I thought you were. Congrats on being the first girl to escape, well, sort of,” he applauded, stepping closer and closer to the bed. I felt my facial muscles twinge in pain. I wanted to glare at him so badly, but the dumbfounded look remained in place. My body was too frozen with fear to react properly.

“How did you get in here? How did you find me?” I demanded, thankful that at the very least I was still able to speak without stuttering.

Brian was wearing a hoodie, a pair of ripped jeans, and no eyeliner. I guess that made him look slightly less suspicious. He started laughing as he leaned up against the wall. “Please, did you really think that you could get away? That it would be that simple for you to run and tell the cops?”

I scoffed, “I didn’t even get a chance to make it to the cops. Hell, even the people I told here wrote it off as a side effect of my concussion!”

His eyes lit up in interest, and something told me that I probably shouldn’t have given him so many details. A devilish smile appeared on his face as he approached the bed once again.

“Really, now? That’s rather interesting, Myra. You see we figured you’d have to open your big mouth and tell someone…so we decided to kill the hostage.” He leaned forward until our faces were near touching. “She screamed and screamed until her throat was raw. All that came up after that was blood,” he grinned.

Brian was hard to read. Initially, I felt my heart skip a beat as his words brought my nightmares to life, but then I stopped for a minute to think logically. If I have even the slightest idea of what he’s trying to accomplish with all this, then I know he wouldn’t have killed Randi – not yet. I finally received enough motivation to glare at him.

“Liar,” I spat, “your bullshit lies aren’t going to work on me!”

His eyes twitched in temporary shock. He honestly didn’t see that one coming, which made me smile ever so slightly on the inside. “Good job, Myra. But, you know, it doesn’t really matter whether she’s alive or not. We’ll be leaving soon, and then you can see for yourself.”

My heartbeat increased drastically again. Was he really planning on kidnapping me from a damn hospital? There were people everywhere…oh wait…it was past midnight now. And visiting hours were dwindling. Uh oh. He began digging around in the pockets of his leather jacket until he found the tools he was searching for.

One by one, he laid a knife, syringe, and roll of duct tape on the steel table near my pillow. “We can do this the easy or hard way,” he said, studying my face to determine the answer to his statement. I stole one more glance at the tools before spitting into his face. He began laughing as he used his sleeve to remove the saliva. “I should’ve known.”

He grabbed the knife and held it up against my throat, casually digging into the flesh every now and then. “You make one noise, you die,” he growled in my ear, pulling me up out of the bed. I kept my eyes locked on him while he stared at the tubes in my arm and neck. I got that feeling again – I didn’t take his threat seriously at all.

He wants his “perfect revenge,” and slitting my throat in a hospital was far from glamorous. And that’s exactly why I dared to scream. It started out low in the back of my throat, and then expanded through the ear, surely reaching any nearby hospital personnel nearby.

He dug the knife a little deeper, this time breaking skin as warm liquid flowed gently down my neck. He let the knife fall to the tiled floor, now letting his hand rip the tubes out of my skin, causing another scream, this time one inspired by pain. Blood splashed onto the wall behind me. And not once did his grip falter.

He then reached for a pillow, shoving it over my face to minimize the volume of my vocals. I struggled against his chest as I felt air becoming harder and harder to attain. My eyes widened as I caught a brief glimpse of the needle heading for my arm.

“Don’t worry, Myra, it’s just a special pain killer. It’ll make it much easier for you to stand up on your own,” he said with a concerned front. I stopped struggling and screaming, which was the sure sign to remove the pillow. “I take it you’re ready to leave?” he asked, cocking his neck to get a better look at my pale face.

Before I could offer him an indecent answer, he lifted me off the ground and headed for the window. I couldn’t speak or move, I could only lie limply in his arms like his precious little porcelain doll.

My head rolled back over his arm and my eyes stared at the ceiling. I wanted to cry for help, I wanted to tell him he was crazy, I wanted to cry after we landed on the concrete. So many wants. No one noticed us as he ran away in the dead of night. How am I possibly going to survive this?