Scream

Makai Keanu

I've been checked into Solaris Hospital...room 4512, in case you were wondering. Just like before I was "spared," I have IV's hooked up to me all over the place. But this time, they aren't taking away from me; they're giving. Blood from someone kind enough to donate is flowing through my veins, vitamins and nutrition I was deprived of is injected through me via tubes, and, oh yeah, I'm alive. Of all the people who died –Destiny, Ms Saylor, and Allister – why am I the one that was spared? Why me? 

I wake up the day after the carnival. My dad is here, to my right, bus-sleeping on a chair. Bus-sleeping is when people are next to you, so you tilt your head back and try to get some Zs. Anyways, my mom is nowhere in sight, but I'm sure she's here. I shift a little bit, sitting up.

My dad stirs and opens the brown eyes that he passed down to me. "Hey, kiddo," he softly says, brown hair pointing in all kinds of directions. "How do you feel?" 

 "I feel..." Okay? Miserable? Vexed? Gleeful? Somewhere in the middle? "...I feel like I survived," I end up saying. 

"The doctors want you here until tomorrow, then we can take you home and put some meat back on those bones," Dad jokes. Dad always jokes, but now there are tears in his eyes.

"I was so scared we'd never find you. And when we finally did, you had gotten infected from unsterile needles. You were here with us, but you were still suffering. It was the worst thing I had ever gone through," he admits. 

"I'm okay now," I promise him. "And Dad?"

He looks up at me with bloodshot, glassy eyes.

"I'm sorry for killing Lena." Lena, the older sister I once had who died in the car accident I caused. "I shouldn't have been drinking."

"Son..." my dad says with a sigh, no doubt all the bad memories flooding him again. "...son, that is not your fault. God must've wanted her early, that's all." 

I sob a little harder, straining to wipe away all the tears that flood my eyes. "I screw up all the time...running in with the law, never considering consequences, killing Lena...I'm the black sheep of the family, Dad," I confess. I had a lot of time to think when I was alone with needles in my arms. All I could think of was how much of a stain I was on the Keanufamily's white sheets. How disappointed my parents must be. Speaking of..." where's mom?" 

An expression I can't understand darkens his eyes and withers his features, making him look older. "She's out of state for work. She'll be back in two days." 

I scoff and sit up a bit more. "I've been saved from a psychopath after being held captive and tortured for days, and she can't be here now?" 

Frustrated, my dad sighs and runs a hand through his peppered, thick hair. "She'strying, Makai. She has sacrificed so much for us that you can't even begin to understand."

 I shake my head and look away at the nightstand with an envelope addressed to me. 

My name is written in Della's handwriting. I smile. I've missed Della...the things she would've said to the deputy would've had me laughing for days.

 "I'm tired of not understanding," I complain, crossing my arms and watching type AB-blood flow through my veins...hold on. 

I flashback to when I first saw all of Destiny's blood in her white room. Flashback to when I saw the word ART in blood splatter. Of course, it was stupid to put a word like "art" at a crime scene...it was AB-. Not art. What does it mean? What does it hint to? 

"I'm sorry, Makai. It's not your fault," he tells me, rubbing his thumb over my hand.

"None if this is your fault."

Frustration clouds my head. Why can't my mom just be happy for my existence for once? I swear, it's like she never wanted me in the first place. It's like I was an accident. My first instinct is to explode on my dad and demand answers – demand why he's always secretive and distant. Demand why he's so good at masking it with jokes and charm. But I don't want to do that. My dad loves me. He was scared out of his mind for me. Now isn't time for the daily "piss of the parents" routine.

"Can I have some privacy?" I politely ask rather than glower his way and yell at him. 

 Dad grimaces but gives me a curt, reluctant nod. "Sure." He stands and ruffles my hair before walking out.

I maintain solemn composure until I hear the door click closed. After that, I lunge for Adelina's letter is like it's a juicy steak. Eagerly, I open the envelope and rip out the contents.

Makai, 

Just when I thought I finally got rid of you, you manage to come back. Part of me feels responsible for you getting taken by that psycho deputy. I'm sorry. Writing this, I don't know if you're okay or where you are, but I'm determined to have this recorded somewhere if something happens to me. I'm sorry for all the times I was a bitch to you. I didn't mean it. I never did. Please come home, and soon. We all miss you and we all love you. If When you get back, you have to tell me all about the jackass who took you. Then, we'll find him and beat the guy up. If you're reading this now, just know that I care for you more than I let on. I bet you didn't "Makai Kea-know" that.

 Love, Della 

Neatly, I fold the letter and slide it in the envelope, feeling relieved and a little bit moved. This solidifies the fact that I made it...I'm home.

Outside the room, there's a slight commotion and I tune into what's going on. 

 "We'll let him rest tonight," Sheriff Desario's voice tells, presumably, my dad.

"Tomorrow, I'll send my best deputy in to question him for a little bit so we can find out who did this."

I swear to God, if the best deputy is that lunatic who caged me, I'm screaming bloodyMary. I want that guy locked away for the rest of his pathetic life. I don't care if he suddenly became the purest person in the world and had the answer to all of the life mysteries; I'd still want his ass in jail. 

 I remember Reyna saying we didn't need to worry about him anymore, back at theSpring Carnival. Did she mean he was already found? Or did she mean that he had been taken care of in an unorthodox method? 

Grunting, I slide under the thin sheets of the hospital bed. I need to clear my mind. I'm finally safe and I'm going to waste a good night's sleep? I don't think so. 

 I take a deep breath before spiralling down the dark tendrils of rest.