Shriek

Chapter five

Back at the hospital Claire woke up feeling super weird, the last thing she remembered was driving home through a storm then she saw a flash of light blinding her and knocking her out. Now she was seeing a bunch of images in her head, some she recognized but others she didn't. "What's going on?" She asked, holding her head. Did she have some kind of stroke or get concussed? She pressed the nurse call button nearby but no one came to her room. "Where is everyone?" She got out of bed and took the IVs out of her arm. "Hello?" Voices were coming down the hall by her room so Claire raced out into the hallway only to run smack into someone. She stumbled and looked to see who she ran into, sure enough, it was Ezra.

"Claire?" Ezra said in surprise. "How are you awake?"

"Ezra, when did you get here?" Claire asked. "Oww my head really hurts, have you seen my family or a doctor?"

"We've been here for a day Claire," Mary said. "We thought you called us, and the doctor I don't know, we haven't seen a single doctor or nurse."

"But I didn't call you. I was talking with my stepmother on the phone before I saw this light and I woke up." Claire wondered if she had died during the storm and if she was now in heaven. "Oh no, am I dead?" Ezra grabbed Claire's hands and looked her in the eyes.

"You aren't dead Claire, you're just as alive as Mary and I are." Ezra began putting the pieces together, Claire wasn't the one who called him. It was Amara, Ezra let go of Claire's hands. "That bitch.. I should have guessed it."

"I have no idea who you are talking about Ezra, I wanna go home Cass and Marina are probably worried sick." Mary touched Claire on the shoulder.

"Claire we need help, we're here also on a hunt," Mary explained. "We're dealing with a banshee and we need to make sure no one else in this hospital is next. We need to paint these sigils." Mary held her Uncle's journal open to the sigils that were meant to trap and send the banshee against the wall.

"The best place we can go would be the lobby," Ezra said. "We'll explain everything later Claire, right now we need to stop this thing, are you up for it?"

"Normally I would say yes but I can't even walk without seeing flashes in my head, but I can help you, I've hunted a banshee before," She went through her pockets and pulled out a picture of the sigil along with her knife. "This won't do much but the sigil should work."

***

Claire and the cousins were in the lobby, Claire had finally removed the hospital gown so it wasn't choking her. While Mary and Claire were getting the sigils ready, Ezra looked out one of the windows at the setting sun and hoped that they'd get the sigils done before the banshee came back. Claire finished her sigil followed by Mary, however, Ezra was lost in thought thinking about everything that had gone down. The minute the sun went down the family waited for the banshee.

"Who do you think it'll go after?" Claire said. "There's barely anyone here.." As if on cue, Ezra started hearing something heading toward the lobby.

"Um, guys?" Ezra said standing. "Do you hear that?" Suddenly, the sound grew louder as Ezra cried out in pain and dropped the golden blade to cover his ears.

"Ezra!" Mary cried out. Just like before she couldn't see the creature but could sense its hunger and malice. She grabbed onto Ezra preventing him from banging his head against anything and the banshee revealed itself giving out a shriek. "Ugh you're so ugly," Mary kept the creature distracted while Claire pressed the sigil causing the banshee to go flying back into the wall. It wailed loudly causing nearby windows to crack and wasn't prepared for Mary to pick up the golden blade to end its life. "I hate your look and your hair."