The Phoenix Society

Prologue

1 year ago...

The women sighed as she walked down the dimly light hallway, her heels clicking on the luxury vinyl flooring. It had been a long night full of disaster after disaster. One patient after another, each with their own vastly compromising symptoms and diagnosis. As soon as she finished up with one, another appeared. The only pleasurable part of her night was being able to spend four hours in surgery clipping some women's aneurysm. While she loved her job, some nights it just felt like she was being pulled in a hundred different directions. She placed her stethoscope on the bottom of the locker, then took off her white coat and hung it on one of the little metal hooks that were placed on either side of the metal container. Running her hands through her greasy, brown hair she took a breath in and closed her eyes, finally allowing herself to relax for the night. If she wasn't careful, she would fall asleep right here standing up. Her phone went off playing the familiar marimba ringtone causing her skin to prickle with irritation. She couldn't have one moment of silence. She held the phone up to her ear.

"Hmm?" She mumbled, too tired to bring herself to words.

"I've been trying to get ahold of you all night." The voice quipped on the other end. The women sighed again, this time with annoyance. It was just like him to do this. For as long as she could remember, her husband had always complained about her work schedule. It was always: you're coming home to late, or, I never see you enough because you're always at work. It seemed to be the crux of all their marital problems. He didn't seem to understand how important her work was for her. She couldn't just leave someone with their brain open on the table just because the clock struck midnight.

"Honey, you know how hard it is to answer my phone at work." She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her purse from inside the locker, then slammed it shut.

"We had a deal when you took this job. Do you remember that?" Her husband yammered on.

"Listen, I've had a long day. Can we just talk about this when I get home?" She was too tired to even try arguing with him right now. A long-exaggerated sigh came from the other end.

"Fine." Was all he said before hanging up. She shoved her phone into her purse as she turned out of the locker room. She walked down the nearly deserted hallway as she made her way to the front exit. She always made it a point to leave out the front door at night, it gave her a chance to walk past all the rooms of the patients she had that day. A quick glance in would set her mind at ease, and let her know that they would be okay for the night.

"You headed out for the night?" A nurse asked from the front desk as she walked through the lobby.

She nodded, a tired smile appearing on her face. "I'm going to try and get some rest before my shift tomorrow."

"Sleep well." The nurse said sending her a big warm smile. "You still on for game night at my place tomorrow night? There will be free booze."

She laughed walking past the circular front desk that was lined with computer screens and phones. "I wouldn't miss it."

As the women walked through the automatic sliding doors, she was met with the chilling, crisp, night air. While the autumn nights weren't yet cool enough for her to wear a jacket, they still sent a shiver down her spine as she walked through the desolate parking lot. She found her way 2019 Honda SUV. After taking a minute to find her keys, she slid into the driver's side of the car.

As she pulled her seatbelt on and clicked it into place, she noticed something odd about the seat beside her. No one ever rode in her car. She didn't have kids and her husband refused to ride in her car anywhere. So why was her seat pushed so far back. Her eyes slowly moved upward. The longer she stared at the seat, the more she could make out a figure. It was like he appeared out of nowhere. Though he didn't appear big; he definitely was fit. She could tell by the way his lean body sat perched against the side of the door, with his knee up against his chest, watching her. Before she could scream, a huge, bear like hand clamped around her mouth from the back seat pinning her to the head rest. She struggled for a moment against the hand, then watched as the figure beside her reached into his jacket pocket. She felt an object press against the inside of her leg. She didn't even need to see it to know it was a knife. Tears streamed down her cheeks as a thought pinged in the back of her mind.