C O M P L E T E - first draft.
7x featured story.
Undiscovered Gem, Romance Ambassadors, January 2025.
Ambys 2024 Favourite - Mystery & Thriller
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I don't register what comes first--Mum's screams and curses, or the searing pain that perforates...
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September 27th
C A R M E N
My meeting with Detective Walker leaves me utterly exhausted. Emotionally and physically. I may have slept for hours after the treehouse incident, but answering questions and recalling the events of that evening drain me despite this.
I need to clear my head.
It's a struggle to relax whilst confined to my hospital room, but with some persuasion, the kind nurse from earlier—Rhia—agrees to grant me a change of scenery. She pushes me in my wheelchair in the direction of the hospital's onsite coffee shop.
The corridors are bustling with medical staff, but I still hear Rhia's voice when she speaks. "Miss Ellis, there is something I have been meaning to ask you."
I glance back at her while she continues to push my chair. "Sure, what is it?"
"Your parents have contacted us several times to schedule a visit, but as you are eighteen, I cannot approve this without your consent," she says. "Would you like us to arrange for them to come and see you?"
I grimace, stomach sinking at the thought. My parents know what happened—of course they do. However, I am not ready to talk to them.
Not yet.
"No thank you," I reply, and that seems to surprise the nurse.
"Are you sure, Miss Ellis?" Rhia queries once more. "I cannot imagine the depth of what you must be feeling after what you have been through, not to mention the physical injuries you have sustained. Facing something like this alone is hard... are you sure you wish to do that?"
I nod. "Yeah... for the moment."
Upon arriving at the coffee shop, we come to a stop. Rhia secures the chair with the brakes and manoeuvres herself to face me. She bends down to my height and gives me a worried look. "Is there anyone else we can call for you?" she asks. "Anyone at all who could be a shoulder for you to lean on?"
At this exact moment, I catch sight of a familiar male figure behind her. He's leaning against a wall with a coffee cup clasped in one hand, and his beat up old phone in the other. His untidy black hair and tattered clothes show he either hasn't had the opportunity or hasn't wanted to put himself together.
It's Zachary.
"Zachary," I call his name, ignoring the nurse crouched directly in my line of sight.
But he doesn't hear me.
"Zachary!" I yell again. The second time I call for him, he turns my way and his eyes widen a touch.
"Miss Ellis, is everything alright?" Rhia asks, a frown etched on her face.
