Drowning

Chapter 7

Everyone started to scramble. The heavy people left before I could even stand up. Soon, the whole theater was empty. I pulled Kurt's arm to leave. He reluctantly stood there.
"I want to see the movie." He sat back down.
"Do you want to be killed?!"
"It's some kind of prank. No snake is blue or that big. They can't talk either."
"I've seen this snake before, and he's not good news. If you plan to die here, that's fine with me." I followed Cora down the stairs.
Kurt followed behind me, and so did Garrett and Rachel. Cora let me take the lead because for some reason, I had been the only one to ever see this snake before.
But Kurt was right. There was absolutely no snake that existed on this earth that looked like that. A word that was on the tip of my tongue stung my throat. I needed to think harder. What was this? Ugh! I know this!

The snake was a monster. I got it! A mermaid monster! That's what it was! And it was after my blood. And Cora's.
"Amy, watch out!" Cora yelled from behind.
I thought back to where I was and what was happening. There was a crowd of people hovering in front of me. I skidded to a stop. They were crowded by the entrance, which appeared to be locked. They were throwing anything they could find at the glass door. Nothing worked.
I turned around to think. The snake, which was only inches away, was frantically looking around. It made eye contact with me. It had neon yellow eyes and a black sliver in the center of it's determined eyes.
I turned back around and ran through all the people. I tripped a little and a searing pain ran up through my ankle and my knee. I ignored it and kept running. Once they saw the snake behind, they all gave me room to run. I backed up against the glass door, trapped. The snake smiled evilly. It pulled back, then jumped. I quickly dodged the blow. The snake landed with the teeth on the door. The glass cracked and there was now a way out. People ran and the snake ran after them, probably thinking I went with them. I looked back, making sure everyone had left. Cora was by the concessions, eating a jumbo bag of popcorn. I ran to her, eyeing the gross bag of popcorn that was soaked in butter and drenched in salt. It looked like the grossest thing on earth, but at the same time, the most delicious food ever made. I was tempted at first, but I snapped out of it. Once you start in eating that stuff, I knew it was impossible to stop.
"Cora! We have to go! Stop eating that!" I called.
"The snake was distracted by all the people and there's no person here selling it. So hey, it's free! Why not?!" Cora stuffed her mouth with another handful.
"Cora... We're in the middle of a crisis here!"
"The snake's gone, if you haven't noticed." Cora said with her mouth full.
With every kernel she put in her mouth, I wanted to stick out my tongue and grab some for myself. When I had finally given up and was about to take some, Cora stared at me blankly and started to rub her stomach.
"I don't feel so good..." She mumbled and fell to the ground.
"Cora!" I said as Cora closed her eyes while she lay on the ground.
Kurt came up to me and widened his eyes. "Call the hospital!" He ordered.
I rushed to find the phone on the counter and called as fast as I could. Before I knew it, men and women in white uniforms were dragging Cora into a car with a white stretcher.

~~~

I waited nervously for the nurse to call us inside the room. My face was now flushed from small tears of worry that would stream down my face every so often. Kurt had been sent home as soon as his parents heard on the internet about what had happened at the theater. I was all alone, waiting in an empty hallway with nervousness that seemed to flicker in the lights. Everything about this hallway seemed silent.
I watched without blinking as the doorknob twisted to the side. Someone was opening the door.
I sat on the edge of my seat, ready to visit my best friend.
"You may come in." The nurse directed me inside the room. There was a long curtain separating the other half of the room, and I could hear shallow breathing on the other side.
"Is she okay?" I whispered.
"You don't have to whisper. She won't wake up." She replied.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Is she dead?!
"Um... So what happened to her?"
"She's unconscious at the moment. She was poisoned."
Poisoned? By popcorn?!
"We took out most of the poison from her stomach, but some poised has already been digested and passed through her intestines. Since it wasn't a lot that passed through, her cells will take over the bacteria and the poison will be gone. She will be unconscious for a few more hours, that's all. She will be fine." The nurse explained calmly.
"Can I see her?" I asked rapidly.
"I'm afraid not, sorry." The nurse replied. "Come back at 1:00, and she might be awake."
I nodded my head slowly. It was midnight. I just needed to wait an hour.
I walked home from the hospital, every step dragging along. Finally, I reached home. Everyone was asleep.
I was careful as I walked to my room. I didn't care to turn on the light and I sat down on my bed. I laid on my side and waited for time to pass. Struggling to stay awake, my eyes slowly closed and all tension was gone.