The Bloody Massacre in King Street

Chapter 4

I woke to see nothing but darkness. Something smothered my nose and mouth, making it hard to breathe. Instinctively, I snapped my head back and took a breath of fresh air.

With much effort due to a shooting pain throughout my body, I managed to turn to my left side. I yelped as pain radiated from the shoulder I leaned on the moment I put pressure on it. Using my good arm, I flipped over to my back. My fingertips fluttered up to the spot of pain that seemed to be the result of a deep wound. Bringing my fingers into my field of vision, I noticed the dark liquid covering my fingertips. The sight made me wince.

I pushed myself up to a sit, leaning against the back of the bed. A door clicked open on the other end of the dark bedroom. A lit candle illuminated a figure I couldn’t quite see the face of. The person appeared to be a small girl by the way she had her very light hair tied up in a neat bun and by the way her dress moved as she walked.

“You’re awake!” the girl exclaimed. “Good.”

I cleared my throat. “Where… where am I? What happened to—”

“Hush,” the girl whispered, bringing a finger to her lips. “Just hold still and keep quiet, and I’ll dress your wound. If you don’t let me, you could very well die from it.” I huffed, but she didn’t seem to notice. “Now, is there any family I should contact?” she asked, pushing me gently back against the bed. As I replied, she pulled up a chair from a dark corner of the room and positioned herself on my left side to access my hurt shoulder.

“My friends are my family. Where have they gone?” I demanded, sitting all the way up again. “What happened?” My voice began to rise in anger, but the girl’s cool voice stopped me again.

“Quiet. Let me finish and I’ll let you see your friends.” She paused her work to look me in the eyes. I met her gaze with a blunt glare, but nodded to signal for her to proceed. She gave me a small smile that almost resembled a smirk, and then resumed cleaning the wound.

Several minutes passed in silence as the young girl worked. A few times she warned me of pain and I nodded, gritting my teeth. She removed the bullet, then carried on without a second thought. She muttered things under her breath constantly, but I couldn’t tell what she was saying. It didn’t sound like English, or even any other language I’d ever heard.

After many long minutes passed of intense pain that I endured in silence, the girl finally finished cleaning the bullet hole. She quickly tied a sling around my neck to keep my arm in place, then dismissed me.

As grateful as I was for her help, I found myself glad to be out of her presence. Simply being in the same room as her made me uncomfortable. Something about the girl seemed strange, but my foggy head couldn’t quite figure it out.

I closed the door behind me and made my way down a dark hallway that lacked any doors or windows, except for one in the middle of the hall that let in the pale moonlight from outside. A long flight of stairs stood at the end of hall. I descended them with a firm grip on the railing.

At the bottom of the staircase was another hallway, this one shorter than the last. It led me to a kitchen lit by a single candle. A figure rose from its chair and examined my face.

“Riley. Thank goodness you’re alive!” Josiah crossed the room to meet me in the doorway.

“What happened?” I blurted out. “Where is everyone else?”

Josiah simply shook his head. After a moment of silence, his eyes met mine.

“Come and see.”