X Marks the Spot

Chapter 4: Death's Door

Well, his mother was right. He was more beat up than before. So much, that he went unconscious and woke up in the hospital, with a cast on almost every limb. He didn't see a Sleep Paralysis Demon, but four of them, in white uniforms with little mouth-masks. He thought there was supposed to be one, so he assumed he was not being taken with paralysis. He had big, scary machines all hooked up to him, with an oxygen mask on his mouth. His is quivering and speaks, as clear as he can.

"Where......where is my.....my mom..?"

The doctors looked at each other, walked a little distance from Jason, apparently talking about In-N-Out (that's what he heard; they were discussing about telling Jason the truth, it might raise his blood pressure, which is the opposite of what you want when you're in a hospital because 3 groups of people beat you to Death's door, with the option of a denial). One of them, a nice-looking man who was probably in his early 30's, slowly walked back towards Jason.

"Your mother is.........well......how should I say this......she is gone," the 30-looking doctor said. Another one, a young woman, turned her head towards Jason.

"We did the best we could. But, she sacrificed herself for you, Fred- er, Jason," she said. When Jason asked what she was talking about, she explained the story.

"When you went outside, the 3 gangs were beating you up constantly and brutally. When the gangs had presumably got done, your Mother walked out, picked you up, carried you a little bit, and that's when it happened."

"What happened," Jason asked.

"Apparently, one of the people in a gang had hit your Mother on the head with a metal pole. Then, they beat her up, too, only......well.......let's just say....after the beating........they all might've lost their virginity. With you on her back, she crawled to this hospital and died a couple rooms past this one. They've already buried her. You were still comatose for her funeral," the woman said. The 30-doctor picked up a box filled with stuff.

"Your mother wanted you to have this. She gave it to us for some reason, but she said, 'Tell him that he needs to open the box when he's ready. When the time comes, he'll do the right thing.' Funny thing is, she gave this to us about 6 months in her pregnancy with you. She must be psychic or something."

Realizing the doctor's sorry attempt of a joke, Jason faked a smile. He took the oxygen mask off of himself, and snoozed off into sleep - he had some liquid injected into him that made him really tired. When he woke up, nearly half of the scary machines were not plugged into his body, and he didn't feel like he was drowning in magma anymore! He could also breathe better, and, for some reason, he felt more cheerful. Then, at that moment, he remembered what had happened. He remembered the criminals, and the story of how his mom was at Death's Door, which opened and she stepped in.

A new, more serious looking doctor came in. He was talking to the nice woman doctor. As Jason eavesdropped into the conversation (well, trying; he was still in his bed), he heard something about "the criminals who beat up Samantha Todd killed a few more couples. Rumor has it that they're taking young teenagers, too. And, it's not really 3 little gangs anymore. It's like 3 huge gangs, now. They're inviting anyone with martial arts talent into their clans."

First, Jason was surprised about how much he understood through that little chat. Then, suddenly, he got mad. The new doctor saw his blood pressure rise, and then injected some more sleepy-liquid into Jason's body. The last thing he remembered before he went to sleep that time was one word that the doctor had said.

"Relax."