Best Enemies

Hanna

The door to the hospital ward closes and I open my eyes and look around the room.
"Finally," I explain to the silence.

I had been keeping my eyes closed and my body rigid for the last hour and a half and I was getting cramp.

 My clothes are folded neatly on the chair beside me. I throw back the sheets, snatch the clothes and run into the bathroom, firmly bolting the door. I fumble with my jeans and slide the shirt over my head. I unlock the bathroom door and pull the frosted glass window on the opposite side of my room open.

"5th storey up." I sigh. I take off my shoes and throw them down to the ground. I put one of my legs out the window and then the other. I balance my weight on the window ledge and look down. 

I feel as though the building has been suddenly lurched forward making my head spin.
Heights + Hanna don't mix. 

My head starts to spin and my throat has closed up. I slowly take my eyes away from the ground and look towards the tree tops in front of me. I roll onto my stomach and grip the window sill with as much strength as I can conjure. I close my eyes and the pain spreads through my body. 

I almost jump when my foot hits something. A rusty pipe. I put as little weight as possible on it and let the stress on my arms go. I can properly look at the building's exterior walls now. There is window cleaning platform a few metres away. 

A window, above mine, is open and has mysterious noises coming from it. I rest a little more weight on the pipe and begin to walk along it, clutching the wall as I go. The pipe shudders as the wind intensifies. A truck from below drives away noisily and I hear a clang of metal from inside of it. There is a sign on the building a few metres away and I walk towards it.

"To stairs." It says plainly. 

Why would someone put a sign here? There is a door next to the sign. I struggle but I twist the handle and open the door. 

Miraculously there is a set of stairs leading down. It seems completely separate from the hospital and is painted bright blueish green with red steps. I climb inside. I start by heading down the stairs and find strange inscriptions on the wall. Like graffiti but clearer and tells more of a story. 

I run my hands against the dusty walls and try to understand the pictures. The staircase continues to lead me winding downwards, I must be getting to the bottom soon. I arrived at the foot of the staircase and see an old, brown door with a shining copper handle. I reach for it and find it suspicious that it is the only thing that isn't dusty. A draft comes from underneath the door and slips onto my bare feet. I twist the handle and push the door open with force. Behind the door is something that I wouldn't have ever thought of, there is just air. 

I see the grass and the pond near the hospital. The wind picks up and I have to stand back a bit to keep myself steady. I must be at the 2nd storey by know. There's about 10 metres until the bottom. I go down on my stomach and look straight down. 

I see the cleaning platform straight underneath me which is about a metre and a half. I swing my legs over and now I am sitting in the doorway. I slowly let myself hang feeling the wind through my hair and the vertigo is making my head spin. My hands start to sweat and my arms begin to ache. I take a breath and let myself fall. I can't breathe as I fall. It only takes a few seconds but when the wind struggles to catch me and the air around me becomes thin it feels like an eternity. 

The wind evaporates the moisture in my eyes and makes my face dry. I am so relieved when my legs hit the platform with a jolt. The platform swings dangerously. I try to get up but my ankle pains and I fall back down. This isn't a graceful landing and the platform creaks and swings more dangerously than ever. 

I reach towards my ankle but as I do there is a small click, and before I know it I am heading towards the ground at a maximum speed. Many people in this situation would scream, panic and stay still. 

I definitely scream but I keep my panic to about a 6/10. I immediately hit the control panel next to my leg and press the blue button with a circle on it. The platform skids to a halt and I am thrown into the air from the force. The platform stops centimetres from the ground and my heart begins to slow down. It takes me a few seconds to calm down but in an instant I am back on my feet and race towards my shoes, I scoop them up and rush around the corner. The crash of the platform made quite a racquet and people may think that it is suspicious.

 As I turn around the corner Felix, Peter and Rubi appear in front of me. I study them closely, they look tired. I notice Rubi's lip has been bleeding and Peter and Felix stand a bit further apart. I honestly wonder what has happened. 

There is one missing though, Nutmeg isn't with them. 

What has happened to Nutmeg?  

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Also check out Burning if you haven't already...

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