Saviors

chapter 10

Silence… absolute silence…  “We’re coming for you.” a frantic gasp for air.  “Can you kill us before we kill you?” A hand rested at her throat. Squeezing harder and harder. “Time to go.” the voice teased.

Beep beep- beep beep- beep beep- beep beep- beep-beep- the beeping slowed. Until it reached a steady pattern.

“Now that she has calmed down I wanted to tell you. The results are back. Kat Jackson is the daughter of Mark Jackson and an unknown female. She has no relation to Laura Jackson or John Abernathy.” A voice said.

“How is that possible? I gave birth to her.”  A second voice said.

“Surrogacy?” the first voice responded.

“Good thing she is not mine. No child of mine would pull something like that.” A third voice said.

“Yes.” a fourth voice hissed. “No child of yours. But just a few hours ago you went behind my back and had her dna tested in hopes that she actually was yours and you could take her from me.”

“By the way, after that stunt she pulled she is not allowed to return to school.” the third voice said.

“For a few weeks?” the fourth voice asked with a hint of fear heard for fear of what the answer was.

“Forever. She attacked a student. I’ve seen her records. I don’t need someone like that in my school.”

“She is your niece.”

“And? Your point? Just because she is your child makes no difference.”

“Leave the three of you need to leave.” Footsteps walked away and then lighter steps were heard coming towards them.

“Mark?” A fifth voice asked.

“Chris…” The fourth voice replied weakly.  “Why did she have to do this? She was fine beforehand… The doctor told me that the wound on her neck had reopened. It's been over two years and we don’t know what caused it... Starr is missing… they said she broke her back taking the weight of the both of them… until she wakes up they don’t know if she can still walk… she had a piece of wood sticking out of her side when they lifted her. She was in surgery for five hours but before that my bastard brother had her dna tested. He kicked her out of school. I need to move again to get her away from this place. She won’t like the new school. She will pick fights… she can’t sit still but if she can’t walk… she won’t last long in the real world without her legs… Was she that antsy without a fight that she could no longer stand it and has finally lost her mind?”

“It took me forever to try and calm down Ben and Jake... And Korey wanted to kill her. They say that that classroom is going to be packed up and never used again.”

Kat tried to focus on the beeping she was tired of pretending to be asleep. She felt a darker presence fill the air around her. Her body reacted. She started hyperventilating and the machine beeped rapidly. Chris and Mark turned, about to enter the room on their nurse's instinct. They never made it. Kat was trying to calm her own breathing. A Nurse ran in and put his hand on Kat to try and calm her down and check vitals. Kat felt a chill run down her spine she launched herself off of the bed and backed away. She couldn't use her legs so she dragged herself with her arms. She panicked when she backed into a wall. The doctor cackled. The skin seemed to melt off of his face to reveal a solid wooden puppet. Kat gasped. If the puppet was in the room what happened to her father? She looked past the door and saw Mark and Chris unconscious laying on the ground.

“Kat watch out!” Starr shouted. In her lapse of judgement the puppet had grabbed her hospital gown. It flung her next to the unconscious bodies of her father and her father's lover. The puppet then vanished. She heard the door down the hallway open.

She glanced over and saw Jake enter the hallway. She knew he judged too quickly “Mark! Chris!” Jake yelled. He looked accusingly to Kat. “What did you do?” He growled.

“Jake... I…” Kat stuttered while trying to explain what happened.

“What right do you have to attack whoever you want?”

“I…”

“You attacked James. Then you attacked Ben and now your father?” Jake said. In his anger he had dragged kat to her feet and slammed her into the wall. Jakes mind was clouded with betrayal. “Until you realize that you can't just go around attacking people we are through. I don't want to date a monster.”

Jake released Kat. She collapsed. She coughed as her wound reopened. Kat refused to say anything. Jake heard a groan as the Mark started waking up. He glanced at his daughter with his eyes accusing her of betrayal. Kat made eye contact with him for a second before she looked away. Kat could feel the blood run into her mouth. She braced herself and used her arms to lift her body and drag her useless legs. She slowly crawled to the bed. Jake, for a moment, felt pity for Kat and was about to walk over and help her but Kat finally spoke.

“Don't.” Kat growled. “Don't you dare touch me or I will hurt you.” nurses filled the room and watched as the bleeding girl heaved herself onto the bed. Kat choked on the blood in her mouth. The nurses move cautiously towards the seventeen year old. Tears ran down her cheeks. “Please don't touch me until I am unable to hurt you. You can help me when I sleep.” Kat whispered. The nurses promised her that they would honor that wish. She was exhausted but she forced herself to stay awake. She used her energy to keep her awake far past the normal limits of the human body.

‘It’s okay to sleep.’ Kat heard a voice say. Her delirious mind had brought her into her memories. Mark had found it difficult to watch his daughter fight unconsciousness. He turned to stand in the hallway.

“Red.” Kat moaned out loud. Mark stopped. He turned to face his daughter with confusion etched on his face.

'It's me. Why don't you sleep?’ Kat had been sitting on the couch at Ebony’s house. It was the middle of the night. A boy with ruby red hair walked into the living room.

“We buried him today. It still doesn't feel real. But when I close my eyes I see him smiling. I feel him hit the gas. Seconds later he jerks the wheel. I hear the squeal of brakes. Not ours. We keep ours in the best condition. No, they were someone else's. I felt the impact. I couldn't breathe. The car flipped over and over. We landed on our hood and slid to a stop. I looked over it was a mistake. He was covered in blood. Blood was everywhere. I saw the light fade from his eyes. I felt everything turn black. They say we were hit by a semi. The driver had gotten a drink before work. More like 20. The Silverado was crushed by the power of the truck. But every time I close my eyes I see him die again and again and again and I am powerless to save him.” Kat said aloud again tears ran down her cheeks while she laid in the bed. In her memory Red shushed her and pulled her onto his lap. Mark knew what she was talking about. She had never spoken about it to him or her counselors. Ebony had died in a car crash. Kat was with him. They were going to the shop to work on the Silverado. A drunk semi truck driver had driven into the city, ran a red light and killed Ebony. Kat had broken her right shoulder she had a major concussion and glass shards had littered her arm. She had 240 stitches in her right arm and back. Kat should have been sleeping a lot more then she had but she was haunted by the memory of Ebony's death. Mark watched as Kat succumbed to the exhaustion and the nurses stood there unsure what to do for a second. The nurses jumped out of their confusion for Kat’s delirious words, and immediately started to help the dying girl, at that moment Kat’s shuddering breaths halted.