Ink (Book 1 of the Ink Series)

Witness

My head bounced lazily, my limbs were weights. The breeze and rain water hit my skin in slow, lazy drops. But I never opened my eyes. I was in a semi-conscious state, too bogged down by whatever flowed through my veins. Hundreds of jerky footsteps later, I was comfortable again.

"Shh," another garbled voice told me. My body fell limply into a soft, pillowy form. I drifted in and out of consciousness.

The continual shush was the only thing I remembered before I woke up in the hospital bed with my Dad and Nona staring at me in horror. Their expressions were ones I would remember forever.

"Honey," Dad said, his face full of agony.

Nona shot up from the hospital chair, coming to my side. For once she wasn't her usual batty self. She placed a hand on my forehead. "We were worried about you," she whispered, smoothing my hair.

I looked around the room, totally out of it. "How did I get here?" I whispered, hardly able to speak, my throat dry and sore.

"Take it easy, darling," Nona said, coaxing me into silence.

Dad raked his hands through his hair. He looked pained. I tried to remember what happened. My memory only accounted for parts of the morning, the spaghetti I ate with Slade and Tucker's stepmom and her horrible insults.

A nurse tapped on the door, letting herself into the room. She was a burly woman, dressed all in white. "I want to take her vitals. Could you two step outside?" She stared at me as Nona and Dad left the room.

I allowed her to take my blood pressure.

"Do you feel any better?"

I lifted my head to look at her. "I suppose so. I feel really groggy."

"That's to be expected," she said with a nod. She unstrapped the cuff, placing it on the table. Before I could ask what that was, she popped a thermometer in my mouth.

Another knock sounded on the door. In walked a tall man in black dress pants and a gray jacket. He immediately pulled his hat off.

"Ms. Zigler, my name is Officer Jeffries." He gave a nod, coming to the other side of my bed.

"Okay," was all I said around the thermometer.

"Are you up for some questions?" He took a seat in the chair Nona had been sitting in, pulling out a tablet and pen from his inner jacket pocket.

"I guess...sure." I cleared my throat.

Officer Jeffries tapped his pen on his thigh, looking me over. "Could you tell me what you remember about the attack?"

I held back the shock, then was gifted a couple more memories. I left the party feeling sick. I remembered walking on wobbly legs across the sand.

"I left Tucker's to go home. I took the usual route across the beach." I pushed my hair behind my ear. As I brought my hand back down I noticed my scraped knuckles. This pained me even more.

"Okay, do you remember seeing anyone, or did anyone approach you at anytime?" Officer Jeffries questioned.

"No. I don't remember. I only remember leaving Tucker's party because I was upset... I just wanted to go home." I dropped my head, suddenly feeling really emotional.

"Why were you upset?" He jabbed the pen down on the paper, waiting.

"I don't remember," I lied. I was too ashamed to admit his stepmom hurt my feelings, or that she thought I was trash and so easily said so.