Vertebrae (In Progress)

Chapter 2: Birthday Abduction

"Happy birthday, Willa!" Karis seemingly appeared in front of me. She held a small box at her arms' length in my direction. I let the leaf that I had been inspecting fall to the side and I accepted the gift from her. I opened the flaps on the top and lifted out a small transfer container. It was like the one that Stinky had come in except it held a mass of writhing bugs and beetles, the kind that Stinky likes. Karis grunted in disgust as I inspected the container.

  "I knew that it'd be easier to save up for college if you had less to pay for this month," she shrugged. "So I decided to give Stinky's tab a break."

  "Thank you very much, Karis," I stood up from my bench and hugged her. "This will definitely help a ton! Thank you!"

 She hugged me back and grinned. I carried the box bulging with bugs in my arms and we began our weekly walk around the park. We chatted for a while. I told her about my mom's gift of a gift card to JoJo's Diner and we laughed about it for a while.

  "Stinky seemed extra friendly today," I said. "I think he knows that it's my birthday."

  "I swear he is psychic. He knows everything!" Karis exclaimed.

  "Yeah, the other day he... wait, what's that noise?" I began to turn around in the direction of what sounded like... gunfire...

 I was struck hard in the back. I think it was a bullet. But it hurt. A lot. I fell to the ground, the top breaking off the bug container and the bugs squirmed all around me. Karis started screaming and I breathed heavily. My back... it hit... my back... Was I going to die? Karis whipped out her phone and started dialing an ambulance, but one arrived before she could finish. I tried to move but found that I couldn't. It's not that it hurt too much, I was physically unable to move. Had my spine been struck? My mouth sure worked. I think I was screaming too but I couldn't tell over the sound of Karis' screaming.

 The ambulance pulled up on the grass and two men pulled me onto a stretcher and into the back. "Stinky... take care of... Stinky..." I mumbled to Karis who nodded. The men wouldn't allow her into the ambulance which was odd because I thought that they usual do that. I probably would've thought a lot more had I been more conscious, but I wasn't at that point.

                           

                                                                    *            *            *

 I groggily opened my eyes. Everything was very blurry. I could tell that I wasn't in my apartment, but I was around medical equipment. I was laying on my back as well.

  'Where am I?'

  "Where do you think you are?"

 I turned my head towards the voice. My eyesight cleared and I saw that I was alone. I was also in an ambulance. I don't think alone and ambulance are legal together in one sentence. Other than that sentence.

 I sat up, a sharp pain vibrating up my spine and around the base of my skull. I groaned and rubbed my head. 'Why isn't anyone else here?'

  "Maybe they all stopped for dinner?"

 I jumped up and swivelled my head around. No one. Not even in the front seat.

  "Who's there?" I demanded.

  "I am," the voice replied.

  "Better question, where are you?"

  "Behind you."

 I searched behind me, but all that was there was the wall. And a half empty shelf.

  "I don't see you," I said. "Am I going crazy? How did you read my thoughts? Where are you?"