Tortured Phantoms

Birthday's Grand Finale

Chapter 1: Birthday's Grand Finale

Gurgled screams could be heard coming from the giant anteater's habitat in the Kingdom Zoo as the EMT's raced inside. "Get that animal away from her!" Jason roared to his employees, bright blue eyes blazing in fury. "Get it away from Samantha!" A tranquilliser dart shot into the rampaging brown anteater's side, causing the animal to fall short of its next attack on the black haired teen.

"Keep the animal out of the way." Danny the first EMT ordered, leaning over Samantha. Her eyes were starting to close. "Samantha! Stay with me." He began checking her wounds, pulling a multitude of items from his black medical bag. His eyes shot up to his black haired assistant. "Ollie start compressing the bloodflow." Samantha's eyes burst open at the first touch, letting out an ear piercing scream.

Why won't they stop touching me? she thought agonized. Can't they see that it hurts? What did I do to deserve this?

"It'll be alright Samantha, they're going to help you." Jason was stroking her hair soothingly. Bullshit they're helping me Uncle J, they're hurting me. She could barely keep her eyes open the pain was so intense, she felt exhausted just from screaming. Why did they make me go into this pit alone? On my birthday too, I just finished work, got changed and they suddenly needed me to stay late to help with the anteater.

The anteater was in heat, he was angry. It was only a natural reaction. The rational part of her mind answered her unspoken question.

She howled with pain again as they lifted her body onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, her body jostling with the movement. "I'll be there soon Sam." Jason's eyes were watering. Danny sat in the back with Samantha, hand flying straight to his radio. "Kingdom, we are enroute, young female approximately 18 years, severe blood loss, three fractured ribs, partially shattered, lascerations to stomach and internal organs. Trauma to the frontal lobe. Possible concussion. Patient is conscious, blood pressure dropping, heart rate weakening." . He stopped for a moment to listen to the other person speaking. "No puncturing to the heart or lungs, E.T.A 14 minutes." She could only listen with horror as the shaved headed EMT described what was wrong with her over the radio.

"Seventeen..." she whimpered. Danny turned his head from where he was working on her stomach. "What did you say?" He said, voice barely audible over the hum of the ambulance's engine. "I'm seventeen, n-not eighte-" she couldn't finish, coughing up her life's blood. "OLLIE! STEP ON IT!" the older male growled, setting to work on freeing her airways. "You're not even old enough to be working there, what was he thinking..." Danny murmured to himself.

Samantha looked to the back of the van and noticed a small girl, the girl looked no older than eight, nine at the most. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes that were shadowed by black moon shaped circles. Her extremely pale skin made her look as though she'd seen a ghost. She wore a dirty dress that seemed to be from another century, with an apron over the front. Around her neck was a small brass bell that she clutched between her tiny hands. Her most prominent feature though were the two scars on either side of her forehead. They looked like two holes had been dug into her head.

"Come on Samantha, stay with me. Don't give up on me now. C'mon tell me something about yourself, about your family." His grey eyes shined in desperation. Samantha glanced back towards the little girl, but she wasn't there anymore. "D-don't have any, Jason a-" *cough* "dopted me when I was eleven. My parents died three years before." She started to dose.

"Samantha! You'll be alright you'll get to see him agai-" he was cut off as the ambulance swerved and came to a stop. "Here." Ollie barked jumping out of the drivers seat. The back doors flew outwards, Danny moved to the side pulling the stretcher out and into the emergency bay of Kingdom Hospital. A young nurse fainted at the sight of all the blood. Seriously? She shouldn't be working here.

"Dr. Hook, Dr. Draper to E.R shtat. Dr's. Hook und Draper to E.R shtat." Came a voice over the intercom. Samantha's eyes shot open as she was moved into the operating room. The first thing she noticed was a tall blonde man in his early 30's, dressed in a doctor's uniform staring at a slightly younger red-head doctor's chest. You're supposed to be helping people you lazy bastard not standing around staring at some bimbo's chest.

"Okay what have we got here Danny?" A young brunette man asked, pulling on his surgical gloves. "Animal attack, poor girl was attacked by a highly aggressive giant anteater." He relayed the information that he'd given to the people on the radio. "Does she have a name?" The doctor spoke again as he started working on her stomach. "Samantha." Danny answered, "Never told us her last name." You never asked, bright spark.

"Samantha, my name is Dr. Hook, can you speak at all? Can you tell me your name?" She started to dose again, but was jolted awake by a cold breeze in the room. "Rose, Samantha Rose."

Yet again her sight was drawn to the corner of the room. This time it wasn't the little girl standing there but a teenage boy, a boy around Samantha's age. He had the same pallor to him that the little girl had, and the same dark quarter moons under his eyes. His hair was a curly jet black and his clothes were seemingly from the same time as the girl's. He was staring at her with both curiosity and pure hatred.

His eyes suddenly shot to a spot behind Samantha, his mouth curving upwards in a sneer before he turned and disappeared through the wall behind him.

She craned her neck trying to catch a glimpse of what he had seen before Dr. Hook pulled her attention back to him. "Samantha, please try to keep yourself still we can't risk having anything else torn." Can't risk it? How bad are my wounds? What did that boy see? She didn't have to wait long for the answer to her final question. A giant anteater came into her view, alongside the little girl from the ambulance. That's the creature that attacked me! Why are they here? Samantha's eyes widened in horror, shooting from face to face.

None of the doctors or nurses seemed to acknowledge the two beings' existence. Can't they see them? Why is it I can? What the hell is going on?

"Why does she have to die Antibus?" Antibus? Who the hell is Antibus? That animal?

"We have need of her Mary." The male voice came out of nowhere. Is it coming from that thing?! "I have need of her." He continued softly as if in Samantha's head, his gaze resting on her.

WHAT?! Have need of me? Why does that thing want me? Her thoughts were interrupted as she was seized by another coughing fit. "Shit! Somebody start clearing her throat, her lung and heart have been punctured by her ribs." Hook ordered moving faster on her stomach.

"Dr. Hook her heart rate is dropping rapidly!" The man with thick framed glasses declared. "No! Samantha stay awake, c'mon stay awake." Hook moved even faster, his face falling as the heart moniter started a whining drone. "No, No! NO! C'mon stay with me! Stay with me!" His voice was filled with anger, his hands automatically beginning CPR. The drone continued. "Hook, enough." The blonde doctor set her hand on Hooks'. Hook stared into the young girl's glassy emerald eyes.

Mary rang her bell, sobbing. "Come Mary, we must go for now." The deep voice spoke to the girl. "To Peter?" She whimpered. "To Peter." He confirmed leading her through the wall.

"Call it. Time of death 5:57pm."

AN: Hope you liked it, this was my first posted fanfic. Paul is seventeen in this fic and Hook is 27. xMelaniex