Fallen

Chapter Three

Hope's POV:

June 28, 2015.

Three years ago...

Time. I was running out of time. In fact, we all do run out of time immediately. I needed time. I wasn't ready. Not even close.

I wasn't really sure if we were going to make it to the hospital in time. It seemed like we have wasted so much time trying to get back to the limo.

"Hang on mother, just a little more," I said.

I tried to hold her steady. Her reflexes were quick.

"Trust me, it's easier said than done."

"We're almost there. I promise."

"Is everything ok princess? What happened?" Mr Barry asked.

"Just help me get her in the limo, please."

"Something is wrong," My mother said.

"What do you mean? Is the baby ok?"

"Oh my gosh," she cried, squeezing herself.

"Mr. Barry can you please speed up a little!"

As I was pulled back to my seat due to my fragile body's resistance, a scream escaped her dry lips. Pretty intense and disturbingly loud. I knew it wasn't labor. Someone is about to die.

You see, my mother is a Banshee, or in other words, the harbinger of death. Back in time when my mother was a little younger, she sacrificed herself protecting a poor young lad from a massacre, and because of her connection with the supernatural world, the pure spirits brought her back as a Banchee.

Since then, my mother was destined to be the female spirit who heralds the death of any innocent soul, wailing and shrieking in the wonder of this cruel world. Her screams can only be heard by us, the chosens, that's why we call her the silent screamer.

I covered my ears trying to block every single way that the sound might sneak through, but it did find it's way to my brain anyway, forcing every inch of my body to scream with it.

Seconds later, I read the 'Angel's memorial hospital, 20 km' banner on the slightly lit road as we passed it by.

"We're almost there. It's gonna be fine," I said, turning back to my mother. "You're going to be ok."

With a small faint smile from her, and within a single blink, everything went dark.

••••

I laid there on the hard wet asphalt I thought would be much colder, but I guess my warm leaking blood warmed it up. It's blurred and dark. The only light igniting the area was the same full moon from earlier tonight... and a flashlight, approximately 60 meters away.

"Help!" I said. "Please, help my mother," but he wouldn't listen. He kept approaching me, killing the gap separating us.

"Please," I begged again as he leaned forward towards me. "You don't understand, my mother is pre-" and before I can finish, a cough forced it's way out, with a trail of blood leaking from my mouth.

"Don't worry," the man said. "You're going to be fine."

"No, please, come back." I cried. Begged. But even that wasn't enough to bring him back.

A few minutes later, I was able to hear and feel everything.

I could hear the sound of the sirens murdering the silence of this cursed night accompanied by the sound of the vital signs monitor not far away from me. I could feel the cannula buried deep underneath my skin, allowing fluids to enter my bloodstream. I could feel the ventilator on my mouth, forcing the air to enter my lungs.

"What do we have here?" a man said nearly forty minutes later as we reached the memorial hospital, I assume.

"Eighteen-year-old girl, car accident, suffers a second-degree concussion due to a severe head impact. Skull and right arm fractures. She's in pretty bad shape," another man replied as the trolley's wheels met the ground.

It's been a while now. A while of trying to speak up, to open up my eyes, to move a finger. A while of trying uselessly to remember what has happened, to ask about my mother. But I can't. I'm too weak.

"Do we know who she is?" The first man asked again while putting two fingers on my neck.

"No, no ID, no license, nothing."

"It's ok, we got her now,"

"Oh, there's one more thing, the girl is pregnant," the ambulance guy said as the trolley's wheels rattled against the ground.

And then I must have blacked out again because the shivers that both the ambulance guy's words and the cold air of the hospital sent through my spine was the last thing I remember until I woke up wrapped in sheets.