Fen and Mara - Open Novella Contest 2019 Short List

Chapter 9

"I don't have a clue, dad! I left Mara, got on my bike and when I was almost home everything suddenly went black." Fen shrugs, grimacing when pain shoots through his left shoulder. The left side of his body is battered and bruised, probably from the fall from his bicycle.

His parents and brother are sitting around the hospital bed. His father has spent the last half hour to make Fen remember what happened in every way possible. It's a lost cause, Fen doesn't remember a thing. There's a gaping hole in his memory: one second he was cycling home, the next second he woke up in an ambulance. They found a heavy sedative in his blood, that's why he is kept in the hospital with an I.V. that pumps fluids in his system. The doctor wants to keep him another night, just to be sure. The police suspect he was shot at with a tranquilizer dart, although the dart itself wasn't found. To Fen it's all the same and apart from the bruises and a slight headache, he's feeling fine.

"I'd love to tell you more, dad, but everything is black. You'll really have to do your job with this one."
The lame joke falls dead in the room and Fen feels slightly guilty for it when he sees his mom's face.

Henry Holt nods slowly. "Unfortunately we don't have anything to go on. Nothing besides that note to Lion Heart. 'You have many enemies' is not really a line that gives us a lead."

Fen knows his dad is feeling guilty. His son was kidnapped by someone who wanted to take revenge on Lion Heart, his alter ego. The guilt is clear on his face, it's like he aged at least ten years overnight.
"I'm not blaming you, dad, you know that, right? This was the work of some nutjob. But it all ended well, I'm still in one piece."

His father squeezes his hand shortly and nods again. On the other side of the bed is Fen's mom; she hasn't let go of his hand all morning. Luckily she is holding the hand that has the I.V. needle in it, so it's not like he is using that one anyway.

Vic leans over the bed and hands Fen his phone. "Here, fully charged again. It looks like everybody has heard what happened by now."

The home screen of his phone has blown up with message notifications and missed calls. His classmates and friends have probably seen the news. The Holt family would have prefered to keep his kidnapping from the press, though that proved to be a real challenge when Fen was found unconscious inside city hall, in the middle of the night. It would take a miracle to keep reporters away from that, so of course his little adventure was all over the news by now.

The real miracle was how he got there. The security tapes didn't show anything. One moment the large entrance hall was empty, the other moment there was an unconscious boy on the floor, his gym bag and bicycle next to him. The night guard had stumbled upon him during his rounds and called the police.

They did manage to keep Lion Heart out of it. The press is telling the story about the youngest son of police detective Holt, not about Lion Hearts cub.

Henry Holt stiffly gets up from the plastic hospital chair. "I have to go, the press conference will start any minute." He walks around the bed and offers a hand to his wife. "Come, honey, you can use some sleep. I'll drop you off at home, with Vic."

Fen's mother shakes her head stubbornly. "No, I'm staying with Fen."

"It's okay mom, you can go home and get some sleep. Nothing is gonna happen. Besides, Larry is here to keep an eye on me." Outside the room is a colleague of his father keeping watch; Fen will be guarded as long as he is in the hospital.

Theresa Holt refuses to leave her son, though Fen is able to convince her to lie down in the empty bed beside his; not five minutes later she is fast asleep. His father takes Vic home and he will go down to the police station after that.