Forbidden Darkness (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #1)

Twenty-Eight

The ride to the hospital was long and silent, and I couldn't erase the fear deep inside of me that something bad was going to happen. By the time we arrived, we raced inside and let them know we were here for Hayden Williams and they had us wait in the waiting room, because since we weren't family, we couldn't go in to see him. As long as everything was okay, we'd be fine.

In a group of chairs by the corner, Kristen sat next to me and Philip sat across from us, avoiding eye contact the entire time. Even then none of us spoke and I felt absolutely exhausted.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

Kristen's voice rang out, and by the look on Philip's face, he was just as surprised to hear it as I was. But of course Kristen would be concerned. She'd been through it herself and hated seeing others in emotional pain.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "I really wish I knew." The truth was, I didn't know Hayden well enough yet to know what his personal feelings were, and I didn't know how long this depression had probably been sitting on his heart, making him feel as though he had to die to make it go away. A tear slid down my cheek and my chest tightened up, making me feel even worse than I already did. Kristen was crying, too, and I reached my arms around her, pulling her close as she sobbed into my shoulder.

"I don't want him to feel this way," Kristen said.

A terrible wave of emotion swept over me and I couldn't contain it. I literally felt as if I was feeling Kristen's sadness and it was so overwhelming. I'd always been one to be sympathetic, but this...this was new. The pain in my chest felt as if it was actually coming from Kristen, and it reminded me of right when I changed and I was feeling all of those mixed emotions.

Brushing off the idea, I said, "I know. Hayden was clearly going through a lot more than I thought he was. We just have to stick together right now and be strong for him."

Suddenly all of the lights in the waiting room flickered off, then back on, and off again. The second time they stayed off and I looked at Kristen and Philip, who I could only see the shadows of, and voices of concern floated all throughout the room.

"Um, what just happened?" I asked.

"A power outage, maybe?"

Oh, that was just great. "Don't tell me that. All great horror movies that have power outages usually end in bloody deaths," I said. "I'm not really looking to deal with that tonight."

Beside me Kristen actually chuckled. "Well, considering we're practically living a horror movie, I wouldn't put it past the universe to mess with us tonight."

As my eyes began to adjust to the dark, I said, "Come on. We need to try to sneak back there and see Hayden."

"Are you crazy?" Kristen asked. "We'll get caught!"

"We have to make sure Kadin's not going to mess with him," I said softly. "Now, come on. We have to help him."

That was when I heard the scream and I didn't even hesitate. I jumped out of my chair and began to run down the hall, and from the sound of footsteps behind me, I knew Kristen and Philip were following. They told us when we arrived that he was in the ICU and so bursting through the doors we came. I expected someone to call security, but no, all the nurses were huddled behind a certain curtain making phones calls. A few doctors were checking on other patients, and when someone pulled back the curtain far enough, I realized why everyone was freaking out.

Hayden was gone.