Duskwood Mysteries

Part 51

Warning: The upcoming chapters may be graphic and disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Please note that I will try my best to put the warnings on every chapter where this might be the case but caution is advised for all upcoming chapters.

6 months ago, the night of the attack, Richy's POV

The paramedics placed her on the stretcher, I didn't let her hand go. Johnson shook my shoulder, "Richy let them take care of her." "No," I exploded as I struggled. "Richy, get a hold of yourself. You need to get stitched up and she needs a doctor, ok? Please let go of her hand," Johnson pressed. I obeyed him but I still couldn't stop the pain I was feeling. I held my head in my hands, hyperventilating. "Let's go Richy," Johnson said offering me his hand. I stood up with great difficulty. I was put in the ambulance. The paramedics stitched me up. I had no recollection of getting from the forest to the hospital. The doctors asked me things about how I felt. Empty. They told me to rest. How could I? Johnson walked in my room. He handed me some clothes, "You need to change and hand over the clothes you are wearing as evidence." I sat still, "How is she?" I had to ask. "Still in surgery. The police will be here to take your statement. You up for it?" he said. I shook my head, "Not until she is fine." I stood up and walked towards the bathroom to change. My clothes were drenched in blood. I put them in a zip lock bag that Johnson had given me. I walked back and said, "Can I be in the waiting room?" "They will update us on her condition from time to time," he said.

"Ok tell me what happened," Johnson asked. There was no point in avoiding it anymore. I started from the beginning carefully sticking by the plan Jake had outlined. Basically, it went like this, after Hannah went missing, we got a text from her with Jade's number. We constantly communicated with Jade to receive any information. Somewhere I realized that maybe not everyone in our group is innocent as no one was giving a straight answer about their whereabouts, so I impersonated another person, "Jake" to find out more information. I portrayed myself as a hacker so that the guilty person would slip up and make a mistake or become extra cautious and try swaying things in the other direction. While finding the guilty person was getting difficult, I decided to take the reins and search for Hannah myself. Hence, I faked my attack. Eventually after the search wasn't fruitful, I banded together with Jade following clues, stealing Amy's case files to get to the truth. And the remaining was something he already kinda knew. Jade was kidnapped by Luke and Cleo was probably helping him. I found Hannah and then Jade. "Who was the guy in the mask?" "Some guy we had come across who thought that the man without a face was behind the kidnappings and the murder," I said. "What's his name?" he asked. "He didn't give us a name," I said, "And at that point we just wanted to use all the help we could get." "Where did you meet him?" he asked. "He came to my garage," I said. "So, you let a random person help you?" he asked.

"Like I said, we were happy to accept any help," I said. "You better hope that Jade has the same story, Richy," he said. I nodded. A doctor walked in, "Mr West?" We stood up. "May I have a word with you alone?" the doctor asked. "No, I want to know too," I yelled. "Richy, I will tell you. Just relax," Johnson said walking away. A few minutes later, I see the group walk in. Dan, Thomas, Lilly and Jessy. Also, Phil was standing behind them. "Hey Richy," Thomas said. I didn't say anything. They all sat and stood around me. I sighed, "How's Hannah?" "She is recovering," Lilly said. "What happened?" Dan asked. I closed my eyes. There was still something to do. I told them the story I had told Johnson and asked them to stick with it. That was the priority even though my life hung in the balance. They all nodded in agreement. It could be my broken demeanor, or it could be that it was finally over. But was it really? We found Hannah. Cleo had betrayed us, I still didn't know why? Jake was gone. Jade was on the verge of dying. I didn't know if she would make it through. Phil had been falsely accused of murder. Jessy had been attacked. Thomas had been accused of kidnapping his girlfriend. Dan almost died because of his accident. Even though I was physically hurt, nothing compared to the pain I felt inside me. The scars ran deep. How could we heal from this? Would we heal from this? We sat in silence. I remembered Jade saying that I always looked at the positive side of things but now in this moment only despair was something I was grasping at. Time passed slowly. I was about to get up and check on Jade when Johnson barged in. He looked around the room, "Okay people are here." "How is she?" I asked.

Johnson gulped, "Out of the surgery but still weak. She's in the ICU. The doctors said it would be sometime before she is out of danger. She lost a lot of blood and has sustained a lot of injuries." The information didn't help me. "Are these the others?" Johnson asked. "Yes," I sighed. "Okay, I would suggest you guys to leave. I know you are worried about your friends, but this is a criminal investigation. Hannah, Jade and Richy need to give their statements to the police. You guys will be contacted too. So I suggest that you guys rest and stay put," Johnson said. They didn't protest and shuffled out. After they had gone, Johnson turned to me, "Get some rest Richy. Its going to be a long night." "Johnson can you.." I started. "I will tell you as soon as she is up." He said.

Jade's POV

The words burned into my brain. No one will hear you scream. I tried so many times to chase you away, but you just don't fucking listen. His face was the face of pure evil as he charged towards me and stabbed me repeatedly. I couldn't scream. My mouth was taped. I so wanted to scream. The pain was unbearable I struggled to untie myself, but the pain grew more and more. I was finding it hard to breathe. I wanted to tell him to stop. Please stop. I couldn't take it any longer. I felt the taste of blood in my mouth. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to beg him to stop. But I couldn't. I could feel myself losing consciousness. I don't think that would have stopped him. No no no I couldn't close my eyes. I wouldn't wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up now. With great difficulty, I opened my eyes slowly. My eyes didn't want to adjust to the light. I felt like there was a weight pushing me down, but I wasn't surrounded by stone walls and dirt. They were clean walls, white and bright. I tried taking a deep breath, but it hurt to do so. "I think she is coming to. Call Dr. Reign," I heard a woman say. I didn't recognize her voice. Dr. Reign? Who was that?

"Jade, Jade can you hear me?" the woman asked. I nodded as a woman's face loomed in sight. Footsteps sounded and another woman's face stood in my vision. She smiled, "Jade? Can you see me?" "Yes," I said which caused me to wince. "Get the tubes out," she ordered the other woman. The other woman did as she was told, and I felt I could now breathe easier. I took a deep breath. "Jade, I am Dr. Reign. I will be taking care of you. Can you tell me how you are feeling?" the doctor asked. I told her slowly. After a few minutes of satisfactory answers she said, "Jade you need a lot of rest. So do not stress a lot and if you feel pain or need anything just press the button on the side. There is someone to meet you." I nodded. A few moments later Johnson walked in and sat down next to my bed, "Well I am really annoyed that I have to keep meeting you like this." I gave him a weak smile, "What can I say? Your timing is off." He sighs, "You did scare us. How do you feel?" "I feel like crap and I don't mean figuratively," I said wincing. "It's a given based on the extent of your injuries but the doctor says you are healing nicely. So, we need to talk about what happened. And before you say anything I don't mean now. I have called your friends here in the evening. You all need to know what exactly is happening. As for now, I think someone is very desperate to see you. He has been uncontrollable. I am pretty sure he may break the door down if I don't tell him that he can see you now. You ready for it?" he asked. "Yes, I guess I would be better if I see some familiar faces," I said. He chuckled. "I'll send him in."