Stormbringer

Chapter One

Beep- beep- beep...

My entire body shuddered at the noise. It had been so peaceful, so silent. Now there was this incessant beeping sound disturbing my sleep... It didn't sound like my alarm clock...

My body felt heavy, and I couldn't seem to be able to open my eyes yet. The beeping continued, and soon I became aware of more sounds... A soft whirring. Distant muffled voices. Quick footsteps. Something rolling or being pushed along a floor. A door somewhere being opened and then closed with a sharp click.

I also became aware of a cold draft blowing across my face, but the rest of my body seemed to be covered in a thin cloth... a sheet? Why was I sleeping somewhere like this? What was that beeping?

A sore ache in my body made me even more confused. My left wrist felt especially painful, and it seemed that something was stuck to my skin there, along with some kind of sharper pain. I also noticed the smell. It was... clean. Like someone had used too much air freshener. But behind that was a smell like chemicals, and something a little metallic. Almost like blood.

With great effort, I forced my eyes open, but quickly blinked them closed again. The bright light was too dazzling. It was blinding after being used to the darkness for so long. I waited a while then slowly tried to open my eyes despite the startlingly bright white light. I kept my eyes open for a few seconds longer this time, taking in the painful glow of lights on a pure white ceiling, and a curved metal rail holding a curtain, supported by the ceiling. The curtain seemed to be pulled around a bed where I lay.

I slowly turned my head, wincing at the stiffness. Beside me was a machine with little green spikes and valleys being drawn repetitively. The beeping seemed to originate from that machine.

A heart monitor? I thought numbly. Then... this is... a hospital?

My thoughts were working so slowly... I closed my eyes again. The was light bothering me. I thought about what I had heard, and I guess it had made sense. The footsteps, the rolling noise, the doors... It also explained the smell. But wait... blood?

My eyes snapped open again and I looked around. My left wrist was bound with gauze and had a tube uncoiling from beneath the wrapping. It connected to a bag of clear liquid hanging from a silver thing that looked vaguely like a hat stand or something. An IV? Those had needles... That would explain the pain...

I looked toward the foot of the bed and saw a jacket, my jacket, on the back of a chair. A dark reddish-brown stain covered part of the pale gray hoodie. Looking closer I could see the rest of my clothes on the chair as well. They all looked as though they had been washed, but that still didn't remove all of the bloodstains.

Huh? Then that's my blood? What happened? I thought dimly, my mind not seeming to be able to hold onto an idea or string thoughts together very well. My head felt heavy, and my thoughts were fuzzy and disorganized.

Just then, I heard a click, and a door outside the curtain swung open. I heard two voices.

"Yes, he is in there. He hasn't woken up yet, even though it has been a month since he came in. Just be fast about it since our visiting hours end in twenty minutes." Said a female voice, sounding exhausted and impatient.

"Thank you... I just want to see him. I'll be done soon." Said another voice that seemed vaguely familiar. I couldn't tell where I had heard it before ...

A MONTH?? The words had only just sunk in. I had been here a month... Before I had any more time to think, the curtains were pulled back, and a tall girl about my age or maybe a year older stepped into the small space by my bed.