Chapter 13 — The Hospital

  William blinked, the harsh hospital lighting irritating his eyes. He was in a hospital ward, lying in bed with an IV fluid bag dangling from a hook by his side. Next to him, a vital monitor beeped steadily. The sun shone through the window, revealing a clear blue day. He seemed to be the only patient in the room, as doctors and nurses bustled about outside. It felt like a while had passed since he fell asleep.

  "Where am I?" he murmured, looking around until he spotted a small placard on the wall that read Mount Cyane Hospital, sponsored by the Van du Gartens—that was Cissie Van du Garten’s family, the curly haired blonde who stuck next to Luke Brightsteel like her life depended on it. He was just a few miles from the university, then, in the city center. Judging by the peaceful surroundings, it seemed like the lockdown had ended.

  A nurse in her twenties walked into the room, holding a clipboard. "Good morning, Mr. Blackwood. How are you feeling today?"

  "Not too bad," William said, sitting up with some effort. "Just a bit sore." He glanced down at his hospital gown, noting the smooth, unblemished skin underneath. Now that his head was clearer, he remembered vividly why he looked uninjured. The skulk had gone straight for his neck, but he'd managed to repel it before it could land the killing blow.

  "How long have I been out?" he asked, gesturing toward the window. "Looks like the lockdown's over, right?"

  "The lockdown ended over a week ago, Mr. Blackwood," the nurse replied gently, a hint of pity in her smile. "You were found unconscious about a day before that."

  "A week? That long?"

  "Yes. We're still caring for some of the wounded from the attacks, but most patients have been discharged." The nurse moved to the other side of the bed and began checking the vital monitor. "Can you turn your chest toward me?" she asked, holding up a stethoscope.

  William complied as the nurse placed the cold metal against his ribcage, following her instructions.

  "Did anyone else from our university pass away?" he asked.

  The nurse shook her head. "The only death reported was a boy named Ebenezer Finch."

  "What about Finn Mutton?"

  "Finn Mutton is stable but still in a coma. He's being cared for down the hall by one of my colleagues."

  Finn had survived. William couldn't believe it. Somehow, they had both made it through.

  “Can I visit him?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry. Finn is in a more critical condition than you were, so we’re not allowing visitors for him quite yet, to avoid contamination.”

  Poor Finn. It sounded like he was barely hanging on. "Is Abby Fate here too?" he asked.

  The nurse looked confused. "I'm sorry, but there's no patient named Abby Fate here, Mr. Blackwood."

  That arm the skulk had been carrying... Could it have been Abby's?

  "Did anyone else at Trinity see the monster?" he pressed.

  "We haven't received any reports of monster-related injuries at Trinity Academy, Mr. Blackwood," the nurse said. "Your vitals look good. Try to rest more, and we'll get you discharged by this afternoon. Someone will bring you some food soon. You must be starving, right?"

  As the nurse left, William pondered their conversation and everything that had happened during the week he'd been in a coma. No monster-related injuries? So nobody else had seen the monster at the university? How was that even possible? This situation was more complicated than he thought. The skulk must have covered its tracks well, and as for Abby… he wished that she may have survived somehow, but if she didnt… hopefully she didn’t suffer for long.

  He absentmindedly reached for the nightstand where the nurse had left a bag of his belongings. Rummaging through it, he found his phone. The screen had a new, fine crack running down the bottom corner, a new battle scar in the most literal sense of the word, but other than that it had survived pretty much intact. He looked at it with a mix of reverence and curiosity. It seemed tied to his newfound power, though he didn’t fully understand how.

  He turned it on, noticing the battery was nearly dead. Digging through his bag again, he found his charger and plugged the phone in. When it powered up, besides a dozen angry messages from Manager Kim, everything else looked normal. Flipping the screen to white, he no longer felt the mana-draining sensation from before. He reached toward the light, trying to touch it, to materialize it, but it remained an ordinary screen light. How strange. He kept experimenting—turning it on and off, unplugging it, adjusting the brightness—but no matter what he did, he couldn’t recreate that ethereal, life-saving white light.

  What a bizarre situation. He’d never heard of someone unable to use their power after awakening. Sure, some abilities took practice, but complete inability to manifest it again? That was unheard of. Even level one ability users could manifest their powers without issue. Why couldn’t he?

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  The frustrating part was that with Finn in a coma, his ability was the only evidence proving something had happened that night. Though he firmly believed what he saw, it would be nice to have some confirmation.

  A second nurse entered a while later with a tray of food. William's stomach growled at the sight of the plain sandwich, soup, and slice of fruit—a simple meal that looked delicious given his hunger.

  "Try to eat slowly," the new nurse said, handing him a napkin.

  William looked up, recognizing the voice. His spoon nearly dropped when he saw her face. She had long brown hair tied into a ponytail and an ordinary but pleasant face he remembered from that night outside apartment 626. It was the maid.

  "You remember me, don't you?" the ponytailed nurse said with a calm smile. "I’m Farida. You delivered the fried chicken the young master ordered, right?"

  "Yeah," William replied, setting down his spoon. "That was me."

  "Thank you for helping me that day. I took the job for the weekend, but it wasn’t easy," she said with a laugh. "You’re a good person."

  "I don’t think so. I’m selfish," William shrugged.

  She smiled again. "Then you’re a good person who happens to be selfish sometimes. Isn’t that all of us?"

  He let out a small, dry laugh. "Sounds about right."

  Farida nodded knowingly, then leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Listen, William. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think you’re a good person. I’ve overheard your visitors talking. They don’t seem like family."

  William listened intently but interrupted briefly. "Whoever you saw, they’re not family. I don’t have any family left."

  Farida looked at him with pity and placed a comforting hand on his arm. "I’m sorry. I know things can be tough sometimes. But you should know—the older gentleman with the sickly skin, I think he’s a professor at your school, has been talking to your dean about your coma, Finn’s coma, and Ebenezer’s death. They seem to think you’ve all been poisoned by some new drug, and he’s insisting you’re responsible for spreading it."

  "That’s not what happened—"

  Farida nodded. "I believe you. The story sounds strange, but I don’t think they care. Your dean mentioned keeping Trinity’s reputation intact, and the other professor insists you’ve been spreading drugs around school and should be punished."

  She paused. "The police will be here soon to question you. Be careful what you say." She hesitated. "And I’m curious—what really happened? The lab results showed you were exposed to some unknown synaptotoxic substance, but they couldn’t find its origin."

  "It was a monster. It released a black mist that caused paralysis, and apparently, it also puts people in comas."

  Farida seemed surprised. "Really? I haven’t heard any monster reports. And a monster with such strong paralytic abilities would have been documented, right?"

  "Probably. It’s a long story. I went looking for my friend Abby Fate in the middle of the night—she was being punished and had to scrub toilets, and Finn followed me. That’s when we ran into the monster in the girls’ bathroom."

  Farida suddenly looked emotional. "Did your friend Abby go missing?"

  "She did. How did you know?"

  "I overheard your visitors talking about a girl who went missing. They were planning to blame you for her disappearance too. Do you think the monster took her?"

  "I’m sure of it," William confirmed. "She looked like she was cleaning when it snatched her."

  “That sounds just like what happened to—” Farida began to say, her eyebrows furrowing in distress, when the sound of footsteps from outside the door prompted Farida to look behind. She took out her phone and flipped to her contact code. “Here, scan my contact. If you run into any trouble, let me know, okay?”

  William scanned her into his contact list, as the door burst open and Farida scurried out.

  The atmosphere in the hospital room shifted instantly as the group entered. Professor Ghoulstein, with his gray complexion and perpetually sour expression, led the way, followed closely by the dean of Trinity Academy, the gray haired man who gave the speech during the beginning of lockdown. Behind them trailed two uniformed police officers, their expressions professional. One of them carried a notepad, while the other held a digital recorder.

  William felt his pulse quicken, though he tried to remain calm. He had been expecting them to come, but not this quickly. He suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that they arrived this quickly to catch him before he could collect his thoughts.

  The detective, a middle-aged man with rough features and an air of experience, stepped forward. "Good afternoon, Mr. Blackwood. I'm Detective Sharp, and this is my accompanying officer for today." He gestured to the middle aged officer beside him. "We're here to ask you a few questions regarding the incident at Trinity Academy last week."

  William swallowed hard. "Of course. I'll do my best to help."

  The detective nodded approvingly. "Thank you. Now, let's start from the beginning. Can you tell us what happened on the night of the lockdown?"

  William took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts. "It started when people started yelling and running down the hall, saying that one of the students wasn’t moving. We then went over to the janitor’s closet and found Ebenezer Finch there.”

  The detective scribbled something in his notepad. "And who was with you at the time?"

  "Finn Mutton, Abby Fate, and Vanessa Lullaby were with me. We were together most of the night."

  "That aligns with what Ms. Lullaby had to say to us earlier in the week. And what were you doing at the time of the discovery?" Detective Sharp asked, his tone neutral but probing.

  "We were just drinking and playing truth or dare in an abandoned classroom. Abby suggested it, and we thought it would be a fun way to pass the time during the lockdown."

  Professor Ghoulstein butted in. “You see how irresponsible these kids are, stealing alcohol and causing trouble in the middle of a lockdown? I don’t doubt for a moment that their group is the source of the substance!”

  As Professor Ghoulstein spoke, William couldn’t help but notice a sealed envelope in the hands of one of the police officers, addressed to him from the government. The last time he’d seen a sealed envelope was when he received notice of his inheritance. What was that all about?