Here's another of my little NIMH stories. I know it's all I publish, but its also the only film I really like. And besides, I'm 8.
The sun had just started to rise, but Mrs. Brisby was already awake. She kept having dreams she felt she shouldn't, and had long since been up thinking about them. It had been more than a year since she'd met the Rats, more than a year since they'd departed for Virginia. She hadn't seen them, or heard from them since. She figured it was just a precaution, as even the smallest slip-up could result in their' being recaptured, or worse killed. She shuddered at the very thought of it.
Though I would like to know how they're doing. She sighed, realizing that, like so many other things, it would never happen. Saddened by the thought, she pulled her old red coat around her shoulders, taking a woven basket over her arm. Not long after they'd arrived she'd discovered a small stand of apple trees, and was going out to gather the fruit. She blushed as she recalled her dream from the night before, but shook her head to clear it from her mind. Though there was a chance it could happen, it most likely never would.
But why did they just leave? The thought dominated her mind as she slipped outside, mindful of her sleeping children. The sun felt warm on her cheeks, but she barely felt it with the crisp wind that blew through the town. She pulled her jacket more tightly around her, zipping it half way. The trees stood at the edge of her property, a few feet away from a small stream. The sun continued to climb as she picked them, but it was still fairly early when she heard her stomach growl. She had a green apple clasped in her hand, and took a small bite of the tart fruit. She'd just swallowed it when she heard a car roll up behind her, and whirled to face a dark blue pickup truck.
Her heart raced as the door opened, thinking of the only person it could have been, when a white-haired man with a long ponytail stepped onto her driveway. He was just a head taller than she was. Mrs. Brisby stepped closer, recognizing the man's taunt, frightened face.
The old man looked at her, his grey eyes wide with tears. She came closer, fruit and basket slipping from her hands. "Mr. Ages…"
"Elizabeth," there was a harsh strain of terror in his voice. "I hoped I would find you."
"What's happened?" she asked. She noticed faint lines of blood on his hands.
"It's Justin," he whispered. "I fear he's in grave danger."
"What?" her own eyes became filmed with tears. The old man sighed heavily, pulling her in his arms, allowing her head to rest on his narrow chest.
"Justin was terribly wounded," he continued, voice shaking. "He's in the hospital back in Virginia."
"What happened?" she repeated. She lifted her head to stare in his eyes.
"We don't know how it happened," Ages explained. "But he was found just this morning," his voice broke. "I'm afraid he's more dead than alive, but his only thoughts have been of you."
"Of me?" her eyes widened. Did he really feel that way?
"Yes," Ages nodded slowly. "He had just woken up when I last saw him, and he begged me to find you, saying he had something important to tell you."
She nearly fainted, then suddenly remembered her family. "What about my children?" she asked. "I can't just leave them here."
Ages' lips held the ghost of a smile. He turned back to the truck, just as a much younger man was climbing out. His dark eyes glittered with tears, but he too smiled at the sight of Elizabeth.
"Hey, Mrs. B," his voice seemed to have deepened, and it held no trace of the whimsical tone it had when they'd met back in Rocklin. She only smiled at the sight of him, too shaken to do anything else. He put a firm hand on her shoulder, using the other to wipe her soft cheeks. "I'll bring them up in a few days," he whispered. She nodded, barely able to keep her legs from collapsing beneath her. She felt as though she were moving through fog as she went inside, silently gathering a few days' worth of clothes from her bedroom, checking to see that her children were all still asleep. Jeremy briefly hugged her on the way out, promising to take good care of them, and to break the news in the gentlest way he knew how. It took ten minutes to convince her that they'd be all right, and another ninety to reach the town where Justin and his friends had settled. Elizabeth had fallen asleep early into the drive, but awoke when the engine was shut off. She rubbed her eyes, looking up at a stark-white hospital, several stories high. Clouds had grown to cover the sky, blocking out the sun. A fine mist had also started to fall, adding to the sadness that crowded her heart. She followed Ages through the front doors, paying little attention to the relations the old man gave to the nurse. He cast himself in the role of Justin's grandfather, and Elizabeth in that of his fiancée. The nurse at the desk directed them to the fifth floor, room 236B, but warned them that he might not be awake. Ages thanked the woman, who wasn't much younger than he was, pulling Elizabeth to an elevator, where she finally regained her senses.
"His fiancée?" she gasped. Ages chuckled a bit, but there was little humor in his voice when he spoke.
"You'll understand soon enough." He turned to the doors just as they opened, revealing 236B. Justin was awake when they entered, facing the rain-spattered window. Elizabeth barely recognized him, and it only grew worse when he turned, nearly bringing a scream from her throat. His handsome face was battered and bruised, a large bite of flesh missing from his right cheek. His dark eyes widened when he saw her, nearly snapping his IV cord in his rush to sit up.
"Mrs. Brisby…" his voice was rough, and the breath rattled in his chest. He lifted a scarred hand, one that also appeared to be burned. Elizabeth ran to him, tightly embracing him.
"Oh, Justin," she whispered. Her tears soaked the bandages that covered his chest, and she barely noticed when his arms slipped around her. He ran a hand through her dark hair, barely able to believe she was here. He lifted her chin gently with his hand, gazing deeply into her red-rimmed blue eyes. He barely resisted the urge that stirred in his heart, instead wiping the salt from her cheeks. He gave a small smile, but pulled away when he felt that pain pound through his ribs. Elizabeth backed away, seeing for the first time how much he had changed. Her shock only increased as she took in his appearance. He was now thinner than her ex-husband. "What happened to you?"
Justin did little more than shake his head, lying back against his crystal white pillows. "Someone's been trying to kill me," he hissed, voice dripping with anger. He ignored the fear in her eyes. "They tried to poison me, which is how I landed here in the first place." He wiped at his mouth with a skeletal hand. "I had just been released when I was knocked unconscious, and I didn't come to until late last night, when I asked Ages to find you."
Elizabeth found she could no longer stand. Mr. Ages all but carried her to the room's only chair, himself leaning on the foot of Justin's bed. He then buried his face in one of his bloodstained hands. "We have no idea who could be after him," he said, continuing his friend's story. "Though we believe it has something to do with his change in occupation."
"Occupation?"
Justin smiled, reaching over to the small table beside his bed, pulling out a police badge. "I was actually going through the academy when we met," he offered, but then his grin disappeared. "However, it wasn't long after I graduated that I began making enemies." He coughed a few times, violently. A thin froth fell from his lips, its white shade tinged with blood. Elizabeth quickly wiped it away, only to be near when the fit increased in ferocity, racking his entire body. Ages took a water bottle from an old backpack, pouring its clouded contents into a small cup. Justin calmed minutes after ingesting it, panting heavily as he again fell against the cushions that supported him.
"As you can see, the toxins haven't yet been flushed from his system," the old doctor placed the bottle on the table, wiping the sweat from his brow. Elizabeth did the same with Justin, only to have her hand fall into his. Ages gave no sign he had noticed, as he continued to explain what had occurred in the past year. The group had long since split up, but kept in close contact, especially now that this had happened to their close friend. A few of them, mostly those with children, had even moved farther into the northeast, and hadn't been heard from since. There had also been no word on the trio that had been sent back to prison, but there was news of a recent break, where several inmates had escaped and were now hiding in the streets. It wasn't long after this that Justin began feeling sick, and he'd begun to grow frightened as it only grew worse. It had felt like a bad cold at first, but then the pain had become unbearable, and one day he found it impossible to move. He had been trapped in his room, paralyzed and hardly able to breathe. He felt he'd been near death when his partner finally came by, and the next thing he knew, he'd woken up screaming in a hospital bed.
They'd thought it was a virus at first, but then realized that it was a case all too similar to one that had happened before. The victim had unknowingly ingested numerous doses of a toxic chemical, one that caused his body to waste away, until he had finally collapsed outside a hotel; but by then it had already been too late.
"I was lucky she found me when she did," Justin said quietly. There was still a white stream of froth dripping down his cheek. "It took me months to recover, but then I was attacked just minutes after I was released."
He then described, in frightening detail, what had happened, how he'd been knocked unconscious by a hard blow to the back of his head. He'd collapsed on the sidewalk, where his attacker had proceeded to stab him several times, as well as inject more of that poison into his veins. Then, for some reason, they'd decided to cut some of the flesh from his face, as though they wanted proof of their deeds. But what angered Justin the most was that, though he'd been directly in front of the hospital, no one had come near him until they were sure his assailant had gone.
"But how do you know all this?" Elizabeth questioned him, recalling that he'd been out cold.
"They showed me the security tapes," he explained. "To see if I could get some positive identification." He'd gotten nothing of the sort, as the figure, whoever they'd been, had been clothed in solid black from head to toe. They had even left their knife on the scene, though the only DNA evidence had been Justin's blood on its blade. "Whoever is doing this, they're taking every precaution not to get caught, and without a solid description to go by, there's almost nothing the department can do."
Elizabeth sat in silence. Ages excused himself to the hallway. She then laid a hand on Justin's thin shoulder, staring in his eyes. "I'm just glad you're alive," she whispered, and barely resisted the urge to kiss him.