Chapter 1: Awakening

Nothing hurts more than regaining consciousness after losing it. I should know as much. It is a nurse's job to alleviate the pain of others after all. That said, I wish I knew how to relieve this damn aching in my own head!

In my life I have only fainted a few times... but none have hurt like this. It has even brought me to believe that fainting really is the temporary death of the mind. I can't remember who told me that though. I can't remember how I ended up on this floor either... and the darkness around me certainly doesn't help me in figuring out where I am.

From what I can tell, I'm completely sprawled out on my side since I can feel the cold damp of the floor through my hose. I squint at the darkness in front of me. I see tiled flooring, chair legs, a desk, a door.... which tells me nothing of where I am. This could be any room in the hospital. I need to get up if I ever want to know for certain, yet my body still feels so foreign to me. So grudgingly, I push myself myself over so that my upper torso lies flat to the floor and I can feel it's pressure on my arms. I dig in with my palms and push myself up, giving me room to move my legs, and fumble to get my foot to grip the floor with these high heels I have on. With that done, I use my legs to awkwardly lift myself up, and almost instantly realize that the stress on my legs is still too much for them to bear. My hands search wildly for something to stabilize myself with before they give, and find it in a small wooden table that had been behind me the whole time. So I lean into it, panting, while I use one hand to rub my leg muscles in hopes of speeding their recovery while my other rests on my still aching temple.

I wonder my mentality. My mind is blank when it comes to the subject of the incident that made me lose consciousness in the first place. I mutter to myself:

"Did I hit my head when I fell? Is that why I can't remember?"

Instinctively, I reach up and feel my scalp through my hair. Nothing wet, but wait... fabric, hard and stiff. Whatever happened, that stupid cap has remained in place perfectly. Whoever picked the manufacturer of uniforms for our hospital must have counted on the nurses being battered and beaten. They certainly made sure that the caps were sturdy enough to take it. I chuckle at my own distasteful joke, which is hilarious to me for some reason. It also gives me that feeling of trying to remember something, but can't... simply because the memory is too far gone.

In fact, my entire uniform is odd in today's day and age. Most people would consider it a memory of times past. Regardless, Scrubs aren't permitted at Alchemilla hospital. All nurses are required to wear a plain white dress with a V-shaped neck. It's supposed to give the nurses a look of "angelic innocence that will help put patients at ease", to quote our mission statement. Despite this, however revealing the neckline, and long the dress is is the nurse's own choice. I suppose you could say I use this to show off a bit, but I'd never admit it to anyone.

Anyway, my legs feel relieved enough to continue. Turning and resting my butt on the table, I sat while bringing one leg up to cross the other. I then start to truly concentrate on the room. I find that my eyes have adjusted to the little light and viewing things was no longer that hard of a task. I see a bed, a cabinet, and a door in front of me. If I had to guess at my location... it'd be the the first floor examination room. The one that leads to an office and the medicine room. It's just...it looks so dilapidated. The floor is of a brown, rusty color... the walls looks as if they are about to fall apart... and dust floats around continually in the air. The version of this room I know is the one that is cleaned everyday by the janitorial squad. Unless I've been sleeping for years, this room couldn't have possibly deteriorated so quickly. It looks like it was flooded, left to dry, and never treated for the damage. Is that even possible?

I hear a noise from behind one of the doors and my head snaps in it's direction. I stare at it, and realize in time that's it's the medicine room. I stand, and walk a little towards it and say:

"Hello? Is someone there? Would you care to explain to me what's going on here?"

No answer. Just a grunt... not even that... just some kind of bodily noise. I walk closer, only a few feet from the door now.

"Is there something wrong out there? Is the world outside my room just as different? Are you hurt?"

Still nothing... just more noises. Sounds male. I grip the doorknob, turn it (forcibly no less, whatever mechanical parts that once assisted in easing the knob's turning have no doubt rusted), and start to push.

"I'm Lisa..."

My hands fly to my mouth in an attempt to muffle my scream. What I saw made my reaction time long, and dulled control of my body. In my line of sight was a man standing, his back to me while his front slumped forward towards the door that led to the hall. The lab coat he donned was ripped near his neck, and blood stained the white from that area down. In the center of the tear, where normally smooth flesh would be revealed was a lump... a living, writing lump that looked to be continually fighting to break the skin and be free. His body moved much slower in comparison as he started to shuffle his feet around so he could face me while my own body should have been doing an 180 and slamming shut the door but was sealed in place by my mind's morbid curiosity. Once he had done an about face, I saw him fully. Through the deathly pale skin I saw that he was one of the doctors here. His face was certainly familiar in my mind, yet his name escaped me and in the dark his name tag did nothing but glitter occasionally. He'd have to be the one to say his name, yet somehow I knew he couldn't in this state.

My mind started to race. Is there anything I could do to help him? I could potentially excise whatever that is in his back with a few tools... but thoughts of saving him ended once I saw the knife he brandished in his hand. The next thing I knew he was in a mad dash for me, moving faster than an animal in heat. Suddenly alert to my situation, and equally terrified, I pulled the door shut with all the strength I could gather and as swiftly as I could in the dark, compressed the button that would lock the door.

I started to back away, as the monster pounded and slashed at the door. I continued backward in a daze until my butt once again hit the table, and thrust me back to reality.

The noise wouldn't stop. That thing just continued to pound at the door, moaning ungodly sounds in hunger for me. I can't stand it.

The noise pounding in my head was suddenly joined by a ringing in my ears and the taste of nickel in my mouth. I... I'm going to faint... I know that much. Can't go unconscious though... that thing... it'll get me.

I fell to my knees and crawled under the table. I turned and adjusted myself so I could see the door vibrating slightly under the stress of that monster. I brought my hands up to cover my ears, and focused on quieting my breathing as a few shaky tears fell and wet my uniform.

What is going on here? Why is everything like this? How could just a lump make someone homicidal? Someone who surely recognized me vaguely at least? I was clearly not a threat.

My mind persisted in asking itself questions it couldn't answer until the calm returned. Whatever was outside that door lost interest in me, or just forgot. I have no idea how their minds work. I didn't want to get up though, in fear of reminding it that I'm alive. So I waited.

"What are you waiting for though?", I asked myself.

"You can't depend on anyone to save you Lisa. Men aren't like that...Ka... who?"

I shook my head. In an attempt to answer my own question I'd started talking nonsense. I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of gunshots from outside my door. Then the sound of flesh hitting the floor. I bumped my head in shock at the noise. Had whoever or whatever fired those shots heard me? The door knob rattled once, then stopped. Whatever was there had left. Lack of interest apparently. I sigh in relief. Whatever that was, it certainly had more sense then that monster.

Are some smarter than others? Can they operate firearms? No... I'm certain... it had to be human. A monster wouldn't kill another of it's own kind (as I had assumed happened out there, with the flesh hitting the floor). And also... Why give up so easily at getting to me when the other had so fiercely tried?

I stayed buried in my thoughts till I heard another noise: The sound of a key entering a lock.