Chapter 2

Alex didn't know what to do. He'd been unceremoniously led into a small side room somewhere along with Li, Paulo and Amber and they hadn't heard anything since. He felt so helpless… Somehow he couldn't quite believe what had just happened. It shouldn't have happened, couldn't have, because it was Hex… and these things didn't happen. Except it just had.

He glanced around the room at the others. Li was sat curled up on a chair, her cheeks wet. Every so often she'd sniff or sigh and Alex knew that she was trying hard not to break down altogether. Paulo was pacing round the room and peering out of the door every ten seconds, shaking his head and muttering to himself in Spanish. Alex hadn't said anything to Paulo. He had the feeling that the Argentinean was close to breaking point too.

Alex's eyes drifted over to Amber. Out of all of them, surprisingly, she looked the calmest. But as much as she looked calm Alex knew that the look on Amber's face was nothing he'd ever seen before. She was sat with a blank, lifeless look on her face, unmoving and unblinking. Alex suddenly remembered she'd been like that since he'd dragged her into the taxi but couldn't for the life of him begin to think how to approach her.

He couldn't even seem to think about it himself. He felt sick whenever he thought about it. It didn't seem real, because it couldn't be. It was wrong. SO wrong that something like this would happen…happen to them…

As much as he tried Alex couldn't help thinking about what had happened…It had been so simple. So normal. They'd stood there, the three of them. Alex and Li and…Hex. They'd waited. They'd waited until the traffic had stopped. It's what they always teach you in school. Wait for the green man. And they had. They had. But it had still happened, and it shouldn't have happened.

But it did. And he could picture it now, in his mind, clear as the ripples in water…

They were laughing. Laughing at Amber, and Hex was pointing out where the museum was. It was normal. They were chatting and laughing at it was normal… He'd looked up, Alex had looked, and the green man was there…it was there and the traffic had stopped. It had stopped, so they'd gone. They'd gone across the road and Alex wished with everything he possessed that they hadn't, but they had and it had happened.

They were crossing the road. It was all normal. Alex knew he was the first to hear it. The distinct sound of brakes screeching as a car pulled round a corner. And then he'd seen it. A car speeding down the wrong side of the road, past all the other traffic, and straight towards them. He remembered the sick feeling in his stomach, the smack of fear that had hit him head on, and his instinctive grab of the arm next to him. Li's arm, and then dragging her to the side, a split second before the car reached them.

Watching it, watching it brush past Alex and Li by millimetres, straight into Hex…

Alex stumbled across to a chair and sat down, his head suddenly spinning as he tried to shake the image from his head. He couldn't. He took a couple of shaky breaths and stared up at the ceiling; unable to shake the fear away that had crept upon him.

Alex jumped as next to him, the door clicked open, breaking the silence that had settled over the four of them. A young doctor walked in, his face void of all emotion. Paulo stopped pacing and stood, staring at him, hands on hips, his face demanding information. Li wiped her cheeks and seemed to try to control her breathing. Amber didn't move.

The doctor looked to all of them in turn before sighing.

"I'm afraid that although we did our utmost, Hex's injuries were just to severe. He stopped breathing and we were unable to get his heart started again. He died a short while ago. I'm very sorry".

Alex's head spun. He clutched the edge of his chair and was vaguely aware of Li letting out a sob before dropping to the floor and Paulo marching out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He could hear the doctor saying something but didn't-couldn't take any of it in. He could feel choked tears sting at his eyes as the click of the door signified the doctor had left. Li's loud sobs broke through the delicate tension in the room as a burning rush of heat spread through Alex's body. He tried to calm himself down but couldn't quite manage it. Hex was dead. And everything had changed.