II – Carmen Crandall

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the KH characters, but I own Carmen (even though her last name is a stolen one smirk.

A.N.: Please note that this chapter contains more of blood and violence. I would not call it bloody, but it's … it fits the rating.


When silence laughs, you know you're out.

The darkness slowly turned into blurry shadows, then into vague shapes and back again. A street, a lantern… oh, wait, wasn't that sign over there…?

She got up slowly, staggering as something in her leg cracked faintly. Though she doubted it was faintly in real. She felt numb. Her body was bleeding, but the pain held a soft edge. Trauma. She told herself. Try to hold it until you're there, girl. Come on. Just four blocks. Straighten up. With the energy of a half-dead, she started stumbling through the alleys.

xxx

„Okay, so what the hell is going on here? I thought all the trapped spirits were free now." Trying to relax, Natalie took a sip from her cup of coffee. She had gotten rid of the idea of having a normal life again already two weeks ago, but still she didn't appreciate that new ghost voice. Why couldn't it just be… over?

Next to her, Hook was still standing upright, but he also had the signs of shock on his face. „Frankly speaking, I don't have a clue, but I'm sure MRs. Druse will be able to help us."

„You mean once she is back from her holidays in the Caribbean?" When Hook glared at him in frustration, a short smile flashed across Peter's lips. „Sorry."

Silence filled the room again. There had been no more earthquakes since Mary had been freed. And those cries had been the only ones so far. Whoever that ghost was, he was alone. A single spirit. Trapped alone in Swedenborgian Space.

xxx

She pushed herself up again. Had she fallen onto the ground? She didn't remember. As she urged herself to go on, the vision started to become clear again. Good.

She noticed a few pedestrians passing by and glaring at her in shock. There were only few of them. The sun had not yet risen completely and the only people who came to the hospital at that time - hospital?

Her inner smile slowly curved her lips. She gazed at the red letters above the entrance. EMERGENCY. Yeah baby. She had done it. With a last effort, she pushed the doors open.

xxx

The frst sound that echoed through the halls was the one of Natalie Rickman's cup of extra strong coffee shattering on the ground. The next was the voice of Hook. "Holy mother of God!"

The girl that stood a few feet away from him in the emergency entrance was a whole mess.

Her black, curled hair was soaked with blood, clinging to her face like an awkward frame. Her blouse and trousers were shredded and some of the hugest haematomas he had ever seen had formed on her wrists and upper arms. Her fingers were bleeding. One of her shins seemed to be fractured. A freaky little smile appeared on her lips, before she fell to the ground, breathing like a shipwrecked who had just been pulled out of the Pacific.

"Natalie, do me a favour and tell Otto to call Dr. Traff and nurse Hilton. Peter, help me."

He didn't waste another second. The girl seemed to be awake, but she was fading. Every single second was important now. "Here." He handed Peter his coat, then knelt down to search for the girl's pulse. "You see the cut in the fractured leg? Wrap it up. Tight. She loses another liter of blood and it's over." He frowned again, as his suspicion came true. Her pulse was in ecstasy height, but he knew it would drop with the snap of a finger. She would collapse if Louis didn't come here quickly. And she would die.

xxx

The doctors were already there when Natalie Rickman came back. Her husband was standing next to them, looking rather exhausted than shocked now. "Hey, Peter, honey, what-

Good god…" With her own hands shaking, she reached for his ones. They were red from blood.

"She's lost a lot of blood, but Dr. Traff said she's going to be alright again. Said he already knew her." When he found Natalie still staring at his bloody hands, he sighed in frustration. "Back home?"

She only nodded

xxx

The darkness was back once again, but this time she knew it wasn't real. She had already walked those corridors. She knew their floors, their elevators and the stereo boxes of course.

She also knew that it was useless to go on walking.

xxx

Hook entered the room with his typical I'm-sorry-but-I'm-always-on-the-move-look on his face. The girl was now lying still. She looked exhausted, but at least safe. With a nod towards Louis, who was quietly standing next to her, he stepped nearer. "Did Liz found out who our young lady is?"

"She didn't have to." Louis answered with an edge of bitterness in his voice. "The young lady's name is Carmen Crandall. 19 now, from the East End of Lewiston. I have already informed her father. Her mother died a few years ago."

"You seem to know quite a lot about her."

"Yeah, baby, tell him." She knew she wasn't talking for real. She knew that no one in the outside world would hear her. But that didn't matter.

"She has been taken here for three times now."

"Two times, dummy. This time I walked here on my own two feet."

"Always for the same reason."

"Jesus Christ." For a moment, Hook had a feeling like the ground to his feet was turning into swamp water. Uneasy ground. "It's the third time she has had to live through… all of this?" He couldn't find a better expression. Her injuries were too many to summarize.

"Not all of it. The last two times it had "only" " Louis had a feeling like he would choke of the word, "only been rape. The burns and slashes are new."

"Oh yeah." Memory began to build up slowly inside her. Dr. Traff was right. One of those sons of a bitch had decided to stub out his cigarettes on her legs. And hadn't the pendant on the chain he had used to play stars and stripes on her face been Jesus Christ?

"The police probably won't even believe her." Louis continued. "The more often she gets here, the less they believe that it's just pure coincidence. But I guess she won't even care. She doesn't complain a lot. Not even trauma. Silent resistance, one could say. She's got a damn "straighten up" attitude."

xxx

Oh yes, she had. She was sure about that. No way in hell would she allow those guys to ruin her life more than they already had. She would go on and if she'd ever see them again, she'd punch their faces into an ugly pulp of flesh and bones. Happy birthday, wrath.

The sound of little footsteps on the ground startled her. She knew them already. Small steps, but heavy ones. Quiet. Another smile appeared on her lips as she saw his animal face around the corner.

"Hi, Anubis." She weaved him hello, but he only kept staring at her. "Hey, Anubis, anything wrong today? You look sad." Again, he didn't answer her, but now he slowly approached her and the look in his eyes made her chill from the inside. This wasn't the Anubis she knew. This cold dark creature that looked at her with what seemed to be blame. Not sadness.

"Anubis!" Quietly, she backed up against the wall. " Anubis what's wrong? Stop, please. Don't come nearer. Anubis!"

For a moment the anteater hesitated, then fletched his teeth once. And left. A relieved sigh escaped her mouth.

"Was pretty close, huh?"

She turned around the corner immediately to find him in front of her. The doubts were easy to see in her eyes. "Paul?"