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It was dark. The silence was deafening. It occurred to him, what a strange saying that was. A lot of things like that had occurred to him. He felt like he had been here, in this place, for days. When in reality, it was most likely only several hours. He couldn't stop thinking about the others. Wondering if they were alright, or……..no, the alternative was too horrible to contemplate. Deciding to take action, he tested his bonds. They felt like simple rope, but a strange tingling at his wrists, told him they were possibly enchanted, or supernatural in some other way. Having no luck, he then forced himself to remain still. His prison was not as silent as he had first thought. He could hear something, most likely rodents or other vermin, scurrying about the place. But underneath that sound, was another. He couldn't place it. Suddenly, his body felt weighted. He felt more exhausted then he could ever remember being.
As he succumbed to sleep, he never saw the shape standing over him………watching him.

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They walked down the corridor slowly. After a warning by Rachel that there were patients trying to rest, they were trying to be as quiet as possible. The nurse escorted them to the room where Nick was, and then left with strict instructions to only be a minute.
Rachel gripped the door handle, and pushed the door open. It wasn't difficult to locate Nick. He was the only occupant of the small room. He was hooked up to the usual equipment.
I.V, and other devices, probably for monitoring his vitals among other things. He had a large bandage on the left side of his head, and Rachel could see some heavy bruising there, too. The cast on his left arm looked almost invisible against the white covers of the bed. His eyes were closed, and she thought him asleep. Kat moved closer to the bed, walking cautiously. She didn't want to wake Nick, but she desperately wanted to hear his voice, to assure herself that he was okay. As she got close, Nick surprised them all, by opening his eyes. They scanned the room slowly, before finally landing on Kat. He gave a small smile, and Kat moved forward to the bed.

"Hey Nick," she said. She didn't like hospital rooms. It was like, no matter how quietly you spoke, it always sounded like you were talking at the top of your voice. Rachel and Alex came to the bed. Rachel decided that some gentle teasing was in order.

"Hey Nick. I see you've been careful as usual. What's the matter, you felt the need for a change of pace, so you had to put yourself in the hospital? Or have you missed the food in here?"

Nick favoured her with a tired half smile. "Yeah Rach, real funny." His voice was scratchy, and faint, and Rachel put her hand on his right arm in sympathy. Nick frowned suddenly.

"Alex? Is she okay?"

He didn't want to risk moving his head, but he knew that he was worried about Alex for some reason.
Alex moved forward, and looked down at Nick.

"Hey. You gave us quite a scare you know. How are you feeling?"

He squeezed the hand she put in his. "Lets see. My head is killing me, my face is killing me, and I hurt all over. All in all, I've had a bad day."

They all laughed, though it was slightly nervous. Alex answered his previous question.

"I'm okay Nick. I was really scared that you weren't going to make it you know……don't ever scare me like that again! You are always getting in the way of demons, and one day, it might not work out like this."

To make her point, she lightly nudged his arm. He chuckled slightly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'll have to let any nice demons know that they shouldn't attack me in future for your sake, huh?"

Alex mock frowned. "That's not what I meant. Now stop joking about it Nick, you should be taking it easy."

Not wanting to push him too much, Rachel said, "Well, like Alex said, you have to rest, and I have a little girl who should be in bed. So, we'll be back tomorrow, honey, okay?"

Nick nodded slightly, too tired to do much else. Kat leaned down to kiss his cheek, and promised to come back tomorrow. After a stern look from her mother, she added, "If you're okay, and Mom says I'm allowed."

Rachel nodded, a slight smile on her face. As Nick's eyes closed, they saw a look come over him. It was a look of confusion.

"Hey, I forgot to ask. What happened exactly? I mean, I assume there was a demon, but what else?"

Alex and Rachel looked at each other, too shocked to do much else. "Nick, what do you mean? You don't remember what happened?"

Rachel's question fell on deaf ears, as Nick had already fallen asleep.

Kat, stood between Alex and Rachel, looked back and forth between them.

"Mom, what is it? What's wrong?" She was beginning to get worried again, and when Rachel saw this, she put a smile on her face.

"Nothing's wrong honey, I should have realised. A common symptom of concussion is memory loss about events preceding the injury. Sometimes, people can't remember things from just after, either."

She straightened up. "I know you're still worried about Nick, but we have to go now. It's really late, okay?"
Kat nodded, not quite convinced. Alex sighed, then smiled for Kat's benefit, as she led the way out of the room.
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