Nightmare on Sunwood Avenue Part I.

Michael's Perspective: I walked towards my front gate, stuffing the owl mask in my pocket. I opened the gate and walked up the path.

When I stepped onto the doorstep, the door burst open and Hazel flew out and grabbed me in a bear hug. " Whoa, calm down, Hazel". She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

" Oh, Mahkey. Where were ya? Your father and ah were so worried". I immediately felt guilty for putting them through that pain when I had been fine for days. " Oh, I was just staggering around the countryside most of the time, not doing a whole lot...". I trailed off. Hazel smiled painfully at me.

" Well, come inside. Your father's not home, but he will be soon. I'll make ya some chicken soup." She hustled me into the dining room and sat me down. " Stay here. Don't wander off", she said sternly. She hurried into the kitchen.

I took the owl mask and a purple crystal out of my pockets. I turned the crystal over in my hands and I examined it.

Hazel came in and I hurriedly stuffed the crystal and mask into my pocket. " Here ya go". She plonked a huge bowl of chicken soup onto the table. " Whoa, this is kind of big". " Nonsense. It's just the rahght sahze. Eat up." I spooned up a mouthful then put it back. " Can I eat this in my room". Hazel frowned. " What, ya've been alone so long, ah thought that... Never mahnd. Sure ya can." She smiled falsely at me and I hurried up stairs.

I went into the bathroom and grabbed the mortar and pestle on the cistern. I placed the crystal in the mortar and crushed it with the pestle. When I thought it was crushed enough, I held it under the tap and let it run. When the water mixed with the crystalline powder, it turned purple and began to sparkle. By the time it was full, the powder had gone and the water had completely turned purple and sparkly. I poured the solution into a tall glass tumbler I had brought from the kitchen and held it up to the light.

It glittered hypnotically. I sniffed it and immediately felt extremely tired. I put in the sink and staggered to my bedroom. I collapsed on the bed and instantly fell asleep.

Hazel's Perspective:

I walked into the bathroom and saw Mikey's chicken soup on the cistern. I sighed and picked it up. It had gone cold. I made for the door when I saw a glass of purple liquid in the skin. I picked it up and sniffed it. A wave of dizziness flooded through my body. I staggered and slipped on the rug. I hit my head on the floor and passed out.

Michael's Perspective:

I dreamed I was in a corridor lit by candles. As I walked down the corridor, I noticed doors on both sides of the corridor, continuing far beyond my sight. I walked up to the nearest door, which had a purple candle next to it. I opened it and stepped into the darkness beyond...

I woke up to the sound of my dad opening my bedroom door. I sat up.

" Hey, Michael, have you seen Hazel?". " Last time I saw her she was in the kitchen". My dad nodded, giving me a weird look as he did. " Okay, I'll just ah... look outside in the garden". He gave me an uneasy smile and hurried out. I frowned at his back as he hurried away.

I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. I looked into the sink. The liquid was gone. I frowned and I turned to leave.

I saw a red stain on the bath and crouched down to look out it. I dipped my finger in it and sniffed it. It was blood. I scrambled to my feet and hurried downstairs.

I burst into the kitchen. " Dad, I think something happened...". My dad was lying on the floor. I knelt down to check his pulse and I noticed Hazel chopping vegetables at the counter. The crystal water was beside her. " Hazel, do you know what happened to Dad". She spun around and I jerked back in shock.

Hazel's eyes were closed and she had a rather creepy half - smile on her face. " Hazel, what's going on? What happened to Dad?". She didn't answer, instead she muttered intelligibly to herself.

She raised the kitchen knife over her head and advanced on me. I staggered backwards, holding my hands up. " Hazel, please stop. What's wrong with you?". Hazel didn't stop advancing. Suddenly, she lunged forward and drove the knife into my left shoulder. I screamed and collapsed in the doorway. Hazel kicked me across the room with surprising. I cracked my head off the wall and collapsed onto the floor, groaning in agony.

Hazel walked forward, raised the knife over her head and brought it down to my chest. I grabbed her wrist just before the knife penetrated my heart.

Hazel bore down on me with her newly gained strength. The tip of the knife dug into my chest, not often to draw blood but still painful. I strained with all my might against her, but my strength faded rapidly as my blood poured out of my shoulder. Saliva dripped from Hazel's mouth and onto my face, also making me let go of her wrist.

Blood started to trickle out of my chest as the knife bit even deeper. My vision began to go black. With one last Herculean effort, I pushed her wrist away from me and kicked her in the stomach. Surprisingly, she flew across the room and smashed into the table. She didn't get up. I staggered to my feet, clutching my shoulder.

I stumbled to the drawer and grabbed a tea towel. I pressed it against my shoulder. Hazel groaned and sat up. " Mahkey, what's going on...". She saw my shoulder and her eyes widened. " Mahkey, what happened to you?". I nodded at the knife in her hand. " You stabbed me". She saw my dad on the floor and hurried forward. " Did ah do this too". I nodded, because I assumed she did. She frowned.

" Ah, ah don't remember anything. Last thing I remember was hitting my head in the bathroom. She rubbed the back of her head. " Ah remember a purple liquid in the sink". I turned towards her, frowning.

I winced as the pretty African American nurse stitched my shoulder wound. She smiled reassuringly at me. " It's okay. I'll be finished soon." She finished stitching my wound and began to gather her equipment. " How's my dad?". She turned to me, smiling brightly. " Oh, he'll be fine. He has a bit of a concussion, but he's had much worse".

" And Hazel? How is she?" The nurse's smile faltered slightly, then she quickly turned away. " Oh, she's fine. The shrink should be finished with her soon". The nurse quickly realised her mistake as I gaped at her. " Shrink? Why does she need a shrink? She doesn't have a mental illness, does she?".

The nurse turned around looking decidedly uncomfortable. " Well", she said rather squeakily, " She did try to kill you and your father, which is never a good sign for your mental health. Plus the symptoms you described... There have never been heard of before. We had to fight to keep the feds and the DCA out o' here". I looked at her with my mouth hanging open. " You know what. I'm just going to go". She grabbed her equipment and hurried out the door.

I fell back onto my bed and sigh in exasperation. I turned over to go to sleep when I heard the nurse scream. I jump out of the bed and race towards the screams. I found her lying on the floor with a scalpel through the palm. She looked at me fearfully.

" It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you", I reassured her. She looked at something behind me with terror in her eyes. I turned around to see a middle - aged doctor in a white lab coat standing over me with a scalpel in his hand. I rose slowly to my feet. The doctor's eyes were closed and he was smiling blearily. I edged towards the fire extinguisher on the wall. He lunged at me with the scalpel.

I jumped out of the way, grabbed the fire extinguisher and swung it into his head. He fell to the floor and didn't get up. The nurse inched forward and poked him in the back. He sat up and she jumped a mile.

He looked at her in confusion. " Delia, what's going on? Why is there a scalpel through your hand?". Delia looked down at her hand. She yanked the scalpel out of her hand and dropped it on the floor, grimacing as she did.

Blood leaked out of her hand and stained her white uniform. " Here, Delia. Let me take a look at that". The doctor took her hand and she pulled it away.

" It's okay, Delia". She smiled rather fakely. " Yeah, sure. You my dad's friend, Doctor Cox, we get on well, why am I flinching?". She did a terrible imitation of a breezy expression. Doctor Cox frowned. Delia got to her feet and hurried away, clutching her hand against her chest.

Cox turned to me, looking completely mystified. " Do you know what's wrong with her? I sure as hell don't".

" Yeah well, she's had a rough couple of minutes". Cox's frown deepened. I strode hurriedly into the room and closed the door, not wanting to face that discomforting situation anymore.

I looked around the room. It was obvious there'd been a disturbance. The doors of a press on the wall had been ripped off, there was glass shards and torn - up paper all over the floor, the desk had been overturned and Hazel was sprawled on the floor. Wait, HAZEL WAS SPRAWLED ON THE FLOOR? I ran to her side and checked her pulse. Thank God she was alive. I lifted her off the glass - strewn floor and placed her on the gurney at the back of the room. I shook her slightly. " Hazel, wake up". She moaned softly. I shook her more vigorously. " Hazel, wake up". Slowly her eyes opened and she sat up. She shook her head and looked at me through half - closed eyes. " Mahkey, were am ah?". I gripped her shoulders. " You're in the hospital. You had some kind of episode". She looked around the room then she jumped awake and grabbed me. " Mahkey, Doctor Cox attacked me. He tore up the room and stabbed that poor nurse", she said with terror in her eyes.

" Hazel, calm down. Tell me what happened exactly." She shuddered violently then started to talk. " Well, Ah was brought in here by a pair of orderlies, I was told to wait for the psychiatrist to come. Ah sat on the bed for a few minutes, then Doctor Cox came in. We chatted for a bit, then he asked me to lahe down on the bed. Ah did, and he got a torch and shone it up my nose. He leaned forward to look at me better and he passed out. He bashed his head off the bed and he slumped against the cupboard. Ah got up and went out into the corridor to call for help. Ah saw the nurse comin' and that's when he grabbed me and threw me to the floor. He looked real creepy, his ahyes were closed and he was smahling weirdly. He ripped the cupboard door of its hinges and slammed it into my head. He ran around the room, smashin' and tearin' up anythin' he could get his hands on. He grabbed a scalpel and lunged at the nurse, stabbin' her with it in the hand. He grabbed me and threw me into the wall. I smacked my head off one of the bed legs and passed out. That's the last thin' ah remember, Mahkey". She looked at me, imploring me to believe me.

" I believe you, Hazel, but Doctor Cox is back to normal now. You're safe." She shook her head. " We're not, Mahkey. What ever did that to him, it's still here, and it's gonna do more than that". I looked around the room. " There's no thing, Hazel. It could just be an isolated incident." She continued shaking her head. " No, Mahkey, it's not. Whatever it is, it must have infected me and now it's infectin' those around me". She looked behind me and gasped. I felt something dig into my back and I was hurled into the wall. The last thing I remember is the nurse Delia and two orderlies standing over me with closed eyes and bleary smiles on their faces.

I woke up on the roof of the hospital with Doctor Cox and Hazel lying beside. I checked their pulses. Thankfully, Hazel was still alive however Doctor Cox's jugular vein had been severed somehow, and he was lying in a pool of his own blood.

Down on near Sunwood Park, there was an explosion. I looked up quickly. As I watched, a car crashed into a garden wall, a bungalow burst into flames and screams rang through the night air. I walked to the edge and peered over. Coming out of the hospital were a legion of sleep - walking psychos, all carrying some form of sharp object. They flooded the car park, slaughtering anyone in their path and setting all the cars on the fire. One of them, a male nurse looked up at me and snored loudly at me. He jumped impossibly high, grabbed onto the edge of the roof and pulled himself up. He hopped onto the roof and lunged at me, tackling me to the ground. Under normal conditions, I would have been able to throw him off the roof like a baseball, but seeing I had been stabbed and knocked out within the past two hours, I wasn't in top condition.

He wrapped his hands around my throat and squeezed, all the while smiling grotesquely. I grunted, trying to push him off but he had a grip of iron. The nurse grabbed a sharp stone and drove it into my knee. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from screaming. I lifted up my good knee and rammed it with all my might into his groin. It barely fazed him. He squeezed my throat tighter and black spots danced in the corners of my eyes.

I lifted up my injured knee as far as it would go, groaning in agony as I did, and raked the stone across his chest. His body jerked, his smile faltered and he went limp. I pushed him off me and stood up shakily. I pulled the stone out of my leg and threw it off the roof. I staggered to the edge of the roof and slumped to my knees. I sighed deeply. I lay back on the rooftop, breathing heavily. I closed my eyes and tried to make myself go to sleep. After several minutes of trying, I quit and sat back up again. I looked out over the city. Everything was still and quiet. I frowned. It couldn't be still and quiet, not with all the sleep - zombies.

I looked over the edge. It was completely empty, except for a few burn - out cars. My frown deepened. Where had everybody gone? I checked that Hazel and Doctor Cox's corpse were still on the rooftop, then I crawled over to the hatch leading into the hospital. It was locked. I yanked on the lock, but, unfortunately, it was a pretty new lock.

I collapsed back onto the roof, sighing. I watched as blood flowed freely from my knee. My vision started to blur, my surroundings running like marbling inks. Everything was starting to spin into a multi - coloured maelstrom when I heard the sound of metal hitting concrete. Everything reformed partially, allowing me to see the blurred figures that were swarming onto the roof. I lay on the roof apathetically, watching as the sleep zombies picked up Doctor Cox's corpse and carried it down off the roof.

One of them came up to, knelt down and inspected me. Obviously, they thought I wasn't much of a threat and wouldn't be fun to tear up so, they let me be. Soon after they left, everything blurred into a maelstrom again and I passed out for several hours. When I woke up, the hatch was hanging open, the chain lying in pieces beside it. I sat up, and immediately everything spun. I shifted my shoulder and dull pain pulsed through my body. I looked at my shoulder. The stitches were all popped and it was tinged green, which couldn't be good. I staggered to my feet, trying to ignore the pain and I staggered down the steps into the hospital.

I burst into the hospital proper and collapsed again. The corridors were littered with corpses, alarms were going off and medical equipment and files were strewn across the ground. I dragged myself to my feet and stumbled into the nearest room. I searched desperately through every drawer and press, but I couldn't find any penicillin. Cursing, I ran out into the corridor again. I was about to enter the next room when I saw a box lying open on the floor.

I grabbed it and read the label. It was penicillin. I grabbed a syringe from a dead doctor's hand. I shakily stuck it into the bottle and filled it up. I stabbed it into the wound with a shriek and pushed the plunger. The penicillin raced through my system, clearing away the bacteria. I gasped with relief as my delirium eased.

I grabbed a few extra bottles of penicillin and pocketed them, I pocketed the syringe and I grabbed a roll of bandages. I headed out the door, then rethought and grabbed a syringe full of ketamine and a scalpel, just in case.

I sprinted through the hospital and out into a ruined Sunwood.