Chapter 13:

Kara

"Kara, darling, how many times do I have to tell you?" the voice echoed throughout my brain, its words bouncing off the inner side of my skull.

"What?" I was extremely confused. Where am I? Where is that voice coming from? I thought.

"I must have said it countless times!" it responded.

"Said what? What have you told me?" I asked, confused. This situation seemed much too familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" it boomed. And suddenly, as if a switch was flipped in my brain, I remembered the voice and it's warnings.

"I-I'm not ignoring you! I just don't understand what it is you want me to do!" I called back.

"You have the papyrus in your possession! Why aren't you deciphering it?! Rather than doing as I told you, you've been playing childish games and goofing around! Maybe you'll understand its importance now that you've been attacked for it." it hissed.

"Attacked?"

"Soon, not only the immortality seeking fool will be involved. It won't be long until the raven is as well, and later even more attention will be drawn towards it!"

"Raven? Oh... Victor. What is it these people want?!" I asked. I had expected a straightforward answer, maybe a riddle, but not the voice shrieking and sending me plunging into darkness.

Mick

After the nurse returned with my pillow, I quickly fell asleep. Once again I dreamed about that strange figure, but this time, it was telling me to protect the beloved and make sure she succeeded. I'm just going to say right now that I had no idea what that meant. Once again, the dream ended with me being burned by the spirit thing.

A few minutes after I woke up, the heart monitor on the other side of the hospital bed starting going crazy. I frantically hopped up and continuously pressed the "call nurse" button on the bed railing. Soon, a grouchy looking nurse came in and started scolding me for pressing the button so many times, but she stopped when she saw the monitor going insane.

"Oh dear, oh dear..." she mumbled under her breath, quickly rushing over to Kara and feeling her pulse.

"Whats happening?" I demanded. She looked up at me with a concerned look before going back to work.

"Her pulse is racing much too fast! And there's not much I can do with her unconscious!" she said. I watched her run over to a machine in the far corner of the room and wheel it over. She placed a mask over Kara's mouth and turned on the machinery.

"Whats that?" I asked, signally to the machine in a slight panic. The nurse made sure the mask was securely in place before turning to answer me.

"It's actually a life support machine, but right now it's helping to keep her breathing steady. See, her pulse is racing which is causing her breath intake to increase, but she's not getting the required amount of oxygen to her lungs because she's breathing too quickly. In other words, the machine is stopping her from hyperventilating. Because she isn't awake, she needs the machine in order to take a deep breath." She explained.

"Whats wrong with her? Why is she hyperventilating?" I asked.

"I'm not sure..." she replied."All of her other readings look fine. Whatever is causing this is probably something going on in her imagination."

"A nightmare..." I whispered in realisation.

"Yes," the nurse said, nodding. "Does she get them a lot?" she asked, turning to look at me. I nodded.

"Yeah, and they can get pretty nasty... One time she fell asleep on the couch and scared the hell out of us when she started screaming." The nurse shot a concerned glance towards Kara.

Once her heart rate slowed down a bit, the nurse spoke up again. "Alright then, she's calming down. I have to go check in on our other patients, but if you need me just press the button and I'll come as quick as I can." she said. I nodded and murmured a quick thank you, my eyes trained on Kara. The nurse bustled out of the room and I took my seat next to the bed, not once taking my eyes off of her face.

"Please wake up soon," I whispered. "I miss you. I need to make sure you're okay..." Moments later, as if answering my pleading, Kara gasped and shot straight up, knocking the breathing mask aside.

"What the-" she exclaimed, noticing all the wires connected to her. "Is that? Ewwww..." she said, spotting the IV. She looked away from the needle in her skin and looked up at me, acknowledging my presence for the first time since she woke up. "Mick?" she asked.

"Yup," I said, letting out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"You're here..." she said, her head cocked to the side."Why?" She then looked around. "Where is here exactly?"

"Um... Well... You were attacked and I came with you to the hospital..." I said dumbly.

"How?" she asked. "When my friend got hit by a car the paramedic told me I couldn't come. That it was family or significant others only." I offered a weak chuckle and scratched the back of my neck.

"Yeah... About that... I may have told a little lie..." I said shyly. To my surprise, she started laughing.

"Oh my god, Mick!" she exclaimed. "So what are you, my brother, cousin, or fiancé?"

"Um... Boyfriend..." I murmured. That just made her laugh harder. It was a weight lifted off my chest to see her awake and laughing as though nothing horrible had ever happened to her.

"My goodness," she said, her laughter subsiding. "Now don't do anything stupid and cause me to break up with you!" she joked, shaking a finger. I couldn't help but start laughing along with her.

After a minute or two, she lay back onto her pillow and her mask hit her in the face.

"Ow!" she said, but I think she just said it from shock. "What the hell is this?" she asked, removing the strap from around her neck.

"The nurse had to hook you up to that machine," I said, pointing to the piece of machinery beside her bed. "It's supposed to help you breathe."

"I was having problems breathing?" she asked, obviously shocked. "Did I almost die?!" She exclaimed frantically. I chuckled.

"No Kara, you didn't almost die," I clarified. "Your heart started beating super fast and you weren't breathing right because of it or something like that."

"Oh..." she said. "I'm glad I wasn't dying then!" she laughed and tried to sit up again, but this time she winced and fell back. "Owwww..." she whined.

"Here," I said, passing her the remote control for the bed. She pushed a button causing the top of the mattress to slide up and put her in a sitting position.

"Thanks," she said, placing the remote by her side. "Why did it hurt to sit up?" she asked. I leaned over and pulled her shirt up a bit so she could see the bandage wrapped around her middle. "Oh... What happened?"

"Fractured rib," I replied.

"My rib is fractured?!" she exclaimed lifting herself with her bad arm. "OW!" she exclaimed falling back again. How she didn't notice the bulky cast on her arm beats me, but she looked even more afraid than she was about her rib. "I broke my arm?!" she exclaimed, clearly not impressed with her situation.

"Kara, calm down." I said, placing my hand on hers. She looked into my eyes. "How much do you remember about what happened?" She looked down and thought for a minute.

"Um... I remember Jason asking me to stay behind. He asked me to do him a favour which I agreed to, and then I left. I was walking around the corner of the school when-" she choked up for a second as realization dawned on her and let a few tears fall before continuing. "-When he hit me in the head. I tried to run but he grabbed me and threw me to the ground. He knows who I am Mick... He knows so much that I didn't... It must have been nonsense, I want it to be nonsense!" she cried. I started rubbing her back with my other hand as she was currently crushing the one I had placed on hers.

"Kara, breathe." I said. She nodded and took a deep breath. "What else do you remember?"

"He was choking me," she said, her hand suddenly jolting to her throat. "It hurt so much... I couldn't breathe..." I could feel my ears start to turn red from anger. Whoever this bastard was not only scared the hell out of Kara, but he almost killed her too. If I ever found that son of a bitch, he was gonna wish he had never been born.

I tried to contain my anger and allow her to continue. With much effort, I managed to bottle my emotion enough for her to start talking again.

"He lifted me off the ground and said he was done messing around with "us stupid kids" and went to punch me. But I kicked him and ran away. I didn't get far though... He grabbed me from behind. I remember I was screaming and then I heard a loud crack. I guess that was my arm..." She said, lifting her bad arm and examining it. "I passed out after that. Then it started screaming at me again... Oh Mick, it won't leave me alone!" she cried, pulling my hand up to her face. She held it to her cheek as she started to cry harder. "Then... I woke up. And you were here." she said, gripping my hand tightly.

"It?" I asked confused. She nodded.

"The figure... I think it's a woman, but I'm not sure. It sounds like a woman..." she whispered.

"And her appearance is a reoccurring thing?" I asked and she nodded. "That's what your nightmares are about!" I exclaimed in realization. Again she nodded. I was about to tell her that I had dreamt of the figure as well, but she seemed too upset for me to tell her at that moment.

"She's always in my dreams, and sometimes I hear her when I'm awake too... I'm not crazy! Please don't think I'm crazy!"

Using my thumb on the hand Kara had trapped to her face, I wiped away the tears on her cheek before lifting my other hand and wiping the other side of her face free of precipitation. I now had both my hands cupped around her face as she watched me curiously with her big blue eyes. Cautiously, I leaned in. "I'll never think you're crazy" I whispered. I stopped inches from her face and when she didn't pull away, I closed the distance between us, pressing our lips together. Sparks shot up my spine as she let go of my hand and snaked her arm around my neck. I dropped the hand she had let go of and placed it on her waist instead. I gently reached for her plastered arm and lifted it, placing it on my shoulder.

We stayed in that position, completely involved in each other for a good minute or so before I was brought back to reality by Kara retreating her hand from behind my neck. She broke the kiss and clutched her ribs.

"Ow... Stupid fractured rib..." she groaned. I chuckled and helped her lay back down. She closed her eyes and sighed before removing her arm from around her stomach. "Mick?" she whispered, opening her eyes again.

"Yeah?" I asked, removing the stray hair that had fallen in her face.

"Please don't leave." She begged, looking more fragile than I ever imagined I would see her.

"I won't," I assured her, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "Now get some rest. It's like, four in the morning." I said, pulling her blanket up around her. She chuckled and turned her head, closing her eyes again.

"Goodnight Mick" she said.

"Goodnight." I replied, but her chest was already moving up and down in a steady pattern. I smiled and grabbed my pillow that had been lying forgotten on the floor.

Kara

As I fell asleep, four words echoed through my mind;

Best first kiss ever.