Chapter Seven: They Were Here

-Present Day, June 30-

I watched as the dark haired man placed the chair he had been formerly sitting on at my bedside and the woman sat down and rested her elbows on her knees and stared at me with startling clear blue eyes. As much as I wanted to trust this woman, I couldn't shake off what that blond man had been pushing for. She noticed my doubt and nodded slightly.

"I see you overheard what Hawkens had said shortly after you woke up." I felt myself go red in the face. "Don't worry; I'm the reason why he stormed out of the room. I'm not here to harm your reputation, I want to catch the person who did this to you."

"Can't you take a look at the video surveillance, I mean don't all malls have those?" My voice seemed off, gravelly and weak. The woman shook her head slowly.

"The only thing we noticed was a group of young adults going into the theatre and someone trying to scam a teller at the gift shop five minutes before the group left the theatre." My eyes widened, shocked. "Sometime between you and your group going into the theatre and leaving, all the occupants were turned into monsters. And coincidentally, all the feed to the surveillance cut out just as you left the theatre, so as you can imagine and pardon the pun, we are left in the dark."

I closed my eyes and turned my head slowly, gripping the bandages around my waist lightly. She noticed my actions and she leaned back in her chair slowly. I opened my eyes as she pulled out a cigar and the man reached out with a lighter and I cleared my throat.

"This is a hospital, and there is a no smoking policy in hospitals." The woman made eye contact with me before putting the cigar back into its case. "Thank you, so you mean you haven't found the others yet?

"No, there hasn't been hide or hair noticed since the incident. You were pulled out of the Huckle River about a week ago and have been in a coma since yesterday." I jolted in shock. "Do try to stay calm, I understand that this will come as a shock, but I need to know everything about the group you were with and the events that took place after you left the theatre. Walter, we may need some water."

The man inclined his head before leaving the room. I watched as he left before turning my attention back to the woman as she pulled out some photographs.

"Excuse me, ma'am but are you with the police?" She chuckled, shaking her head. The man had returned with two plastic cups and a pitcher of water. He set them on the bedside table and returned to his position behind the woman, close to the door.

"No, Ms. Summers, we are Characters." She noticed my expression change. "It's all right, I understand that you will be a little cautious around our kind, especially after what you went through."

I nodded slowly and glanced at my hands, noticing that they were shaking. "Which do you want first; profiling my friends or my side of what happened?"

"Let's start with your friends, if you don't mind." She placed a photograph on the bedside table close to the water. She held out colored markers to me, and I reached for them before she pulled them back slightly. "One at a time, if you please. Circle each one with a different color to indicate which one you are referring to."

"This one is Sean Thomas." I took the blue marker and circled his face slowly. "I've known him for a long time, he's my best friend. I could write an entire novel about him if he wouldn't get offended. He was the reason why I was there at the theatre in the first place."

"A date?" I laughed surprising her. I shook my head and pulled out the red marker and drew around Amy's face, resisting the urge to cross it out.

"She was the one who wanted him to go to the movie with her, but he refused to go unless there were more people, so then it looked like a friend outing instead of a date. She wasn't very happy about that."

"And you don't really like her, do you?" The woman noticed my expression and sighed. "I'm sensing hostility right now."

"I'm sorry, it's just that she broke my trust, publicly humiliated me, and verbally abused another friend of mine for getting the guy she wanted. Then when all of her friends left her, she comes crawling back, trying to make amends. Amy Fredrickson is the world's horrible friend on the planet."

"This is the girl she had attacked." I took the yellow marker and circled Terri's face. "She's really quiet and her confidence was ripped apart by Amy and her at-the-time friends. They would throw rocks and water balloons at her because she got an eligible bachelor. It got to the point the she almost dropped out of school, but then they would tag her house."

At the woman's blank expression, I clarified. "That's when someone writes on walls or fences, usually the message is rude or threatening. They were pretty nasty with their choice of words. I was very protective of her, even though I was considered a rival to the guy as well. But he chose her, so then she had the right, no one else. Her name is Terri Nash."

"This is the guy Terri 'got'." I used the green marker to circle Richard. "Richard Keyes was invited to the theatre with Sean, Amy and me by Amy herself, to prove to Sean that she wasn't offended by his request. Terri was allowed to come along because Rich is her boyfriend, she was so nervous about Amy's intentions that she asked me if Amy was trying another grab for Rich. We got something a lot more than we bargained for."

The man silently poured us each a glass of water before moving back to the door again. I took a healthy swallow and the cool, refreshing rush was pleasant.

"So what happened at the theatre?"

"When we left the theatre, the lights were acting weird, flickering on and off. There was no one around, which was strange because the mall was jam packed prior to us going into the theatre. There were some people who claimed to be Characters, and said they wanted to play a game with us. They never told us their names, and when Amy demanded to know who they were, one of them shot me."

I took a steadying breath. "They told us the game was like tag, but with a twist. We were told if we could get some help, then we'd win. If we got caught, we were at their mercy. When they left, Richard went over the payphone terminal to see if they were working, he ran back to us saying something about zombies. At first I thought I had lost too much blood, but then I saw them too. We left the mall, to try and get away from them."

"None of those who became those monsters ever left that place. They were all destroyed shortly before you were reported as found." The woman sounded reassuring, but I felt a little nauseous. "They couldn't have been saved, they were better destroyed. Please continue."

"But if none of them left the mall, then what were those things chasing us?" The woman seemed surprised. "I mean, what was chasing us was actually running. So then what were they?"

"Please stay focused Ms. Summers, what happened after you and your friends left the theatre?" The woman seemed thoughtful; maybe she was getting an idea of what attacked us.

"Sorry, Amy ran off ahead, trying to save herself. Sean was supporting me and Rich and Terri were keeping up with us. It was raining, and Sean slipped on the pavement. Rich and Terri continued on without us, and Sean hid us under the overpass. After a while, Sean tried to run away with me once more, when he realized that someone was watching us. He said it was the same one who shot me. The last thing I remember was falling; he was reaching for me-."

I took another sip of the water. "Then I woke up to hear some jerk off telling the doctor and nurse to tell me that this all happened in my head and lie to me. He was rather pissed off that I was awake, I don't know what you may have done to make him leave."

The woman laughed and stood up slowly. "I just made it so then he couldn't make you out to be a nutter seeing as the one who did this to you may be the enemy that has been causing us some problems. As of this moment, you are under my protection. My butler will be keeping an eye on you until you are ready to be discharged."

The woman left the room and the man pulled back his chair to the door and sat down. He smiled before pulling out his book once more and I fell asleep once more after finishing my glass of water.

A/N: Boo-YAH! You guys got a longer chapter this time. Congrats to me, hope you are still enjoying the story so far. As for those who hated the blond man with the "do-it-now-or-risk-losing-your-job" attitude, keep hating him; because he is a bastard and I created him to be hated. Muwahahahahahaha! Rate and review please?