CHAPTER 3
The potent smell of bleach paired with persistent beeping and bustling movement overwhelms me.
Sitting as still as possible, I focus on my breathing. The plastic chair I'm on is uncomfortable, creaking ominously if I shift my weight even the slightest.
I hate hospitals.
A doctor and three nurses rush past, pushing a gurney with an unconscious patient lying atop it. As they fly by, a bracelet slips off the patient's wrist and clatters against the floor. I stand and pick it up, touching the beads and jewels threaded along an elastic string. When I pull my fingertips away, they're covered in blood.
I inhale sharply, my eyes closing.
"Well, hello there. What a warm welcome." The mother smiled at us, her creepy-looking son and daughter perched dutifully in front of her, husband to her left.
"Who the fuck are you?" Hank demanded.
The mother's smile turned sinister as she side-stepped to let her husband through. It happened so fast; his leg came up in a powerful kick and Dick barely managed to push Rachel and I out of the way before he was launched back into the cabinet.
"Fuck!" Hank swore loudly, swooping forward to face the other family members.
"Get her out of here!" Dick yelled at me and I grabbed Rachel's hand, racing us in the only direction I could; up.
We burst out onto the roof, panting heavily. "What the hell was that?" Rachel gasped.
I shook my head. "I don't—…"
The door opened and the girl, red hair cascading over her shoulders in perfect curls, floated out. She flicked a knife comfortably in her hand.
"Fire exit," I murmured, pushing Rachel behind me.
"What?" She was frozen with fear.
"Fire exit! Now! Go!" I turned and shoved her forward, toward the ladder that led down to the street.
We barely made it three steps before the girl was on us, swiping her knife at me. I managed to duck the first time and stumbled back, out of the way, the second but the third time she lashed out I wasn't so lucky. She tore through my shirt and sliced my upper arm open, causing me to cuss and trip over.
"Go, Rachel!" I shouted, gripping the gash on my arm. I looked down and saw my hand covered in blood.
I press my fingertip against my thumb, transferring the sticky, red substance across like it's ink. The bracelet bites into my palm as I clutch it tighter and tighter.
"Will." A hand slips onto my shoulder and I flinch, dropping the piece of jewellery. It clatters to the ground, causing a nearby nurse to look at me. "Will," Dick repeats, worry creasing his eyebrows.
"What?"
"How's your arm?" He says it like he's been repeating it for awhile and maybe he has. I'm so unfocussed that I feel like the rest of the world is moving around me and I'm stuck standing still.
"It's fine…A doctor stitched it up." I swallow around a lump in my throat. "Dawn?"
His lips purse and he looks away.
Jesus.
I swoop down and pick the bracelet up then walk across the hall and place it down on the front desk. I keep walking, straight toward the front doors of the hospital.
"Will, wait. Where are you going?" Dick asks, striding up beside me.
"I'm going to find Rachel."
He grabs my elbow, stopping me. "And how exactly are you going to do that? We have no idea where that fucked up family are taking her."
"Well I can't just sit here and do nothing!" My voice breaks and when I realise my eyes are filled with tears, I turn away from him, catching a glimpse of his sympathetic expression as I do.
Using a shaky hand, I wipe away a stray tear that slides down the edge of my nose. "What if she's dead?" I croak out, still unable to face him.
"She's not." He sounds so sure, so solid in his belief that she's ok.
"You don't know that." I shake my head, hating that I'm crying right now but powerless to stop it. He comes around, in front of me, dipping his head to meet my gaze.
"If they wanted to just kill her, they could've done that back at the apartment building. There's something else they want her for. Hey," he puts his hand on my shoulder and this time I don't push him off. "We're going to find her."
"How?"
"I have an APB out on Rachel. The second any cop lays eyes on her, I'll know and we'll go to her. Look, just wait here for a few more minutes. I need to talk to Hank and then we'll get out of here, alright?"
I reluctantly agree to wait and rest back against the wall, more worried about Rachel than I've ever been.
~O~
A catchy funk song plays on the radio, a weed emblem hanging from the rearview mirror. Rachel glances around the car, her eyes landing on the tall, curly-haired woman driving.
"I don't remember anything beyond the past few days except that I've been looking for you," Kory tells her.
"Why?" Rachel asks, curious to know more about her saviour. Who knows what that creepy family was going to do to her; she's lucky Kory showed up at the perfect time.
"I don't know. I was hoping if I met you it would trigger something, but…" Kory shakes her head, her hair bouncing around her shoulders.
"I need to contact my friend. I have to tell her that I'm alright," Rachel says, thinking of how worried Willow must be.
"It's not safe for you to contact anyone. There are people out there who want to hurt you."
"You don't understand. She has to know that I'm ok, that I'm not in danger—"
"For now, just rest. We're going somewhere safe."
Frustrated, Rachel sits back heavily in the leather seat. "Where?"
"Saint Paul's Church."
~O~
Being stuck alone in a car with Dick Grayson may just be my personal brand of hell. At least before we had Rachel as a buffer between us, but now it's just him and me and I want to gouge my eyes out.
I turn on the radio. He frowns and switches it off. I turn on the heat but he switches it to air-con. We go through this process three times before I give up and slump back.
"You should turn off up here—"
He drives straight past the exit. "I know the way."
"The sign said that Coolville freaking Ohio was that way."
"This is a short cut."
"How is this a short cut? You missed the exit—"
"It's a shortcut, I can take back roads—"
"Back being the key word! We'd be going backwards because we just missed the Goddamn exit. This isn't a shortcut!"
We argue till we're blue in the face, till there's no more oxygen left in this death box, till I'm tempted to yank the steering wheel, crash the car and put us both out of our misery.
The crime scene we pull up at silences our bickering and kills our petty grievances. The side of a gas station has been reduced to rubble and there's a burnt corpse lying in the midst of it all.
This was the most recent place Rachel was spotted.
"You don't think…I mean, that's not her, is it?" I ask quietly, staring at the dead body. It's burned beyond recognition.
"It isn't. It's an adult, male body. Probably the father of that family, from last night."
"Do you think Rachel did this?" I look at him, trying to muffle my fear.
He pauses, hand on the car door handle. "I don't know," he admits. "I don't think so. Has Rachel ever mentioned being able to control fire before?"
"No."
"Then it probably wasn't her. Look, we follow the leads and we see where they take us. Speculating before we have all the facts isn't going to help. Stay here."
He gets out and talks to the detective on scene briefly. When he comes back, he seems energised.
I lean forward eagerly as we pull out of the gas station. "What? What'd they say?"
"There's security footage of Rachel leaving with a woman. They got the licence plate of the car they're driving."
"And?" I push.
"The car was spotted not far from here," he looks over at me. "We're close."
~O~
The local police manage to track the car Rachel was last seen in to a roller skating rink. We race there, Dick pushing the accelerator down hard. One thing we can definitely agree on; now is not the time to be following speed limits.
We pull into the parking lot and jump out of the car, ready to be done being stuck in a confined space with one another. Inside the skating rink is busy, people laughing and chatting with their loved ones.
Dick spots the woman that Rachel ran away with but I spot someone far more important over by the pinball machines.
Rachel.
I shoulder my way through the groups of people until I reach her.
"Rach!" I call out and her head pops up, her eyes wide. When she sees me, her face splits into a happy smile.
"You found me," she says just as I reach her. We hug, tightly. I bury my face in her neck and hold her against me. When we finally pull away, she gushes, "I'm sorry I didn't get in touch with you. I wanted to but it's not like you still have a cellphone and Kory said it wasn't safe and—"
"Hey, hey," I interrupt her, touching her chin with my fingers. "It's ok. It's all good. I'm just glad you're alright."
Her eyes flick over my shoulder and the smile melts off her face like ice cream under a summer sun. "What is he doing here?"
I look over my shoulder at Dick, standing beside the woman Rachel ran off with. Kory, I think Rachel called her.
"Let's go outside," I suggest, briefly casting a glance at the boy that was playing pinball with my best friend. His green hair reflects the coloured rink lighting oddly, his face portraying some concern for Rachel that I find endearing. I don't have time to pester her on whether he was flirting with her, but I wish I did.
Kory, Dick, Rachel and I all head outside, where it's cold as fuck. Slick snow covers the ground, more beginning to fall from the sky. I wrap my denim jacket tighter around me, shivering.
"How's Dawn? Is she going to be ok?" Rachel asks me as we go. I don't know what to tell her so I just shake my head and shrug.
"She's in the hospital. We're just going to have to wait and see, I guess."
"We gotta go. The police are looking for you," Dick says to Rachel as we enter the parking lot. He looks at Kory. "Both of you actually, seeing as you kidnapped her."
"She didn't kidnap me. She saved me," Rachel says emphatically. "When you didn't." Still angry at Dick, evidently. As she should be.
Kory tilts her head. "Well, that's technically true…Dick."
I laugh and Dick's head swivels to look at me, his expression saying he's not impressed. "We need to go." His voice is severe and no-nonsense, as always.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Rachel states, tilting her chin up.
"What the hell is going on?" Dick seems exasperated and done with all this shit. I don't entirely blame him.
"You were going to leave us. You thought you could just ditch us the first chance you got and not look back."
He shakes his head. "That's not true."
"Yes, it is. I'm not going anywhere with you. C'mon, let's go." Rachel takes my hand and motions for Kory to follow but I stop, tugging Rachel to a stop as well. She turns back to me, confused. "What?"
I hesitate, swallow. God, I hate admitting that I'm wrong. "I think…I think we should stay with Dick."
Rachel's eyebrows shoot up and I feel Dick's gaze snap to me in surprise. I can scarcely believe that I'm saying it either.
"How can you say that?" Rachel is beyond shocked and a little hurt; I can see it in every soft line of her face.
"I just…" I shake my head. "I think we're better off with him, alright? I mean, he's a cop, he's the only reason I even found you today."
She yanks her hand out of mine so suddenly that I flinch. "You're the one that wanted us to leave as soon as you found out! He betrayed us. He was going to desert us!"
"I know! I'm not saying he isn't a fuck up, I'm just saying I think we're better off with him than without."
He takes a step forward. "Rachel, I wasn't going to leave you—"
"Liar!" Rachel yells, her face morphing into something darker and suddenly the car windows around us burst, glass flying everywhere. Dick's hand shoots out and grasps my wrist, pulling me back from her and behind him. Car alarms blare through the entire parking lot as Rachel shouts, "I need to go back to the sisters!"
Whatever that means, I think it's a good idea to give Rachel what she wants. Her face returns to normal, regret written all over it.
"Let's go, come on," Dick says and we hurry through the parking lot. His hand, warm and firm with his fingers resting against my racing pulse, stays wrapped around my wrist until we reach the car and all pile in.
Rachel and I are squashed in the back. When I try to catch her eye, to reassure her that I'm on her side always, she turns away.
~O~