Officer Grey arrived the next day ."Thank god you're finally awake, kid. Arnie called me yesterday" She said once she entered the room. "And I have got to stop calling you that, you told doc that your name is Cons?"
Khonshu can't deny it now and he hates how reckless he was. He was a bit disoriented when he got up and blurted out his name on impulse. So he tried to bend it again. "It's a nickname, makes it easier for people to remember. Short for Constantine, which is way too long." He said coolly, hoping that Grey will buy it.
Grey seems to believe it. But asked why Khonshu didn't say it earlier.
"I lived in the streets long enough to not just give my name to anyone, Officer." he replied.
"Well, besides that. Glad to have you back. But what's your last name?" She asked.
Shit, he thought. Now trying to come up with a good last name. Grey felt Khonshu's discomfort and said that it's fine if he don't want to say it. Doctor Arnie walked in at that moment and the officer asked the doctor about the boy's health.
"He's stable now. Most of his injuries are healed enough, his eyes though have this permanent pale hue now but his vision seems completely normal. I recommend he stay here for a few more days. For observation, we need to make sure he doesn't have any other issues since he just woke up." Arnie said. Khonshu felt annoyed by that and wanted to leave Grey objected, reminding him that he got injured.
"Oh no Kid. You are not leaving until Arnie here says so." She said.
"And can you stop calling me kid" Khonshu said, now even more annoyed.
"Maybe in a few years when you learn to take better care of yourself and stop acting like a reckless kid." Grey countered. She stayed for a few minutes, casually chatting with the doctor but excused herself due to her work. Promising to come back for a visit.
She did return the day after carrying flowers and a greeting card for the boy. Khonshu then asked about the little girl and lady kidnapper, Catlyn Grace.
"She's currently in prison. Catlyn was hospitalized but once she recovered, she went straight to jail. The little girl is fine if you are wondering, now she is in a foster home." Grey explained. Khonshu looked satisfied but he thinks Catlyn should be killed for her crimes. But he didn't voice it out just yet.
"And the woman's operation, are there any leads to her accomplices?" Khonshu asked. Grey just looked at him, explaining that what Khonshu is asking is confidential already but shared some information.
"Their operation was so well-hidden, that we didn't realize it until Catlyn was arrested." She replied. Khonshu thought about this, and the red string he found makes sense. "Does this have anything to do with their use of magic to conceal the building? Like the red string" He asked.
"Yes, the fact they are using magic mojo and not being obvious aboutm it made it hard for us, for mostly anyone to find out. This is beyond our hands now so we called multiple specialists to help us on this." Grey explained. Khonshu further asked about the case but Grey had to tell him to leave it to the police for now
"Kid, I know that you are worried about this but maybe you should try to relax for now". Grey said. The officer is both annoyed and concerned that this kid is more worried about the case, while ignoring the fact that he is in the hospital.
"But to answer your question, The entire building was searched and pictures of missing kids were found, along with other people who were actually missing. We also traced her phone, some are ex cons but for others, we can't get any solid evidence on them." Grey said.
Khonshu then remembered the two people Catlyn was talking to.
"Officer, I remember seeing Catlyn talk to two other people. I think I can sketch it out for you." He said.
Grey raises an eyebrow, "You do?"
"I was busy trying to stop Catlyn at the time, but now that you're here. I can help. And you need all of the help you can get." Khonshu insisted. Grey relented and gave him a pad of paper and a pencil she found on the room desk. The police officer watches as the boy sketched out a near perfect face. He did it again on a second paper.
"You surprise me even more, kid. Is there anything else you should share? Like you're secretly a genius?" She asked, mostly joking but after sing the kid draw a realistic portrait, she is starting to suspect that this kid is the reincarnation of Leonardo Da Vinci or something.
"I told you before that I have a photographic memory. I remember a lot of things." Khonshu said.
Right, this is a great help kid. But I think you should take a rest, you were shot at. At least lay low and recover." Grey said. She appreciates what the boy did but she doesn't want him to get hurt again.
The next day Grey started asking about Khonshu's parents. And he just repeated what he told Zeke and Fran.
"So you're a runaway?" Grey asked.
"Yes, I… don't have a surname. My family doesn't believe in that tradition so we all don't have a surname.
He explained. It's better if he gave some reason than wait for Grey to ask around.
"Your family?" Grey asked. Now she is curious at what kind of family this boy is from.
"We stick to ourselves, one of those very old-fashioned and conservative types. I rather not talk about them." Khonshu said, and he really doesn't. He avoids talking about them in any way.
Grey decided to drop the subject for now. Arnie came in to check on Khonshu, or Constantine.
"Just, Constantine doctor." Khonshu said when Arnie asked about his surname. Explaining what he said about his "family" and their lack of surnames.
"Okay, then. So you will be scheduled for physical therapy tomorrow. Your hip was replaced after it was shattered from the bullet impact, and we need to make sure you are adjusted well to it before we let you go." he said.
Grey's radio signaled a robbery nearby, so she excused herself. But not before reprimanding the kid to get better. Khonshu just rolled his pale eyes at this. She then looked at Doctor Arnie as she left. "Look after him doc." She said, Arnie smiled as he answered "I intend to Officer."
Khonshu, or Constantine, as he is now known in their records, stayed in the hospital for another 2 weeks for observation, check-ups and physical therapy. He found that his hip had this slight ache due to the hip replacement so he needed time to adjust properly. Arnie assured him that the ache will wear off soon. Grey continued to visit once in a while, even bringing a bouquet of flowers and a greeting card that says "Get Better" with her initials on the bottom corner.
One day, Grey arrived to visit again. But this time she is accompanied by her supervisor. "Good Morning Kid, this is my boss, Lieutenant James Rodriguez." Her companion waved hello.
Khonshu didn't waved back, instead is staring at the lieutenant. Trying to see if he could look at his heart for any motives. The Lieutenant is a medium build man, clearly of Latin American descent and maybe around his late 40's, his hair is a bit graying but he appears to be a capable leader, if not a little up-tight.
James is a bit perplexed by the kid's stare. He is slightly reminded of Nick Fury. Someone who is experienced, cynical, distrustful, and has secrets. James finds it out of place, and a bit unnerving to see that same stare on a child's face but he kept a friendly face. "So you're the psychic kid Grey has been talking about, glad to finally meet you." He said politely.
"Same here Lieutenant. So what brings you here? I doubt that you're here on a casual visit." Khonshu said, going straight to the point. He already suspects that James is here on job-related duty, his posture is not relaxed enough and Khonshu can tell that he is slightly tense. Everytime Grey comes to visit, she is more relaxed, her hand gestures are fluid and she would try to start casual conversations.
Now that Khonshu thought about it, he looks at Grey's body language and notices that her back is too straight and she has a frown on the edge of her mouth.
"You're pretty demanding for a kid, you know that?" James commented.
"I live in the streets for a long time, I don't always trust anyone easily." Khonshu said back. James glanced at Grey for a moment and raised an eyebrow. Then he returned to the kid and said "So, you are wondering why I am here. Well, besides checking up on the resident psychic, it's about the kidnapping you helped bust 3 months ago."
This got Khonshu's attention and waited for James to continue.
"We are still figuring out how it got under our radar, especially since that building has a ton of files on previous missing people. The weird thing is that the missing people don't have any other social media records including in the system after they went missing. As if they don't exist anymore. No one even bothered to report them and when we talked to their relatives, they were surprised that they lost a kid. As if they forgot that they actually had a kid until we showed the pictures." He said.
"Even after 3 months of investigation, we reached a dead end." James took a chair from the side and sat down.
Grey is still standing and crossing her arms in a serious manner, she then said "The witnesses and contacts in Catlyn's phones all have an alibi or some reason to not be involved, but the only solid evidence we have is from that building we raided is solid enough for some of them to be arrested."
James nodded and said. "And this kidnapping case? New York is not the only one, it is the latest. We looked at the records of other states and a similar case happened in 3 different states before it stopped, then reappearing in another. We even got news of this happening overseas in Europe some years ago. And I think Grey told you about our magic consultants. They have been a great help in arresting those behind it."
Khonshu listened, but wondered one thing. "I appreciate that you are telling this, but why are you doing this personally Lieutenant? Why come to me while I am still in the hospital? I'm just a kid who didn't want another kid to get taken"
James eyed him before saying. "Catlyn's records were tampered with, she wasn't clean at all. And her travels abroad matches well with the kidnapping cases that happened overseas. And this case is the only time the operation was discovered, and stopped. In other states they only found out about it months after it stopped."
Khonshu thought of the tampering and asked, "Does Catlyn have a contact inside? Or was it an outside force that changed her records?" He asked.
James just answers, "We don't know yet, currently I am combing the entire department for any spies. When I found out there's someone who changed her records, I shredded all the information I have about you."
Grey added in, "I had to burn my own report about you kid. This case is much bigger than what we anticipated, I fear that they would want to get rid of the guy who busted them, in this case, it's you. Just for getting away, you managed to expose their operation."
"Not everyone behind the kidnapping ring was arrested, and they will be pissed at you. Possibly even try to take revenge. And since we found out there is a spy, we had to keep you out of our records for now to prevent your existence from leaking." Grey finished.
As Khonshu listens to this, he now understands that they might think that his life is in danger. But one thing that he is worried about is that they might put him in house arrest, or have Grey watch him most of the time. And he is right.
"Lieutenant, this kid here is homeless, we can't just leave him on the streets again." Grey said to James.
Khonshu needs to think fast to convince her otherwise. Like saying that with him in the streets, he can escape and hide more easily than staying in one place.
"I told you that I am very used to living hidden. I know where to hide and get away fast. Not to mention that I'm not exactly, well, an ordinary kid" He reminded them. Grey still shook her head, she remembered seeing the kid almost lifeless in her arms. That image of him with lifeless eyes and a bloody head has haunted the police officer.
"Well, you're still a minor and you were targeted once." Grey said, a bit annoyed that the kid still wants to stay homeless.
"I got away, remember, I may be one of the few that actually did and lived. I was smart enough to know that Catlyn was bad news the moment she talked to me" Khonshu said back.
"How about this" James interfered, "Since you helped us, we can get you an apartment to stay in. That will be off our records for your protection. You are still allowed to roam around New York. Just, don't be reckless next time, and call Grey or me once in a while. To let us know you're okay." He said.
"You are practically our best asset and a key witness to this whole thing. That sketch you made, it led us to an old kidnapping case in Chicago that went cold 10 years ago, and is now reopened. We didn't even know that was related to the kidnapping until now" He said.
Khonshu is not happy about this. He feels that he is being monitored. But, he tries to think about the free apartment. A proper dwelling place with hopefully, a working bathroom. The idea of finally having an access shower is very tempting. He doesn't smell anymore since he woke up in the hospital, maybe someone gave him a sponge bath, but he really wants to dip in a hot tub with soap and clean himself of filth and the smell of trash.
Though he is concerned with other things, "Do I have to pay rent? Not to mention the electricity bills, money and other utilities?".
"The apartment will be NYPD-owned for now, so you don't have to pay rent until your legal. The whole thing will be under a pseudonym to avoid tracers too. Maybe we can arrange a monthly allowance until you're of legal age. You do know how to budget right?" James asked.
Khonshu felt a bit insulted at that question, "Of course I do, I had to budget whatever money I get." He says, ignoring the time he spent all of his money on expensive food and sweets.
That's just one time, it won't happen again. He says to himself, even though a small voice inside is telling him otherwise.
Things are still tense in the hospital room. The sky outside is slowly darkening as rain clouds approach the City. Khonshu can hear the busy cars and horns even though the window is closed.
James further explained, a bit more casually now, "I also wanted to thank you for that sketch you sent to Grey. It's still very impressive how life-like you can draw a kid. We were able to find the people who match your sketch with no problem." He said and made a joke about letting Khonshu work part-time as a criminal sketch artist.
"Maybe Lieutenant, how much do you pay?" Khonshu replied, thought it is a half-joke. " He has no intention to "bind" himself to the NYPD or get in their records. But he still needs money. "I'd rather be anonymous though." He said.
"I'll think about it, but going back to your sketches. You said that you saw these two talk to Catlyn? One even brought the girl with him?" James asked. Khonshu confirmed it.
"Grey did tell you that I was hiding in the dumpster when that happened." He said.
"Ah yes, she told me that, and that you made her patrol car smell like trash." James said, "Anyway, one of them is a part-time bodyguard for a small bar, and the other is a lawyer. The bodyguard has a record of assault and multiple harassment complaints. It was easy to arrest him. The lawyer, Lionel Anderson, is much harder. His records are clean, no holes and signs of sabotage. But there's no other evidence besides your sketch kid. So far we can only observe him, and he knows it."
Khonshu took the time to think about this. The lawyer, Lionel, sounds like someone who is prepared for this. He also thought about the bodyguard.
"This Lionel person, he sounds like he was expecting this." He commented and James agreed.
Grey was not kidding about this kid being sharp, the lieutenant thought to himself.
"Compared to the bodyguard, his name Luke by the way, Lionel is much more careful. He denied that he is part of the kidnapping ring when we interrogated him, but became very, very quiet when we said that we have evidence of his activity, especially him bringing a girl. During surveillance, we caught him contacting some people, stopping at random areas before leaving and making trips outside of town. We tried to hack his phone but it's encrypted." He said. He looked even more serious when he said "The latest report was when we caught him driving past this hospital twice last week."
"What?" Grey said. Khonshu is even more intrigued now, both for good and bad reasons. James is also thinking the same thing.
"Grey, when did you start visiting me?" Khonshu asked the female officer.
"Two weeks ago, I came here in civilian clothes and my private car. I am sure no one followed me." She said,
"You probably didn't even know Grey. Lionel, like Catlyn, probably has contacts and spies around the city. He might be looking for the witness who snitched him and made an effort to observe your movements since he knows that you were there during the raid." James said.
"Shit, the kid can't stay here too long. And I think some of the nurses and other civilians saw me leave this room multiple times." The police woman said.
"Wait" Khonshu interupted, "We can use this. Take the opportunity as evidence against Lionel. If he does try to send someone, we can hopefully record them and trace it back to him." Khonshu said, then he turned to James, "Lieutenant, who else knows about me?"
"So far, only me, Grey, Jerome and Doctor Arnold know of your connection to the case." the lieutenant replied. Khonshu nodded, glad that only a handful knew about him. But some civilians probably noticed and any of them could be spies.
"In the records, you're only known as Patient K-25. I asked Arnie to keep that name so you can stay anonymous, though it is already suspicious enough." James exclaimed. He looked at Khonshu, who is now very quiet and has this oddly serene look on his face. The Lieutenant knows that the kid's mind is anything but serene right now, "What are you thinking kid?" James asked.
"Can you call Doctor Arnold here? I rather he come here first, he will need to know about this." Khonshu said. Grey was skeptical but she went out to get the doctor.
14 hours later, 12:40 am
The halls of Brooklyn General Hospital are quiet as the night-duty nurses finally return to their stations. Some tired but still awake enough to do a quick inventory, leaving the halls to be empty. Except for the second floor, a single nurse is seen walking, her heels are quiet and quick as she looks at the rooms around her and stops in front of one. This room has the embossed text of "Room K-25" on the name plate. The nurse quietly opened the door, careful to not disturb the patient. Once inside, she quitely closed the door and quickly stalked to the bedside. Reaching inside her shirt, she pulled out a small syringe and injected it on the IV above. She watches as the clear liquid mixes with the IV and flows down the tube. She keeps the syringe and leaves the room, just as quietly as she entered.
The next morning, the patient in Room K-25 is declared dead due to heart failure. As the staff prepare the body, two police officers stay in the room to pay their respects to the deceased. One of the officers, a woman, watches as the resident doctor covers the body. They shake hands and the doctor pushes the body out of the room.
Once the two officers are alone, they wait for a few minutes before one of them closes the window. The woman, walks to the bedside table. She lifts the greeting card that is placed on it, a simple card with 2 3d balloon on the front. Slowly, she peels away one of the balloon graphics and pulls out the hidden camera placed inside. Her companion, in turn, walks around the room, touching in some corners and pulling out the other hidden cameras and devices placed strategically there.
Inside a dimly lit and locked office, 2 storeys below. Doctor Arnold is looking at a laptop, behind him is Lieutenant James. On the monitor is the surveillance footage from the night before. They watch as a nurse appears, walking too quick and too fast.
"She is not a staff here." the doctor declared. They continue to watch in silence as the woman enters a room, and leave after a minute.
Some time later, Arnie and James arrive in the Morgue. The Morgue is located in the hospital basement and requires a pass card to enter. Arnie requests the Morgue Director to make sure the basement is empty and not tell anyone while the two are there. There, Doctor Arnold approaches the newly arrived body, lifts the cloth covering it, and carefully removes the black wig tapped on its head. On a shadowing corner of the room, an occupied wheelchair sits, hiding. The occupant wheels himself out of the shadows, showing a young boy with black hair and pale eyes.
"Is Officer Grey coming?" The boy asked. Arnie shakes his head, "Not now considering that someone might notice her, she and Jerome will leave through the front, and come through the back door after 10 minutes." The doctor continues to examine the corpse on the table, lifting the arm that connects to the IV. James walks closer, "Can you extract what that nurse injected?" He asks.
Arnie responds with a yes, "The liquid should still be there since the corpse's circulation stopped working." He answers. James looked satisfied at this. The doctor then looked at the boy, "In the meantime, there's a vacant room on the third floor you can use, but we'll have to hide you under a gurney when we take you there." he said.
Grey arrived 15 minutes later in a hoodie and a ballcap. She pulls out a small black usb from her pocket, explaining that it contains the footage from the hidden cameras they placed in the hospital room.
"Jerome has to go back to the station." She said, "Hopefully with this, we can see who your assassin is Constantine." Arnie then informed her that the nurse who entered the room is not a staff member and is an outsider.
"The security here is usually good, I'm not sure how she is able to get in" Arnie admitted. James took the USB and inserted it on the Laptop on the nearby table.
"I'll need to make a few copies of this as back-up" He said as he works on his laptop. He also asked Arnie for a list of all the hospital staff, nurses and doctors.
"It will take some time but I can hopefully get a list." The doctor said, he now noticed the boy sitting in a wheelchair. He knows that Constantine is able to walk a bit normally now, but the boy is being too quiet since this morning. He can see the kid's eyes are closed and he looks more tired than usual. As a doctor, he is worried if the medicine the boy is taking is not working, or doing the opposite. He walked forward and asked, "Are you feeling okay Cons?". Arnie lifts his hand on the kid's forehead, the boy looks annoyed at being called that, but didn't turn away.
"Rest assured doctor, I'm fine. Just a bit sleepy." Khonshu said. Arnie is not really satisfied, he wanted to prescribe some medication to help him sleep but decided against it for now. Following his guts on the medication side-effects. Instead he gave the kid an ice pack and some melatonin gummies to help him sleep, nothing too strong.
Arnie then moved Khonshu under a gurney, to secretly move him to his new room. The child god doesn't want to spend another night in the Morgue Director's room, not after what he experienced.
The night before.
Arnie helped his patient get ready for bed. The bed is another gurney with a pillow, and is inside the Morgue Director's office.
"Are you sure that you are fine sleeping here?" he said. The boy reassured the doctor, "I'll be fine. A little frozen corpse is not going to hurt. Besides, I've slept much worse in my experience." The boy said.
Doctor Arnie is a bit disturbed that this patient is taking this so casually, and wonders just what did the boy experience.
Yesterday, he arranged with the Morgue director to get a corpse of a recently deceased boy, and dressed it to be life-like and dress similar to Constantine . Then carefully brought it inside the room, switched it with the patient, and brought the boy patient to the Morgue they are in now. He even had to temporarily turn off the security cameras to prevent someone from seeing it, if ever someone would hack the footage.
The doctor had to pull a lot of strings and a lot of favors just to keep this whole thing quiet. The Morgue Director is a close friend of his and agreed to keep his silence. Arnie is about to leave when he turned around to look at the boy. "Still, Are you sure that someone will try to kill you tonight?" He asked.
Khonshu didn't nod, but he didn't shake his head. "I'm not a fortune teller, but according to James, someone was watching the hospital and there was a list of people coming in and out of here for no reason." He said.
Arnie confirmed that in the last part, a reception nurse saw someone enter through the front, sit down in the waiting zone, and leave after 3 hours of doing nothing. And it happened the next day with another stranger. When she went to approach him, asking if he was waiting for someone, the stranger just said yes and sat there for another 3 hours before checking his phone, then left.
Arnie would just brush it off, but the kid has a different idea on this. Still, he is concerned about the kid's safety, especially after learning that the kid helped Grey save a little girl, and possible hundreds of kids from being kidnapped.
"I still think you are overthinking all this" Arnie said, "...and maybe getting a bit paranoid. But anyway, if you need anything, that button on the gurney will alert Sally. She's in the loop and someone I trust. Sleep well Constantine." Arnie finished and turned off the light.
Khonshu is better at walking but recently he has been getting some headaches. Arnie just gave him some medication to alleviate the pain, saying that it may be from the bullet wound.
As the god tries to sleep though, he can hear some incoherent whispering coming from outside the door. He tried to ignore it, but one voice in particular is louder.
FOOLISH CHILD…
He woke up after that, recognizing that voice. It was his own. Then the whispers started. Multiple voices of different ages.
Help me…I want to live…Get me out!...
I don't want to die yet….Mommy! I want my Mommy!...
…Why is it so dark!...Somebody help me!...
The voices didn't stop. A barrage of voices coming from everywhere, many people, male and female, child and old begging. Asking for many things. For help, for forgiveness, for redemption, for a second chance, for their mum, and for a light.
Khonshu tried to sleep but now that he is awake the voices seem to get louder and louder. Yelling for someone to hear them. He never slept a wink the whole night.
The next morning, Arnie found him sitting up on the gurney. His eyes are closed but he has clear eye-bags from not being able to sleep. The doctor helped him move to a wheelchair, to put less pressure on his hip as the boy moved.
10 hours later.
Arnie pushed a gurney with a cloth covering the top, inside an empty room. He made sure no one was in the hallway at that moment when he wheeled the gurney in. Once he was inside, a boy moved out from under the gurney, and settle on the hospital bed. The doctor then left after saying good night.
As the night continues, the entire 3rd floor is silent. Only the humm of the bright troffer lights on the hallways are heard. It looks way too white, too sterile and way too glaring. At the far end of the hallway, a single troffer flickers for a second. After a minute it quickly flickers again, then it dimmed before it stayed on. The next troffer lights then start to flicker, then the next, then the next. Then the whole hallway was flickering, light turning on and off like an eerie, creepy, musicless disco club, before it finally stilled.
Suddenly, the light at the end of the hallway flickers again, slower this time. When the light dims, a figure is seen in the shadows before disappearing under the artificial light. Then the next troffer flickers, the same figure appearing in that shadow. Then the next troffer, and the next troffer. The figure appears to move across the hallway. Light flickering on and off, until it stopped in front of a door.
On the other side of the door, a boy tries to sleep, but is kept awake from the whispers. They were quiet during the day, but at nightfall they returned. Not as strong as when he was inside the Morgue Director's office, but enough to once again keep him awake.
"Just, be quiet!" He said to an empty room. Then, the voices stopped. Khonshu thought that they finally gave up. But it was like a dam was finally opened, they returned even louder than before. The whispers are more desperate now. As if they finally found someone who can hear their cries and are immediately crying directly at him.
… PLEASE!...I WANT TO LIVE!
…I DON'T WANT TO DIE!...
…GET ME OUT OF HERE!
The whispers have turned to voices now. And as if it wasn't enough for them, Khonshu can now see shadows in the corners of his room. A variety of shapes, elderly hunching down, a young toddler, a child, adults, male and female. Some of them have lost limbs, deformed arms, and one is holding its head. All of them appear to be wearing the signature hospital gown, with a wristband or a white anklet.
He suddenly hears the door unlock, and slowly creaks open. He can see that the hallway light is flickering, but every time the light dims, he can see a very familiar figure standing outside.
He feels like he can't breathe. The voices are still there, but he can barely hear them as he is focused on the tall man in the white cape and hood. Quietly he whispered,
"...Marc?"
Very slowly, the figure moved to face him. And Khonshu finds himself looking at the eyes of a corpse.