City Hunter

Chapter 5

10/7/70

The black metal of the chair cut into Violet's backside, much like how her flute had cut into her fingers, but in this instance it was much more uncomfortable.

Azure, Tyrone, and Hawk sat next to her in identical black chairs. Hawk's arms wrapped around her black shirt, looking bare without her hoodie, but Violet didn't think she regretted giving it to the girl. Tyrone's fingers were tapping against his armrest like it was a drum set. Azure ran his hand through his spiky hair. All three of them looked as anxious as Violet felt.

Violet looked up as a young woman with thick ebony hair cut in a sharp bob and gold eyes pushed open the bright white door and stood in front of them. She smiled nervously. "You can see her now." As Violet and her companions walked past the woman into a small, sterile room, Violet wondered whether she was a doctor or a nurse. Maybe both.

The van's driver had been lucky to find them a local hospital, close to where they had hit the girl. He had wanted to just drop her off, but Violet and her new friends had adamantly refused. Violet remembered him saying, "I didn't give up a good medical position to become a driver for this school so I could let my kids off on their own." They had stuck with the girl anyway.

"She's awake," the black-haired woman told them.

"They can see that," a husky female voice muttered from the bed in front of them. The voice was small and pained, but Violet could tell that it held strength. She finally mustered up the courage to look in front of her.

There was a tall, olive-skinned girl on the bed. Her arms and legs were smothered in bandages, and there was a cast on her left arm. Her caramel brown hair was tangled and thrown askew on her pillow, and her sharp brown eyes stared at them. Hawk's hoodie, bloodstained and wrinkled, was folded on a chair next to her bed.

Awkward silence commenced.

"I'm Melissa," the girl said finally.

"Viola," Violet told her, and the rest of her friends murmured introductions in turn.

"And I'm Dr. Swan," the woman told us. "You can call me Christina." She walked over to Melissa. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Well, these scrapes still sting, and so does my stupid arm, but - wait, this morning?!" She tried to sit up, winced in pain, and forced herself to lay back down. "You mean it's the next day?"

"Well, yes, that's what that generally means," Christina told her, puzzled.

Melissa groaned. "How long until I can get out of here?"

"Not for a while, I'm afraid," Christina said. "It was a pretty bad break."

Violet suddenly felt a vibration in her pocket, and she knew with awful certainty what it meant. "Excuse me, I have to step out of the room for a second," she told the group, trying not to let the lump of dread in her throat show in her voice. Christina nodded, and Violet could feel Melissa's eyes on her as she left the room.

As soon as she was far enough away from the room to be out of earshot, she took a deep breath and took the small blue gadget out of her pocket. The silver screen displayed a string of small, black text:

I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.

With shaky fingers, Violet typed a reply:

I'M ALL RIGHT.

The response appeared almost instantly:

I KNOW. BUT I'M SENDING SOMEONE OVER.

Violet typed furiously:

I SAID I'M ALL RIGHT.

Yet another message appeared, direct and unyielding.

NOT FOR YOU.

Not for her? Then for whom?

Violet was about to send another message, but she was forced to slip the gadget back in her pocket when Tyrone popped his head out from the room and said, "Hey, Viola - you should probably come back."

Melissa was talking to Christina when Violet came back in. Their conversation was hushed, but Violet could make out one word. One word that made her stumble back.

Opalesca.

"You okay?" Tyrone asked, noticing her slip.

"I'm okay," Violet assured him, but it was a lie. She wasn't okay. And neither was Melissa, or Christina, or any of them, if her mom caught word of this.

If she knew Melissa knew...

It could mean many things.

Including their deaths.