Mark Heaton, Aislin Rose
The wound on his knee wasn't quite as painful as he had thought it would be, but the walk to first aid was still an irritation that forced a change in his walk. It was not on his mind though. He was desperate to try and remember how he had gotten there. He hadn't fallen out of his window even if opening it was the last thing he remembered: if he had, he wouldn't have been in front of the tower and a good walk away from the dormitories. With the hospital now in sight, he came to the conclusion that his power was to blame for his memory loss: he could remember that with extended use it could cause him to black out. He'd never let it before though, so what would cause him to now slightly worried him. As he got close, a girl came up to him that he didn't even notice. The limp to the confusion and the anxiety coursing through him were more than enough to keep him from seeing what was directly in front of him. She went under his arm and helped him into the building.
"Come on, let's get you into the hospital. Did someone attack you? What happened?"
Mark didn't say anything. He didn't know what to tell her. He didn't even tell her that the support was unnecessary, as he ordinarily would have, and let her shoulder some of his weight. He just felt weak. Sitting down in a seat she kindly found for him, he was aware of the call for a nurse and some towels from her friend in a wheelchair. Mark's mind was now completely blank: he was just being cared for now. Then the girl met his eyes.
"My name's Aislin. I don't believe we've met. I wish I could introduce myself in a better light," She briefly paused to look down at what he now realised were her torn and muddied clothes. "But it looks like both of us have had quite the shit day."
Mark had been somewhat devoid of emotion up until now. His face softened.
"So what happened to you?" He inquired with the a slight tired smile.
...She has really blue eyes.
Aislin chuckled, though it felt hollow. "If I told you, I know for certain you wouldn't believe me. It feels like I've crossed Hell's half acre." She gave him a serious look. "Tell me, do you believe in monsters?"
She leaned back in her seat, examining the hospital's white walls with a delicate frown. Ugh, what was she saying? It was the devil that introduced himself with similar words, was she really so scarred that she'd quote the monsters themselves? It must have done something to her psyche; all she could think of was the cafeteria alighted in red and white ambulance lights. The scene filled her with dread, but she needed to know. Was it the killer? The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The entire school was dead in the water during the blackout. No communication, hardly any light and shitty weather. The conditions couldn't have been more ideal.
Mark raised his eyebrows and his gaze turned distant for a fraction of a second. It was a bizarre question to ask. "..No, I don't. But coming to this school and seeing some of the people here.. I guess it could be quite hard not to."
The girl nodded her head, expecting as much. "Yes, especially with teachers like Professor Olin walking around. He's only sinister if you royally piss him off, though." She cracked a smile, remembering how they first met over fish and a swallowed fork. That was before all this horror started.
"... You never divulged your name." Aislin tilted her head, abandoning her thoughts of the cafeteria for the time being. "But to answer your question, I would never relive this day. My friend tried to kill me. I woke up in the hospital only to head back into the jungle, upon which I almost died again. Today has been... well, stressful, to say the least."
He opened his mouth, about to give out his name to what he now realised was the first person since the receptionist, but the shock of her account had him uncharacteristically wide eyed.
"...I'm sorry, what?" he exclaimed incredulously.
Aislin rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously. "Yeah, I told you it'd be hard to believe. Adam made a similar face too. And then he proceeded to lecture me about going out without telling anyone." She rolled her eyes, slapping her palms on her knees. "But he locked the school down. Like, twenty minutes ago. No one knows because of the blackout, though."
"Wait wait wait wait.. Go back, you seem to have skipped over your friend trying to kill you." Mark said with fingers on his temples and a heavy frown upon his brow. He didn't quite know how to react to this information; or to how she was giving it out quite so easily.
"Yes, with good reason." Aislin said carefully. "It's not something I'd like to go into more detail with. My imagination is vivid enough as it is..." She shivered.
He raised a hand as if to apologise "Ok, thats fair enough. Sorry, it's just.. Its like I was expecting Friends and its turned into Breaking Bad. Its kind of a shock." A tinge of self awareness softened his expression. "..Ah, but I guess you're the one who should be saying that." He gave a pause, as if to acknowledge what he now recognised as selfishness. "So.. who's Adam? I haven't really met many people yet. Just got here today.." he trailed off.
"It's fine, I'd be concerned if you weren't curious." Aislin shrugged. "I arrived yesterday. Adam Blackmore is the leading Power Instructor and the Training Hall is his domain. Very powerful teacher, I'm glad we have someone like him. Well, especially now."
A tall nurse with streaks in her brown hair came up to the two students. She double-checked her clipboard. "Mark and Aislin, right? Dana told me I could find you here." Her eyes hovered on Mark's bloody jeans. "Would you two follow me please? This won't take long, I'm just going to fix those up." She nodded to Mark's injuries.
"Ah, sure thing."
Mark turned and gave Aislin a wry smile before standing and hobbling behind the nurse.
"Ooh, the hospital people know everything. Nice to meet you, Mark." Aislin laughed, grinning as she trailed close behind the nurse and her charge. He stopped for a full two seconds.
Mark you idiot! You forgot again!
"Ah yes, I'm Mark by the way. Mark Heaton." He held out a hand after having introduced himself for what he now realised was the first time since arrival.
"Pleasure's all mine, Mr. Mark Heaton." Aislin grasped his hand in a firm shake, snickering to herself.
It was only a 30-second walk to one of the smaller offices, the nurse quietly shutting the wood door behind them as the students filed in. Mark took a seat on the bench, crinkling the sheet of paper mesh under his weight. Aislin found an empty chair against the wall, briefly glancing over the cramped room. When the nurse said fixing up Mark wouldn't take long, she was right. A simple steralizing, wiping down and wrapping up with fresh gauze did the job. Mark had a small patch of bandage taped to his face, and his leg was wrapped likewise. The nurse also offered him a towel -- he was soaked, after all.
"I'll need you to drink fluids, stay warm and take it easy tonight." The nurse lady advised, holding open the office door for them. "You two are free to go, just be careful. The school is under lockdown, after all."
His gaze grew distant again for another fraction of a second.
"Why, has something happened?" Mark asked, sharing eye contact between the two women in front of him.
Aislin leveled a flat gaze at him. "I only mentioned it five minutes ago. You didn't know who Adam was, remember?" She shook her head, giving the nurse a skeptical glance.
"..Wait, I meant-"
"I'll keep an eye on him. Besides, something has happened, actually. And we're going to go check it out." Aislin walked out the office door, not giving Mark a chance to ask more questions. "You coming or what?"
Mark sighed. Defeated "...I knew something had happened. I was just asking if.." He trudged after her into the rain as his voice glided away. He stuffed his hands into his pockets in bottled up frustration, when something connected with his finger. Something thin, and something wooden. He pinched it between his finger and thumb, and discretely pulled it out. It was a blood stained toothpick. Confused, he put it back where he found it, with growing sense of dread filling his stomach.
The nightly darkness was only intensified in the rain. Aislin flicked on the flashlight Mr. Blackmore let her borrow, following the sidewalk. She moved at a slow enough pace that Mark could easily keep up with her as they meandered to the cafeteria. By now most of the flashing vehicles had up and gone; only a few officials stood around, talking amongst each other with worried expressions.
"Well, that doesn't look good.." Mark quietly declared.
"Excuse me," Aislin walked up to one parameic standing by himself. "What happened here?"
The paramedic shook his head. "Sorry, I can't divulge that. The school will have an official statment for all the students in the morning."
Aislin raised an eyebrow, the perfect lie on the tip of her tongue. "I think you misunderstood me. I'm a close relative of the victim's family, plus I'm on the case to catch the fucker who did this. This is official bussiness, and I'd prefer your full cooperation in this matter. Or do I need to tell Mr. Dellamorte how I couldn't do my job right?" She glared.
Her new associate would have given a bemused laugh at the such a tenacious lie, but instead he gave an impatient and expectant look at the paramedic, adding to the ruse.
The man gave her a cynical stare. "Yeah, of course you are."
Mark snapped back to honesty. "Look, if this happened in a cafeteria, we're just going to hear rumours that are 1000 times worse than the truth. Just give us something."
The paramedic gave them both a look over, weighing up whether or not such an argument was credible or simply manipulative. He rolled his eyes. "Tsk. Fine.." He lowered his voice as if the information he was about to disclose would break if it were dropped. The pair quickly understood why.
"There's been a death. Vera Dubnin. I'd suggest that you don't go mouthing off about it, ya hear?"
Aislin remained expressionless, though in her chest her heart raced. What was known could never be unknown. Finally, the first answer. They were getting somewhere. "Thank you, sorry for taking up your time. I'll let you know if we have further questions." She said dismissively, turning away from the scene.
Mark nodded at the paramedic who proceeded to shoo them away with a hand motion. He didn't know what to feel. But fear gripped his heart like fingers on a cold iron hand. He followed after Aislin, expressionless and silent. He didn't want to be alone right now.