Unlucky

This is the final version of my Short Story Unlucky. Based off of my upcoming novel.


       “DEATH!” She lurched upright. Great, the nightmares had returned. She sighed and walked to her bathroom where she splashed water in her face to wake up. Last week she had gone into one of those stupid gypsy tents at the state fair and gotten her fortune told. She knew the people were phony, and laughed the next day with her friends about her reading. The teller had told her the exact words: Death Awaits, it surrounds you, getting ever so closer.
       Not that she believed it even after what had happened yesterday. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t messing with her mind. Yesterday she’d been on her way home from Starbucks, not a care in the world but her mocha and the book she was longing to read; and suddenly out of nowhere a semi truck blew its tire and swerved so far it pushed her into the cable barrier. Luckily he swerved back and managed to park in the median. Her car hadn’t had as much luck. Her poor black Prius was in the shop for the next three weeks for extensive body work. She was now driving a Metallic Camry.
       She dried her face and set off to the kitchen to get a glass of soda. After she poured it she realized she left her plate on the table. She grabbed it and made her way to the washing machine. As she passed the island she tripped on her pajama bottoms and slipped. The last thing she saw was her steak knife gracefully arcing through the air. Then her head cracked against the Linoleum.
       She woke to sirens and the relief of some random EMT. He smiled and turned to the cabinet behind him. When he turned back he had a clipboard and was jotting something down.
       "I’m glad you woke up, that means the bump on the back of your head isn’t as bad as we thought. However, the stab wound in your arm is pretty bad. You’ll need stitches.”
       She crinkled her nose,”Fabulous, at least I get to chat with you, I don’t mind slipping if I get to socialize.”
       He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “You’ve been out for a while; your neighbor called us about twenty minutes ago claiming you weren’t answering your door. We arrived and found you spread eagle with your eyes rolled up. We’re about five minutes from the hospital. You might get discharged tomorrow if you’re good.
       “One can hope. Is the food good?”
“You want the truth or my Hospital loyalty?”
       “I’ll try truth.”
“Get a friend to smuggle in takeout.”
       “Bummer; and you eat it every day?”
“Only Hot Pocket days; I make lunches it’s that bad. Were pulling into the Loop, sit still while I get this gurney ready,” She obeyed and felt the gurney tremble as he unlocked the wheels. He pushed the doors open and pulled the gurney out by its handle.
       Two hours later she was sitting in bed with some Fried rice and Egg rolls, watching boring news reports. Her friend had dropped by with take out and some DVDs. But they didn’t know where the player was hooked up. Her friend had left when the nurse said lights out ten minutes ago.
       Her arm ached and the Hospital was very empty. She sighed and poked at her rice, unhappy with her predicament.
       “Thought you’d still be here,” The EMT was standing in the doorway.
“They won’t let me leave; they’re talking about making me stay another night too.”
       “Keep pouting, you might win something. The nurses hate whiny people. I thought I’d hang out with you until I get another call. I might be able to hook you up with some ice cr-“
The lights went out with a definite click. The entire floor was dark; just the emergency lights, slowly coming to life with their dim yellow light.
       “That was unexpected” She said.
“Quite. Come on, I don’t want to leave you alone. Let’s go look for the head nurse and ask what’s up.” He helped her out of bed and got her standing upright. He kept his arm around her to keep her balance. Together that walked down the hall. It was empty and dark, with most of the patients asleep. They walked at a brisk pace and didn’t stop until they heard a scraping noise from the Nurses station. They walked around the corner and stopped short, shocked at what they had found. The Head Nurse was slipping from her desk chair, a surgical Knife protruding from her chest.
       “Lets get moving,” The EMT swept her from the scene and pulled her towards the staircase. “I know you’re probably not up to walking but the elevators are down, its only 2 floors.”
       “I don’t care, just get me out of here” she whispered, deadly pale.
       They continued walking down the stairs, occasionally hearing odd noises and more chair scraping. She silently hoped people were just getting out of the building, and it wasn’t something more sinister. They made it to the second floor staircase and opened the landing door when they heard it; a soft drip. Together they turned to see a shadowy figure holding a
blood donation bag and a bone saw. She noticed a pocket filled with more surgical knives, all gleaming.
       “Move,” He dragged her towards the landing door and threw it open. He swept her into his arms and he felt her stitches rip. She didn’t care as long as they got away from that man in the hall. He practically ran down the stairs and through the halls. They didn’t stop until they were in the lobby. There were police starting to sweep the hall. She was set down and left alone for a second.
       “There’s a mad-man up there. He seems to crave blood, we found him with knives and a blood bag. I don’t kn-“
       A knife, perfectly aimed, bloomed from his shoulder. The EMT fell backwards; an officer caught him while others began shooting. Someone struck her on the head by accident and she blacked out once again.







       She woke feeling more groggy than ever. The EMT was in the bed next to her, reading what looked like police reports. When she sat up the EMT folded up the notes and turned towards her.
       “Talk about bad luck, that’s twice you’ve been conked in the head.”
“It’s been a pretty eventful week, yes.” She replied.
       “They identified our vampire killer. He’s a middle aged man with a strange addiction to drinking blood. He was in therapy for it, but broke out when they cut off his supply. He killed two nurses and injured a dozen more. The police killed him last night.”
       “As I said, it’s been a long week.” She smiled and lay back down, welcoming another nap. She could deal with everything else later.

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