Ezra Age Twenty

My life was weird after that. I was mugged once and, in the paper the next day, I saw the mugger, labelled a serial mugger, was stabbed behind a grocery store…two weeks later my wallet with all the contents was returned.

Three times I was almost assaulted on the subway and each time the power cut out and the would-be attackers disappeared.

That was my life. Odd happenstances, oh and did I mention the decade of constantly feeling like someone was watching me? Yeah, but strangely it wasn’t terrifying. It was comforting.

As much as Henry said I’d be good if I kept my mouth shut, I only lasted at the Kimber’s another four months. I was in a total of fifteen foster homes until I aged out.

My life wasn’t glamourous, and from an outsider’s perspective probably downright sad. I lived above a Mexican restaurant, so all my clothes smelled like spices no matter how many times I washed them. It was loud because the owners kept their doors open until two in the morning and then the kitchen staff had to arrive at five am for prep.

My work life consisted of being a janitor at Legend Hill Hospital five days a week and working at Crane Comics on the weekend. I loved Crane Comics and wished for more hours there so I could stop cleaning up after patients.

But I had work, paid my rent and bills, and even had some left over for food. Go me.

“ Feliz Cumpleanos , Ezra.” Mrs. Lopez was sitting outside her restaurant when I exited. I was working the night shift at the hospital.

“ Gracias , Mrs. Lopez.

“Please tell me you’re not working on your birthday?” She quirked a brow.

“A week before Christmas and being the only one who has no family to celebrate the holidays with, I got all the doubles.”

I wasn’t feeling sorry for myself. I’d make good money.

“You come to the restaurant tomorrow, birthday dinner on me.”

I leaned down and kissed her weathered cheek.

“You’re the best. Have a good night.”

As I walked to the bus stop, the familiar tingling on the back of my neck made me smile. I wanted to turn around and beg them to show themselves, but I was too afraid they’d run and I’d be all alone again.

“Happy Holidays,” the bus driver said as I got off at my stop right in front of the hospital.

“You too.” I waved and went inside to start my sixteen-hour shift.

“Ezra, I need some help on the ER floor.” Gia was an emergency room nurse who was always kind to me.

On my first day working at the hospital she saw me eating alone and sat beside me with a smile, a wink, and a barrage of questions, claiming she wanted to make a new friend.

“Coming,” I said into my cellphone and hit the elevator button down to the first floor.

Likely it was a bodily fluid spill. She said I was the only one who ever cleaned it properly and honestly, I liked helping her. She was my friend and she made me feel useful.

“I’m here to save the day.” I smiled as I approached her.

She spun, her tight brown curls bouncing as she did. “Ezra, thank you.” I noticed tear stains on her cheeks and all my happiness drained.

“Gia, what happened?”

That was when I noticed the blood spatters all over her scrubs. My eyes trailed down the corridor and there were two bodies, a doctor and another nurse, on the floor.

“This guy came in, gunshot wounds, we had him on the gurney trying to stop the bleeding but couldn’t find the source.” Tears began falling freely and I pulled her close.

“It’s okay, breathe.” I rubbed her back and scanned the area.

A security officer was down also…it was so quiet.

“He…he cut Dr. Hu’s throat,” she hiccupped. “I…”

“Where is he, Gia?”

“Ran out of the hospital. Ezra, there’s a mess, the patients I?—”

She called me down here to help clean up so she could get to the other patients in the ER. She was falling apart but had to make sure the other patients were okay. That was the kind of person she was.

“The police will deem this a crime scene, Gia. I can’t touch anything.”

She stared blankly at the carnage before us and nodded slowly. “Right.”

A minute later the emergency room was filled with police, and patients were being transferred out. I held Gia as she explained to the police everything that happened.

“Thank you, Ms. Grant.” The detective handed her his card. “If you think of anything else, please contact me. Until then, you’ll need to bag your scrubs and hand them over to us. Then you can shower and change.”

All emergencies were being routed to a different hospital for the time being since the area was closed off. Gia was being sent home and when she asked if I’d stay with her, there was no way I’d say no.

I stood in the hallway as she cleaned up and listened to the sounds of patients and staff scurrying around. The prickling on the back of my neck intensified and I darted my eyes in the direction I believed I was being watched, but no one was there.

“Ready?” She smiled weakly as she came out. The scent of honeysuckle clung around her and I was sure she’d spent a good fifteen minutes scrubbing her skin.

“I am.” I held my arm out at my side and she tucked right in.

It was a little awkward walking that way but she was my only friend and she was scared.

“My car is in B lot.”

I nodded and we walked in silence to her car. I didn’t drive. It wasn’t that I couldn’t, I just didn’t own a car.

“Are you okay to drive?” I asked when I saw her hands shake around the steering wheel.

“Yeah, I need a minute.” She closed her eyes and took a breath. “Why was he there, Ezra? He wasn’t hurt, just played hurt, and for what, to kill doctors and nurses?”

“Did he say anything?”

Gia opened her mouth a few times and then faced me. “He wasn’t making sense. He was yelling, kept asking ‘where is he where is he.’”

“Never said who he was looking for?”

She shook her head. “We kept asking who he was looking for hoping he’d stop. When Alvin came in and lifted his taser, the man charged him, stabbed him, and ran out of the ER.”

“Okay, take a few breaths. Let’s get you home. You’ll feel better when you’re inside your own house.”

She did as I asked and soon we were driving out of the hospital lot and onto the street toward her place. She didn’t speak and I wasn’t sure what to say so I’d be a presence. Something that made her realize she wasn’t alone.

Growing up, and even now, I often felt like I was alone. When I was scared, being by myself was the worst…even with the secret stranger or whatever I knew was watching me, I lacked a physical being to hold my hand, hug me, just be with me.

“Can you come up with me?”

There was no way I was leaving her alone so I smiled and said, “As long as you need me, Gia.”

She lived in a nice brownstone. I knew she could afford it because her grandmother left it to her when she died. It was in a safe neighborhood and you could feel the love the moment you stepped over the threshold.

“How about I make you some tea and you find a ridiculous movie to watch?”

“You’ll stay?” Her dark brown eyes widened.

“I meant what I said, Gia. I won’t leave you.”

She rushed into my arms and I hugged her as hard as I could because she needed it.

“You’re the best.”

“Yeah yeah. Now find that movie while I get your tea.”

I’d been to Gia’s place a few times so I knew where the kitchen was. I rummaged for a few minutes before I found everything I needed and went about making tea. I saw some cookies so I put them on a plate, why? Because times of absolute carnage called for sugar.

“What movie did you find?” I shouted when the kettle whistled.

I placed it all on a tray and made my way to the living room. “Couldn’t hear you, the tea was screaming at me, so what movie are we?—”

You read how in movies the main character stumbles upon a moment in their life that has them freezing in place. They can’t speak or move. You yell at the screen for them to do something but they don’t.

I used to yell too, but for the first time I understood it. You could see something so unbelievable, so mind altering that you lose your ability to move or form any words.

I should have dropped the tray but again, frozen. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.

Three people…maybe people, they didn’t seem human. They were standing in Gia’s living room. One had Gia by the neck, dangling her a few feet from the ground. She was alive, but struggling. The other two were staring at me. Eyes the color of blood, skin as gray as concrete, and the aura of all bad things wrapped around them.

“There you are,” one of them said with a hiss like a snake. “We’ve been looking for you.”

My gaze darted to Gia, she was looking at me, struggling to breathe.

“Um…can you put my friend down?”

Really, Ezra, that’s what you say?

The one holding Gia laughed, it sounded like rocks tumbling over metal and I flinched.

“Where is he, human?”

“Who?” Because I really didn’t know what they were talking about.

“The hospital,” Gia wheezed, and I darted my eyes back to the man asking me questions.

“You were at the emergency room tonight?”

He nodded. “Looking for you.”

“Why?”

He took another step closer…very much not human.

“Where is your protector?”

If I wasn’t two seconds from pissing my pants I’d laugh. “My what?”

“Games.” Creepy dude tsked. “Your friend is only alive for as long as we feel she’s valuable. If you won’t answer us then she isn’t important.” He waved his hand toward the creature holding Gia and I reacted.

I tossed the tray full of tea and cookies at the thing in front of me. “No!”

“What…” He shook off the moisture like I didn’t just scold him with hot water. “You’re a bother.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. Let my friend go and I’ll take you to him.”

I had no idea where he was, who he was, what he was…if there even was a person to take them to. But I didn’t want Gia dead.

“This isn’t a Hollywood movie, human. Faith isn’t something I have. Your friend dies when she has no value left. Take us to him.”

“I can’t do that if I know you’ll kill her after I do.” I was talking out of my ass.

The creature cocked his head and took two more steps toward me. Now he was flush up against me. I had to crane my neck to see his face since he had to be pushing over six foot five.

“You don’t get it, do you, little one.” He growled. “These are not games we play. You aren’t understanding…let me make it clear.”

He looked over his shoulder and jerked his head. I didn’t even get a chance to scream. The crack of Gia’s neck breaking, the crash of her body going through the glass table, the smell of blood.