Under the Altswood Sky (The Altswood Saga #2)

Chapter 9 - Culprit

Author's Note: I've attached today a super cool video that the amazing @syl_via_17 made for The Hunt of Altswood High! It's super cool and everyone should definitely check it out, it's less than a minute long! In other news, all my exams are at last over so I have time to update frequently. (Yussss) Stay tuned, stay groovy, and tell me who you currently think is the stabby-stabby killer. (Just kidding, no one has been stabbed. Yet.)

Chapter 9 - Culprit

I couldn't have been passed out for more than a short minute. When my brain finally restarted again, my vision had returned, albeit in a slightly blurry manner. A mess of debris and metal lay in front of me, swallowed up by small fire that steadily licked at the collapsed wood.

I forced myself upright, despite the wrenching burning in my shoulder. It didn't feel like I had been impaled by anything. As I lifted the scrubs to inspect the damage, I could see scrapes all down my arms and a few sharp cuts on my legs, but the worst damage was a shallow gouge at my collarbone that pulled at my left shoulder.

Heavy thumping sounded from the ceiling above. The hospital staff couldn't have not heard that monstrous boom. I tried to pick myself up, clenching my fist at the floor. Only my hand felt too empty.

The report. Where was the report?

Filled with a sudden fervour, I pivoted at the waist and searched all around the damage. The papers were gone. When I reached for my phone, for the back up pictures, I realised it had been snapped cleanly in half.

I stared down at the two pieces of my phone in disbelief. The incision was too straight to have been a result of the explosion.

I got to my feet, my knees knocking together. I needed to get out before the hospital staff could catch me down here. I needed to get out before whoever took the report and broke my phone decided to get rid of me as well.

The elevator rumbled, starting its ascent.

I turned on my heel and ran for the back stairs, taking them up by three. When I emerged, the hallway was in chaos, with hospital personnel rushing by in panic. No one looked twice at the fraud of a nurse in scrubs that were too big.

I slinked back into the room where I had left my stuff, ripping off the surgical mask and trying not to panic as I tore off the scrubs. There were blood stains on the sleeves and giant, gaping tears through the pants. It wasn't as bad as my own clothing, where there was a hole along my torso and a stain that was getting bigger and bigger at my collar.

I winced, shoving the scrubs deep into my bag with the two pieces of my phone. It would be better if the hospital missed a pair rather than it finding the scrubs bloodied and wrecked in the trash. I shouldered my giant bag onto my good shoulder and hobbled back into the hallway, cursing the room for not having any bandages.

Maybe the nurses would think my bloodstains were haute couture.

I tugged my wig back into alignment and hobbled past reception. I was out the doors and onto the street before anyone could stop me, and while I had gotten a few strange looks, everyone was more occupied with moving in the direction of the loud explosion.

My head was still reeling over what had just happened.

I didn't even have my phone to call someone about it.

As I hobbled vehemently, putting pressure on the gouge at my collarbone and trying not to think about how I was walking away from the hospital, a rental car cruised by. It slowed to my pace, but the two middle-aged tourists inside simply peered at me, making no move to stop and help.