The Rebirth

Chapter 4

The doctor laughed and Sylvie thought he looked like a sculpture. There was a beeping sound from his coat and his smile now looked apologetic.

“I’ll see you later?” he said, as if it was a question. Sylvie watched as he turned and walked away. She hoped to get one last look at him. He didn’t disappoint her as he took a quick glance over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

                                                                                      *

Rowan was in shock and he was having a hard time trying to be normal. He had gone to check on the girl and in remembering to look at her chart he learnt that her name was Sylvie. He thought her name was beautiful. He had lent in close to her skin, he had resisted touching her so he just whispered her name. The next thing he knew she was awake and he was staring into her round hazel eyes. He had panicked, and now he was walking away from her.

His pager had buzzed, and he felt like he had been saved. But what from? He knew he didn’t need saving from Sylvie, but the effect she had on him. The pager said that he was needed in bay twelve. He was on his way when he passed Dr Yeung.

"Your patient in bay twenty-two is awake,” Rowan told him before slipping behind the blue curtain of bay twelve. He couldn’t focus and his movements were robotic. He administered 5ml of ‘forget’ into the comatose boy’s head, just above his temporal lobe, the part of the brain that stored memory.

Rowan listened as the needle pierced through the skin and ground through the skull. He knew he’d hit the spot. He then dipped his hand into the tub labelled ‘heal’ and dabbed it onto hole left behind by his needle. He filled out the relevant information of the patients chart and signed it off.

He glanced down at his watch and sighed, it was four in the afternoon; he still had two hours before he got off work. He stepped outside the curtain, running his hand through his hair. Then in a matter of seconds chaos erupted.

A newborn appeared from behind his curtain, his eyes were red and blood covered his face. Blood pooled at his feet as he stood staring at his surroundings. There was a deep chunk missing from his right arm. This was where the blood was pouring from. Rowan glanced around at the other medics; they were all frozen in place. The newborn had crazy eyes and they were focused on Rowan.

Without warning the newborn launched himself at Rowan from across the room. The reception desk was all that was between them. Luckily for Rowan the newborn had underestimated the distance and he landed on the circular desk in front of Monica. Monica screamed as the newborn bit down into her neck, ripping her flesh like a shark. No-one moved.

Rowan had to do something. Monica wasn’t his favourite person but he wasn’t going to stand by and watch as she was eaten alive. He slowly made his way towards a glass box hanging on the wall. Once he got there he realised he’d have to work fast. Inside the glass was a gun loaded with silver bullets. Two through the heart would do it.

To avoid having second thoughts Rowan smashed his elbow into the glass, and reached in for the gun. Tiny shards pierced into his skin, bringing blood to the surface. He pulled out the gun and aimed. The newborn was moving fast in Rowan’s direction, he couldn’t miss. Just as the newborn jumped on top of him, fangs bared, he fired two shots straight into his heart.

Thick sticky blood covered Rowan from head to toe and the newborn’s body slumped to the floor. He wiped the blood from his eyes. It was dangerous. He looked over to Monica, she was shaking.

“Monica, are you okay?” a nurse asked, as she hastily approached the receptionist. Monica looked up the woman, her head tilted to one side. Her eyes were red. She charged at the nurse but she never reached her. Rowan fired the bullets straight into her back, he hit her heart. She sank to the ground, coughing up blood before her eyes glazed over. Everyone was in shock. Rowan dropped the gun, he hadn’t realised his hands were shaking.

                                                                                        *

Sylvie was examining herself in the small mirror on the wall. She had auburn hair to her collarbone, freckles and a wide face. Her hair was in tangled waves, she needed a brush. She was attempting at combing her hair with her delicate fingers when she heard silence.

            An eeriness crept into her bones, and she didn’t like it. She grabbed the empty blood bag and padded out of her curtained area. Her feet were bare, she wouldn’t be heard. She took the turn in the corridor to face blood, a lot of it. She watched as Dr Stewart fired a gun into a woman who fell noisily to the ground, she was coughing.

Sylvie cast her eyes around the room, no one was moving. She looked back at Rowan, he was coated in a thick red, and there was a body at his feet. There was so much blood. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her mouth and teeth growing. She pressed her thumb to her tooth and it cut into her skin instantly. She licked the tiny red dot off of her thumb and she was shocked. The taste of iron filled her mouth, and she liked it.

She felt a growing hunger inside her. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from the blood, she was hypnotised. Then it all became clear.

“Vampire,” she whispered. Rowan’s head whipped round and he met her eyes.