The Boy with the Blue Hair.

C H A P T E R - O N E

“No! No! Let him go!” Her screams echoed and his legs trembled. Pressed against his tormentor’s chest. Something cold biting under his chin. “Please! Don’t hurt him!” His sister’s screams ricocheted in his head, and all he could do was stare with blurred vision, breath held.

Her hair in tangles and eyes bloodshot, sobbing at their feet. Begging the man behind his small frame. The boy standing silent, heart thundering and knees knocking together.

“Get out of my house,” The man’s chest rumbled with the words, his sister staring up with wide eyes.

The sudden sting that cut through his spine had him flinch and jolted his senses. Gasping when a warm and sticky fluid flowed down the column of his neck. Grabbing at the cut, a scream escaping him as he collapsed to his knees, blood bubbling in his mouth, the sharp metallic taste overwhelming his mind.

“Ryan!”

Ryan clutched at his throat and gasped for breath, tumbling out of the covers following the flash of lighting outside his window. Falling in a tangled heap, kicking at the blanket, whimpering as he slid it away from him. Tears stinging his eyes and chest squeezing, a lump in his throat.

Looking around at the familiar setting of his apartment, he pressed his trembling palms against his eyes and tried to regain his composure.

“I’m safe,” His voice trembled. “I’m safe, I’m safe, I’m-” Mantra faltering at the sound of his ringtone.

Putting a hand to his chest, he scrubbed at his face and staggered to his feet. Reaching for the sleek device. Blinking away the blurriness of his vision, he sniffled at the picture displayed on the screen.

“Cooper?” His voice came out thick and strangled before he cleared his throat. “Everything alright-?”

“-Ryan!” The sound of his sobs had him straighten. “Oh, God, Ryan,”

“What happened?”

“I-she…they called me-sad it was an emergency and that she-and I-I-I-”

“-Cooper, take a breath,” Ryan turned on the lamp, searching for his shoes and struggled to put them on. Hearing his friend take in a stuttering breath on the other end. “Now tell me what happened,”

“Lucy’s been in an accident,” Cooper choked and Ryan stilled. “I…I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do, Ryan, I don’t…”

“Fuck,” Ryan exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose and tried to recollect his thoughts. “Okay. Okay, Cooper, where are you?”

“Eastern…Eastern State,”

“Why wasn’t she taken to Skyline?”

“I-it was closest to the crash site,”

“I’ll contact Dr. Walker and meet you at Eastern,”

Pulling on his jacket, he looked around for his car keys but cursed to know he didn’t have it available. Leaving him to take his bike in this storm. Steeling his nerves, he picked up the helmet and made his way to the underground parking.