BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
Stan's heartbeat echoed in the silent hospital room. Many machines were hooked up onto his body, keeping him away from death. A nurse was carefully working her way around him, making sure everything was working properly.
Matt was sleeping on the chair next to his bed. A child's cry aroused him and he woke up muttering something underneath his breath. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly, blinking a few times. He placed his glasses back on his head and looked around the white coloured room.
His eyes lastly settled on Stan and sighed sorrowfully. With every look at Stan's condition his anger was growing, his patience was growing thin and he was hurting inside.
He had many questions, the police was still conducting the investigation and he was waiting for answers. All he could do was wait until either Matt woke up or when the police found a clue.
Whatever the case was, he wasn't going to forgive the person who almost killed his partner.
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Paul really hated his life sometimes. Right now it was one of those times. A prisoner was murdered during the night and he was currently having a talk with the family who were adamant on getting answers immediately.
He reassured them they were doing all they can and the murderer would be arrested. Once they were convinced, they left Paul alone.
The only problem was the prisoner was sharing a cell with Maria who denied even going near him. Interviews with the others down there told him otherwise.
"Fighting like cats and dogs all bloody night, couldn't even sleep."
"One minute I heard shouting, then it was all quiet. I wonder what had happened."
"The old lady is kinda creepy, looking at us like she was going to eat us all."
The last answer he got was disturbing as hell, "She's evil, spent too much time with the devil. I can see it in her eyes, he's looking at all our souls."
Cue the sinister laughter.
It was obvious Maria was indeed behind the murder. Evidence had to be collected first before taking any further actions against her.
How could an old woman be so much trouble was beyond him...
He had an agenda to get through, and an old woman wasn't going to stop him. Maria for now had to be moved away from the other prisoners before another murder took place, and a meeting was scheduled with all police officers concerning Maria and Emily.
He made his way to the meeting and was dreading everything that would be thrown at him. He looked through a booklet made for everyone who would be present there. So far the only clues were Maria was involved with Emily's disappearance who wasn't ready to spill her secrets, Stan attacked at the school, and Hannah's connection to all of this.
He received a phone call from Jeanne who told him there was something important to tell him. She sounded worried and tired like she hadn't slept at all at night. She had cut off before he could ask anything which left him feeling something strange had happened.
He met with the other officers and sat down at the huge table.
Well, this is going to be exciting.
The door was shut and soon a commotion followed.
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Jeanne had made her way home after the shocking revelation. She slumped onto the sofa and stared at the black screen of the huge TV.
In the police force, the paranormal did not exist, and such claims meant the victim had a mental illness which needed specialist treatment. Besides there was always scientific explanations behind strange events.
The word aemulum kept swarming in her head until it forced her to switch on the computer and search it up. As she waited for it to load up she thought over the nurse's story.
Mathew was a hidden case from the public and within the hospital. Indeed something weird was going on with him, but she did not believe the devil was behind all of this. Mathew must've had a rare condition which was unknown at that time.
Her mother was very religious and she would have been the first person she went to for things like this. Unfortunately she had passed away, but she vaguely remembered a priest her mother had used to visit for all her problems. His number was stored away in a diary her mother had kept.
She pushed that to the back of her mind and began searching in the Google search engine. She typed in aemulum and there were pictures and links to a type of plant which helped with pollinations.
No use.
After a few more searches she found it was a Latin word and had other similar adjectives. Frustratingly, nothing was coming up for the word and was suggesting to try another similar word, aemulus. So she gave that a try.
It was also a Latin word which meant rival, but also something else which drained the colour from the officer's face.
Emily.
There were many forms of the name, all derived from the Latin word Aemilia which originally came from Aemulus.
Jeanne stared at the screen, stuck on the name Emily.
Mathew's last word was Emily?
How's that possible, why her name and did he even know her at that time?
The logical side argued maybe Mathew had learned Latin words and had known Emily as a child, so he must've remembered her last or could have been an entirely different person.
The other side ....what if Emily wasn't born at that time and it was indeed the work of Satan which she did not want to believe ever.
Mathew was submitted in June 1994 and died on 6th June 1998 early in the morning. But when was Emily born? She pulled out a sheet with Emily's details on them and looked for her date of birth.
6th June 1996, at 6pm.
So Emily was born before he died. So maybe he did know who Emily was since Maria did, but still...it was best to make sure. She called up the nurse who she met last and waited until it connected.
"...Hello?"
"Hi there, it's Jeanne speaking the officer you spoke to."
"Ah yes, what is it my dear?"
"I was wondering if Mathew ever knew a child called Emily while he was in hospital?"
The nurse thought for a moment, "....At that time, I don't think so. We tried to keep children away from him and denied any children from any families to visit him. Maria didn't speak about any other family members when she visited him."
Jeanne bit her lip and asked after a couple of seconds, "How about a girl called Emily Anderson?"
"Definitely not that name, but I do recall on one particular day, he was very quiet and wouldn't speak a word. I asked him what was wrong many times but he wouldn't answer. I asked him one final time in the evening and he replied Aemilia has entered the world."
....
....
"What day was that?"
"I remember clearly the date as it was the only time he was quiet for the full day. It was the 6th June 1996."
Emily was born on that day.
"...Ok, thank you for that. Goodnight."
"Goodnight my dear."
Jeanne shakily put the phone down and stared at the computer in front of her.
Must be a coincidence or something.
What if she was overthinking and Mathew's situation had no connection to Emily. He must've been ill, more than what the nurses thought. It was impossible something that happened years ago was connected to Emily's disappearance.
But whatever happened with him wasn't normal, something she even agreed with. She had come across bizarre things in her life, but never something like this. It was clear the nurse wasn't fibbing about the story, but that didn't help at all.
Why was she even trying to make connections between Emily and Mathew? She forced herself to stop thinking of that because now Maria had been caught, she would have to answer all their questions and give Emily back.
She headed straight for bed and switched off the lights, giving the room a final glance before heading upstairs.
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