Taylor
2010-04-07 09:44:57 UTC
A constant beeping noise echoed around Rylee. Her head felt stuffy and her body was stiff. She forced her heavy eyelids open and didn’t know where she was at first but, when everything focused, earlier events washed over her like a heavy tide.
It all felt like a distant dream that would happen in one of her books, but she knew it wasn’t. The image of the bull like creature was imprinted in her head, both terrifying and alien at the same time. She could still feel the strength pulsing through the creature’s body, and the way the wolf had so easily taken it down.
Rylee focused on her physical surroundings now and it was clear that she was in a hospital room. It was a small, square room with beige walls. An old TV was hanging on the farthest wall and several red, cushioned chairs were propped up against the bed as if people had been sitting there.
The door clicked open and Rylee’s mom poked her head through a moment later. Unlike her own dark, brown curls, Rylee’s mom had light, brown hair that fell in a swaying motion over her shoulders. Her eyes were the same bright green as Rylee’s but were more narrow shaped.
“Oh, Rylee,” she said. Her voice was full of exhausted relief while she struggled with the cups of chocolate milk in her hands. “How are you feeling?” She put the three cups of milk on a small, wooden table in the corner of the room and sat on the edge of Rylee’s bed.
“Stiff and sore,” she said. Her lips were chapped and she could feel the corner of one ache lightly when she spoke. It was the source of the blood she had tasted, no doubt.
“I’m sure that’s expected,” she said. Her voice had taken on an angry tone. “When a little girl is mugged while completely defenseless, it’s a wonder you’re awake. And it’s even worse that it was my little girl.”
“Mom, I’m sixteen.”
“Barely.” Rylee knew her mom was still in denial about her age. Sometimes she wondered if her mom thought she was six rather than sixteen now.
“What do you mean mugged?” She said. “Is that was they said?”
“The doctor said it was clearly an attack and your wallet was gone. Isn’t that what happened, Honey?”
Rylee tried to think back to when she lost her wallet during the attack but knew she had felt it when she had searched or her phone. An image of Shayne, the charcoal haired boy, flashed into her mind. Had he taken it? Or had it been the monkey boy? She had a feeling it wasn’t the latter.
“I can’t remember,” she said.
“Because you hit your head. The police are searching for the mugger but I don’t think they’ll be able to find him.” She bit her lip silently for a moment before sighing. “This is my fault. Who in their right mind would let their own child walk through the dark streets at ten o’clock at night?”
“Technically, you thought I was sitting safely in a restaurant eating shrimp and crabs, Mom.”