City Park

Jones is walking alone when she notices a sign indicating the presence of a city park ahead of her. As she approaches the park, the dark, foreboding clouds above open up and rain begins to fall. Jones sighs and reaches into her bag for a hypospray. As she pulls it out she looks at the device with her fix already loaded into the chamber. She thinkings to herself, ‘At least you won’t abandon me.’

Despite the sheets of rain that threaten to give her pneumonia if she does not seek shelter soon, she seeks out the playground area and, in particular, the merry-go-round. She approaches the merry-go-round with her fist full of a hypospray. She steadies herself by opening her hand and looking at the hypospray. She begins to relax as she presses the hypospray into her wrist and the contents of the hypospray enter her system. Her hypospray-wielding hand falls beside her as she begins to close her eyes and recline down to the solid steel of the merry-go-round.

She begins to hear a faint voice as she lies there. She opens her eyes and looks around as her world spins as the merry-go-round moves. As she looks around, she notices a young girl standing in the open, and the girl vanishes as she blinks.

Sitting up Jones comes to a halt on the merry-go-round and looks around for the girl, but no one is there. With a loud thud, she falls backward onto the steel as she attempts to stand. She groans and closes her eyes as she feels a sharp pain in the back of her head.

The shard begins to glow inside Jones’ pocket, emitting a soft red hue that illuminates the pocket.

As she looks around, she slowly opens her eyes, her vision blurry. She notices a young girl standing alone in the open once more. She tries to concentrate on the girl, but the pain in her head makes her groan. She closes her eyes and hears a faint voice say, ‘They sent us here. We need their BLOOD!’

Groaning ‘Who sent you, and why are you seeking their blood?’ Jones muses to herself as she observes the young girl. As she thinks this, the girl vanishes before her eyes. She passes out, unable to keep her eyes open any longer, due in part to the pain in her head and in part to the cocktail swarming around in her body.

***

Back at her brother’s apartment, Tyler stood there looking out into the rain-soaked streets that he had just sent his sister into. As he closes the shutters, he sighs, staring at the cold hard steeliness that separated him from the outside. When he feels the warmth of a pair of hands on his bare back, he closes his eyes, followed by a head resting on his back.

“I know I should go look for Jones,” Tyler said, pressing his brow against the cool window.

“I didn’t say anything,” Jess said, leaning against his back.

“I know you didn’t, but we both know she’s obstinate and stubborn.”

“This is true,” Jess says, turning her head and kissing him on the back over a scar from when he was a child.

Tyler stood in the streets a few moments later, wondering where his sister had gone. He let out a sigh as he realized where she was: the park. A place where the two of them had gone as children when she was scowled at by their abusive father for doing something he had actually done. She’d always been that way, taking the blame and punishments even when they weren’t hers, to begin with.

Jones was lying on a slow-spinning merry-go-round as he turned the corner. But something was off about the way she was laying, and he realized right away that she was high on something, most likely of her own making. As he moved closer to her, he let out another sigh.

When she was in front of him, he reached out and stopped the merry-go-round, knelt down, and tried to wake her up. When he looked at her face, he noticed her eyes were wide open and filled with confusion and terror. He reached out and grabbed her, pulling her up, and she looked him in the eyes. His left hand slid down her side to help stabilize her but was cut by the concealed shard in her pocket.

He clenched his bleeding hand tightly, gritting his teeth and yelling, “Son of a bitch.”

Jones looked at her brother, perplexed by what had just occurred, and tilted her head to the side, “Tyler?”

He returned her gaze and shook his head, anger, and frustration visible in his eyes.

“Stay there and don’t move,” he said, clenching his teeth as he walked away, toward the public restroom.Jones watched him walk away and into the restroom. She then noticed the little girl standing outside the restroom, looking in. Jones knew something was wrong when the little girl turned with tears in her eyes and then vanished.

She tried to stand up, but a wave of dizziness flooded her senses, and she fell backward onto the cold, damp steel of the merry-go-round.

~~~

Steam billowed from a sink inside the restroom as hot water flowed into it. Tyler removed a paper towel from his hand and examined the nasty slash. As the pressure was released, blood flowed again. He looked into the mirror after replacing the towel and saw a little girl. There was no one there when he spun around to look at her.

He moved over to the restrooms and opened each one, only to find them all empty. He returned to the sink, running his uncut hand through his hair.

A glowing red beam of light caught his hand as he reached out to turn off the water. As he stared at the beam, he felt pain in his mind. A glowing orb appeared in thin air after following the beam to its source.

Suddenly, a second and third beam shot out of the orb, followed by many more, and impaled or wrapped themselves around Tyler, who was screaming in pain.

~~~

Jones was laying on the merry-go-round outside, hearing her brother’s screams but unable to move to help him. She saw a dark red glow coming from the bathroom’s entrance, then nothing as her vision darkened and she passed out.