Kristy was beside herself. She heard the thud of Jack's phone hitting the ground. She was yelling for him to answer her, but he wouldn't. Then she heard a smaller thud and an officer trying to talk to him and wake him while he lay unconscious. Officer Rosewell seemed to be a competent officer, but it didn't ease her worries about Jack. Rosewell had picked up the phone and asked who was on the other end.
"My name is Kristy Winters and the man's phone you have is my fiancé Jack Bryant. Is he alright?"
The response came with Jack's phone on speaker. "He's in pretty bad shape. I think he will be okay but I've already notified squad and they will be here in a few short minutes. Please have no worries, ma'am."
"What happened to him?" she asked as calmly as she could.
"He smacked his head on a rock. He's unconscious at the moment but his breathing is steady. I also managed to stop the bleeding from his head." He replied.
Kristy steadied the tremor in her hands. Jack was going to be okay. "What hospital are they going to be taking him to so that I can go and see him there?"
Rosewell sounded distant from the phone and grunting. He must be moving Jack. "He will be going to the Knox Community Hospital. If he needs transferred to Columbus they'll do so from there."
"Okay thank you officer. Have a good night."
Rosewell spoke quickly, "Hold on a sec ma'am. I need to know what your husband was doing there."
Kristy had almost pulled her phone away from her ear when he responded. "Oh… he was there to check on Mike. He's a guy from his work. He was in the middle of telling me what had happened when he fell and you got to the phone. I think he was the one who called you guys there. The fact you're there tells me something bad happened, but unfortunately officer, he never did get to tell me what happened. Is Mike okay?"
He hesitated, maybe unsure what he could disclose. "Ma'am I'm sorry, but he committed suicide."
Jack's silence made sense now. No words could put into explanation of what or how he felt. What things did his imagination show him? "That's terrible…" Is all she could manage.
"Does he have any next of kin that you know of?"
"I know he has a son and daughter, but I don't think they talk to him anymore. I don't remember their names though. You'll be able to get more from Jack when he wakes."
"Okay thank you ma'am. I hope you get to the hospital safely. Goodnight."
With that the officer hung up. Kristy went to the key rack that hung beside the entrance. Grabbing her keys and wallet she headed outside. She was trying to keep it together, but every nerve in her being was fraying. Jack was hurt and in a bad way. Sure the officer said that he would be okay, but he was no professional. He couldn't know for sure. That's why she had to get to the hospital quickly. Thankfully it wasn't too far away from where their house was.
Getting in her black 2020 Ford Mustang, tons of worry weighed on her heart. Every second she wasn't by his side she felt the weight fall harder on her chest. Jack needed her and only about ten minutes of driving, seven if she drove faster, stood in the way to get to him. Pressing the brake and pushing the button the car roared to life. She threw it in reverse and pulled out of the driveway throwing some loose gravel. As soon as she was on the road, she put it in drive and punched the accelerator. Her tires spun on the road only a moment before taking off. She drove as fast as she dared down back alleys to prevent police from pulling her over for speeding. Beads of sweat had started to line her forehead from the adrenaline of speeding and of anguish for Jack.
He sent the notification to Wayne about what happened to Jack. Wayne had seen the opportunity of what this brought so he was both exhilarated at a chance to extinguish another Mountain Mover's life, but also concerned about the implant that was in Jack's head. If they lost the ability to trigger headaches then surely they would never stop using their abilities and discover the truth about who they were.
Drew had made the same deal as Wayne did. Wayne had become the leader being the first among them to become one with a demon. It didn't take long for more to follow in his footsteps. He was quite convincing and passionate in his points. They all hated God with a passion. Some from losing family and loved ones, others just from the simple fact that they hated the way God allowed things to happen in the world.
Drew had been an atheist to the core. Now he believed in God, but only because the demon had showed him the truth. The truth that God was a bully and not the true kind of god that should rule. The master didn't care who you were. He intervened whenever he saw fit and punished those that needed punished according to him. He was a Ruthless ruler, but at least he was ever present and ever working. Drew respected that. That's why he let his demon in. Why he became one with it.
So now to the task at hand. Wayne had told him to get to the hospital before Jack or Kristy got there. It was easy enough given the abilities the demon gave him. Teleportation was hardly the word for it, but it was just about as instant. Wherever he wanted to go he just had to will himself there and the demon took him. Other side of the world? Not a problem with the demon express. The power exhilarated Drew in a way that nothing else could.
Getting to the hospital he walked around looking for a doctor that would take Jack in when he got there. He found one in the Emergency Room. Drew figured making a scene would be his best course of action to get the doctors attention. He took the knife out of his pocket and flipped it open. Making sure no one was around and watching, he put the knife to his forearm inside the bend of his elbow. Pressing the knife deep he made a quick sweep with it all the way down to his wrist. The blood didn't start oozing out until he allowed it to. Another neat trick that he could do. He was impervious to pain and suffering. Bodily injuries weren't really a thing, unless another demon or his demon allowed it. This only happened when he had to be punished.
He sprinted towards the doctor and screamed, "Help me! Help me please!"
The doctor spun around and if he was surprised he didn't show it. He came up to Drew and guided him toward one of the rooms specific to the ER. "What happened to your arm? How long ago did it happen?"
"It happened j-j-j-j-just a few m-m-m-m-minutes ago! A psycho s-s-swiped his knife at my neck and I-I-I put my arm up to protect m-m-myself!" Drew lets soft sobs escape his throat and his voice ring with panic.
The doctor went to examine a closer look, but Drew allowed for the wound to close. He grabbed the doctor and spun him around. He clamped his hand around his mouth before he could make a peep. Drew bought his other arm around his neck and sunk in. Closing the doctor's windpipe and cutting blood off to his head the doctor went out almost instantly. Drew could have let the demon do its thing but it was so much more fun this way. Besides the demon would have its fun with the unconscious body now. The dark foggy tendril came out from his hand and into the doctor's nose. The only thing he would remember is falling asleep on his shift and a nightmare that woke him.
Drew removed the doctor's clothes and shifted into the likeness of the man. This was always a painful process. Bones popping and skin stretching and changing was never fun. The demon enjoyed his pain which made Drew's grimace deepen. He didn't mind when the demon enjoyed the pain of others, but felt like a betrayal when it found it in him.
He pulled out his phone and looked at his reflection. Spitting image of the doctor. The demon hid the body from prying eyes so that they didn't have to deal with closing down the room and staff asking questions. The body was there and the Mountain Movers and others chosen by demons could see him but no one else could. The only Mountain Movers here in Ohio that he had to worry about were Jack and Kristy. He would just make sure to not take them into that room.
Drew walked out of the room and looked at the badge to make sure he knew his name. Doctor Jackson Clemens.
"Doctor Clemens he's here!"
A nurse was calling to him about the ambulance that had just pulled in. Her face was tired, but the urgency in her voice betrayed her sleep deprivation. He acknowledged the demon floating above her head with a wink. She looked behind her and saw no one and then blushed. Drew smiled slyly and walked to the door to receive Jack off the ambulance. It would be him and two nurses in the room with Jack. It would be hard to get him alone without stirring up to much ruckus. It was one thing to keep a guy unconscious and another to make someone do something. Especially when protocol was going to be the premise of them not leaving regardless of the influence the demons had over their minds.
Jack came through the ambulance doors and through the doors of the hospital. As the gurney came through he and the nurses guided it into one of the rooms. The nurse directed it towards the first room where the unconscious doctor lay. He gave the gurney a little shove towards the second room.
"I like this one better. I've got it set up to my specifications." He showed the nurse a smile.
She nodded her head and in they went. They hoisted Jack off the gurney and onto the hospital bed. His head was wrapped tight to keep from too much blood loss. Taking a closer look he could see that the back of his head where he hit had busted the chip they used. Drew scowled. The only place that had the chips were at the orphanage and they weren't planned out enough to get it there in time. Jack just might get lucky enough to not have the chip.
Drew reached into the head wound and dug out the chip. The nurses were to occupied getting his IV bag set up and making sure everything was getting prepped right to have noticed what he was doing. They couldn't find the chip. No matter how much influence they had over people, it was hard to get everyone into their pocket.
Drew pocketed the chip. Nothing he could do now. But he could intercept Kristy before she made it here. He grabbed at his stomach and yelled. The nurses jumped and stared at him.
"I'm getting really bad cramps. Agh! Yeah, I have to go. Go get another doctor!"
He went out the door leaving the nurses dumbfounded. He rounded the corner and headed towards the reception desk. Kristy hadn't got there yet but it wouldn't be long before she did. Their love for each other was unbound. It made him sick. He almost threw up just thinking about it. Well the demon almost did. Love wasn't something that they did, but as always Drew didn't mind.
"When Kristy Windward comes in to visit Jack Bryant send for me." He said to the receptionist.
She nodded. "Yes doctor."
Kristy pulled up to the ER side of the hospital. She briskly walked to the doors and went to the receptionist.
"Hi I'm here to see Jack Bryant. My name is Kristy Windward and I'm his fiancé."
"The doctor would like to speak with you. Just go have a seat and he will be with you in a moment." She replied kindly.
"Oh… okay…" Every worry in her mind intensified drastically.
As Kristy sat down the pit of her stomach knotted worse every second she had to sit there. Jack couldn't be dead. Then why would the doctor insist on seeing her? Thoughts flooded her mind and it was hard to keep them at bay. She barely heard the PA system kick on and a call for Doctor Clemens was sounded. It was lost on her in her ever churning mind.
"Kristy?"
She jumped startled and looked at the direction of where her name was called. Before her stood a man dressed in a doctors smocks, and a badge that identified him as Doctor Jackson Clemens. Under any other circumstance she would have been able to ignore the chest. The only problem, there was nothing there to ignore.
She glanced back at the receptionist who was standing behind the desk and saw the light in her chest. For a moment she had allowed herself to believe that she was no longer seeing things. Her heart sank a little knowing she was still.
A cold took her bones. A memory long buried and forgotten resurfaced. She felt the hopelessness rise up in her chest and a sadness take her spirit. She remembered back at the orphanage the same men and women who had looked this way. A darkness that shown rather than light. That so many of her other pals had lost their light while being there at the orphanage.
She looked him full in the face prepared to see the face of ones long forgot, but nothing came to her seeing him. No recognition. She breathed a sigh of relief and mustered the words, "Is everything okay doctor? You wanted to see me?"
He took a breath and looked at her, "Ma'am I'm sorry to inform you that your fiancé, Jack, died while on the ambulance. We did our best to revive him when he got here, but unfortunately he's no longer with us."
Kristy brought her hand to her mouth. Tears welled up faster than she could suppress. "No." She croaked.
She hated the doctor. She hated the hospital and she hated herself. Hated that she never got to tell him she loved him one last time. Hold him one last time. Hug him and kiss him even just one last time. She wanted nothing more than to be held by the man she was meant to marry. She wanted his love and comfort at that very moment. That he would fix it all in his silly way he knew how. Sorrow gripped her heart like a vice and threatened to strangle her. Why? Why would God let this happen? How could God let this happen? They had only been a week from being married and He had taken Jack from her. She hated God in that moment. She wept for the next ten minutes. Finally she started to compose herself.
Kristy looked back up at the doctor. "May I see him please?" Her eyes pleading and voice broken.
"No. I'm afraid you can't. His body is being prepared at the moment. If you wait a few days you may be able to come collect his body from the morgue for a funeral. Until then I must beg you to go home and not do anything rash."
Kristy got up and walked out of the door of the hospital and to her car. She opened the door, sat down, shut the door and she cried. She cried and cried. Every time it seemed like she might be able to pull herself together, another fury of dreadful emotion overcame her. She wept for what seemed like an impossible amount of time. She screamed at God and cursed him for taking Jack. Then she cried more, until she fell asleep in her car. Exhausted from the emotion that threatened to take her sanity.