Chapter 1
It was chasing me. The large furry animal was almost completely invisible as it ran, though its murderous yellow eyes were glowing bright through the darkness. It came closer and closer. It opened its mouth and…
I sat straight up, panting. I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked around the bright, white room. To the left was a beeping monitor and to the right was a doctor talking to a nurse. Great, I thought. I’m in a hospital, but how? I listened in on their conversation.
“I’ve never seen anyone with this many mental disorders,” the doctor said, his voice soft and low. Mental disorders? I thought. I lightly drummed my fingers on the bed, thinking. I picked up a pencil off the table next to me and tapped it against the metal headboard. They turned toward the noise. The doctor who had been talking before stepped forward.
“Oh, good. You’re awake,” he said. “Welcome to St. Declan’s Hospital.” I took the notepad off the table. Who are you and how’d I get here? I scribbles down and showed the doctor.
“My apologies. I am Dr. Finnegan. Last night a young lad brought you in. You were having a panic attack,” the doctor answered. “What is your name?” Fiona, I wrote.
“Well, Fiona. We ran some tests on you last night right when you were brought in. we found that you have many mental dis…” he stopped himself and changed his wording, “illnesses including schizophrenia, Panic Disorder, arachnophobia, zoophobia, and claustrophobia.”
“The poor lass,” said a nurse, reading his clipboard over his shoulder. The door opened and a new nurse walked in.
“Dr. Finnegan and Nurse Browne, you are both needed in room 24B,” she said. The doctor nodded and turned back to me.
“I will return shortly,” he said, then followed the nurses out. I sat on the hospital bed, listening to the beeps of the heart monitor. Suddenly I saw the black furry creature from my dream staring at me from the corner by the window opposite of the door.
A cold dark voice started speaking. It was as though someone was whispering in my ear. “There’s nowhere to run,” the voice said. “ I’m coming for you,Fiona Davin. I’m coming.” I knew that voice much too well. It belonged to the Shadowman. Warm tears streamed down my cheeks. I put my face in my hands and shook my head. Slowly, I let myself fall into a deep sleep.
* * * * * *
I woke up to the beeping of the heart monitor. For a moment all I could see was shapes. I noticed a figure watching me. I began to panic and the heart monitor’s beeping increased drastically.
“Fiona! It’s only me, Dr. Finnegan,” the figure said. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the bright room. The beeping decreased to its normal pace. I slowly drew in a deep, but wavering, breath and placed my hands on my face. I recalled the dream I had had. The black furry creature, I named the Phantom when it first appeared four years ago, was chasing me again until it cornered me. The voice of the Shadowman said, “I’m coming for you, Fiona,” over and over again like it always did.
“You’ve been out for five days,” Dr. Finnegan said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I sat up and looked at him. “You had another panic attack. What did you dream about?” I shook my head.
“Okay, but if you told me I could help more,” he urged. I shook my head again. “Okay, just remember I’m here to help.” I nodded this time.
“Also,” the doctor added, “you have a visitor. It’s the young lad who brought you in. I’m sure he just wants to know how you’re doing. I nodded and pulled off the blankets. I hadn’t noticed that they changed my clothes from faded jeans and a ripped oversized t-shirt to a long sleeved light blue shirt with matching pants. I swung my feet over the bed and slowly stood up. The white marble floor felt cool against my bare feet. As I looked straight ahead, I saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My pale skin was covered in bruises and scars. My curly auburn hair messily fell into my dark green eyes. I looked at Dr. Finnegan, who was watching me.
“Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded and follow him out and into a long hallway. At the end of the hall were big metal double doors. Dr. Finnegan placed his ID tag under a scanner then pulled the doors open. The room was a gymnasium. Tables, set up all around the room, were almost completely filled. At the far end of the gym was a juvenile guy sitting alone at a table.
“That’s him over there,” Dr. Finnegan motioned to the guy alone at the table. I padded across the wooden floor to the table. He was looking down at the phone in his lap, playing a game. I knocked lightly on the table. Surprised, he stood up quickly almost knocking over the chair. He smiled sheepishly, running his hand through his brown hair. His warm dark brown eyes were shining. I could tell he was well liked by people, or at least tried to be. He stuck out his hand.
“I’m James-Lucas Scott.”
