"Yeah. I play." Alice smiled gently. She went over to the piano and sat. She took a deep breath and set her hand down on the keys. She started playing; the smooth melody bled from her fingers as they glided across the piano, filling the room with terrible hope and sweet heartbreak. So many memories came with these notes, and before she knew it tears accompanied the music, dripping onto the keys in time to the metronome.
Evera approached her carefully, laying a motherly hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I can only heal physical pain." She sat next to her, moving her hands. Using one finger, she found the melody for a ragtime. The room was filled with the cheery beat of the simple song.
Alice let the music gradually fade away. She put her hands in her lap and roughly wiped away her tears. "It's ok. Let's keep walking around, this is only downstairs."
"Okay," she said with a smile, following her out of the room.
Alice marched upstairs, skipping the second floor and going straight to the third. "Up here, there's a library, a storage room, a bathroom, an extra bedroom, and an art studio." She pointed to a trap in the ceiling. "And there you have the classic haunted attic." She waved to the hallway, nodding her head to a beat and smiling hesitantly.
(goodnight ppl)
(Night!)
"It's lovely," Evera said with a warm grin. "Very posh. How do you afford it?"
Alice's smile slipped and she shrugged unevenly. "I'm not sure, but I never had any problems with it so I assume that my dad is paying for them."
"Oh." Evera glanced out the window, her eyes narrowed. "The rain's letting up. You think I'm still being followed?"
Alice shrugged. "Only one way to find out." She went back downstairs and looked out the front window. A figure in black stood by the sidewalk, leaning against a lamp post. She turned around.
"Yes, you are."
"Great," Evera groaned, sinking into a plush chair defeatedly. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" She pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I can at least call my girlfriend and tell her I'm okay."
Through the light rain, Leonard walked down the drenched sidewalks to his house. Being the only house on the street with a few oak trees, everyone else seemed quite jealous. Darting across the street, he walked through the grass to the front door, the rain has caused the colors of his house to become more vibrant and beautiful, and looking back at his neighbor’s house, he knew they had the right to be jealous, his house was beautiful and simple.
Alice saw a boy with ruffled black hair walk past and shoot her house a derisive glance. She stuck her tongue out at him through the window, hoping he'd see her.
"I like pie." He said to the drenched house, "and my pet parrot whos on crack…. I wonder where he gets it from?"
Inside the silent house, the annoying phone rang. ‘This isn’t good.’ Xavier though as he darted over to the phone, ‘what person calls at the hour of the day?’. Picking it up, he listened carefully to the annoying girl's voice. It was the Miss Hellen, a secretary that worked at Silver Garden Hospital, she wasn’t the brightest folk, but she was good.
Placing the phone back on the wall, Xavier grabbed his keys and coat and raced to his car, ‘Another shooting,’ He thought sadly, ‘and four more people in the hospital.” Sighing, he turned on the engine and began his tripe to his workplace.
Evera couldn't get through to her girlfriend. Stirrings of concern tugged at her mind. She gave up on that, instead shooting her a text explaining where she was. Then she moved over to her missed calls. She had three, all from coworkers at the hospital. She hit the top one, raising the phone to her ear. "Dr. Evera Chung, can I help you?"
"Dr. Chung? Please come in. There's been multiple shootings."
Evera hesitated. Should she try to leave? She shook her head impatiently, her brief conflict reaching an end. She wasn't going to risk other's lives just because she was scared. "I'll be there in ten minutes," she replied. She turned back towards Alice, her tone apologetic. "I need to get to the hospital. Can you help?"
Alice bit her lip. "Maybe…" The girls headed to the back of the house and into the back. There, parked beside the driveway, was a Harley. Alice looked back with a cheeky grin. She threw Eve a helmet, put on her own and climbed onto it.
"Come on, Eve. Let's go."
Evera eyed the motorbike with trepidation. "Whatever works," she muttered, climbing on the back. She held on for dear life as the Harley lurched beneath her.
Leonard threw his backpack and his jacket onto the floor. 'Why does it have to drizzle when I'm coming home from school?' he thought in annoyance. 'It always has to happen!'
The rain had stopped as Xavier made his way out of the hospital to his car. All four people were alive and sure to be released out of the hospital in the following week. Xavier scrolled though his text messages, taping on one persons number, he wrote the following, 'Two chest shot wounds, one hip shot and one very close head shot.' Sending the message to his fellow doctor, Xavier turned on the engine of the car and made his way back to his house.
"Watch out!" Evera screamed as the motorbike nearly collided with some car rounding the corner of the hospital parking lot. Alice slammed the breaks. The man driving the car leaned out, probably to apologize. "Dr. Bateglia?" Evera said.
Out of breath form the near crash, Xavier looked at the girls with wide eyes, "I'm so sorry! But are you ok?!"
"No, yeah, I'm fine," Evera quickly amended with a smile. She pulled her helmet off, her eyes wide. "Have you heard about the shootings?"
"Yes, I just finished with a few of the people that were in the shooting." Xavier answered, "It went smoothly and I'm certain they will all live."
Evera covered her heart with her hand, her shoulders relaxing. "Thank God. I saw the shooting. I have a feeling that…" she paused, her eyes uncertain. "Just be careful."