I opened my eyes with a snap.
Pain. Shock. Horror.
They passed like lighting, before my heart settled down in my chest.
With a quick scan, I sighed heavily in relief.
I was not in the hospital for a change, instead I was on my bed in my room, with a moist towel on my forehead. My skin felt a bit clammy and I felt hot from the blankets ontop of me.
They were like three thick ones here!
"Mom?" I called out and heard something drop downstairs.
Quick footsteps reached my ears and a second later my mom was at the door with a loud bang. She was wearing a oversized sweatshirt, socks and sweat pants, which is what she wore when she was cleaning the house.
The moisture on her hands told me she had either been handwashing the laundry or dishes.
"Sarah Bucklehim." She growled.
Oh no, I thought worriedly, she's mad. What happened after I passed out?
I had been in the cemetery with Bradley (Mr yellow eyes, I guess) who was naked and only wearing a hospital gown and underwear.
If that cold guy did not do anything, and people found us in that position, me with rope bindings and him almost nude...
I gulped as my mother stomped into my room and I felt my innocent life flash before my eyes.
This was it.
I'm dead, I thought terrified.
"How could you keep this from me?" She demanded with a huff.
"Wait, huh?" Terror turned to confusion," What do you mean?"
"No, no, no more of that." She sat next to me and I saw she was smiling from ear to ear.
What was going on?
"This whole time I thought you were lonely and so sad without Lucas but instead, you've been sneaking off to see your boyfriend at the hospital and when he wakes up you decide to meet up in secret? I hope there are no babies coming soon because -"
I covered my ears as my jaw dropped.
What?
WHAT!?!?
What was this insanity!!??
"Mom, who are you talking about?" I asked her in a quiet voice.
"Hmmm?" She looked at my hands covering my ears and I lowered them.
"Sarah I understand if you think I might get mad because of you getting distracted by a boy, your grades aren't good honey. But I'd never tell you no if you liked someone and to think, it's him of all people." She chuckled," I swear, when I got called by the hospital, I thought the worst, but when I heard what had happened, I just couldn't believe it."
"Mom, who are you talking about?" She was rambling again, her excitement was getting the better of her.
"Coy Sarah, very coy. I'm talking about Bradley Quincy of course. The boy you've been pinning over since I forget when. I never thought, you'd...I'm happy for you. I really am." She said softly and gave me a hug," Now, on a much more serious note. You passed out? What happened? The doctor told me you were with him, trying to tell him to go back to the hospital but then you passed out."
"Dehydrated. Mom, can I go back to sleep?" I asked in a high pitched voice.
"But it's almost evening, I thought maybe you'd want to tell me all about it. On that note, babies, should I be concerned?"
"No! No babies! Mom get out!" I covered myself with my blanket and she chuckled softly.
"Embarassed won't stop me from digging young lady." She told me she'd bring me water later and left.
A few moments later, I pulled the blanket down, my eyes hot with fury.
That bastard! I thought angrily, what did he do to my teenage life!?
Don't get me wrong, having Bradley Quincy as my boyfriend is a literal dream true.
I would have jumped out the window and flown up to sing to the world, but there were three problems.
Firstly, It was all a lie and I hated lies, they stung and when revealed led to problems. This lie would lead to questions unimaginable and the truth would lead to me in a mental asylum.
Secondly, It wasn't Bradley who was my so called 'boyfriend' but Iazel, the Warden who had killed me. The idea of him was still uncomfortable and scary shivers ran down my spine thinking of him.
Thirdly, it could be argued to be the most important, Cindy would hear of this and school would turn from hard to an outright nightmare. I would never get any piece, she'd skin me alive for 'meeting up' with her man.
Wait! I sat up as everything finally settled in.
Bans was gone, Iazel was now Bradley and I had no one to help me find Lucas.
What was I going to do?
Raking my fingers through my hair, I groaned in frustration.
I thought everything would go smoothly once I found those Wardens earlier but their immediate desire to kill me, just made me trust Wardens alot less.
Speaking of Wardens, I thought, Iazel said he'd see me later.
Should I call the police? The army? A priest?
Those eyes of his were branded into my mind, and to think that the guy I'd had a crush on my whole life was now the guy I feared more than anything. My head hit my pillow as I lay back and shut my eyes, there was nothing I could do now anyway.
Hospital visiting hours were probably almost over, and I couldn't storm in and slap him for slandering me as a teenage homewrecker.
The thought rang through my head pleasantly, and I decided that the first thing I'd do when I saw him was slap him.
I didn't care about where or when, but it would feel so good.
The terror of seeing him again was still there, but I felt inclined to just meet him and do something.
I didn't understand it or know it, but a compulsion to be near him was settling into my head.
Whether it was because he was in Bradley's body or because of something to do with Bans, I would only find out when I met him.
Glob, I thought, what about Bradley?
What happened to him?
...
Iazel had listened to the doctors with a listless expression, his eyes, once blue, were now a stone cold grey. He was in a private room inside the hospital, paid for by his unavailable parents, as an 'apology' for almost getting him off life support.
After destroying the two Wardens in the cemetery, he'd searched Sarah's bag and eaten most of her food, his hunger enormous and unquestionable.
It wasn't his first time eating mortal food, but it was the first time tasting it, since Wardens had no sense of taste. Eating was not even a necessity, so it was rare finding a Warden who indulged in food. The positive side of immortality was the lack of needs that most mortals had, such as air, healthcare and food.
Now however, he would be prone to alot of those things.
His mind had already adjusted to the body and he was fully himself again, instead of the blundering fool who'd stumbled his way out. It surprised him that even in his incoherent state, he still went out and found her.
I have to be more careful though, he thought, destroying Wardens at a whim would not do if they wanted to exist another century.
The Chancellor would only grow more vicious after this, and with his new mortality, the stakes were high.
However none of that mattered, he didn't care about some decrepit fool trying to kill him. He was still far stronger than anything else that Chancellor would send and so he didn't worry.
Instead he wondered what Sarah was doing, he knew she was awake.
Trying to link with her now would be a bad idea, so for once he couldn't know what his... 'Vessel' was thinking or feeling. Hopefully it was something progressive, such as understanding her new being, that is if she knew what had happened.
"Bradley, oh my gosh thank goodness, your parents will be like so happy." A young woman walked into the room.
He looked at her as his eyes grew cool.
She was a tall blonde haired woman with light blue eyes, fair skin and a trimmed aesthetic from a magazine. She wore a white silk shirt, cream and light pink jacket, pink scarf, black ankle length skirt, held a smartphone in one hand and a basket of food in the other.
A name appeared in his mind but he didn't say it, rather he acted ignorant.
"Who are you?" He asked cautiously.
The woman stopped, a look of hurt flashed in her eyes but she covered it up and wore a bright smile.
"That's kay, the doctors told me you might not remember stuff. I was kinda hoping you'd remember me, but it's totes cool. I brought my phone and jammed it with pics of you and me." She said sweetly but he didn't respond to her.
He turned to the nurse checking his IV," Who is she?"
"I uhm,"The nurse didn't expect to be talked to.
She was just here to check on his IV because her friend asked her before going to the restroom, this wasn't her shift or assigned patient.
Should she lie? Act ignorant?
Either option was impossible, because the girl in question looked rich and spoiled.
She'd lose her job.
"Cindy Lanford, that's me." Cindy said with a tight smile," Don't ask the help Bradley. You know they're just there to do their job. Treat them like furniture."
Furniture, the nurse thought indignantly, we were keeping him alive! Spoiled rich brats!
"You're arrogant and condescending." He stated factually and Cindy couldn't believe her ears!
"Excuse me, but I'm just... nevermind. I'll let it slide since you're still so unwell. Here, a get well basket from me." She placed it next to him," We could eat and I'll show you our pictures. Like a remembering date, girlfriend and boyfriend."
"We don't support eating unhealthy foods when he's still recovering." The nurse said slowly.
"Who asked you?" Cindy hissed at her," Do you have any idea who I am?"
"No miss, it's just the hospital rules prohibit -"
"Blah blah blah, and blah. That's all I hear." She waved her hand," Shoo, you're boring and annoying. I don't want an old wrinkling third wheel, so get out."
This entitled little beast! The nurse clenched her fingers but put on a humble smile.
"Yes miss." She said softly and left.
"That's better, now eat up and check out these pictures."
She smiled as she pulled open the basket ready to enjoy time with her boyfriend. However, before she could finish, he grabbed her phone and started to look through the photos.
"Oh that's us at- hey! Hold on, you're going through them too fast. Are you even looking at them?" She tried to take her phone back but he just switched hands and carried on.
After a moment, he stopped and he offered it back to her. His face was bored and cool as an ice lake. Everything he'd seen were things he could easily recollect apparently, no new information and there was no need to humour this annoying girl.
From what he could recall, she was a very vain and conceited mortal, with a large desire for attention and superiority. Bradley had just followed her whims willingly, either too tired or too needy to say no.
If Bradley had been here, he'd be the smiling and easy guy who listened to her and indulged her whims.
But he wasn't Bradley Quincy, he was Iazel and the idea of being a smiling pet to this girl was something he could and would never abide.
"Get out." He said simply.
"W...what?" She asked as if she couldn't process the request.
"I want you to leave. Don't come back. I have no idea who you are, but if you really were my girlfriend, you're not anymore. I don't want you here. Take the basket with you."
"I, wait a second. You're not well, I get it but you can't just tell me to leave. Look you're confused. You don't know stuff and so you're making a decision that's dumb. But it's okay." She grabbed his hand," We're Oakwood high's power couple, we are fighters. Bradley and Cindy."
He slowly removed her hand and waited, silent and unmoving.
Cindy couldn't believe it.
He was seriously waiting for her to leave!?
Her Bradley would never have done this, he'd have listened and known what was good for him. This guy infront of her didn't seem to even care about her good looks even, how was that possible!?
On a scale of one to ten, she was an eleven!
This can't be happening, she told herself as she took a deep breath, just breath.
"Leave, Sandy." He said softly.
Sandy!?
"My name is Cindy!" She growled at him," I swear when you get your memories back, I'll make you regret this, Bradley."
Cindy grabbed the basket and stormed out of the room, thinking of how she'd deal with this when he got to school.
They were still boyfriend and girlfriend, she thought vehemently, everything would be fine when he remembered.
As soon as she was gone, Iazel went back to facing the ceiling and going through Bradley's memories. Cindy's visit instilled in him a need to understand the life he would now have to endure.
And endure he would, having mortals scurrying around him with needs and wants from him. He'd hate it, suffer it and endure it with the cold precision of a tempered knife. It would be similar to being a Pariah again, but instead of needs that impacted the lives and deaths of mortals, he'd be forced to do things of little universal significance.
He got up and reached into the drawer near his bed, pulling out his own phone. Using a phone was instinctively easy, his movements born from muscle memory. He sifted through the photos, deleting everyone with Cindy, checking the rest for confirmation and then checking the contacts.
"No Sarah." He noticed," So, they were strangers to each other. I can't let that remain the case, but outright seeking her would need justifications. Perhaps, it's time I remeet that boy she's so desperate to find... or his empty shell atleast."
Pulling the blankets off, he was about to leave when a loud beeping sound echoed around him.
The nurse from before rushed in with another nurse, looked at him and blushed.
"Uhm, you shouldn't be up." The first nurse said," And can you lower your gown?"
Iazel looked down and complied, unbothered by such a mundane thing as nudity. He'd been in far more uncomfortable situations than being partly exposed.
"I want to see another patient." He said softly.
"I'm sorry, but you're still under observation."
This patient had seemingly healed over night, gotten up and sneaked out of a hospital. The police found him with a young girl in the cemetery who'd passed out from dehydration before bringing him back here. His parents had set him up with his own VIP room, and even sent a letter apologizing for giving up on him and not being there.
"I wasn't asking." He walked past them and the two nurses looked at the door being shut with indignation.
Another spoiled rich brat, they thought at the same time.