The darkness slowly started fading, as the unconsciousness finally let its grasp go of Kimberly. As she slowly awoke, she realized that she had no idea where she was. This was not her home. Where was she? And more important than that… What happened? 

Suddenly it came to her, so fast that her head started hurting. The concert. The crowd. The gunshot. Oh yes the gunshot!

“how am i still alive?”

Kimberly tried standing up, but her weakened body refused to follow the commands that the brain was giving.

“Well if i cannot get up, i should just try to focus.”

She checked her surroundings and realized, this must be a hospital. The smell, the machinery, everything in the room just oozed the word sterile. Still tired, Kimberly sank back into her pillow.

“No use breaking my head about finding out something, when i cannot move anyway.”

She closed her eyes again and sleep put its arms around her. When she woke up again, she felt a lot better. Opening her eyes, she realized, that she was not alone. A Doctor was sitting on a chair next to her, apparently waiting for her to wake up. He was kind looking man. Probably around Fifty years old. A pair of round glasses sitting on his nose. He wore a typical white coat and had a stethoscope around his neck. His brown eyes carefully mustered her. Checking for anything out of order.

“Good morning Miss Shaw”, his voice sounded very soothing. Someone you would trust instinctively.

“Good morning.” Kimberly answered, not sure what else to say, but then she remembered a burning question inside her head.

“How did i get here? The last thing i remember was the bullet hitting me. After that… everything went dark.”

“Well. A young man brought you here. But he refused to identify himself. He left a note for you.”

The doctor pointed on a folded sheet of paper, that was left on a drawer next to her bed.

“Also i must say… your injury… it is very … ehmmm… peculiar.”

“How so?”

All kinds of thoughts rushed through Kimberly’s head. Permanent injury? or something worse? She already started imagining all kind of horrible possibilities as the doctor interrupted her train of thought.

“Well you say you were shot. And the man who brought you here also said you were shot. But that is not quite true.”

The doctor started stroking his beard. Falling silent into his own thoughts.

“In fact, you have a wound from a bullet. It is on you body. But there is no bullet. It’s as if the bullet vanished, before reaching any vital part of your body. We cannot explain how that is even possible. Since a vanishing bullet is a very stupid theory, the thing we assume at the moment, is that you were not hit by a bullet, but stabbed.”

“But!” Kimberly nearly shouted.

“I know i was shot. i was nowhere near the person with the gun. He couldn’t have stabbed me, even if he had wanted to.”

She could not believe, that the doctor just made up another truth. She knew what happened. At least till the point where her mind stopped processing. It was definitely a gun, that the guy had in his hands, was it not?

“Well,” the doctor continued.

“whatever it was. You are really lucky to be alive. had the stab be any deeper, you would now be lying on a completely different bed.”

“What happened to the shooter?” She really had to know.

“The ‘Shooter’, was caught.” The doctor said. displaying that he really did not believe it was a gunshot.

“But no gun was found. No weapon at all. Even with all the people that were around there, everyone said different things. The guy who attacked you, had no weapon whatsoever. And no one else saw him throw anything away. It is really quite the problem. If the police cannot find a weapon, all he will be charged for is probably assault. And not even armed one. He will probably be free again really soon. Unless they can find a weapon.”

Kimberly’s thoughts started going in circles. Like a huge malstrom, sucking in anything in its grasp. How was that possible? She could not think of any explanation. The biggest issue was: That guy would be on the run again soon. And he would probably come for her again. There was also the mysterious guy who brought her here. She could not think of anyone she knew, who would do that.

“Well that is basically what i had to tell you.” the doctor explained.

“You should be fully recovered in three days. After that you are free to go wherever you want.”

With this words, the doctor got up and left the room. Leaving the puzzled Kimberly alone in her thoughts.

“Whatever the answer to all those riddles is,i guess i will check what the person who brought me here, wrote on that paper.”

She unfolded the paper and read the letter, left for her.

“Hello …. whatever your name is. (i didn’t exactly have time to ask you) I know you have a lot of questions, as to what happened. Why it happened. And even more than the why and the what, you want to know how it happened. I can give you some answers to all of you questions, if you are willing to meet me. The doctor already told me, that you will have recovered in three days. So once you are able to walk again, meet me on top of the old theater in the middle of the old part of the town. I will be waiting for you there. If you haven’t been there by the fifth day, i will assume, that you do not wish to know what happened.

Kayto.“

“Hmm, waiting for five days… just how much free time does that guy have?”

Kimberly chuckled at that thought.

“Kayto. What an unusual name… it does sound pretty foreign.”

And with this thought, her hurting body demanded sleep again. The next day passed by until lunchtime without anything happening and Kimberly started to feel bored already. After Lunch, the doctor came by again. A short health checkup and the day became boring again. The next two days didn’t make themself any more interesting. Kimberly just passed the time by reading books. Luckily the hospital had a small library. Finally three days had passed and she could leave that boring place. It was time to get some answers to her questions. Her way lead straight towards to the old part of york. It was still an active part of the town. Filled with tiny little stores on every corner, trying to appeal to the curious. Most people would be entangled in this beautiful old town. But Kimberly had no eyes for this stuff today. She was walking straight to the abandoned theater, not minding her surroundings at all. Had she done that, she surely would have noticed the shadow that kept tailing her. But she was in deep thought. Thinking about everything that happened. Trying to imagine a possible answer to all the questions she had. Slowly but steadily she climbed the steps to the top of the building. On its top there was a small block where the door lead to the outside. Surrounding the top of the building was a small fence, about hundred fifty centimeters high. It usually was a well visited spot to view the city from above, but today there was no one here. Kimberly gazed around, trying to find the person who invited her here. She even went around the block to see if someone was behind it, but she was alone.

“Guess i have to wait… “ she thought, slightly irritated.

She went to one of the rails and started enjoying the view. It had been a long time, since she last had stepped foot here. The view was amazing. All the ppl down there, too far away to hear, small like little ants always busy. A shadow emerged from behind the door. Making no noise. Suddenly, an uneasiness kept crawling down Kimberly’s skin. Something was not right… But she could not put her mind to it. Something should be different… Then like a sudden lightning it struck her. Of Course! The person called Kayto wrote that he would be waiting for her. How would he even know when she would arrive here? He surely didn’t wait around here for the whole time, right? Also there was no one on top of this building right now. So what was the deal? Alarmed she turned around. Just in time to realize the danger she was in. Standing before her, was the guy who shot her. Five meters away. A sadistic grin playing around his mouth.

“Hello there. So we do meet again, like i promised. You wouldn’t get away.”

Kimberly started trembling in terror. Why was this guy here? Did the police let him go that fast? How did he even find her? Was the Letter from him? But if so, why bring her to the hospital in the first place? The guys eyes had a slight green gleam in them, as he suddenly had a military knife in his hands.

“Let’s play for a bit.”

As he said that his voice sounded completely different. Like a child, with no evil intention in it.

“Let us play dodge. I will try to cut you and you will run away. It will be totally fun.”

His voice changed again. This time madness was swinging in it. It was as if two different persons were talking at the same time. Kimberly ran to the left.

“I have to get away from him. To the door.”

Surprised she realized that the guy was not following her. She had a chance to reach the door! As she reached the door, she realized the cruel game, that the guy was playing. The door couldn’t be opened. It was completely sealed and did not budge a bit, no matter the amount of power Kimberly put into it. What did he do with the door. and How. There was no key. This door was always open. So how did he manage to make it like that? Terrified she turned around. Now fully aware, that this game would not end well for her.

“Oh i said you can run, but i did not say that you can leave.”

His voice edged itself into her mind. Materializing as fear itself. Kimberly sank down. If this was the end of it, then at least she did not want to play it by his rules. At least that was what she thought, but her body would have a different opinion about it. As his knife managed to reach her, cutting slightly into her shoulder, adrenaline started kicking into her body. Instincts overtook the mind. She automatically dodged to the side. Like an animal awaiting the next attack, to dodge the danger. Completely alerted.

“Oh so you do want to play.”

The guy sounded almost happy. The next thing that happened, was something that would burn into Kimberly’s mind forever. She could not believe what she was seeing. The knife was giving a slight green glow. Then suddenly started changing. It grew larger and larger. Changing form. Until it was a full grown sword.

“What are you?” She cried. Terrified. Not able to believe what she just witnessed.

“How is that possible?”

Before she could ask any more questions, the sword shot forward, cuttin deep into her forehead, taking some hair with it. She cried out in pain. Unable to focus. Blood was running down her face. Blinding her vision. Instinctively she dodged another strike of his sword. Then, the sword started glowing again. Changing again. This time into a sharp and pointy Rapier.

“What am i?” He chuckled.

“You think a human is not able to do something like this? You are right. So what is the only possible explanation that leaves you? Right. I am not. Human that is.”

All kinds of thoughts rushed through Kimberly. She could not think straight anymore. Was it because of the shock? The loss of blood? She was not sure. The hits kept continuing. She dodged, like a robot almost. Automated. Exhausted. Kimberly knew that this could not keep up forever. Soon her body would give up. The adrenaline would fade. And then it would be her end. She did not know how long this fight lasted. Seconds? minutes? Time seemed to run in a different flow when your body is on the edge. His weapon kept changing and changing again. The sweater and her skirt, were cut up on many different places, revealing cuts all over her body. While stepping backwards, tired by the ongoing flurry of attacks, she stumbled. Just in time as his fist, that suddenly wore spiked knuckles rushed past her face, hitting the metal rail. The edge of the knuckle cutting deep into her skin. She winced in pain. Unable to continue running. Unable to do anything to prevent the further events. She started crying. Why was this happening to her. Why did she deserve to run into this maniac?

“Oh, so you finally gave up?”

His face was twisted like an evil mask.

“Well i had my share of fun here. I guess it is time to wrap things up nicely, don’t you think?”

His metal knuckles, started changing again. This time he held a different weapon in his hands. One that awoke a painful memory in Kimberly. That was the gun that she was shot with. Was this her destiny? Would she really not be able to get away from this bullet, that had her name on it? She closed her eyes. tears running down her face. She was not able to do anything anymore. She was tired. There was nothing she could possibly do anymore. As the guy lifted the gun and pointed it at her forehead, a high pitched buzz was going through the air, like the air itself getting cut up. It grew louder and louder and then it was gone. Fading in the distance. Silence. Kimberly tried to see what happened through her teary eyes. Her view half blinded, she tried to figure out why the shot, that was meant for her was not coming.

The guy standing in front of her, did not move a muscle. Like he was frozen in place. Then suddenly his head fell backwards, leaving Kimberly with a horrifying view, that she would probably not forget, for her entire life. He was laying on the ground before her.

Beheaded.