MARKED (Hunter Awakened) Read Free Page B

like just waking up fuzzy. More like medicine
fuzzy. I'd never done drugs, but I imagined that it felt a lot like
this. It made it kind of hard to think. Why was I waking up with my
head being fuzzy? I didn't remember taking anything the night
before. I wasn't sick and I only took sleeping aids when my
schedule was screwed up. And even then, they never made me feel
like this. It was like I had cotton candy in my brain. I didn't
like it. The brain thing. Not the cotton candy. I actually liked
cotton candy... my ramblings were proving my point.
    I forced my eyes open even though my eyelids
were much heavier than they should have been. It took a moment for
everything to come into focus. First came the lights. Harsh,
institutional lighting. That didn't bode well. Then everything else
started to fall into place. Scratchy sheets. A sharp pain in the
back of my hand. That unmistakable sharp smell of antiseptic
overlaying the sickly sweet scent of illness. And the steady,
annoying beeping sound that confirmed what I'd already figured out.
I was in the hospital. Now I needed to know why I was here.
    Before I could really process anything,
movement at the far side of the room caught my eye. I forced myself
to focus. It wasn't easy. Remember, cotton-candy brain. There were
two men in suits, grimly watching me. They were both middle-aged
and stood in nearly identical stances. Cops. Things just got a lot
more interesting.
    “Miss Rhines.” Another voice drew my
attention. This one was female. A tall, dark-haired woman in
scrubs. A doctor. “How are you feeling?”
    If I was being honest, I would've said
'loopy,' or 'cotton candy-brained,' but I didn't think either
option was a good idea. I wanted to sound lucid, not loony.
Especially not with two cops there and me not knowing what in the
world was going on. “Okay, I guess. I'm not too sure. What
happened?”
    The doctor glanced at the cops, then looked
back at me. “You were brought in a few hours ago, unconscious from
a blow to the head. The detectives need to speak to you if you feel
up to it.”
    Up? Definitely. Whatever painkillers they
were giving me definitely had me up and floating. For the first
time in my life, I wanted to giggle. I swallowed hard and tried not
to think cotton candy thoughts. “I'll do my best.” I figured it was
best not to start, to let the cops ask the questions and go from
there. I didn't know what this was about, so I didn't want to be
responsible for starting some sort of wild goose chase.
    Hm. That's a funny saying. Why would anyone
want to chase wild geese? Seemed kind of silly to me, but then
again, my brain was a little silly at the moment.
    “Miss Rhines.”
    Right. Cops. Hospital. I needed to stop with
the bunny trails. Bunnies and geese... I shook my head, then
immediately regretted it. That didn't feel so good. Although, the
pain did clear my head a bit, so it wasn't all bad.
    “Miss Rhines, I'm Detective Linden. This is
my partner, Detective Thomas.” The taller of the two men spoke
first. His expression was blank, but I could see a hint of
something in his blue eyes. I got the impression Detective Linden
didn't approve of me. “Can you tell us what happened last
night?”
    Well that was disappointingly vague. I'd
hoped for something a little more specific. Something to give me
some idea of what I was trying to remember. Oh well, it seemed we'd
be starting at the beginning. That was a very good place to start,
or so I remembered from my childhood.
    “I was on set, working. We've been doing
night shoots for a couple weeks now. After I finished all of my
scenes, I headed from my trailer to the parking lot. I heard some
noises.” I paused, frowning. Things were starting to get hazy. I
concentrated, trying to recall as much detail as I could. “There
was a shadow that kept moving weird. And I could feel someone
following me.” I fell silent, everything after that going
blank.
    “And then...” Detective Thomas prompted.
    “Nothing.”