Hell Fire MC

Chapter Five

Axel woke with a start to find his room engulfed in darkness. The only light was a thin stream coming in through the blinds on his window. It was eerily quiet, and a sense of unease overwhelmed him even more than the pain in his arm did.

He wanted to call out for help, but he couldn’t get his voice to work. He tried the call button attached to the bed, but it wasn’t working. None of the bed controls were working, and his monitors were silent.

Axel tried to catch his breath and then tossed the blanket back. As he started to sit up, though, a searing pain shot through his arm. He hissed and grabbed it. Then he leaned back against the pillows and tried to find a more comfortable position for it.

Despite the cool hospital temperature, he was sweating. He found the button for his painkillers and pushed it, though he didn’t know if it was working either. He couldn’t feel a difference and groaned in frustration.

A moment later, the light above his head flickered on.

“Oh, thank god,” he breathed.

Then it went out again. Faintly, he could hear his heart beating on the monitor, but then it grew louder and louder. The light came on again, and the overheads followed.

Axel shielded his eyes and said, “What the hell is going on around here?”

Suddenly, every electronic device in the room started flashing on and off. Despite the light and noise, he noticed something else. It sounded almost like an animal growling, but there was something unnatural about it. And it was very close.

Axel frantically looked around, but he didn’t see anything, even though the sound was getting louder. Then, the lights and devices went off, and the room was quiet again. It took a moment for his eyes to readjust to the dark. He realized he could still hear the low, growling breathing.

It was still nearby, and it was growing louder. Axel froze, unable to see much of anything now. There was no movement in the dark, though, and he started to think it was all in his head. Then he felt a breeze ruffling his hair.

As the growling get louder and the draft stronger, Axel tilted his head back to look behind him, and screamed.

One by one, the lights in the hallway came back on. For a moment, Linc just stood there, waiting to see what might happen next. Then he shoved his dollar back in his pocket, the snacks forgotten about, and he quickly walked back to the waiting room.

His hands were shaking and his eyes still wide as he stopped at the Receptionist’s desk.

“Are you having trouble with the electricity?” he quietly asked. When she only gave him a quizzical look, he said, “Did the lights just go on and off in the waiting room?”

“No, everything’s been fine,” she answered.

“Well, I think there might be something wrong with the lights in that hallway.”

“Alright,” she said with a concerned nod. “Thanks for letting me know.” Then she watched Linc as he walked away and sat down next to Murphy.

“Where’s the snacks, man?” he complained.

“Oh,” Linc said, still a bit shaken. “The electricity was doing weird things in there. The machine spit my money back out.”

Murphy just grumbled and put his head back against the chair.

A few minutes later, the Receptionist walked over with bags of cookies and cups of coffee.

“I thought you could use these,” she said as they gratefully took the snacks.

“Thank you very much,” Murphy said as he sipped the coffee.

The two of them ate a little and were fast asleep ten minutes later.

The next morning, the two of them woke to stiff necks and sore backs. A nurse stood over them, looking much too perky for whatever ungodly hour it was.

“What is it?” Linc croaked, his mouth dry and his voice thick.

“I thought you might like to know that your friend’s awake and doing much better.”

The news perked Linc and Murphy up, too, and they sat upright in their chairs.

“Can we see him?” Murphy asked.

“Mmhmm,” she answered with a nod, and gestured for them to follow her. “He’s having breakfast right now. You’re welcome to join him. I’ll have an orderly bring you a couple of trays.”

“That sounds heavenly,” Murphy said, rubbing his empty stomach.

As they walked down the hallway, Linc took Murphy’s arm and said, “Remind me to call the rest of the guys later.”

“Yeah.”

When they walked into their friend’s room, they couldn’t believe what they saw. Axel was sitting up in the bed, shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in a week.

“Oh, hey guys!” he said cheerfully and waved them over with his good arm.

The three of them talked and laughed through breakfast, almost like nothing had happened.

“I hope you slept more comfortably than we did,” Murphy said.

“No kidding,” Linc agreed.

“Yeah, it wasn’t too bad. But I seem to remember some weird stuff going on with the lights,” Axel replied. “Maybe it was just a bad dream.”

Linc’s breath caught in his throat, and his fork fell to the tray.