Beep…beep…beep…beep.

“What?” I croaked as I opened my eyes. I looked around and saw that I was in a hospital. Why was I in a hospital? What happened to me?

“Hey Candace, good to see you woke up.” Some familiar looking girl said, but I couldn’t quite figure out who it was, and how did the girl know my name?

“Um who are you?” I had no idea why that girl was talking to me. She seemed to know me, but I was sure I didn’t know her.

“Candace, I’m Natalie,” I definitely didn’t know a Natalie. I would’ve remembered. “Nat, you know your best friend?” I assumed I was Candace, because that Natalie girl had addressed me twice, and both times she had said Candace.

“Am I Candace?”

“Yeah, you are. Candace Brown.” Natalie had a blank look on her face. “I’m going to get the doctor to see if you can….leave soon.” She sounded worried, but I had no idea why. I didn’t even know why I was in the hospital and why Natalie was there. I didn’t even know her! Why would she be in the hospital with me? My head hurt, but I figured it was just a bad headache. Probably from the beeping monitors, and my legs and arms felt like they’d been sunburned, but there was no need to go to the hospital for a minor sunburn.

I heard footsteps enter the room. “Hello Miss Brown.” I guess I had to share a room with someone else. I didn’t know who Miss Brown was. I wondered if she was a nice person, and when she would go and when I could go. “Hello? Candace?”

“Oh hi.” Apparently Miss Brown never answered him. She was probably sleeping. “Who’s Miss Brown and why is there a girl I don’t know named Natalie here? How come she was here when I woke up? I didn’t know that hospitals let strangers in.” I had so many questions to ask. “Why does my head hurt and why am I in the hospital for just minor sunburns?”

“Slow down there, Candace. We have a lot to talk about. Just so you know I am Doctor Jeremiah, and I’m going to be your doctor while you’re here, okay? The reason you’re in the hospital is because you suffered a concussion and your arms and legs are mildly burnt, but burns are very painful. They’re something that has to be watched. The reason you don’t know a lot of things, or remember why you came here is because you have amnesia.”

Amnesia? No, there was no way. I didn’t understand why he thought that. “Well who is Miss Brown and who is Natalie?” I demanded. I wanted to know the people I shared a room with, and the random girl who was watching me.

“You are Miss Brown, and Natalie is your best friend. She saved your life. If she hadn’t been there to save you from those gangs on the streets, you’d be dead. You have to be more careful around those parts, Candace.”

“I thought my name was Candace, not Miss Brown. And I was definitely not attacked by any gangs! I would’ve definitely remembered that much!”

“Yes, your first name is Candace and your last name is Brown.” Then he sat down on my bed and I scooted over away from him. I didn’t like this guy, he was mean and he creeped me out. Of course as I moved my legs killed, but I didn’t let the pain show. I bet if anything that was the guy who had put me in the hospital. “As for the gang part, you wouldn’t remember it. You didn’t even know who you were when you woke up, so you definitely wouldn’t remember the fact that a gang attacked you. What happened was some gang swarmed you and you were pushed around a lot. You hit your head on the ground, and was unconscious. The guys were drunk and they thought it would be funny to see you burn, so they lit a fire around you. Natalie came just to see you hit your head and then she got you out of the fire, before it was too serious. Your other friend, Brooke, was attacked with you. She suffered some more serious burns, but nothing too bad. Miss Genstine-er Natalie, will be in shortly. Then you can rest up. Your concussion is pretty serious, and it won’t get better unless you sleep. You can’t strain yourself, so you’ll be bedridden for a few weeks.” He got up off my bed, to my relief, and I relaxed a little. “Oh and when you wake up then your friend Brooke will be in here too. It will be much more convenient for Natalie and Brent.” He nodded his head. “Good day, Miss Brown.” I had no idea who Brooke or Brent was. I barely knew who Natalie was and she saved my life.

I heard more footsteps and Natalie walked in. “Hey Candace. Are any memories coming back yet? You were in a coma for a few days, which was super scary, but the doctors realized you’d wake up. I didn’t think your amnesia would be that bad though.”

“No, I don’t remember anything.” I said. Now that I thought about it, I really didn’t remember anything. I guess Dr. Jeremiah was right about the amnesia part. “I don’t know who I am, who you are, and who in the world are Brooke and Brent?”

“Brooke is our….friend? I guess you could say friend, and Brent is our jerk brother.”

“Our jerk brother? I didn’t know I had a brother. Why did you question if Brooke was our friend?” I was so confused and I wanted answers, but no one was answering me. No one would tell me much, besides who I was and who Natalie was.

“Yeah, we’re sisters. I was adopted into your family when my parents were killed. We were pretty much sisters anyways before then. Well, we don’t like Brooke very much, but that will change so whatever.”

“Why is Brent a jerk?”

“Because he’s visiting Brooke every day, but hasn’t even asked how you were doing He hasn’t even looked at you.”

“Oh that’s not very nice. Are you sure he’s my brother?” I didn’t think I would have a brother even that mean. Why would he visit Brooke, but not his own sister?

“Yeah I’m positive.”

“Why does he visit Brooke and not me?”

“Well he and Brooke are pretty much dating even though they’ve barely talked for more than a day. Well, he’s not visiting you, because before your….accident, you and him got in a fight, and he’s really mad at you still.”

“Oh alright.” I didn’t like my brother. He seemed really mean; I wondered if he could be kicked out of the family. “Where are my parents?”

“You’re eighteen; you don’t need your parents right now.”

“Okay.” I glanced up at Natalie’s face, and I saw bags under her eyes. “You look really tired.”

“I am. I’ve been sleeping in that chair for three nights. Not the most comfortable place to sleep. She pointed to a very uncomfortable looking wood chair that had a cushion on it and a wood backing. “I don’t sleep well in that thing, but you look tired to. I’ll leave you alone so you can sleep.”

My eyes were tired, and I was in the mood to sleep. Natalie started to walk out, but then came back. “Oh and Candace if you happen to have any weird dreams just don’t say anything to the nurses or doctors. Just come and tell me when they’re not here.”

“Okay.” I yawned and closed my eyes. I was too tired to argue or ask any more questions. I laid my head down in my soft pillow and fell asleep.

When I thought I woke up, I was on a cloud. I didn’t know how I’d got there, but then again I didn’t know how I’d gotten to the hospital either. Maybe I had super powers to teleport places. Wouldn’t that be cool? I decided to walk around the cloud just to see what it was like. I didn’t think I’d ever walked on a cloud, so I decided to try the once in a lifetime opportunity. I looked down at my feet and realized I was floating. Maybe I had super powers to float too. That would be cool too. I looked for the end of the cloud, but there didn’t appear to be one. I just decided to walk around.

After walking around for a while, I heard a noise, a very dreadful noise. I ran in the other direction from where I’d heard it. I thought I was moving, but when I looked down I realized I was stuck in the air, and the thing was approaching. My biggest fear was coming. I heard it again and knew it was much closer than before. It was coming for me. I grabbed above my head and grabbed my wand; I knew a fight was-wait a wand? I remembered! The thought of magic came back to me and the entire thing made sense. I realized that I must’ve teleported to the cloud somehow in my sleep. I had also remembered my biggest fear. I was happy that I remembered, but I wasn’t happy about it coming. I gripped my wand tighter and was ready to destroy the thing.

Bawk bawk BAWK!  I jumped back in fear and saw it approaching. It was within ten feet of me.

BAWKOG! The-the chicken screamed as it ran towards me.

“AHH!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. The chicken was almost upon me. “Disperdere” Destroy, I screamed.  I didn’t know how I knew that language, whatever language it was, but I didn’t even care. The chicken flew backwards as my spell hit it and I ran. I ran as fast as I could and hoped I would never see the dreadful thing again. Unfortunately I heard footsteps coming behind me, and I could only guess what they belonged to. I ran faster and harder than I ever had in my entire life.

I decided to look back to make sure it was the chicken coming after me, but it wasn’t just a chicken. It was the granddaddy of all chickens. I had to stifle a scream as I saw it. It was probably twenty feet tall and it was that one thing I was afraid of. I wasn’t afraid of death or being attacked. I wasn’t scared of little insects or the insides of animals. I was scared of chickens. I was scared of twenty foot chickens chasing after me. It was my biggest nightmare.

“Aunt Bev, can we go see the chickens now?” I had asked when I was three years old.

“Of course sweet heart, just one minute. I have to get on my boots.” I was jumping up and down in excitement. There were baby chicks and I couldn’t wait to hold one.

“Aunt Bev, hurry up!”

Aunt Bev laughed. “I’m coming, Candace. You sure are like your mother. No patience at all.” We ran out to the barn. I ran over to the baby chicks, and didn’t notice the big mean rooster that was near them. “Be careful, sweetheart. Be careful and watch out for the rooster.” I barely heard her as I picked up the first little chick. It was so fuzzy and yellow. I slowly made my way closer to the big rooster without realizing it.

“AUNT BEV!” I yelled. I saw Aunt Bev come over. “Can I bring one home? Mommy and Daddy need to see one of these, and Luke and Brent. I bet they’ve never seen one!” I was so excited. I could show my baby brothers my little chick. “And Nat needs to see on too! Can I bring her next time?” I really wanted my very best friend to come and see my new little pets.

“We’ll talk to your mom about it okay? I’ll be right back. I have to go check on the other batch of chicks. Stay right there, I’ll be back in a few.” I was prancing around. I couldn’t believe I’d get one for myself. I was walking around holding a baby chick, when the big rooster approached me. I didn’t think anything of him and kept walking. I decided to turn around to pick up another baby chick when I stepped on the roosters foot. It cawed in anger and then pecked at my legs. “OW!” I screamed. He kept pecking my legs and I fell, but I made sure I cushioned the baby chick. I wouldn’t let the rooster hurt it. "OWWW!” I wailed and cried for a long time. I cried harder and harder. The rooster kept pecking my legs, arm, stomach, and eventually my face. I saw Aunt Bev and heard her scream. I saw her come running at me and then the rooster was gone. No tears came out of my eyes and I saw black. I didn’t know why I couldn’t see anymore. Before I knew it the whole world was black and my mind stopped working.

I didn’t even care that I had remembered that day, because that was the worst day of my life, besides this one. I remembered hearing the doctors tell my parents that I had lost a lot of blood from the many skin punctures. I remember seeing my Aunt Bev, covered in my blood, crying as she held my hand in the hospital.

I continued to run, but the chicken’s one step was about twenty of mine. It was very quickly gaining on me. I didn’t stand a chance. The chicken stuck out its foot as it tried to hit me with its claw. I dived out of the way just in time to avoid being impaled, but unfortunately it grazed my shoulder. There shouldn’t have been much blood, but when I quickly glanced at my shoulder there was. It was covered in blood already and I realized a layer of my skin was gone. My shoulder burned, but I couldn’t stop.

“Horreat.” Shrink, I figured if the chicken could be smaller, I’d have a better chance of beating it. It only shrunk about three feet, but to me that was three feet smaller than before. It continued to swipe at me.

“Scutum,” Shield, I had to try to block the swipes. I could feel my sticky shirt sticking to my shoulder as the blood continued to flow. I used the spell just in time. The chicken’s foot struck my shield, which would’ve been my head if I had been any later. My shield went out and I ran away just to buy time. “Sana,” Heal, I pointed my wand at my shoulder and the bleeding stopped, but the pain didn’t go away. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention so the chicken decided to strike. The claw struck me in the right thigh. “Ah!” I screamed out in pain as the chicken’s claw tore through my thigh. The chicken tried to get its claw back, but it got stuck in my thigh and finally the skin ripped. I fell to the ground and screamed in pain again. I had never been in so much pain. I felt like crying, but the chicken was still there, and unless I wanted to die, I would have to kill it before I cried.

“Duratus,” Freeze, I mumbled. The chicken momentarily froze, but I was too weak to keep it frozen. I quickly looked down at my thigh and gasped. I had a very long, very deep cut in my legs. I looked down and saw a puddle of blood underneath me and it covered my hospital gown. I could feel my shoulder burning and my head was pounding, but I couldn’t get my mind off my thigh.

“Vis.” Zap, I put the rest of my energy into the spell. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer and I needed to kill the chicken. The chicken fell over and didn’t get back up. “Finis.” End, the chicken’s life finally ended and I lay down in my blood. I slowly drifted off, and I hoped I would wake up again.

To my surprise I woke up in my bed, but I was covered in blood. I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I felt something or someone approaching. I suddenly felt very weak. I felt weaker than I had before. I felt like I couldn’t lift a finger, and I knew it wasn’t because I had lost so much blood. It was something else.

“Help.” I cried weakly. Whatever was with me, I had to get rid of it. It wanted to kill me, and I wanted to live. “HELP!” I yelled. Natalie, who was sleeping in the uncomfortable chair again, woke awake with a start. She looked at me and her eyes widened. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out. I felt slightly stronger again, but then Natalie ran out of the room. How I wish she hadn’t. She hadn’t turned the light on, and I could feel something dark approaching once again. The strength I had felt was long gone. I wanted to defend myself, but I couldn’t move. I was way too weak, and the thing that was trying to kill me was going to make its move.

I couldn’t believe Natalie had abandoned me. Sure I didn’t remember her, but she had said I was her best friend and she was mine. What kind of best friend abandoned their dying friend?

Suddenly a new thought formed in my mind. The event with the chicken had been a dream. My dream had come to life. I assumed it was the chicken lurking in the shadows making me feel weaker and weaker. I didn’t understand how it had those powers when it wasn’t even touching me. The pain suddenly intensified as I felt something grasp my leg right where part of my cut was. I screamed in pain again. I felt my life going away and I suddenly had a hard time breathing. Luckily for me, the thing must’ve heard something coming because it was suddenly gone.

I wanted to cry again. My leg hurt so badly. I could feel the stickiness of my blood on my stomach and down my legs. I was alone, and I would die not remembering who I was or who my best friend was. I would die knowing my fears, but not the good things I had done. I wouldn’t remember all the good times that I probably had with Natalie. I wouldn’t remember my brother, or my half-friend Brooke. I would die in a hospital, the place that should’ve been safest for me.

I heard the door open again and the light turned on.  I didn’t have the strength to open my eyes, let alone listen to anyone. I heard a whole lot of commotion and I felt something poke my arm. My mind slowly began to sleep. Then I was gone.