RÍONE scrunched her face as the junior doctor sutured the wound on her forehead.

It hurt a lot. She could feel the thread and the needle passing through her skin, relinking the parted membrane with each other. Her palms were slick with perspiration. She hid her palms within the folds of the sweatshirt. No, she did not want the doctor to know that she was such a chicken when it came to things like this.

"The cut's pretty bad," said the doctor. She was a few inches shorter than her, with eyes as blue as the sea. Her hair was bound into a tight ponytail and Ríone could see the tattoo of an ouroboros on her neck. "Am not hurting you, am I?"

"No."

"Tell me if it does."

Ríone gave the youngster a forlorn smile. She knew that the doctor was trying her best - the way she hovered over her, brows knitted together and hands moving at immaculate speed. It was the cut that was bad. The one which refused to close up, be stitched back together. Some things are just broken, she guessed. She was one of those broken things as well.

It sucked, but it was the truth, and truths were rarely ever pleasant.

"Tada!" The doctor's voice broke her chain of thoughts. "We are done. I will apply a small bandage over it and then you will be good to go."

She turned back and moved towards a counter. Ríone's eyes wandered freely around the room as there was no one in front of her to impede her vision. However, there was not much to see.

It was a clinic of sorts for the outdoor patients. White tiles lined all four of its walls. Its marble floor was almost as white as its walls. Like in any other hospital, there was that strong smell of chemical detergent. Not a very agreeable smell, in Ríone's opinion. She sometimes wondered if the hospitals had some kind of pact with detergent producers to use the worst smelling detergent that they had ever produced.

"You are new here, aren't you?" The doctor asked. She had returned to her former position with a wad of gauze underneath her arms. "I don't think I have seen you around the town."

"Actually, this is where I was born. I moved away a few years ago.," Ríone answered.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Oh. How long were you away from the town?"

"Twenty-two years. My mother and I moved away when I was thirteen."

"What brings you back to Loutham?" The doctor tore off a bit of the gauze before pasting it on Ríone's forehead.

"I am here to sell the house that my mother has left me."

"Oh, okay."

Ríone's heart shuddered for a bit. Did she really admit it? Selling had not been on her mind when her mother's solicitor had read out the will. But maybe, just maybe, selling would be better. At least she would not have to come here ever again.

"There you go, I am done. You are free to return home." The doctor said after a few moments of silence. "Take some rest. Eat well. It ought to heal within a week."

"Thank you so much."

Ríone flashed her a smile and rose from the seat. Putting her hands in the pocket of her pants, she exited the clinic. She chewed on her bottom lip as she mentally listed the things that she would need to pack after returning to the house.

She was so sure that she could leave Loutham the next day.

***

Ríone's sedan looked like a hearse in the empty parking lot of the hospital. A low shudder traversed through her body as the thought entered her mind. The skies did little to ease that sensation.

They were a notorious grey that day. Tufts of black clouds, like the eyebrows of a grumpy old man, wafted in the sky. Somewhere in the distance lightning flashed, streaking the dark heavens in momentary flashes of yellow. No breeze blew. A musty smell pervaded in the scene. Everything was still.

"It's gonna rain." Ríone bit her lower lip. Putting her hands around herself, she took swift steps towards the car. She pulled open the car door and sat down.

Ríone picked up her phone.

At once, her eyebrows creased. There were no less than ten missed calls from Jake! What was he up to? Was he hurt? Maybe something else equally terrifying had occurred? Without wasting another moment, she dialled his number.

The phone rang. And rang. Again and again. Her ears filled with the drone of an ongoing call. Veins on her forehead raced like her heart. She could feel fresh blood leak into the gauze. Each moment that passed without Jake picking up the call made her sweat. Beads of moisture dribbled from the top of her head down to her neck.

"Come on, Jake. Pick up the call." Her face had turned into an unhealthy shade of white.

Just as the call was about to disconnect, someone picked it up. Ríone released a breath that she never realised she was holding back. With her free hand, she wiped the sweat on her forehead before saying;

"Hey Jake! Why were you calling me?"

A full minute of silence. "You gotta come to my house, Río."

"Now?" Ríone raised an eyebrow. "But I have to pack my things, Jake. I am leaving tomorrow."

"No!" Ríone winced as Jake yelled into the speaker. "No, no. Ríone, you cannot leave now. Not until you have listened to what I have to say."

"Can't you tell it to me over a call?"

"No-" He stopped for a moment. His heavy breaths replaced his words. "This is not something that I can tell you over a call. You have to come. I think it's important you know it."

"Jak-e?" Ríone's voice shuddered. "Can you at least tell me what has happened? You are worrying me."

"I will tell you everything once you get here. I can promise you that." Silence again. "Just come here. I don't know, but this might be the last time you see me."

"Ja-"

Before she could say anything more, Jake cut the call. She looked at the blank screen of her phone with widened eyes. The underside of her feet turned cold. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

At that exact moment, rain tumbled down on the town of Loutham.