Dark City

Epilogue (part one)

Ambulance sirens wailed and rolled until they melted into the languid voices of Avalon. The siren song was beautiful. Tom was in and out of consciousness on the way to the hospital. It was all a blur of green curtains and a mix tape of gurney wheels, hospital jargon and buzzing fluorescent lights. Every time he saw a doctor's face, he asked if his friends were okay. Nobody would answer him. All they kept telling him was that he was at the hospital.

Gradually, Tom's vision came into focus. An orderly was whispering to another. "Once he wakes up, somebody is going to have to tell him his friend didn't make it."

It took him a minute to realize they were talking about him—and not just him, but Nathan.

"The amputee was DOA."

Their words ripped flesh matter out of Tom's heart. In pieces, the events of that night came back to him.

Carl came in soon after Tom woke up. His puffy eyes and stained cheeks gave away his emotions, a rarity for as long as Tom could remember. Carl filled his son in on events that had unfolded while he was recovering.

Police found a girl in bondage in the passenger seat of Nathan's car, her face severely mutilated. She was unresponsive and had lost a lot of blood. She was brought into the hospital and eventually came to and identified herself as Adelace Hart. Tom would never forgive himself for bringing her with him to Shark River Hills. He felt physically ill at the thought of Nathan hurting her.

Carl had more bad news.

"Tom. Jacob's mother implicated Nathan in a crime and shortly thereafter disappeared. We both want to believe Nathan had nothing to do with this, but the guy lost his mind. He dismembered Liam with a broadsword and from the looks of it, before he did that, he decapitated Jacob's mother in Ghost Woods."

"Nathan," Tom said the name like it drove him half mad to do so. "He needed help. I let him down, dad."

"You couldn't have known."

"I knew, Dad. I saw him at Savannah's house right after he cut her head off. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted to protect him. And I was so scared." Tom noticed that his father was staring off into the distance. "Dad? Dad, I'm sorry!"

    "I didn't hear any of that," Carl said. "Lacey said Nathan had been suffering delusions for some time, imagining himself as some sort of knight. I think once we get the DNA back from Savannah's apartment we'll know for sure."

    "Dad, I need you to hear this."

    "I can't, son. I'm sorry. You're still a little loopy from the meds. Listen. Alex has been asking to see you when you wake up. Can I call her to come on down?"

    Tom felt a lump in his throat. "No. I can't."

    "Why not?"

    "I can't even tell you how horrible it was. Liam humiliated her in front of me. I can't face her after that. Not yet."

    "You should at least call her, let her know you woke up."

    "Can't you tell her?"

    "Yes. But it's not the same. She needs you now. You need each other. You both loved Nathan, and he's gone. Let that sink in, Tom. Your friend is never coming back. But, you know, parts of you are Nathan forever. And parts of her are too. Seeing those parts in each other might ease both your pain."

"Dad, I could have stopped all of this from happening."

"Whatever happened before doesn't matter. It's what you do now that matters."

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Music: "The Sun" the Naked and Famous