Keys of Fate Conclusion

Keys of Fate
A Story in Serial - Conclusion
This is the conclusion of the serial story I’m currently writing. If you have not read the story from the beginning, you might want to go check out part one first. Click here to read it now. Conclusion:Odessa
The drive turned out to be more than an hour, and during that time Lisa had called every hospital and clinic that her phone’s AI assistant brought up in voice search. Viggo had indeed been transported immediately to Odessa’s Medical Center Hospital, but the operator could not provide any specific information over the phone. Lisa had managed to get his room number at the front desk after showing her identification.
Walking down the sterile hallway toward room number 311, she tried to ignore the moans and sobs from the other rooms. She kept her head and eyes straight ahead, not wanting to see the source of those miserable cries. She was exhausted, and every step felt slower than the last. She began to feel heavy as she got closer to the room and wondered if it was just fatigue she was feeling. She smiled at a man and a woman in scrubs behind a counter, but when they stopped in mid-conversation to regard her and follow her with their slowly turning heads, she picked up her pace.
Something had been off since she had driven away from the scene of the accident. The peaceful feeling and the trust she had been reassured by while talking to Dan had left her only moments after driving away. She’d glanced in her rearview mirror multiple times, knowing something had happened but unable to see it. She was hungry and tired. Her eyelids felt heavy, and there was a sense that she was being followed. She paused and turned to look behind her, but there was no one. The man and the woman were staring at her, but they quickly looked away and pretended to sort through stacks of papers and files.
Lisa told herself she was just dealing with the trauma of the circumstances and resumed her forced march to room 311. When she finally arrived at the room, Lisa felt panic like she had never known before. Something was in the room, something unseen but immensely powerful and evil. She couldn’t force herself to go in, even when she saw Viggo on the lone bed in the tiny room.
He was bandaged in several places, including one that was wrapped around his head. He was groaning and talking to himself. His hands and legs jerked, and she noticed that they were strapped to the bed. She heard whispering and turned in every direction to try and locate the sources of the sounds. There were many voices, but they made no sense. It was a rush of whispers, like colliding breezes through falling leaves when a storm picks up momentum.
“This isn’t right,” she said to herself. “Something is wrong.”
Viggo turned his head and he saw her. “Lisa?” His voice cracked, and she could tell he’d been crying.
She swallowed hard and took a cautious step into the doorway. “I’m here, Babe.”
Viggo smiled, a motion that seemed to cause him pain. “They said you’d come.”
Lisa’s heart nearly skipped a beat and immediately started beating hard and fast. “Who said I’d come?”
The smile was erased, replaced by confusion. He looked around the room and then back to her, then shook his head. He waited as if the answer should be self-explanatory.
“Them.”
She heard the whispers again, louder this time and high-pitched. She raised her hand and put her fingers to her lips. After a moment she made herself reply. “Baby, there’s no one there.”
Viggo grimaced and clenched his teeth. “Listen to me,” he pleaded. “Don’t believe anything anyone tells you, Lisa. They were just using us to get the keys.”
Lisa took a step back and shook her head. “What keys, Viggo? What are you talking about?”
Viggo yelled at this time. “Listen!” He pulled so hard against his wrist restraints that the veins on his forehead and neck stood out as if they would pop. He gave up and laid flat again with a grunt. “You have to get out of here. They’ve got what they wanted, but we can’t let them win.”
Lisa rushed into the room and ran to his side. She gently placed her shaking hands on Viggo’s shoulders. “Viggo stop. You’re not making any sense. You were in an accident, and you’re probably just in shock.”
Viggo pressed his lips together and shook his head. “You shouldn’t have come in.” He lunged upward and strained against the straps holding him down. He growled, and something in his voice changed. It was suddenly deep, unnaturally deep. When he spoke again, it sounded like someone else’s voice, something ancient and pure evil.
“Now you will suffer his fate.”
Lisa gasped and then screamed when she felt hands grabbing her from behind. She jerked around and smacked the hands away. She made eye contact with the man and woman who had been at the counter, and for a moment, they were shocked enough to release their grip. She stepped back and batted at the man’s hands. The woman lunged at her, but Lisa pushed hard and fast with both hands. The woman fell to the floor.
“Run, Lisa!” Viggo’s real voice this time, frantic but sane. The whispers rose in volume and intensity like a roar. She backhand swung her purse into the man and hit him square in the eyes. He shouted and clutched at them. “Don’t look back. Run.”
But she did look back. When she reached the doorway, she turned, tears in her eyes. Viggo was strangely calm, no longer straining, and he sounded like himself.
“Go,” he said. “Find the Shadow Man.”
She shook her head in confusion. He shook his as well. “No time. You have to go, Lisa.” He took a deep breath that made his chest rise and fall. “I never cheated on you. I promise. I came here to—”
“Say you’re sorry in person. I know.”
The man and the woman were running toward her then. She gave Viggo one last look. He nodded, and she ran from the room. She pulled an IV stand down as she sprinted down the hallway. She heard a crash and shouting as the man and woman tripped over it. She swung her purse into the face of a young doctor who had posted himself in the middle of the hallway like a linebacker. His head turned to the side and spit flew from his mouth. She punched him in the stomach and he hunched over. She heard footsteps behind her and acted on instinct, grabbing the doctor by the shoulders and shoving him behind her. She watched him collide with the man and woman, and all three of them tumbled to the shiny floor.
She ran to the end of the hallway, ignoring shouts from patients and staff alike. She pressed the down button on the elevator and then pulled the fire alarm, which was to the right of the button panel. The alarm went off instantly with a piercing sound. She cupped her hands over her ears and rushed into the opening elevator. Wasting no time, she tapped the close door button multiple times and then hit the first-floor button as she looked up and saw her three assailants running toward her. The doctor was the fastest and nearly made it to the elevator, but somehow the doors closed in time. She heard him slam into them with a thud.
* * *
A few moments later the elevator was opening and she stepped onto the first floor in the midst of chaos. People were running in every direction, many of them toward the exit. She hurried to join the crowd and exited the hospital with tears streaming down her face. She had never been so confused or scared, and now there was guilt. What had she just left her husband to deal with? As she ran to the car, she was overwhelmed by an endless stream of questions.
The two dominant ones were, “Would we even be here if I’d noticed what my husband was dealing with?” and her mother’s voice asking if she believed in God now. She could not answer either to any level of satisfaction, but as she got into her car and then sped out of the parking lot, she prayed. She prayed to the God she hadn’t called on since childhood, begging him for help.
Several minutes later, when Odessa was in her rearview mirror, there was only one question in her mind.
Who was the Shadow Man?
This story continues in The Journey of Fate series. Don’t miss out on any updates; join the mailing list now! If you’re already a subscriber, be sure to read the other books in the series, available here.
Please keep in mind that this is the unedited, rough draft of Keys of Fate.