) 1Try and spot all the references to the original story when u read it, (theres 7 in total)
All of them are revealed at the end in the AN2
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The sky dimmed in the busy metropolis, the sun went down and the street lights went on, illuminating the city in an eerie artificial glow. The stars were covered by the heavy gasses emitted from the sea of traffic giving the sky to the moon.4
The city now slept, save for the darker streets of prostitutes and night clubs where the day had just begun. In one of these streets, was a figure lying in the back ally, slumped up against the grime ridden brick wall, the stench of rotten food and disease hung in the air but the man didn’t care, he accepted the atmosphere and it accepted him. He sat there with dirty, ripped jeans and a black torn shirt huddled in a ball for warmth. His dark brown eyes darting left and right in paranoia, twitching to the slightest sound of movement. His black long hair, greasy from constant sweating and filth, concealed his face of dried blood and stubble. The man sat there shivering, but not from the cold, but from drugs. He was craving for another hit, whatever it may be. He sat there, fiddling with a metal knife, his long yellow nails scraping against it.5
Suddenly the street filled with the noise of a siren, and the man jumped at the sound. An ambulance rushed past heading on it way. The man smiled, it was time to get his next hit.6
7
Robin Styler drove to work that day and she was already regretting it. The trains were down and she was now stuck in a traffic jam, she should’ve just chucked a sickie. As the car in front of her inched forward she followed in suit, and slowly, the traffic moved. Robin groaned and turned on the radio, Cats in the Cradle sung by Guns and Roses had just finished, damn. Robin began to flick through random stations, but nothing but junk was on. She slammed her hand on the wheel before turning the radio off, frustrated. She rested her head on the steering wheel and sighed deeply.8
Two hours later Robin pulled into the hospital and walked in, just as a lanky, greasy man stormed out, almost knocking her over, he didn’t even turn around, he just kept on walking. 9
“Who the hell was that?” Robin asked as she walked in10
“I don’t know, but my bet is he’s a drug addict trying to score free medicine,” the receptionist spat, “so where were you anyway?”11
“Bloody traffic, going to be a tough day today, weaving in and out of it in this forest,”12
“Well it beats sitting behind a desk all day,” the reception mumbles as she reached behind the desk, pulling out a set of keys “I probably should have followed you and become a driver as well,”13
“You should’ve, at least then I’d have a decent partner. Is Michael sick again?” Robin asked as she caught the keys thrown at her14
“Yeah looks like you’ll be going solo again,”15
“Oh well,” Robin sighed, “I’ll see you later,”16
“See you.” 17
As Robin walked back out of the hospital towards her ambulance a figure ran into her.18
“Hey do have some aspirin? I have a horrible headache” the figure asked, his eyes darting left and right suspiciously. Robin immediately recognized him as the man who stormed out of the hospital and her hand slowly glided down to her pocket, towards her pepper spray.19
“Uhh no sorry,” Robin replied cautiously, her hand now touching the cold plastic of her spray20
“Common you must have something in that ambulance of yours,”21
“Sorry that’s for serious illness only.” The man took a step forward and instinctively Robin’s hand clenched around her concealed weapon. As she was about to draw it a doctor came walking out, looking down at some reports when he spotted them.22
“Can I help you?” The doctor asked with a raised eyebrow. The figure didn’t even answer he just ran off into the street, Robin let out a sigh of relief. “What was that about?” He asked, now turning to her23
“Some faggot tried to get free aspirin,” Robin replied exhausted from stress24
“Man I hate those people, you better be careful out here” The doc said continuing on his way, flicking through his paperwork. Robin sighed again and hopped into the ambulance, slumping back in her seat before once again turning on the radio, hoping for something good. She smiled as Spaceships by Angels and Airwaves began to play. Robin turned her key and started the engine.25
It was well into the night and Robin was still in the ambulance on patrol. The traffic had died down a little and she was cruising through the streets at a peaceful pace, no calls had yet been made. Her mind drifted towards the dark gangly figure that confronted her earlier that mourning and she began to wonder how many people had gone into the hospital with the same intentions and got away with it. She shook her head and focused back on the road, when her radio burst to life.26
“Attention, we have a call from a Mrs. Stanly who allegedly fell and broke her hip bone, she is said to be 83 and lives at 46 Maple Street, she will need anesthetic and be transported to the hospital immediately for x-ray,” Maple Street, that’s not far away from here Robin thought,27
“Ambulance 102, Robin here, I’m about ten minutes away, I’m on it,” She replied28
“Rodger that Robin.” And the radio went dead, at least a little excitement tonight Robin though as she flicked on her sirens, filling the night with blaring noises. She pressed down on the accelerator and sped towards the old grandma’s house.29
Seven minutes later Robin hopped out of her ambulance and noticed how cold it was, she reached back into her ambulance and grabbed a first aid kit as well as a white hoodie before slipping it over her head. As she approached the house the moon suddenly came out from the clouds and she saw how menacing it actually was. The house itself was made of bricks and the tiles on the roof were falling off. It was surrounded by a scratched, peeling white picket fence with splinters jutting out in every direction. As Robin opened the gate it screeched with rusted iron and she stepped onto the cobbled pavement. Massive overgrown, unkempt trees and shrug overflowed onto the path making weeds indistinguishable to wanted plants. Cobwebs hung from branches and leaves and Robin kept on glancing behind her, brushing her shoulders to make sure no spiders crept onto her back. As she reached the front perch she noticed there was no doorbell so she knocked on large wooden door that hung on one hinge.30
“Hello?” Robin yelled, her voice dwarfed by the silence that surrounded the area “I’m here about a phone call made to the hospital,”31
“Yes I’m in here, I can’t, I can’t move,” a croaked voice replied from the inside “come in, the door’s unlocked.” Robin hesitated, all her instinct told her to turn and run, but her duty told her to enter, she did. As she pushed the door in, it too screeched with rust and she stepped inside. The lights seemed to be off and the whole house was filled with a shade of grey with darker black objects standing out. Robin ran her hand up and down the walls but could find no switch. Instead she was met by peeling wallpaper and cracked walls. The atmosphere inside the house seemed to have changed and it seemed even colder inside. Robin pulled her hood over her head and gripped the first aid box a little tighter.32
“Help I’m in the bedroom, follow the hallway, it’s the second door to the left,” the grandma croaked33
“Ok, I’m on my way.” Robin decided to give up on the light and followed the directions, using her left hand to feel her way down the hallway, her right still gripping the first aid kit. She continued to walk down the corridoor with extreme care. She concentrated on her left foot, then her right, each step slow and deliberate making sure she didn’t trip on anything. The moonlight pierced through window and gave Robin temporary light, she could see the kitchen in front of her, plates were smashed on the ground and some liquid glistened in reflection to th light. She looked around, the whole place was in a mess. She passed one door and glanced in to find the laundry room, also in a mess, cloths scattered everywhere with a large lump of them in the middle, as well as a wire door at the end leading back out to the garden. Robin continued walking down when she began to hear the old lady groan in pain. She slightly quicken her pace until she reached the door. She pushed it open and took a step inside. As Robin entered the bedroom, she took in her surroundings, before her was a double king sized bed with the sheets spread on the floor, there was desk light next to it but unfortunately it too was off. She heard another groan and turned to find a figure slumped against the wall. She had a nightgown on and was surprisingly thin, no wonder she broke her hip what with such little meat Robin thought.34
“Are you ok?” Robin asked as she approached the grandma35
“Yeah I just broke my foot, did you bring any morphine?”36
“Yeah I have some anesthetic,” Robin replied as she crouched by the lady. As she went down beside her she noticed how long her hair was, so long it covered her face, it seemed to be colored black, but then in this light everything looked black.
“Why you have long hair,” Robin commented as she opened her first aid kit37
“All the better to keep me warm,” She croaked back38
“That’s true,” Robin chuckled as she pulled out a syringe of anesthetic “give me your arm,” As the old lady complied Robin noticed her long yellow finger nails39
“Why you have some fairly long nails as well,”40
“All the better to open cans with” she replied as the needle of the syringe went in her veins. As Robin was about the press down the old lady clenched her fist and tensed her muscles41
“Why you have some big muscles as well”42
“All the better to hug you with,” she smiled “You’ve been a real life saver”43
“My pleaser,” Robin smiled. Then she notice she was lying to her side “where did you say you were hurt?”44
“My foot, I think I broke it when I tripped,” The old lady croaked45
“The report said you broke your hip” Robin said suspiciously as she began to back away. The old lady looked up slightly, revealing some of her features46
“Oh you must excuse me I’m a bit forgetful, never did pay attention to biology in high school,” she laughed47
“Your lying on your side, on your hip” Robin said, letting go of the needle, stepping back. The old woman just smiled and grabbed the syringe and pushed it in, five millimeters of anesthetic rushing into her body. Then she smiled and looked all the way up revealing her face. Robin gasped, it was the drug addict from earlier that day. She jumped back and ran, bouncing out of the bedroom down the hallway when a knife went flying past her head and rammed into the door in front of her. She turned around and saw the addict with another knife in hand and watched as he prepared to throw it. Robin dived to her left, into the laundry room landing on the big pile of cloths she saw before as a flash of metal went flying where she had stood only a moment ago. She began to claw herself over the pile of cloths towards the wire door when her hand slipped on some liquid, she raised it to see crimson red blood staining her skin when she realized it wasn’t what she though it was. Robin laid sprawled on an old lady, her eyes wide in shock and her throat slit. Blood was still pouring from her when the addict stepped into the room. She turned back around, tears now in her eyes. The addict stood above of her, his hair swaying in the breeze, his eyes glaring with malice, smiling. He raised his knife and plunged it down-48
When suddenly his chest burst inwards, with his blood painting the wall behind him, and Robin in front. She screamed now with the blood of two people as a man ran inside.49
“Are you ok?” He asked, Robin turned around to see a policeman with his gun raised, shaking violently. Robin didn’t reply, instead she lay there, covered in blood, her hoodie now crimson red.50
Bronze trophy winner
Gold trophy winner
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