I was going to throw up.

That was all I could bring myself to think as Coden grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up from the floor.  My gaze was completely blank as it remained locked on the body before me.  Rosalie was frozen in her spot beside the dead girl, her eyes as wide as mine.  Coden cursed under his breath and hefted Rosalie from the floor as well, his grip visibly tight on her arm as he gave her a slight shake.  “Rose,” he said softly, his tone kept kind and soothing.  “Rose, please snap out of it.  We have to get out of here.”

Rosalie blinked, tears forming in her eyes.  “There’s blood,” she whispered.  “Blood everywhere.”

I gagged, a hand slapping to my mouth.  Rosalie was right; the girl was barely recognizable, her blond hair matted, practically painted with her blood.  Whoever killed her had used a knife, and they’d taken their time.  Whether it was Samantha or Al, I wasn’t sure—and I didn’t care.  The fact that an adult could mutilate a child like this….

Now I was really going to throw up.

“Serenity,” Coden murmured, hurrying over to me.  He tugged Rosalie with him, and she almost tripped and fell again.  Coden didn’t apologize, however.  Instead he placed his free hand on my shoulder.  “Come on,” he said.  “We have to go or we’ll end up like her.”

I didn’t trust myself to look at him.  I could only swallow down bile and bring a hand up to my forehead.  “They cut her apart,” I said.  “Coden, how could—how could they—?”

Suddenly Coden was in front of me, blocking my view of the deceased girl.  But it didn’t stop me from picturing the girl in my head.  The blood, the deep cuts, the mutilation… “I know it’s hard,” said Coden, his hands going to my cheeks.  In any other situation, I would be shivering with delight, but now all I could do was meet Coden’s gaze with tears in my eyes.  “I know it’s scary.  But we have to move, Serenity.  Or else you, Rose, and I are going to die, too.  And I’m not about to let that happen.”

I nodded, taking a step back and grabbing ahold of Rosalie’s hand.  Rosalie went back to clinging against me as Coden led us down the hall.  I didn’t mind.  For now, Rosalie was okay.  She was okay.  We were okay.  As long as we stuck together, as long as we hid ourselves, we would remain okay.

We would not end up like that girl on the floor.

“Let’s try in here,” Coden said suddenly, turning and hurrying into a room near the end of the hall.  Rosalie and I were not far behind, stepping as quietly as we could through the threshold and into the room.  My eyes scraped the surroundings as we moved forward.  There was much more furniture in this room than the one I'd found earlier.  Two couches, what looked like a closet filled with random crap that I couldn’t identify, a mirror, and a bed thrown over on its side.

I let go of Rosalie’s hand as we came to stand in front of the mirror.  My eyes widened at the sight of my reflection.  There were no words for how awful I looked right now.  My already pale skin was so pale that I put Snow White to shame.  My brunette curls were all over the place, no longer falling over my shoulders, but collapsing like a mop over my head.  Dirt specked my face like freckles.  It brought out the blue in my eyes, but not in a good way.

Rosalie grabbed onto my arm again.  I looked down at her and struggled to smile.  My struggle was a failure, and Rosalie’s reply was a tear falling down her cheek.  I wanted to cry, too.  I wanted to cry so badly.  But, for now, I had to concentrate on finding the little girl a hiding spot.

I made my way over to the closet, my eyes flicking around as I scurried to find a spot for Rosalie to hide in.  Clothes hung from hangers, and little odds and ends sat on the shelves.  The floor was littered with shoes.  I figured I was wrong in my assumption that this was an abandoned warehouse.  This seemed to be an abandoned house, despite the strange setup.  Did that mean someone still lived here?  Or did Samantha and the others kill them, too?

Shaking off my inner thoughts I grabbed a laundry basket towards me, my gaze flitting between the object in my hands and Rosalie.  She would fit.  There were breathing holes so she wouldn’t suffocate, and the holes weren’t so large that Rosalie would be obvious.  “Come on, hon,” I said softly.

Rosalie sniffled as I lifted the top of the laundry basket.  It was empty, thank God.  The hiding spot would be so much less obvious if there weren’t clothes strewn all around the floor.  Without another word, I gestured for Rosalie to get inside the laundry basket.  Rosalie complied, her eyes reaching mine as she stepped into the basket and crouched down.  In her gaze, I could see the fear in Rosalie’s eyes.  She was terrified.  So, so terrified.  “Serenity,” she whispered as I moved to put the cover over her.  “Thank you.”

I brought a hand through Rosalie’s hair and once again struggled to smile.  I'd only known Rosalie for an hour or so, and I already felt close to her.  I would die for this little girl, and I barely knew her.  Rosalie was already like a sibling to me—though there was a key difference between my siblings and her: Rosalie could die at any moment.  My siblings were safe at home, probably oblivious to what I was going through right now.

I dropped the lid of the laundry basket.

After taking a deep breath I pushed the laundry basket back to its original spot and stepped as quietly out of the closet as I could.  Coden was near the doorway, the piece of chair in his hands.  My eyes narrowed thoughtfully.  In all the confusion with the dead girl on the floor, I'd forgotten he had that.  He’d probably stuffed it in his butt pocket when he was trying to get the us to move.  But, as Ilooked around, I realized that my weapon was gone.  It was probably still on the hallway’s floor.

“Shit,” I hissed, smacking my head angrily.  I was exactly like those girls in the movies.  If I kept this up, I was going to get myself or the others killed.  “I dropped my weapon.”

Coden’s eyes glided over to me.  His mouth was kept in a carefully straight line as though not to betray his feelings.  I knew that he was terrified like the rest of them, that all he wanted to do was go home, but he was so good at hiding it that it was almost impossible to tell.  Did he have brothers, sisters?  Who was he hoping to return home to?  Who was he thinking of in these hard times?

“You can have mine,” he said softly, pulling me out of my short reverie.

I shook my head.  “No.  You’re not going to die because I’m an idiot.  I’ll go in the closet and find something.”

“Be careful, Serenity.”

I nodded.  “Yeah.”

I returned to the closet, rifling through the random objects on the shelves.  I whispered to Rosalie, assuring her that it was only me, not to worry, that everything was fine.  Finally, after a few panicked glances toward the room, I pulled a pair of scissors off the shelf.  They were sharp, not those screwy ones that teachers handed students in elementary school.  This could be used to stab.  This could be used for legitimate protection.

“Nice,” Coden said with a small grin as I emerged from the closet with the pair of scissors in my hand.

I smiled slightly.  “If I rip it in half, it’ll be like a mini knife and you can have a better weapon.”

Coden shook his head.  “No, it’s okay.  You’d better go hide.”

I glanced around for a moment before hiding behind the bed.  Its legs rested against the wall, forming a small opening between the wall and the bottom of the bed for me to hide in.  Since it was so dark, I could press myself as far as I could and maybe not be seen.  It was better than hiding behind the couch, anyway.

Rosalie was safe at least. Well, as safe as she could be.

Folding my lips over one another, I reached a hand into my pocket.  What I was looking for, I wasn’t sure, but when I pulled out my cell phone my heart sped up with relief.  “Yes,” I whispered.  “Yes.”

A moment later Coden was scooting in after me, pressing as hard as he could into the darkness.  I wasn’t at all worried that he hiding with me would jeopardize my safety.  If anything, I felt safer with him there.  We were sitting so close that our shoulders touched.  “Sorry.”  He paused.  “There’s nowhere else good to hide.”  He glanced down at my hand.  “Is that a cell phone?”

I answered by flipping my phone open.  My newfound hope immediately deflated when I found that there wasn’t any service.  “Dammit,” I hissed.  “Dammit.”

“Try it anyway.”

I did.  And nothing.

“Of course,” I groaned, letting my head fall back onto the wall.  I almost laughed bitterly.  “Of course they’d bring us to a place without service.”

Coden tried his own phone, but the result was the same.  “It was worth a shot,” he muttered.

I nodded, my teeth digging into my lip.  “Thank you, Coden,” I said as quietly as I could.  “I’d probably be dead if it weren’t for you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”  Coden sighed, and in the darkness I thought I could see him lean his head back on the wall.  “We still haven’t found the door.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to?” I asked.  “I mean, they’re going to make it near damn impossible to find it.  If there even is one.  They probably blocked it off so we can’t get outside.  You know, like they did with the windows.  What if the metal door was really our only chance?”

“I don’t know.”  Coden sighed again.  “But we have to try.  Right now, we just have to wait for them to move further away.  In a few minutes we should probably hop rooms again, look for the door.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled with another nod.  I glanced over at him.  I couldn’t quite see his face in the darkness, but I didn’t care.  I was just happy I wasn’t hiding alone.  “How scared are you, Coden?”

Coden didn’t answer at first.  I wondered if he was thinking my question through or just ignoring it completely.  I would understand if it was the latter.  It was a ridiculous question, honestly.  Asking someone how scared they were?  Forcing them to concentrate on that fear instead of trying to get out?  “I’m fricken terrified,” he answered finally, letting out a long breath of air.  “But I can’t afford to let it take over, you know?”

I nodded again, biting down hard on my lip.  “You’re so good at not showing it,” I told him.  “I wish I could do that.  If it weren’t for Rosalie I’d be falling apart completely right now.”

“I know.”  Coden shifted as though trying to get comfortable.  It wasn’t possible, though—getting comfortable.  Not here.  “I understand.  I’m concentrating on getting you and Rosalie out of here instead of my fear.  It helps.  Not much, honestly, but it helps.”

Tears burned in my eyes.  I wondered how long it was going to take before I started blubbering.  “What do you think your family is doing right now?” I asked softly.  I needed a distraction.  A mundane distraction.  Talking about family seemed like the most natural way to go.

“My mom is probably reading a book under a lamp,” Coden said after a moment’s thought.  “My dad is probably asleep because he has an early shift in the morning.  My twin siblings are probably playing superhero and princess if my mom hasn’t put them to bed yet.  What about you?”

I smiled faintly.  Just from the tone of his voice, I could already tell that his family was wonderful.  He missed them as much as I missed my family.  “My younger brother is probably sleeping,” I mused.  “My older brother is probably in his dorm, his face in a book.  My sister is probably watching Netflix on her laptop.  My parents are probably sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for me to walk through the front door because I’ve missed my curfew.  They’re probably mad.”  I laughed softly at the thought.  “Maybe a little worried.  But mostly mad.”

“We’re going to get out of here.”  Determination defined the tone of Coden’s voice.  “I’ll make sure of it.”

“I know you will.”  Without really thinking, I grabbed his hand and held it within mine.  It wasn’t at all a romantic gesture.  In fact, after this was all over I'd probably never see Coden or Rosalie again.  And I was okay with that.  Tonight we were a family.  Tomorrow?  Tomorrow we'd have our own families to get back to.

“What’s your last name?” Coden asked, entwining our fingers.  His grip was firm on my hand, comforting.

I almost laughed at the randomness of the question.  It seemed that he needed a distraction as much as I did.  “Davis,” I replied.  “You?”

“Dhodary.”

“Damn,” I mumbled, laughing again.  It was more of a body spasm than anything else, though.  “How come you get such a cool last name?  That’s hardly fair.”

Coden was about to answer, but a crashing noise cut off his words.  Coden tensed, his hand tightening around mine as he listened for further noise or movement.  I strained my ears to hear as well.  My heart was beating loudly in my chest, the distractions falling away and replacing themselves with the utter terror that threatened to consume me whole.  The words “we’re going to die” repeated themselves over and over again in my head so vociferously that I almost thought that someone was speaking the words out loud.

Footsteps sounded.  I shrank into Coden, resisting the urge to hide my head in his shoulder again.  I had a weapon.  A better weapon now than before.  I could fight for myself.  I could.  I could.  I could.

I felt a flood of panic as the footsteps aimed in the direction of the closet.  Dammit, dammit, dammit!  Was Rosalie hidden well enough?  Would they find her immediately?  Which captor was in there?  Was it even a captor, or was this another repeat of earlier?  I had a feeling that it wasn’t someone like Coden.  This was the enemy.  And they were closing in.

Rosalie shrieked.

“Shit!” I hissed, my phone clattering to the floor.  I scrambled forward, ready to throw myself out of the hiding spot.  Not Rosalie, oh God not Rosalie.

Coden threw me backward before propelling himself out from under the bed, disappearing as he faced the captor on.  “Hey!” I heard him yell.  And then there was a sickening whack!  Then a grunt.  And then a curse.

I shook my head and hustled out from under the bed just in time to see Al twist around and push Coden roughly to the floor before pinning him there, a sickening smile on his face.  “Coden!” I cried.

Al’s eyes shot up.  “Ooh,” he cooed.  “Three players in one go, eh?  How exciting.”

I covered my mouth with my hand as Al brought a knife to Coden’s throat.  Coden glared as though he refused to give Al the satisfaction of seeing his fear.  “Serenity,” he breathed.  “Get Rosalie and run.  Go.”

“Ah-ah-aaaah!”  Al grinned, lifting the knife and swiping it across Coden’s cheek.  “Don’t tell my pretty little players what to do.”

Coden struggled against him as Al laughed maliciously and cut him with the knife again.  The pain was clear in Coden’s eyes with each swipe the knife took.  Blood trickled down the sides of his face, down his chin.  I could tell that Al was just beginning.  He was planning on making Coden’s death slow.  So, so slow.

My grip tightened on the scissors in my hand.  I was not going to let Coden die.  Not today.  Not now.

As Coden kicked and lashed out, I scurried forward.  Al paid no attention to me, and Coden was too distracted to notice me.  I glanced down at the pair of scissors for a moment before nodding to myself.  I would not be that girl.  I would not be the girl who stood there when something was happening, even though I was perfectly capable of doing something about it.

Before I could lose my nerve, I lifted the scissors, the scissors glinting in the darkness.  And then I brought it down as hard as I could into Al’s neck.

Al roared, his grip on Coden faltering.  Coden wriggled out from underneath him, breathing rapidly.  “Get the scissors,” he muttered hoarsely, clearly struggling to get the words out.  He winced.

I pulled the scissors from Al’s neck, almost gagging.  I could feel it as it moved through his skin, could feel his blood on her fingers.  How did these demented freaks enjoy this?  I was resisting the urge to throw up.

As I backed away Coden slammed his foot into Al’s wound.  I brought my free hand to my mouth, fresh tears burning in my eyes.  Al was more than likely going to die.  I should have felt glad about that, I really should have.  He would kill us.  But this—this was still murdering another human being.  It felt so wrong. 

Al roared again, but he didn’t move.  Coden flipped him over and swiped the knife from his hand.  The blood dripped down Coden’s face like tears, and my stomach lurched.  I turned away swiftly and rushed over to the closet where I found Rosalie huddled on the floor shaking and weeping freely.  I stuffed the bloody scissors into my pants pocket and scooped Rosalie up, holding her tightly.  Rosalie clung to me, her grip tight as she begged me never to leave her, to not let the bad man get her.

“Shh,” I soothed, bringing a hand through Rosalie’s hair.  “You’re okay.  You’re okay.”

Coden appeared, a grim expression on his face.  Without asking, I knew that Al was dead.  Whether it was me stabbing him or Coden finishing him off, I didn’t know.  But I wasn’t about to ask.  “Come on,” he muttered.  “We need to get out of here before the others come.”

I nodded before letting Rosalie go and grabbing onto her hand, starting toward the door.  I was careful to keep my eyes off Al as we moved back into the hallway; however, as we exited, I couldn’t ignore the small pool of blood forming on the floor near Al’s head.  I moved to avoid it, but it was too late.  The edge of my shoe went into the red puddle.  I grimaced, sucking in a long breath of air before following the others out of the room.  As we went back into the line of fire, a small trail of blood follow in our wake.