“Are you okay?” I whispered, the panic seeping into my tone as I forced my eyes away from the blood trail and to Coden’s face.  “He didn’t cut you deeply, did he?”

Coden wiped at is face, the blood smearing.  He glanced from me to Al’s blood trail on the floor, a frown on his face.  “That could be dangerous,” he muttered without answering my question.  “Can you try and wipe the blood off your shoes?”

I nodded, immediately shuffling my feet in place and wiping the blood off onto the floor.  The blood streaked in pale lines, and in any other moment that would make me want to gag.  However, my attention was not on the blood.  My mind was on Coden.  Though the blood loss was hardly fatal, I was still worried.  I’d never been cut by a knife before, not even while chopping vegetables.  To have a man swipe a knife across your cheek with the intent to kill...I didn’t want to begin to imagine what that must have felt like.  But of course I imagined.  How could I not when I just witnessed it?  How could I not when I’d seen the look in Coden’s eyes when the knife touched him? 

“Good,” Coden said after my shoes dried.  “Let’s go.”

I followed Coden down the hallway.  “Are you okay?” I repeated.  “Coden—”

“I’ll live,” Coden replied shortly.  His voice didn’t shake, didn’t show any signs of panic.  I didn’t expect it to, either.  Coden seemed to be excellent at masking his fear.

I nodded and fell silent.  Rosalie continued to weep into my shoulder as we moved down the hall.  If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that I was never letting Rosalie hide by herself again.

“We need to find a spot where the three of us can hide together,” I said softly.  “That way none of us end up being alone.”

Coden nodded.  “That would be preferable.  But if we can’t find one then you two will hide together and then I’ll hide by myself.”

My stomach dropped at the thought of Coden hiding without anyone to protect him.  What if one of the other captors came in the room and caught him off guard?  Would I be able to get to him on time, or would he be killed?  I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if either Coden or Rosalie got hurt while I was still breathing.  It showed that I wasn’t strong enough to keep myself and the others alive.

We continued through the building in silence.  I could hear distant gunshots and people screaming, but I didn’t say a word, and neither did the others.  None of us seemed able to open our mouths.  I couldn’t trust myself to speak, not now.  Not when Coden’s near-death experience flooded images into my mind.  I was sure Coden was going through the same thing—worse, more likely.  And Rosalie?  I had no idea what was going through her head, but from the tears streaming down her cheeks I guessed that Rosalie was still envisioning Al’s hands on her.

 I just wanted to go home.

“Help!”

I spun around, my eyes wide.  Rosalie stiffened, and she looked up, too.  Even Coden’s eyes widened at the sight.

A girl stood before us, completely covered in blood.  And when I said completely, I meant completely.  Covering her hair, dripping down her face, painting her clothes and arms.  She was whimpering, but I could tell that it wasn’t out of pain.  It was not her blood.  But how was it possible to be covered so completely when it wasn’t yours?  How would it get over her face like that, over her hair?  I understood the hands, even the clothing, but the face?

“Oh god,” I whispered, my voice and hands trembling.

From beside me, Rosalie’s legs gave out.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see a hand going to her mouth, but I couldn’t turn to see if she was all right.  My eyes were trained on the girl before us.  For a moment, that’s all we did: stare at the girl with terror and disgust on our faces.  Of course, Coden’s eyes reflected no fear, but I’m sure he felt it.

I gagged, bringing a hand to my mouth.

“Help,” the girl begged.  As she spoke, blood trickled down her face, slipping into her mouth.  She didn’t seem to notice.  “Help us, please.”

“W-w-w-what happened to y-y-you?” I demanded shakily.  I felt like I should want to cry—and maybe deep down I did—but I couldn’t.  Not now.

“Help,” the girl repeated instead of answering my question.  It was like she couldn’t bring herself to say anything else, like nothing else mattered except for getting help on time.  She couldn’t muster the energy to explain herself, couldn’t bring us to do anything besides get us to come with her.  “Please, before she dies.”

From the amount of blood, I had no doubt in mind that whoever the girl was referring to was already dead.  But I couldn’t say that.  Not without breaking the girl completely.

“C-come on,” I whispered, moving toward the girl.  I cannot even begin to explain how much willpower it took to move my feet, to break away from the utter shock of the sight before me.  This was so much worse than the visuals in Hollywood.  In the movies, they did not cover the victims so entirely with blood that they didn’t look human.  Sure, sometimes they had a significant amount, but nothing compared to this.  In here, the blood was real, and it was horrifying.

When I glanced back I saw Coden pick Rosalie up into his arms, wincing when her cheek scraped his wound.  I wanted to saying something—what, I don’t know--but I didn’t.  I had a feeling that he wouldn’t want me to.

“Bring us to her,” Coden said.  “Hurry.”

The girl didn’t have to be asked twice.  She immediately spun around and rushed down the hall.  I barely registered that her backside was almost completely blood-free before following.  But it didn’t really matter, did it?  From the amount of blood on her front-side….

Oh god, I was going to be sick.

We were led to a room at the end of the hall.  The first thing I noticed was that there weren’t any real hiding spots.  It was a room not unlike the first room that Rosalie and I had hidden in.  There was a desk, a chair, and a couch.  That was it.

However, when my eyes scaled downward, I realized that that wasn’t it.  On the floor, there was a girl.  A tiny amount of blood pooled underneath her, so dark that for a moment it looked black.  I brought a hand to my mouth, eyes wide as I took the girl in.  There wasn’t much blood at all, though I wasn’t surprised.  Most of the blood was on the other girl, the one who asked us for help.   Even from the doorway I could tell that the girl on the floor wasn’t alive.

“Please help her,” the blood-covered girl whispered.  “She’s my sister.”

Coden set Rosalie down and crept toward the deceased girl.  Rosalie immediately hooked onto my hip, her face stuffing itself into my ribcage.  My arms wound around her, and I held her as though this embrace would save her from the fate that had been thrust upon the girl before us.

My eyes shot between the two girls and I sighed shakily.  So much blood.  So much blood.  So.  Much.  Blood.

Coden knelt before the girl, bringing two fingers to her neck as he searched for a pulse.  He knew as well as I did that the girl was gone and there was no bringing her back, but he didn’t want to insult the deceased girl’s sister.  He wanted to show that he cared, at least.

The blood-covered girl let out a soft sob as Coden looked up and shook his head.  “No,” she moaned.  “Emily, no.”

“I’m sorry,” Coden whispered.  He stood up, blood staining his fingers and his jeans.  “I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, no, no!” the girl cried, her sobs escalating, rising.  I watched as she collapsed on the floor, her hands on her face as she wailed.  It disgusted me, really, that one of the first thoughts that flung their way into my mind was that she was being too loud.  My greatest concern was not comforting this girl, not trying to take her pain away, but shutting her up before she got us all killed.

What was becoming of me?

“Hey,” Coden said softly.  He knelt in front of the girl and placed his hands on her shoulders, despite the amount of blood.  “I know that it hurts, but if you want to make it out of this alive we need to get out of here.”

The girl gave her head a fervent shake.  I could tell that she couldn’t really hear what he was saying.  She was too consumed by death, by remorse.  “Emily,” she wept.  “Oh god, Emily…”

Coden gave her a slight shake, and she looked up.  The tears were beginning to wash away the blood on her face, though not very well.  “What’s your name?” Coden asked.

“Valarie,” the girl whispered, her voice thick with tears.  “My name is Valarie.”

“Valarie,” Coden murmured.  His gaze focused on her, never once drifting over to me and Rosalie as we stood a few feet away.  I recognized the tactic immediately—my dad used it on my younger brother, Tommy, all the time.  By placing all of his attention on Valarie, she was forced to pay attention right back.  It didn’t work on everyone, but it clearly worked on Valarie.  “I know that losing your sister is harder than anything you’ve ever been through—even being here.  Now you feel alone.  But you’re not alone.  Come with us, and we’ll try to keep you safe.”

Valarie’s eyes shot from Coden to me, and she sniffled.  I resisted the urge to bounce on the balls of my feet as I stared back.  I couldn’t let my impatience show.  This wasn’t something that we could fix in two seconds.  Calming down someone who’d just lost a loved one—a loved one who was murdered—wasn’t exactly easy.  But time was not something we could afford to waste.  “But what about Emily?” Valarie demanded, her voice shaking.  “We can’t just—”

“We have to.”  I could hear the pain in Coden’s voice as he said this.  He didn’t want to leave the girl’s body here.  It was cruel.  But what choice did we have?  She was dead, and dragging her around would only kill us, too.  “After this is all over we can come back for her, give her a proper burial.  But for now we need to move.”

It only took a moment for Valarie to agree.  She stood up, trembling as she gazed down at her dead sister.  “I’m sorry, Emily,” she whispered.  “I love you so much.”

And then she turned and left the room.

Coden, Rosalie, and I immediately followed.

“We have to find the door,” Valarie muttered as we headed back down the hall.  “We have to find it and get the hell out of here.  I don’t want to die.  I don’t want to.”

“None of us want to die,” Coden replied.  “I agree that we need to find the door, but we can’t be stupid about it.”

My eyes shot over to Coden.  His words almost sounded harsh, hostile as though the stress of this place was finally getting to him.  His jaw was tight as he stared straight ahead.  I could practically feel the weight on his shoulders, the weight of having to protect three people besides himself now instead of two.

If I were brave enough I’d leave so he wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed.  But I wasn’t brave.  I wasn’t brave at all.  I was weak.  I was too weak to hide what I was feeling, too weak to take a step back and fend for myself.  I relied on Coden’s strength, relied on his utter calmness in this complete pandemonium.  If I left, I’d die.  If I stayed, I had a chance to survive.

“For now,” Coden continued, his tone softening as he regained his composure, “let’s just find a place to hide.  Maybe get that blood off.”

Valarie looked like she wanted to object, but she kept her mouth shut.  It seemed that the offer to get her sister’s blood off of her was too tempting to ignore.  I couldn’t blame her.  I just couldn’t fathom what it would be like to have a sibling die and then be covered in their blood without a way to get it off. 

My eyes burned as my mind, once again, wandered to my family.  Were they missing me?  Had they realized something was horribly wrong?  Damn, I hoped so.  The sooner they figured out something wasn’t right, the sooner the police would come searching.

But how were they going to find us here?

“Here,” Coden said suddenly, cutting off my tortured thoughts as he led us into a room, looking around.  “Good enough—for a little while anyway.”

And it was.  As I looked around, I realized that this was the room for a teenager.  There was a stand with a mirror built in, makeup and other accessories strewn all over the top.  There was a bed cutting the room in half, the bedding ripped to shreds, and there was a television set on top of a bureau.  A closet was filled with teenage clothing for girls.  And, like a beacon of light in everlasting darkness, there was even a bathroom.

“Serenity, go with Valarie and help her clean up,” Coden said softly.  He didn’t say it in a demanding sort of way, but in a pleading sort of way—a way that made me want to hug him so badly that it hurt.  While he was so busy comforting us, none of us were comforting him.  How messed up was that?

Instead of hugging Coden, I nodded, grabbed onto Valarie’s blood-soaked hand, and practically dragged her into the bathroom.  I could hear Coden speaking softly to Rosalie as she whimpered, but I tried to block it out.  Rosalie didn’t seem to like being separated from me, and I couldn’t say that I liked it much either.

“Your name is Serenity?” Valarie asked weakly as I sat her on the toilet. 

I grabbed a small washcloth and went to turn the faucet on, cursing under my breath when water didn’t come out.  Dammit.  First the cell phones and now no water.  Great.  “Dammit,” I muttered.  I shot Valarie an apologetic look.  “The water doesn’t work.”

Valarie grimaced.  The sadness in her eyes was too much to take, and I had to look away.  I stared down at the washcloth, eyebrows creased as I tried to figure out what to do.  We had to get the blood off of her somehow—that much was obvious.  Not only was it horrific, but the dripping blood could leave a trail.

“Spit,” Valarie whispered.

I looked up.  “What?”

“I could spit in the rag.  It’s not water, but it’s wet.”

If we had time, I might have paused to think her suggestion over.  But we didn’t have time.  So I just nodded and passed the washcloth over, wringing my hands together as she spit into the cloth and began wiping her face with it.  I glanced over my shoulder, frowning.  I absolutely loathed standing out here in the open, but what else was I supposed to do? 

I looked back over at Valarie and struggled to smile.  “And yes, my name is Serenity,” I said, finally answering her question.  “Serenity Davis.”

“My last name is Brown,” Valarie whispered.

She looked like she was about to say something else, but suddenly I got an idea.  “I’m going to go grab an outfit from the closet,” I said softly.  “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Valarie nodded, and I hurried out of the bathroom, toward the closet.  I was quite aware that Coden and Rosalie were nowhere in sight, but I didn’t doubt that they were somewhere in the room.  Coden would hide them well while we waited for Valarie to finish cleaning herself up.  If there was one thing that I could count on in here, it was Coden.

I reached the closet and grabbed blindly at the clothes hanging around me.  There were no pants, so Valarie would have to stay in the pair she was wearing.  I felt bad about that, but there was nothing I could do.  So I just selected a shirt and a sweatshirt before hustling back to the bathroom, where I found Valarie in the same position as she scrubbed at her face.

“Here, let me,” I murmured, setting the clothes onto the sink and taking the washcloth from Valarie’s hand.  It was soaked with blood, and at this point all it was going to do was smudge, but I could tell that Valarie needed me to keep trying.  So I squeezed the cloth to empty it out and brought it back to her face.  We both studiously ignored the newly-formed puddle on the floor.

“My cousin went through something like this,” Valarie whispered as I struggled to clean off her face.  “With his girlfriend.  She was kidnapped and held hostage.  They were given three days to find her.  I just never expected it would happen to me.”

I bit my lip, stomach squirming uncomfortably.  No one in my family had ever been through this, nor did I know anyone who had been stuck in this situation.  I couldn’t imagine what Valarie’s family must have gone through…and continued to go through.  It was a horrifying thought.  “What’s your cousin’s name?” I asked softly, needing to speak before my inner thoughts drew me insane.

“Malakiegh.”  Valarie gave a soft smile.  “They weren’t dating at the time—Malakiegh and his girlfriend.  He was so deep in the friend-zone.  We used to make fun of him for it because we knew that Kaitlynne—Malakiegh’s girlfriend—obviously liked him back.  But he refused to see it.”

I could tell that this was the perfect distraction for her—talking about her cousin’s love life.  It seemed to get her mind of Emily, off this whole situation.  It seemed to bring her back to at least semi-happier times. 

“Did this Kaitlynne girl even know that she liked him back?” I asked, deciding to play along.  This was calming me, too.  It was kind of like the conversation I had with Coden earlier, except maybe a little different.  This was girl talk.

“I don’t know,” Valarie said softly.  She winced as I wiped over a scrape.  “Ouch,” she muttered. 

“Sorry,” I muttered.  I pulled the washcloth away and squeezed it again, trying not to gag as blood spilled to the floor.  When I looked back, Valarie had closed her eyes as though the sight was too painful.  I grimaced.  This wasn’t even helping much.  She was still covered in blood. 

Valarie’s eyes opened and she looked down at the cloth.  Without a word she grabbed it and spit into it again, then handed it back to me. 

“So how did they end up together if she had no idea she had feelings for him and he didn’t think she did?” I asked, bringing the washcloth back to her face. 

“I don’t know,” she repeated.  “All I know is that while she was held hostage, something changed.  She realized what was really important to her.  I guess she had time to think.”

Valarie’s lips began to tremble.  “Emily had a boyfriend,” she whispered.  “She had everything going for her.  And now—”

She cut off, a tear falling from her cheek.

“I’m sorry,” I told her as I pulled the washcloth away again.  When I squeezed, more blood fell onto the floor.  However, it was quite obvious that the cloth wouldn’t work well anymore.  So, without giving it much thought, I pulled my shirt over my head and began rubbing down her arms with it, smearing the blood onto the fabric like it was a washcloth.  “I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

Valarie shook her head.  She ignored the fact that I was standing there in my bra, which I was thankful for.  “The guy didn’t know that I was in there,” she said.  “She told me not to come out no matter what happened.  And when the man started cutting, and cutting, and cutting—” She let out a choked sob.  “I knew that I needed to help her.  I knew that my sister was going to die.  But I couldn’t move.  I froze up.  And, because of that, Emily is dead.”

An image of Al flashed.  I had no doubt in my mind that it was he who murdered Emily.  To think that he had planned on doing that to Coden, to Rosalie, to me…

“It’s pointless telling you not to blame yourself because you will anyway,” I said as I moved on to her next arm.  “But you have to know that it’s normal to freeze up.  No matter who is getting hurt, you are in a terrifying situation where every move you make can save or kill you.  You are not a bad person for freezing, Valarie.  Remember that.”

Valarie’s teeth dug into her lip.  It was obvious that she didn’t believe me.  Not for the first time, I wished that I was more like Coden.  He would have probably told her in a way that she would believe.  But I was just Serenity. 

“Did you save the boy when the man came after him?” Valarie asked.

I blinked.  The question caught me off guard.  “What?”

“The same man who came after Emily came after him, didn’t he?  I saw the cuts on his face.  He survived.  I saw that man cut into Emily, and I know that no matter how strong that boy is, he wouldn’t have been able to get away without help.”  She stared at me, her brown eyes wide.  “You saved him, didn’t you?”

My stomach curled in on itself.  It was depressing how I was becoming used to the feeling.  “I guess,” I mumbled.  “He didn’t come after Coden first.  He came after Rosalie.  And Rosalie’s so young…” I swallowed.  “I was about to go help her, but Coden shoved me back before I could.  It took more willpower than I would like to admit in order to get out of my hiding place—and there were two people in danger, not one.”

“You saved him, though.  That’s the difference.  I cowered.  Because I was scared.”  Her voice shook as even more tears leaked onto her face.  “I was scared.”

“We’re all scared,” I said.

Valarie fell silent as I cleaned her off the rest of the way (or tried to).  It took a lot of time, and I felt like I was moving too slowly.  But I couldn’t move too fast or I would burn Valarie’s skin.  She was already hurting enough internally, I wasn’t about to bring her physical pain if I could help it.

After I finished cleaning her up, I tossed my blood-soaked shirt into the sink and pointed to the sweatshirt and shirt.  “There were no pants,” I said apologetically.  “But here are these.  At least this will cover up the blood I couldn’t get off your arms.”

Valarie nodded.  There was still blood smudged in various places, but she looked a lot cleaner than she had before.  “Okay,” she said.

I left the bathroom and returned to the main room.  It was then that I allowed myself to search for Coden and Rosalie.  “Coden, Rose?” I whispered.  “Where are you?”

I turned and watched with wide eyes as the bed began to move.  A moment later Coden popped out from inside the mattress, his hair a complete mess as he blinked.  “That’s genius,” I said blankly as he struggled to get out of the hole he’d been hiding inside.  “How did you even think of that?”

Coden shrugged as his feet found the floor again.  He whispered something too low for me to hear, and suddenly Rosalie’s head was popping out from the mattress, breathing hard.  He helped pull her out and then they were standing beside me.  Rosalie instantly clung to my side.  It was amazing how normal that felt now.  While I was in the bathroom, it felt wrong without her there.

“Where’s Valarie?” Coden asked.  He glanced down and then looked away.  “And, uh—”

“Serenity,” Rosalie whispered.  “You don’t have a shirt on.”

My eyes widened and I almost shrieked out of embarrassment before rushing over to the closet and throwing on the first shirt I found.  It was a simple blue Tee, and it fit perfectly.  However, it didn’t make me feel any better.  I couldn’t believe I’d done that.  I mean, yeah, I was scared shitless, but to forget that I didn’t have a shirt on?

“Sorry,” I muttered, bringing a hand through my hair as I made my way back to the others.  “And Valarie is changing.  I couldn’t get all of the blood off because the sink didn’t work.  Her hair has the worst of it, but—”

Suddenly Valarie appeared from the bathroom and the words died in my throat.  She looked like a completely different person now that she was at least semi-clean.  Though there was still blood in her hair, you could now tell that she was blond.  She had a pretty face and a thin frame.  She reminded me of those innocent girls in movies that you would never expect anything bad to happen to.  And yet here she was, in the middle of death and destruction.

“So now what?” Valarie asked softly, coming to stand beside me.  She glanced between us uncomfortably, and I knew that she could tell we were talking about her.  “Now we go find the door?”

Coden nodded.  “Yes.  Or we’ll die trying.”