beautiful thieves | ✓

twenty-two

tw
if any part of this chapter makes you uncomfortable/upset, feel free to skip it :)

It doesn't take long for me to realise that the piercing screams aren't a twisted part of my dream. I wake with a start and climb out of bed, ignoring the dizziness at getting up too fast, and rush out of the room. No one's awake yet, except for whoever is screaming, and it feels as though the whole house is dead. It's cold and dark and the screams grow louder as I fly up the stairs.

My mind is rushing to the worst case scenarios. Is someone attacking the mansion? Is Maeve being tortured? Has Posie gone missing? Has Chelsea been hurt? All of them fly through my thoughts so quickly I can barely hold onto one before my brain conjures the next one.

I get to the top of the staircase and pause when I almost run into Blake. He looks just as confused and concerned as I feel as he glances to the door that the screaming is coming from.

"Do you know what happened?" I ask him as he runs his hands through his bedraggled hair.

"I have no clue," he says, just as another cry echoes along the long corridor. "Come on."

The two of us rush to the door, which we find is locked. I knock against the wood while Blake jiggles at the doorknob, frantically trying to get it open. The woman screams again and my heart drops.

"Danielle?" I ask loudly. "Danielle are you okay?"

She lets out another gut-wrenching cry. "Adam. Get Adam," she sobs.

Blake and I exchange a look.

"Go get him," I say.

"But what about-"

"I've got it," I tell him, leaving no room for arguments. "Go."

He sprints off, running back down the stairs, and I turn back to the door. "Danielle, please let me in."

There's silence for a moment, I can only hear the sounds of her constant crying that somehow brings frightened tears to my own eyes, before Zavier is running down the corridor.

"Aurora?" he asks.

"Danielle's in there," I say breathlessly. "Something's wrong."

He reaches over me and knocks on the door. "Danielle, it's me. Open the door."

There's another moment of nothing, before I hear the click of the lock and Zavier and I rush in.

Blood is the first thing my eyes land on. So much of it, smudged across the white tiles of the bathroom.

Danielle is the second. She's on the floor, legs covered in blood with her head in her hands as she sobs her heart out.

Zavier recovers far quicker than I do, not minding the blood as he crouches down beside her. He doesn't have to say anything but place a comforting hand on her shoulder, before she looks up at him with a tear-stained face. My heart shatters for her.

"I lost him," is all she says.

I notice that the others are crowded around the door, devastation and confusion all over their faces, but I can't tear my eyes away from the scene. I watch helplessly as Zavier tries to comfort Danielle, but all she can say in response is 'I lost him', over and over while tears drip from her face. Jayden then moves into the room, crouching with them, and something tells me he knows what's happening more than anyone else here.

There's commotion from behind me as Adam finally appears, gently pushing past me to see what's happening.

"No," he breathes when his pained eyes land on the blood. He rushes into the room, collapsing beside Danielle, and the two of them grab hold of one another as if they plan to never let go.