With Fear or Without

52- Tricks of the Trade

"... I have a feeling we're not gonna-"

Cleo staggered into the domed chamber again, the place that felt like both a cursed room and a safe haven. The last bits of conversation were cut off by her return. She didn't look at her friends, who sat very close to each other, side by side against the wall. Instead she spoke to no one in particular, getting the words out before she lost them.

"Rowana was stabbed. I found her."

Silence. Then the sounds of people scrambling to stand, coming over to where Cleo stood. Faces appeared in her vision, unfocused in the foreground.

"You found her? Is she...?" Andy's question hung in the air. In turn, Cleo's friends remembered the blade, the very one she held in her hand. One last drip fell to the floor as the blood dried on the faint blade.

Cleo closed her eyes. She couldn't look at them. She just couldn't. "She said she didn't know what happened. She tried to tell me something, then she... fainted. She was still alive but I don't know... how much longer..."

"When we came in before," Charlie mused, "she didn't... Oh. I thought... oh god, what did I do?"

"Charlie, what are you talking about?" Andy asked.

Charlie clasped a hand over her mouth before bringing it up through their hair. "Um, when we came in," they started, their voice unsteady, "I saw you guys and I thought... I assumed you were hurt. I yelled at her to leave I was just so angry, and now, oh god, she's gonna die because of me, it's all my fault-"

Andy seemed to be the only one still thinking somewhat straight. She shook Charlie's shoulder lightly. "Charlie, stop it. It's not your fault." Her voice grew quiet. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine."

"You didn't know what you were doing." Cleo still wouldn't look at them. She stared at the spot they found Rowana kneeling, her hand covered in blood. The image was seared into her mind. "Rowana couldn't even remember what happened."

"I think I can take a guess," Andy answered quietly, her words heavy.

More silence. A tense silence, each of them reliving the past hours and days. Each with their own share of guilt.

"What was she trying to tell you?" Andy asked, shattering the remorseful silence.

"I..." Cleo shook her head. She couldn't think. "I don't know. She didn't get far before..."

Andy nodded, her expression steel. "Well, the only way we'll find out is if we keep going. Only one way out now."

"So what?" Charlie demanded. "We're just gonna leave her to die in here?"

Andy stayed silent, her mouth opening and closing without a sound. Cleo answered for her.

"Remie found us. She said she would make sure someone found her- someone who could actually help."

"Remie?" Andy repeated, frowning. "I still don't understand what she's doing here."

Cleo shrugged. She really couldn't answer that either. Or the one about why she saw Remie in those last moments of Andy's memory. Every question they still had, and every new one, crashed down on Cleo. They kept piling on, crushing her with their weight.

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked. "I mean, Remie's not exactly Rowana's biggest fan."

Cleo stared at Charlie. She couldn't believe they would think that, for even a moment. Sure, they weren't best friends, but she wouldn't do that.

"She wouldn't let her die," Cleo said, quietly but firmly. After a second's hesitation, she added, "I trust her."

Charlie swallowed, seemed to realize what they had suggested, and nodded quickly.