The Arrangement

Chapter Forty-Three

Carter

"Don't even fucking think about it" I snap at Henley as I see him shift slightly, no doubt about to get up to go to Blair's room and let her out.

I don't blame him. Watching her completely freak out in a blind panic isn't exactly easy, it's probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch. But if keeping her in that room for now is the difference between keeping the ones I love safe or not. Then it's a necessary evil.

His fists clench at his sides as he gets up to pace the room. "Just let me go and calm her down" he pleads pinning me with a glare that says if I don't let him, he'll explode again. "I'm not leaving her locked in that fucking bedroom to freak out" he shouts gesturing towards the laptop where camera feed of Blair still shows her screaming her safe word, pounding on the door as she begs to be let out.

"None of us go in there until we've figured this out" I snap, completely shutting him down.

I'm not risking anyone getting hurt and he knows as well as anyone else what not listening to each other caused last time. Anyone would think he'd be in agreement with this but the moment I heaved Blair out of their bed and took her down to the room in the basement he flipped out.

Lennox doing exactly the same, his usual calm demeanour nowhere to be seen.

"We've been sitting here for hours trying to figure it out, we're not going to get answers until we speak to her" he says, clearly trying to reason with me.

"I said we're not going in there" I snap shutting him down now.

She's perfectly safe in there, once she calms down, she'll realise that. She's got water, something to eat, a bathroom and a change of clothes. Once we've discussed how to approach this whole situation then we'll go down there and speak to her. Until then she can stay put.

Blair's screaming stops but it's replaced by the sound of her smashing the room to pieces, crashing of furniture and the shattering of glass coming through the speakers, only amplifying everything. 

She's destroying everything and it proves my point that she's a lot more dangerous than we've given her credit for. 

The sounds do stop suddenly though shifting from chaos to one of despair as the sound of her gasping for air comes through. 

"She's fucking hyperventilating Carter!" Henley roars. "Look at her she's terrified"

But I can't, I can't bring myself to look at the screen to see that so instead I clasp my head in my hands whilst I wonder if this was the right thing to do.

In truth I don't know if there is a right or wrong thing to do right now. She's just admitted to killing someone, told them that her own friend is blackmailing her about it. If that doesn't send alarm bells ringing, I don't know what does.

Right now, we can't trust her. It's as plain and simple as that. And as terrible as this is for her, we need to keep her where we can watch her.

I glance over to where Ashton had been standing leant against the wall with his arms crossed, wanting to gauge what he's making of all this.

He was against this from the beginning, I know he was, but he's kept quiet about it since we've been here. Showing a united force in front of the others even though I know deep down he doesn't want to.

My stomach drops though when my eyes land on the empty space of where he should have been.

"Where the fuck is Ash?" I ask at the same time we hear the door click through the feed on the laptop.

Then all I can do is watch in horror as there's a blood curdling scream that rips from Blair and she reaches out grabbing the closest thing to her, throwing the broken lamp straight towards Ashton. 

At that we're all up and moving, the rest of us heading straight down the basement bedroom, the sound of Blair's screaming and shouting carrying through the hallway, only getting louder the closer we get to the two of them. 

"Get away from me!" she screams and there's another crash just as I reach the bedroom door, my eyes landing on where she stands in the corner of the room jabbing a shard of mirror towards Ashton. 

"Mouse, I'm not going to hurt you" he says calmly not even hesitating as he holds his hands up and takes a step towards her. 

"Fuck you!" she hisses jabbing the shard out towards him again. Blood dripping from her hands from where is cuts into her skin. "If you think you can fuck me until I end up in the looney bin then you have another fucking thing coming!" 

I barely have time to register what it is exactly that she's just said as Henley and Lennox come barging in behind me, their steps halting as soon as they take in what's in front of them. 

Blair's eyes flicker over to them briefly before they settle back on Ashton, evident hurt flashing in them and tears springing to her eyes, yet her stance doesn't waver at all. 

"I said get away from me!" she shouts and goes to take a step towards Ashton but slips on something on the floor, losing her footing just enough for him to pounce towards her. 

There's a struggle, the blood dripped on the floor clearly making it a little more challenging for him to get his arms around her as she slips around, screams of protest coming from her as she attempts to lash out at him with the shard. 

Both Lennox and Henley go to step forward, but I block them off realising that I've made a huge fucking mistake and knowing that if they attempt to get involved there's no telling what reaction that will get from her. 

After a struggle Ashton manages to get the shard free from her grip, chucking across the room as he then gets his arms securely around her finally rending her helpless. 

She pants and attempts to thrash around in his hold as she cries out. "No no no, please don't do this, don't hurt me please." The utter fear in her voice like nails on a chalkboard.

But watching her struggle is nothing compared to watching the puddle that forms at her feet. 

"Shh" Ashton coo's as he holds her in his arms. "I'm not going to hurt you mouse, I promise you I'm not going to fucking hurt you" he then says in a clear attempt to soothe her, his hand stroking through her hair. "I'm not going to hurt you" 

She stops thrashing around in his arms but only because the most heartbreaking sob rips from her as she completely breaks down in his hold. Tears streaming down her cheeks as her legs seems to give way beneath her. 

"Everyone get out" Ashton snaps turning her around to face away from us. 

"Ash-" I begin to say to protest but he cuts me off. 

"I said get the fuck out!" he roars leaving absolutely no room for argument. 

Despite every fibre of my being telling me not to I turn myself away and walk out, Lennox and Henley hot on my heels. The moment the door slams behind us hands grip my shoulders, and I'm slammed against the wall. Henley's fist colliding with my face before I even have chance to see it coming.