The theater

Chapter 16

Maxim ran to her, screaming her name. At first sight, she seemed in shock. She didn’t even look up to him. When he arrived near the young girl, she literally collapsed in his arms. She suddenly seemed to remember him. Philip went to help his friend carrying Dominique in the cabin. Once back inside, Nancy hastened to take towels to dry and warm her. Rachel sobbed in the arms of Christopher. As she wiped Dominique’s hair, Karen noticed a long bloody drag on her face. Slightly under the hair on the left side of her head, she found a deep gash. She recoiled, throwing a glance at her friends. Julie went to get the first aid kit in the bathroom on the ground floor. The wound must be cleaned. She also noticed that the blood still flowed. She watched Dominique, trying to break her dull gaze.

The young girl looked straight ahead, her eyes foggy. Her boyfriend spoke to her, but she didn’t seem to hear. She was totally wrapped up in her little word. Rachel also tried to get information. Nothing worked. All that was left to do was to wait for her to come out of her stupor and finally tell them what had happened to her. But when would she be able to do so? She seemed oblivious to the things around her. She barely blinked her eyes as her gaze was lost in contemplation of a single thing she could see.

Maxim took her hand and led her up the stairs. According to him, she had to rest. Obediently, she obeyed without looking at him. Rachel went up the stairs behind her. She really wanted to know everything if her friend finally started talking. Christopher offered his help, but she gently asked him to stay with the others. She preferred to isolate Dominique a little, surrounding her with people she trusted. Once the trio upstairs, the others breathed a sigh of relief.

“Someone has a theory to share?” Joel quietly said, leaning on the sofa.

“She was attacked,” Karen answered. “Hit on the head, that’s for sure.”

“How long she was gone?” Nancy added. “It happened around here because she was able to walk back.”

She turned to Christopher.

“Your closest neighbor is how far?”

The young man scratched his head, calculating the approximate distance.

“About five hundred yard, I think. But I don’t think they’re here. They usually take their vacations during the hunting season. At least that’s what they have already told my father.”

“Do they have a phone?” Julie suddenly asked. “In case of emergency, there’s nothing here…”

“I don’t think so.”

“And there’s no network either,” Karen sighed, watching the last bar of the cell network disappear. “Not very practical.”

“We need to call the police,” Joel said. “She was attacked near here. We must prevent them.”

His friends agreed, but they should wait until their victim sees a doctor. She could suffer a concussion or more serious internal injuries. Except that nobody dared to volunteer to go back in town with Dominique. For now, they hoped that she got out of her sort of catatonic state soon to tell them what had happened. Julie curled on the couch, heavy eyelids. She really wanted to sleep. She decided to close her eyes for a moment. Her friends settled not too far away to talk quietly. She was too exhausted to follow their conversation. She stood up slowly. She just wanted to sleep. She went upstairs. Matthew followed her, hoping to talk to her. He touched her arm, but she pulled away quickly.

“Leave me alone,” she said in a tired tone. “I want to sleep.”

“I just want to explain to you…”

She shook her head, preventing Matthew to finish his sentence. She didn’t understand the reason of his determination. Why he insisted to give an explanation she didn’t want to hear? He begged her with his eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest, saying she gave him only a minute.