“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.
