Misplaced (COMPLETED)

12. i am safe

We pull apart when we hear the whirring of oncoming sirens. Again, the sharp contrast of red flashing against cool blue is the only thing to fill my vision. Police cars and ambulances, I've never been so glad to see emergency vehicles in my life.

"Zoe used a neighbours phone," I explain to Zach's questioning look.

Zoe's running up to them now. A middle aged couple trails behind her - presumably the neighbours we owe a lot to. They take in the sight before them with with an equally shocked and confused look masking their faces. I can tell what they're thinking: how could something so gruesome happen in their quiet pocket of the world?

When I look around myself I'm not surprised. In a word the scene before us is carnage. Blood all over the place, five dirtied teenagers and a spraying of glass beside a bloodied knife. It looks like a scene from the dark depths of a horror movie. Something close to pride surges up inside my throat. A couple of dumb teenagers in dramatic party outfits - except Lucy, of course - and beyond all odds we survived. We are survivors.

Paramedics rush to Roberto's side first where Lucy begins giving them a thorough detailing of the injuries he sustained. They take Zach from me next. He gives me a warm smile as he goes but doesn't protest as they lead him to the back of a waiting ambulance.

"Are you hurt, miss?" A paramedic is crouching in my face.

I shake my head 'no' and don't resist when she helps me up onto my wobbly feet. We have to avoid the limp body of the old man as we go and a wave of guilt tries to wash over me. Paramedics are by his side and under the all-commanding direction of Zoe, police have been placed around him too.

"Will he be alright?" I ask the Lady.

She wraps a grey shock blanket around my shoulders and gives me a reassuring smile. She'd be a great mum if she isn't one already. "He's in for a rough couple of days of surgery. We're not sure what permanent injuries he's sustained at this point but he'll survive."

I nod before allowing myself to be lightly pushed into the back of an open ambulance myself. All five of us need to go to the hospital for mandatory check-ups but as Zach and Roberto are the only ones with any serious injuries, they've been put in a separate ambulance to Lucy, Zoe and I. A part of me is disappointed I'm being ripped from Zach's side so soon after our brief reunion but the other part of me is just happy to be with Zoe and Lucy.

We huddle on the same stretcher bed in the back of the emergency vehicle, each of us holding each other's hands. It reminds me of being a little kid again where the world was a place too big for us and monsters hid under every bed. With the threat of lives over and the rush of adrenaline finally bleeding from my system, drowsiness has gained control over my body and I struggle the urge to fall asleep, still sitting upright.

"Hey Kales," Zoe brings me out of my haze, her voice too, tinted with sleep.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I made you come to that stupid party."

I look at her big brown eyes and, momentarily dropping Lucy's hand, I hug her. I hug her so tight. Without saying it, we're both expressing our relief. Our sudden release of a breath we'd been holding since first leaving the bonfire is expelled into the night. It's the sort of embrace that says all this in a way that's impossible to explain to someone that has never had a proper, I'm-with-you-until-we-die kind of best friend before.

"It's okay," I say eventually, "It was fun until that bit where we found a body and almost died." It's a sorry attempt of a joke I probably shouldn't be making so soon, but I feel Zoe laugh a little anyway and instantly some of the tension of the night is able to float away into nothingness.