Chapter 18 #2
I wonder now how I managed to treat Carmen’s injury myself.
Although I didn’t do much, other than find something to use to press on the wound and soak up the blood.
If I had been Danny, I would’ve remembered that the bathrooms are always stocked with first-aid kits.
It would’ve been a massive help to me when I was trying to figure out what to do.
“What about you?” Danny asks, pulling me back to reality. “You weren’t where I left you.”
I pick up on what he’s not saying when his eyes roam my face and body, still checking for wounds. Unlike Cerys, I’m not bleeding. Or at least I think I’m not bleeding. It’s hard to tell when my shirt has gotten splattered by blood and gore throughout the night.
Danny lets go of Cerys and stands, gesturing me to follow him to the sinks.
There isn’t much privacy here with Cerys and Bethan listening to our every word.
Considering Cerys’ history, I don’t feel comfortable mentioning everything that happened to me.
Especially what Cupid was trying to do before I managed to evade him; what could’ve happened if I hadn’t head-butted him.
I gulp.
A montage of horrible images fast-forwards in my brain, reminding me of what I’ve been through since I left Zelda in the lounge. Finding Carmen, witnessing her getting stabbed, Shane . . . A cold shock hits the base of my spine as I remember the way he attacked me.
He tried to kill me.
Somehow, it feels worse to think about him murdering me because I wasn’t expecting to die, or come close to dying, by the hand of someone who wasn’t Cupid.
When I got a bad feeling about him earlier tonight, I never thought he was capable of murder.
Though, should I truly be that surprised?
He already viewed me as less than a person by the way he expressed himself, wishing I’d been the one Brian raped instead of Cerys.
“Baby,” Danny calls softly, lifting my chin with his index finger, bringing me back to the present. Concern is visible in the lines of his face. “What happened?”
I shake my head.
Not now, I want to say.
I don’t know if I can even speak about what happened with Cupid without feeling like I want to scratch my skin off to erase all trace of him.
“I’m sorry.” It’s all I can muster.
He shakes his head. “You warned me that you couldn’t keep that promise, but I never thought you would sacrifice yourself for Zelda.”
I think it was meant to come out as a lighthearted joke, but I can tell there’s truth underlying his words. He hasn’t fully gotten over it.
Cerys’ head snaps in our direction, no longer pretending she’s not listening in to our conversation.
“For Zelda? What?” Surprise increases the pitch in her tone.
I know it must come as a shock to her, considering everything that I’ve said about Zelda in the past. She could be both irrationally mean and drastically bitchy. And that’s before we even get to the obvious reason why I don’t like her: the stance she took to defend a rapist.
Even so, I still find myself feeling empathy toward her. That might make me seem like an idiot, but I still hope she survives and sees the error of her ways.
“We found Zelda a little while ago. She was badly injured, so I left Mabel with her while I looked for Carmen and you,” Danny explains to Cerys and Bethan as he turns the faucet on in one of the sinks.
A wrinkle creases my forehead.
He didn’t leave to find Carmen. His main reason was to find the knives in the kitchen and then follow the rest of the plan after he returned to me. Apparently, neither of us can keep a promise.
Instead of arguing, I bite the tip of my tongue and watch what he’s doing as he leans over the sink with the water running. I think he’s doing it to wash Cerys’ blood off his hands, but then he pulls me closer and starts to tenderly wipe away the blood speckles on my face, erasing every trace.
A sting burns in my eyes as tears gather behind my lids.
How can he be so gentle and caring with me?
What did I do to deserve this treatment from him?
I haven’t been the best to him. We spent so long apart because I was stubborn and mean, and yet here he is, tenderly cleaning the blood off my face, even though he’s not happy with me and my tendency to play the martyr.
Thank you, I mouth, unable to make a sound, and to add more weight to it, I tap under my chin and then my chest.
“I didn’t know if you wanted me to use spit again,” he teases, signaling back with a gentle smile. Inevitably, my lips curve upwards. Turning to Cerys, he continues, “When I returned, Zelda was alone, and she told me that Mabel decided to become the sacrificial lamb.”
Zelda was alive after Cupid stabbed Carmen. It’s a relief to know she hadn’t given up the fight. I don’t know how long she has left in her before she loses the battle, but I’m hoping it’s enough for her to hold on until she’s rescued.
Huh. Who’d have thought—at the start of the night I didn’t care whether she lived or died, and now I’m rooting for her to survive.
“That’s not what happened,” I defend myself to Danny. “Cupid was in the room with us. If I’d stayed there, you would’ve found both of our corpses.”
It’s unfair of him to be mad about my actions when it was what kept me alive.
The world may never know what would’ve happened if I hadn’t fled, but I very much doubt there would’ve been a positive outcome.
At least this way I’m alive. Bruised and beaten, with future nightmares stored up in my memory, but alive.
It’s all that matters.
Danny purses his lips in discontent.
“That’s not how Zelda described it.”
“Are you going to believe her over me?” I grit out.
Closing my eyes, I press my lips together as I regain some control over myself.
I didn’t mean to snap at him or turn this into an argument.
There’s no need for us to engage in one when our time together is precious.
“She’s probably feverish and hallucinating—”
“Guys!” Bethan interrupts us before we can continue bickering about trivial stuff.
It doesn’t matter whether I kept my promise or put myself at risk. The truth is that there’s nowhere safe in this place as long as we continue roaming the halls. Cupid will catch up with us if we don’t figure out a way to leave the house or get enough service to call for help.
“So, after you left me with Zelda, I heard Cupid coming,” I continue, focusing on the story instead.
“How did you know it was him?” Bethan interrogates, crossing her arms.
I swallow, licking my lips as I recall the small ways that I’ve memorized to identify Cupid without having to look at him. It’s not a foolproof method, but it has helped me enough.
“His steps. He walks funny, like he’s making sure to step as hard as he can to announce his presence before you can even tell he’s there,” I explain, unsure if it makes sense or if I’m just sounding like a mad woman. “He’s deliberate about it, though. When Leighton died, he was swift and silent.”
Cerys nods in agreement. “You’re right. It was the same when he attacked us in the room and when he stabbed me.”
“I noticed that too,” Danny says, as he continues cleaning the blood off my face.
Even though he’s not happy with me, his touch on my skin is gentle, never once applying unnecessary pressure or causing me any discomfort. Invisible rope ties itself around my ribs, tightening its hold on me.
“When I heard him,” I continue without breaking eye contact, “I knew I could either wait for him to find me there or give myself at least a chance to survive, to keep myself safe, even if he came after me.”
“Sacrificial lamb,” he mumbles under his breath and shakes his head.
I resist the need to roll my eyes and continue telling the story of how I distracted Cupid and ended up finding my sister.
I describe how he stabbed her, omitting the fact that I stemmed her bleeding by using my bra because I didn’t think about the first aid-kits in the bathrooms. Clearly, my work under pressure is a bit hit or miss.
“There. Much better.” Danny finishes cleaning my face as best he can.
Turning to the mirror, I wince when I see my reflection.
I look . . . horrible.
My hair is messier than Bethan’s, strands standing up in odd places where tangles have formed.
Red smears disappear into my hairline where blood congeals on my scalp.
There’s puffiness under my eyes from all the crying I’ve done tonight.
A bruise is forming on my jaw, and I can only guess it’s from both Shane’s slap and the fall down the stairs.
What was once a clean shirt now resembles an abstract painting from all the different blood splashes and sprays, but it covers just enough to hide any other bruises.
I’ll look even worse tomorrow—if I make it out.
“Where’s Carmen now?” Bethan ask, distracting me.
I turn from the mirror to look at her.
“I hid her.”
“Where?”
Defiance swirls on the tip of my tongue. I’m almost tempted to ask why she wants to know where I hid Carmen, but I’m also aware it’s part of my rising paranoia.
I have no reason to distrust Bethan right now.
After all, from my encounters with Cupid, I know she can’t be him.
She’s too tiny and fragile to fit Cupid’s build and have carried out all those atrocities.
Besides, it’s not like Bethan has anything against Carmen.
My sister was always one of her favorite pledges since her first day.
Bethan is a sucker for girls who have a backbone, even when hers can be easily swayed.
“The attic,” I reveal after a few seconds of silence. “It doesn’t seem to be a way out, but it was untouched when we got there. I made sure I wasn’t seen leaving and that we didn’t leave any hints that there was anyone up there. So, it’s safe enough.”