Hands Stained Red

Twenty Two ~ Rya

It has to be her.

My bare feet pound against the dirt as I sprint through the trees, the skirt of my dress clasped in my hand to try and stop it catching on the branches.

Kira said Poppy's cabin was being refurbished and there's only one cabin here that's condemned. It has to be that one.

It was looking at Kaden that made it click. Last night after we had slept together, he told me the story he had read when we were looking through the leaked files.

It was about two girls being terrorised by a stalker who kills people close to them and ultimately drives them closer. The story ends with the killer being caught by the two girls at a cabin in the woods where the kidnapped people were being held.

Too many details were too close to the truth to be entirely fictional. The cabin, the fact that it was Poppy's ex and Kira's friend that were killed also matched up with the story.

Poppy wasnt writing a novel, she was documenting her crimes.

Once the ceremony was over, I couldn't wait any longer. Not when the crime scene was so close. Once I find the cabin, I could find all sorts of evidence proving her guilt.

Quinn's body might still be there.

I reach the hill which the cabin sits atop of and I slow down. There's no point wasting my energy, it's not going anywhere. My main concern was someone from the wedding catching up to me and stopping me but I'm too far away for them to find me in time.

I tuck my gun into my garter and half crawl up the steep hill. Theres a path on the other side but Poppy might be at the cabin and watching it.

Once at the top, I take a breath to think. Its completely silent here. The cabin itself is barely standing. Scaffolding surrounds the rotting wood and most of the windows are covered with tarpaulin sheets.

It was obviously a nice cabin when it was first built. Two floors and large enough to maybe be a four bedroom although I cant be sure.

I see a cellar door and quietly walk towards it. It's padlocked shut but the lock is old and rusty. I smash the butt of my gun against it and it shatters, making me wince at the loud clanging sound.

I yank at the chains and open up the door, revealing a staircase. Again, I scoop my skirts up into one hand and tuck the train into the sash around my waist to stop it dragging and slowing me down.

The metal stairs freeze my muddied feet but I try to ignore it as I walk down, reminding myself how much harder this would be if I hadn't abandoned my heels.

It's dark in the basement but I can make out shelves that used to house wine but now lay bare and dusty. A rat squeaks as it runs across the room.

Something moves and I lift my gun, scanning the room, "Who's there?" I ask, my voice strong.

There's silence and then a shuffle as a shape moves into the light.

It's a girl.

Her long blonde hair is dirty and matted. I cant see her face as she covers it from the bright light, "Are you here to kill me?" She asks. Her voice is scratchy and terrified.

I shake my head and she lowers her hand to look at me. Her dark eyes flicker across me and I nearly laugh as I realise what she sees. A barefoot girl dressed as a bride holding a gun.

"Who are you?" I ask her. I run my eyes over her body checking she isnt armed. Her once white blouse is muddy and her jeans are torn.

"My name is Rachelle," she says keeping her voice low, "She'll be back soon. If you're going to get us out of here we have to get the others."

I sigh. I should've guessed there would be survivors her but I was so caught up in wringing Poppy's neck I completely forgot about what she was doing here.

"How many of you are there?" I ask.

She looks up and hesitates, "I think there's another girl here. I've never seen her but Poppy has mentioned her and she always has three plates of food when she feeds us. There's a boy too, I've seen him."

I point up, "Theyre upstairs?"

She looks back at me and nods. Laboriously she pushes herself to her feet and brushes herself down, "I've been here for months," she says, "I thought I was never getting out of here."

I look back at her and I dont recognise her from any of the pictures they released of the missing, "How long?"

She shakes her head, "I dont know for sure. But I was here when Natalie was."

Shit. She's been here for over 6 months.

I take a deep breath and head towards the door that leads to the rest of the house, "Its locked," Rachelle tells me.

I try it anyway and she's telling the truth but the door is old and it only takes one well placed kick to knock it down.

The two of us go up the stairs and into the kitchen. The windows are all boarded up so the only light is through small gaps between the boards.

The fridge hums which means there must be some sort of electricity but I dont want to turn on the lights and notify anyone that I'm here.

"Where are they?" I ask the girl cowering behind me.

She shrugs and wraps her arms around herself. She's basically a bag of bones and I feel bad so I open the fridge to see if theres something to give her to eat.

However, theres no food in the fridge. Only blood bags.

I stare at the bags of blood for a second and then close the fridge before Rachelle can see. I think that girl has had enough trauma recently.

Someone moves above us and my eyes flicker to the stairs. At this point I'm 90% certain that Poppy isnt here but I dont let my guard down as I cross the floor and go up the creaky stairs.

Luckily, I make it to the top without them giving way and depositing me through the old wood and into the wine cellar where we started.

"Hello?" I call out not wanting to have to search every single room.

No one answers and I push open the closest door to see a raised metal bed like something from a hospital next to a tray of needles and empty blood bags.

"What the fuck?" I cant help but mutter. This girl is fucking insane and that's something coming from me.

I try the next door and see a man barely older than me gagged and bound on the floor. I quickly rush over to him and yank the dirty material from his mouth.

As soon as I do, Rachelle screams and something hits me hard across the head. My eyes roll back and I struggle to hold onto consciousness as I roll away, my head throbbing where it was hit.

"Rya?"

I open my eyes and see an angel standing above me, "Quinn?"