Hands Stained Red

Twenty Five ~ Kira

I cant believe it. He's actually home in one piece. Quinn is alive and he's safe and he's sitting here on my bed.

He hasnt said much since he got here. He hugged me so tight it was almost painful when I first saw him but now he's distant.

"I feel like I should apologise," I say quietly, "considering it was my girlfriend who did all this."

He chuckles, "You dont have to apologise. I did the exact same thing with Ellie."

How could I have been so stupid? Sleeping with the girl who had my best friend locked in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. How could I not see what a bad person she was?

"Rya didnt get a chance to tell me what I missed. She said you could explain everything," he says quietly.

It hurts to see him like this. Confusion is so clear in his eyes as he struggles to comprehend how everything could change so drastically in such a short span of time.

I sit down beside him and take his hand, "The night you were taken and Rya was in Russia, it turned out that her family had organised her marriage and she was there to meet her fiance."

He nods, "I knew that she was married. It was a bit hard to miss the wedding dress. I just dont understand why she was so off with me."

I take a second to think about my words, "Rya took your disappearance hard. She also found out she had a long lost brother so she was a little... emotional. She thought that you didnt want her anymore and she gave up on the 'normal' part of her life. You know Rya and how she gets. Seeing you alive must have stirred up a shit storm of emotions in her and she lashed out."

He shakes his head and sniffs back tears, "I've never seen her like that. It was like she didnt want to look at me, to touch me. She was angry with me."

I pull him into a hug, "She just needs time to process everything. It's all going to work out. She loves you more than anything and you've never left her mind. She's been a mess without you Quinn."

He sobs against my shoulder and I think about how much this must be for him too. He's been alone for weeks and this is the mess he's came back to. The girl he loves married to another man.

The girl I love is a serial killer.

My own eyes burn with tears. She betrayed me. She used me. I feel like an idiot because this is all my fault. I let Poppy get involved in all this and now look at the mess it's made.

The door swings open, "Quinn!" Bella shouts and rushes over. She drops to her knees with a painful sounding thud and grabs his face in her hands, "I'm so glad you're ok. Did she hurt you? Do we need to get Artie in to check you over? Why are you crying? Are you in pain? ARTIE!"

Quinn shakes his head and grabs her hands which are frantically patting him down, looking for the cause for his tears, "I'm ok, it's just been an eventful day."

"What? Who else has been shot?" Artie groans from the doorway.

"What do you mean who else?" Bella snaps.

"Who do you think? Rya of course. I swear I'm getting deja vu. At this point I wouldnt be surprised if we found out that Quinn was actually married too," Artie rolls his eyes and walks out.

Bella sticks the middle finger up at his back and then she realises what he said, "Why does no one tell me anything? You would think I'd be the first person to find out my daughter has been shot."

Quinn lifts his head worriedly, "Rya's hurt?"

Bella gets to her feet and pats his shoulder, "From the lack of urgency in his voice I'm guessing she's fine. I'll go see her, you should get changed. Mylo should have something you can fit into."

She walks out and Quinn frowns at me, "Who's Mylo?"

I take his hand, "I'll go introduce you to him. Bella should be right, you and him are about the same size."

From the bewildered look on Quinn's face I'm guessing that the last place he expected to do is attend the wedding but I cant hide him away in my room all night after people have seen him. Maybe I can leave him with Agnes, she seemed nice enough and maybe some normal is all he needs.

We find Mylo on the stairs which is lucky because their are loads of people at this wedding and all of them are far too intimidating to talk to. He's on his way up and I catch his arm as we pass, "Hey, any chance you've got a spare suit?" I gesture towards Quinn with my head.

Mylo doesnt answer for a second but finally nods, "Sure, I'm sure I've got something you can borrow."

We follow him up the stairs and go past a room where the people inside are bickering playfully. I recognise Kaden's voice but dont mention it as Quinn hasnt seemed to notice yet.

Mylo opens a door with his foot and steps inside. On the bed are three dress bags with what I'm guessing is suits inside. Mylo shrugs off his black blazer and unzips a bag revealing a dark blue one, "I couldnt decide on a colour so I brought all 3. You can have the grey one on the end there "

I watch as Quinn unzips the last bag to a light grey 3-piece suit. It looks like it should fit as both Mylo and Quinn are about 5'9.

"Can I use your bathroom to change?" Quinn asks, his voice still a little stuffy.

Mylo nods, "Take your time."

Theres silence until the door locks behind Quinn and then Mylo turns to me, "What the fuck is going on?"

I shrug, "My girlfriend was a psychotic serial killer and kidnapped my best friend."

Mylo shakes his head, "This isnt good. I'm happy and all that your friend is alive but do you know what this is going to cause? We've already got people asking questions about the unknown man who looks almost identical to Viktor and now the bride's dead ex just showed up? Tensions are already high, we dont need this shit."

"What do you want me to do about it?" I snap, "It was Matt's idea to bring Adrik and it was Rya that brought Quinn here and then abandoned him."

He takes a deep breath and runs his hands through his hair, "I'm sorry. Its not your fault. Today's just... I just know it's going to be one of those days." He pulls his tongue piercing with his teeth as he calms himself, "I'm going to change and then we're going to get my brother and Rya and we're sorting this all out before we go back downstairs. If they're going to kick off then they're going to get it over with in a place without prying eyes."

I nod. It's a logical plan despite how unappealing it is.

He picks up the dress bag with the dark blue suit, "I'm sincerely glad that your friend's ok. I just wish it could have happened another day."