"Where is El?" I took a deep long breath as I count the bodies sprawled around the room.
1
2
3
4
Sheena isn't here and so is El.
The floor is painted with blood, and flies gradually form a nest out of their rotten bodies. Their buzz sounds like horror, like a broken static -a hint for oncoming doom.
I shake my thoughts away. It's El who keeps infecting me with the cliches in horror movies. And now she strays away, even though it's always the blonde one who gets killed off first.
"Why?" A hard chest blocks my view. He buttons himself all the way up and his long sleeves strictly covers his wrist. From afar he looks like that mormon you'd want to avoid, but up close he's more of a god which gives off scents of anything but good.
"We have to find her."
"Why?" He repeated. Wiping invisible dust off his white expensive sleeves. "We don't need her."
He openly shows his distaste for El. He said she's loud and annoying but how is Lucas any different? As we speak, the boy is catching flies from corpses. His giggles echoing across the room.
"Because she's our friend."
"We both know that's bullshit." He pauses, his fingers up on his mouth like what he just said was a mistake. He lets his lips form into a white slash before speaking, "Ah. That was.... I didn't mean to say that. T- that's a bad word."
I sigh. Though Im also confused on when and why I started to care.
A loud bang rumbles in the near distance, in an instinct we spin over towards the noise. My body shudders at the sudden switch of stillness in the air.
The three of us are on edge, more alert.
We refuse to take a step. Our breaths quieter. We struggle to hear more past the buzzes but we take note of every movement. We observed the room like a team.
There's another bang and it vibrated right through the door where Rie was kept.
Im ashamed that I forgot about El in the heat of the moment. And Rie the prisoner, weak but a murderer still.
I glance between the guys to know if they thought the same. They both nod, eager to discover, eager for action.
I was the one to take a step first and they let me be.
It still surprises me how they see me as an equal. Not just a woman to fuck but an ally with an opinion that matters.
Splashes of blood squishes under my feet. Some of the bits haven't dried up yet. In my hand they feel like stress balls that with a little strength they'd squeeze out of my fingers which sends delicious shivers through my veins; However, under my feet they're sprawled like a trap.
I scan the area in every step I take till Im met with a familiar door.
The metal door knob is freezing under my palms. More so when the other side is now sitting in silence. My heart is beating under my chest calmly and I have no thoughts forming at the idea of my friend being dead.
Nothing. Like Im filled with air. As if finding her is a chore I have to make.
The doorknob rattles when I twisted it open. I push the door and it horribly creaks against the air-condition, the cold slaps my lips dry and a stabbing burn attacks my wounds.
The scene is not surprising. Rie is on the corner naked, the only thing thats covering him against the cold is the thin white sheet he draped himself on. He's trembling. Eyes wide like he have been on dozens of war. He hug his knees in, his eyes focus on the ground.
"Rie?" I murmur, unsure if he have heard me.
Yet he raise his head, his eyes dilates when he caught the sight of me. This time he recognized me.
And just like that, he bawls out crying.
A great tremor overtakes him. He fell to the floor in a disheveled heap as his pain pours out in a flood of uncontrollable tears. Gut wrenching sobs tore through his chest yet he managed a short intake of breath just to call my name.
"K-Kennedy." He extends over his arm wanting to reach out to me.
I'm about to walk over when a hand clasp over my wrist.
"What are you doing?" I turned assuming it's Kurt but when I saw Lucas I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "We don't know him."
His jokes have stop. His smile gone.
Its rare to see him serious.
"Its okay." I pat his hand away and he willingly let go. Although stupid, he didn't question my judgement.
He let me be but I didn't fail to notice how his hands curl up into a grip.
When I walk over to the bed, a gasp left my lips at finding Elise lying on the floor face down. Her eyes are close, unmoving, but her shoulders are moving up and down. One moment, her hand twitches and she grumbles a peaceful groan, then Rie bawls more and curl himself into a ball as if its the most scary he'd seen.
"She's dangerous!" He pointed. "She attacked me!" He blubbered, clutching a water bottle in his hand.
I gaze back at El and sees the crumbs of cookies all over her mouth. A bump forming on her head as she sleeps with water-filled bottles all around her.
A bit of guilt washed over me but at the same time Im glad. El is safe and it'd be our turn to hunt Sheena down.
I carefully step around her and walk over to Rie.
He's a mess. Filled with new awful scars and dried blood, I pull out some tissues and when I got his permission I softly wipe over his tears.
His cheeks shines like porcelain, his face like a doll, they must have liked his face so much cause they left it untouched.
His arms and shoulder bled from whips and knives, and he have nothing on but boxers. He shivers, pitiful at my touch.
He crawls closer till he lays his head on my lap, and I let him be. Sometimes, I do wonder why I gradually became soft, more humane. As if I keep absorbing a boring theatrical play of emotions. Though Im aware its killing me, I cant do anything but let it be.
Rie tries to restrain his sobs by humming under my touch.
"Kennedy?"
I lean in, "Yes?"
He huffs a breath, "Everyone here stinks of blood. I'm just... not a fan of bad people."
I cock my head. He talks like he himself is not bad but I'm curious of what he thinks of me. "What about me?"
He looks me in the eye and says. "You're neither. You don't know your past, dont you?"
"What about the things that Im doing now?"
"It doesn't matter because I am now your present."