As if she forgot she was holding it, she drops it to the floor like it’s on fire. Her lips tremble when she whispers, “He’s here.”
“Check the house,” I bark at Saint.
“Who am I looking for, Eve?” Saint asks.
She rocks back and forth, and I reach out, cupping her tear-streaked face. “Look at me, Eve. Eyes on me,” I order and her red-rimmed eyes find mine. She can’t not follow an order. Now I know why. “Who is here, Eve? Tell me. Who are we looking for?” I’m sure I can guess, but I need her to tell me.
“Ev-Evan.”
Saint takes off and Haidyn rips a towel off the counter, tossing it to me.
“I’m sorry…” She reaches for the knife again, but Haidyn picks it up and throws it onto the sink and out of her reach.
“Did she cut herself?” he asks me.
She’s been suicidal before. There’s so much blood that I can’t tell if she’s harmed herself or if he did it. There was a lot on her bed and the floor. An obvious path was left where she crawled across the bathroom to where she sits with her back to the wall. It all can’t be from him, otherwise he’d be dead on the bedroom floor. The knife is covered in it as well, letting me know it was used.
I grab her arm, stretching it out, and begin to frantically rub the clean hand towel Haidyn handed me across her skin. It just smears the blood. “Did you cut yourself?” I ask her again because she didn’t answer Haidyn.
“I…I’m sorry,” she whispers.
Fuck.“Eve.” I grip her face, forcing her eyes to meet mine. They look glazed over and empty. “Did you take something?” Maybe she took something before he showed up. There’s a cut on the side of her face, but it wouldn’t bleed this much.
She doesn’t answer.
“Check her drawers for pill bottles,” I bark at Haidyn, and he starts opening and slamming them shut. She doesn’t do drugs, but maybe… “He could have given her something. Eve?”
“Place is clear. Blood smeared on the back door tells me he ran.” Saint comes rushing in, interrupting me. “Maybe he heard us pull up.”
She begins to tremble. “I’m sorry.”
There’s so much blood. I can’t find the source. If someone was bleeding this much, there would be a body. “Eve,” I snap, getting impatient. My concern grows by the second; I’m terrified she’s going to bleed out right here in front of me. “Talk to me. What happened, angel? Please,” I beg, desperate for an answer. “What did you do?” She’s looking pale.
“I came,” she whispers, her eyes pinned on my shirt, unable to meet mine. “He told me…that I came.”
“Maybe she’s in shock,” Saint offers.
I grip her face with my blood-covered hand, forcing her head back against the wall once more. “Listen to me. You didn’t have a choice, Eve.” The video that Bill and Adam showed us proves that no one could stand a chance at Dollhouse. “He was here in your house. I need to know…did Evan hurt you or did you hurt yourself?” I can’t help her if I don’t know how.
“I tried to…” She’s gasping, trying to breathe. “I told him to shoot me… If he got in the bathroom, I was going to kill myself,” she whispers. “I won’t let him touch me. Not again.”
My chest tightens at her confession.
“I don’t see anything,” Haidyn says, slamming the last drawer shut before walking into the shower. “Put her in here. Wash off the blood and see where it’s coming from.”
I pick her up, step into the shower, and sit down with her on the cold tile. Haidyn takes the sprayer and begins to wet her down from her hair to her face and her chest while she coughs and chokes on the running water. The blood gathers around the drain while I frantically search her, secretly hoping that it’s all his.
She’s shaking and her breathing becomes labored as I look for anything to tell me what the fuck is going on.
“I didn’t cut myself. I promise.” She sniffs.
“What did you do, Eve?” I ask, holding out her arms for Haidyn to wash off. “Huh? Where is the blood coming from?”
She doesn’t answer.
The water runs over her legs. She’s got bruises on her thighs from where she wore the spikes for me the other night. I knew she got off from pain. Now I’m sick that I allowed myself to do this to her. Embarrassed that Haidyn is going to ask me where they came from and I’m going to have to explain what I did to his sister.
Blood instantly pours from her inner thigh as soon as it washes away. “Fuck. She cut her leg.” Haidyn hands Saint the sprayer so he can remove his belt. He drops to his knees next to me and I hold her shaking leg out while he wraps his belt around her upper thigh to stop the bleeding.
