I stride over to the counter and grip my phone, checking the signal strength. Still nothing. I run my busted-up hand through my tangled hair, wincing with the pressure.
I begin pacing back and forth, resuming my plight in attempting to contact someone. Anyone. Fingers jabbing at the same three numbers, only to get the same result.
Anything could have happened to them, but I take comfort in the fact that I hadn’t heard a shot ring out. Not that that means much. They’ve been gone for a while and we could easily be out of earshot of wherever he’s taken them, but I was willing to grasp onto anything to get through this.
“No signal.” Graham says, rushing back to my side. I take in his disheveled appearance, finding comfort in his presence. He smells faintly of cinnamon while his hair flops over his sleep riddled eyes.
He presses his palm low on my back, rubbing the skin between my cropped shirt and pants. His warmth leeching into my chilled skin is a welcome comfort, helping to center my anxious thoughts.
I let out a loud, shaken breath. “I just keep going over it in my mind. What would the headmaster want with Salem?” I feel Graham’s hand faltering at my question, before resuming its comforting motion. I whirl on him, catching him off guard.
“You know something.” I say, narrowing my eyes to him. He pushes his hands into his pockets and bites his lower lip between his blindingly white teeth. His dimples disappear as his skin stretches tight with the motion.
Just then, a bang comes from the back of the house. Graham and I both lock eyes before sprinting off to investigate.
Graham makes it to the door before me, hauling an incoherent Lukas into the house. Blood and dirt coat his once white shirt. Salem is right behind him, looking equally distraught and disheveled. I glance behind them waiting to see if Pierce needs assistance, but I catch Salem’s haunted stare as she shakes her head back and forth. I go to her, letting her lean against my body.
She’s frozen, wet, and drenched in dirt.
“What happened?” I ask, looking between the two of them, my heart rate hammering against my chest.Where was Pierce? And Emmet? The headmaster?
“He needs to get to the infirmary, Graham.” Salem instructs, her voice hoarse like she’s been screaming. It’s then that I notice Lukas’s arm and hear myself gasp, wanting to go straight to him, but if I move, I’m afraid Salem will collapse. Graham nods, pocketing his phone and hauling Lukas out the back. I watch Lukas’s head loll onto Graham’s shoulder and feel my heart twist and plummet to my stomach. I want to go with him, but I know Salem needs me right now.
“Salem? Do you need to go with? Are you injured? What happened?” I ask, the words almost blurring together with how fast I spit them out.
She shakes her head back and forth, her wet hair lightly slapping against her chilled shoulders. Tears flow freely down her dirtied face. She limps against me as we trudge to the living room.
“Do I need to be worried about the headmaster bursting back in here?” I ask her, shouldering her weight against my body, feeling her cold damp skin worming its way into my bones.
I help lower her onto the couch as a sob wrenches out of her mouth.
“What do you need?” I ask, only to be met with fat tears rolling down her face as she hiccups in a tortured breath. I feel so incredibly useless, my stomach a permanent knot of anxiety. I’m not sure what happened or how to help my best friend other than to offer her a blanket. I grab a haphazardly crocheted blanket, but as my fingers grip the tattered yarn, I notice spots of blood on the floor.
“Oh my god, Salem. Your feet!” I take in her bare bloodied feet, noting the scratches that trail up her calves for the first time. “We need to go to the doctor. Right now.” I grab my phone and purse, going to find my shoes as Salem lay wrapped in the dull blanket I had been reaching for.
She’s covered in tears, dirt and blood and looks seconds away from losing it completely. It shakes me to my core to see my strong, fiery friend look so completely broken.
It dawns on me that something horrible must have happened out there. Worry claws at my throat as I shove my faux-fur lined boots onto my feet, sans socks. It unnerves me how I’d been having the time of my life just a few short hours ago, but I awoke to a nightmare.
Life never ceases to amaze me how quickly it can turn on you in the blink of an eye.
I grab some paper towels and wrap Salem’s feet, careful not to cause more damage. I’m unsure how I am going to get her out of here if I can barely manage to guide her to the couch. Most of the wounds seem to not be actively bleeding anymore, but I know if she were to start walking the injuries would open right back up. I didn’t have a car on campus, and without a signal I couldn’t call the on-campus transportation, which was just a guy in a golf cart who was more times than not- stoned out of his mind.
A bang startles me out of my reverie as Garrison and Walker stumble through the front door looking grim. I scramble up and watch them take in the bloody scene.
“What the fuck happened?” Walker growls, striding into the living room straight for Salem. Within seconds his long legs move him across the large, trashed room, expertly dodging the mess.
“She needs a doctor.” I state as I stand awkwardly with the paper towel. There’s so much to explain and still so much that I don’t know.
I watch as Walker lifts her effortlessly into his muscled arms. She tucks herself against him immediately, hiding her face in his shirt. The expression on Walker’s face looks like he’s seconds away from murdering whoever did this, and for a moment I feel the same way, before he’s out the door yelling at Garrison to follow.
My feet move of their own accord, desperate to make sure Salem and Lukas are okay. All my questions can wait.
ChapterSix
LUKAS
SONG: HELP I’M ALIVE BY METRIC
