“I told you not to kill him,” the woman stated coldly, walking over.
But I looked over to Steven, laying lifeless on the floor. His chest was still moving, blood trickling from a wound on his head. He only knocked him out, but Steven would die soon if that wound wasn’t taken care of.
“You’re bleeding,” the woman said, pulling my eyes back to her.
I looked down, not seeing anythingbutblood. I knew some of it was mine, but not all of it. Steven’s blood was there too. I started wiping my arms, trying to get it off of me. Ihadto get it off of me, only to freeze when I saw the ring still on my left hand, my finger turning purple. I released a shuddering breath and began tearing at my finger, numb to everything but the overwhelming feeling of being caged.
I tore at my finger. “Get it off,” I said on a panicked breath, blood coating my tongue. “Get it off, get it off,get it off!”
She wrapped her hands around my wrists and pulled my hands apart before grabbing my chin and forcing my eyes to meet hers.
Brown, but not like Steven’s. They were warm, kind, good. They reminded me of cozy Fall afternoons curled around the fire with a good book. They weregood.
“I need you to focus, okay? You’re bleeding from a few different places. That ring isn’t coming off without tools, do youunderstand me? We have to take care of your face first.”
The panic only grew. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t—
The man appeared in front of us and grabbed my right wrist and jerked me to my feet.
“Everett,” she scolded.
Everett.
It fit him so well.
Everett, derived from the name of one of the most vicious and chilling mountains in this world. Everett, the name of something strong and unwavering. Something unforgiving. Something many people tried to conquer, and several died doing so.
Everett, the name of death.
He dragged me to the sink and turned on the water, shoving my hand under it, pain shooting up my arm.
“You’re going to rip her skin off,” the woman said, joining my other side, a rag in her hand.
“I don’t think she’ll mind,” he said, grabbing the bottle of soap and squirting it all over my hand. He began rubbing the soap all over the ring, and I watched in desperation as he worked the soap into the wound, either the pain, or something much worse, causing tears to spill down my face, causing my teeth to grind, and a whimper to escape my lips.
The woman sighed and crouched down, quickly running the rag up and down each leg, my eyes too focused on my hand to worry about being humiliated.
When my legs were completely dry, she tossed the rag and grabbed another towel, reaching for my chin.
“Take care of him,” Everett ordered, the sound distant.
My heart was pounding. Please, please, please.
He finally wrapped the base of my fingers and hand in one hand and the ring in the other. “This will hurt.” And he yanked it off without another warning.
I cried out, jerking my hand out of his and clutching it to mychest. I inspected it carefully, blood soaking my right arm. The skin had torn in some places, and it would leave a nasty scar, but I didn’t think it would need stitches.
The woman scowled and took my hands gently, having clearly ignored his orders. “You boys need to learn manners.”
Everett didn’t say a word before he turned away.
I watched after him. He still had the ring in his hand as he headed for Steven, his blood spreading slowly across the floor.
The woman took my chin and gently turned my head away until my eyes found hers again. “You don’t want to see what he’s going to do.”
But I did.
I wanted to know what he would do after knowing me for only a few weeks. I wanted to know what he would do to the man who was about to kill me. Who beat the shit out of me. Who hated me so much, he made my life a living Hell.
