Page 258 of Maddening Fixation

Her dress was torn and stained.

Her body was curled slightly inward, as if she had been trying to protect herself from something invisible.

Then I saw the blood.

My breath stopped.

Dark, thick blood had soaked through the fabric between her thighs.

Too much.

Far too much.

It had spread beneath her, pooling on the cold concrete floor before slowly creeping outward.

The metallic scent filled the room.

My stomach dropped.

This wasn’t a minor injury.

This wasn’t someone who was simply frightened.

Something was terribly wrong.

Juliet didn’t move.

Her eyes were open, but they weren’t focused.

She wasn’t looking at the room.

She wasn’t looking at me.

She was somewhere else entirely.

Her face was pale.

Empty.

Like she had already retreated somewhere no one could reach.

If not for the faint movement of her chest...

I would have thought she was dead.

“Juliet...”

Her name left my mouth before I could stop it.

Rough. Broken.

Filled with something I didn’t want to acknowledge.

Fear.

The terror I felt on the stairs transformed into something worse.

Dread.