“I'msorry, I'm sorry,” I repeated over and over, as I laid him back down and pulledoff my sweatshirt to bunch it up and lay it beneath his head. Then, I reachedfor the curtains, tearing them down and fashioning a makeshift bandage, as Isaid, “The good thing is, the bullet passed through.”
“Oh,that makes me feel so much better,” he said, as his lids fluttered to look atme, and that's when I realized his glasses were missing.
“Shite.Where are they?”
Ilooked up, surveying the room to see where the black frames had gone, but theplace looked so unlike the home I knew. Furniture was toppled to the ground,broken glass glittered against the hardwood floors, and drops of blood speckledthe walls. Wave after wave of nausea threatened to do me in, but I fought againstit. There would be time to fall apart later, but not now. Not when I had tofind Rick’s glasses and help him see.
“Goddammit,where the fuck are they?!” I shouted, pushing a chair aside. “Theyhaftaebe in here!”
“Alec,”Rick said, reaching out with a limp hand. “Don’t worry about my fuckin'glasses, mate. Idinnaewantyerface to be the last thing I see.”
Finleyran in and swore loudly, as I turned to Rick and sneered into his bleary eyes.
“Ye'renotgonnadie, ye fuckin' gobshite. Yewillnaetalk like that.”
“I'mdialin' 9-9-9,” Finley informed me, holding hismobile.
Igrasped Rick's hand and studied the pallor of his complexion, as a teartrickled over his cheek, to fall into the blood pooling beneath his shoulder. Istruggled against my own composure and scolded him for crying.
“I'msorry, Alec.”
“Whatthe fuck are yeapologizin' to me for?”
Hiseyes pinched shut as his emotions took control. “Ididnaeprotect her. Ididnaedoanythin'to keep him fromgettin' to her.”
Swallowingrepeatedly, I looked away from the tears wetting his face and shook my head.“Therewasnaeanythin' yecould do, man. Yecannaeblameyerselffor that.”
Finleycrouched beside us and said, “The ambulance is on the way.”
Withmore strength than I thought he could muster, Rick squeezed my hand and said,“Yegottago. Both of ye. Go find her.”
“Andwhat am I supposed to do? Leave you?” I asked the man who had never oncewillingly left my side, even in moments when he should have.
“That'sexactly what ye'regonnado,” he demanded, nodding.“I'll try and stay alive, I promise. Now, get the fuck out of here and do whatyegottado.”
LeavingRick's side was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, when I was always theone to tend to his wounds and make sure he was fine. But I knew in my heartthat I had done what I could to stop the bleeding, and Rosie was still outthere. I swore to my best mate that I would do everything in my power to bringher back or die trying, then I exited the house, leaving the door wide open.
WhenI got into the car, Finley asked where we should go first, as if there might bea slew of locations Sharp would've gone. But I knew better than that.
“Hetook her to the woods,” I said, stone faced and prepared to kill. So, Finleypulled out of the drive and steered us towardCoilleFeannag.
***
Twobeams of torchlight aimed at the forest floor were all we had to guide our waythrough the thick brush and whipping branches. I desperately hoped that Rosiewould scream and help lead us to where she was, but the night was thick with adeadly silence save the occasional call of an owl or the flapping of bats'wings. Yet I knew she was here. I sensed her presence and with that, I heldonto the hope that we would find her alive.
Aswe closed in on Grace's clearing, my foot landed on a fallen branch. It crackedin half with a brittle snap and as Finley turned to me with a startledwide-eyed stare, I hissed a curse beneath my breath.
“A-A-Alec,is that y-y-y-you?” Sharp's voice called from nearby, and a bright stream oflight cut through the trees.
Together,Finley and I dropped to crouch beneath the cover of a bush.
“Fuck,”I whispered at my own carelessness, shaking my head.
Wewaited for Sharp to assume he'd simply been startled by the natural noises ofthe forest, and the trees overhead eventually went dark once again. Quietly, westood and moved closer to the clearing's edge, where Sharp came into full view.
Afire had been lit in the center of the open space. It was such a basic humannecessity, a discovery of our earliest ancestors and one we are taught fromchildhood to respect. But like an inferno eating away at a beloved home, therewas nothing good about this fire. It performed an excited dance over the logs,as if its wild flames had come from Hell itself, and I was so transfixed on itsdemonic glow, I almost missed the horror show playing out on Grace's rock.
Rosielaid there, like a lamb for the slaughter, with her wrists and ankles bound.Her shirt was cut open from her neckline to waist and a gag was stuffed insideher mouth, keeping her muffled pleas and cries from being heard. Tiny slasheshad been cut into her arms, breasts, and belly, and the blood trickled over herflesh, painting her body in smears of deep, dark blood.
