Sebastian
The scene inside the apartmentis my worst fears brought to life.
The officer from the local PD stands with his weapon pointed at the heap of Crystal on the ground, while Devin sits frozen in the chair she’s bound to.
And blood.
Blood covering Devin.
Blood oozing from Crystal.
Lots of fucking blood.
“Devin.” I scramble into the room to get to her, but the officer sticks an arm out, clotheslining me.
“I need to make sure she’s down first,” he says in his cop voice as he heads toward Crystal, gun still trained on her head—the head that is missing the left side.
Ignoring him, I rush to Devin, who looks like she was just in a scene from a horror movie. Only this isn’t a movie. This horror has been her life.
“Baby,” I gasp, untying her hands and feet before laying her on the floor, far away from Crystal’s dead body. “Tell me what you need. Where are you hurt? Where are you bleeding from?”
It’s not clear what injuries she’s suffered. I see a gash bleeding profusely from her arm. I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure I can see straight down to the bone. Her face has blood spattered all across it, and her clothing is saturated with red. There’s a welt on her cheek, and her eyes don’t look right as she tries to focus on me.
I hear her brother’s voice as he calls out our names.
“Mark! Help!” I scream, needing someone with training as the officer next to me is more concerned about Crystal at the moment.
I entwine my fingers with hers as her brother barrels into the room, followed by medics who crowd around her.
“Sir,” one of the EMTs says, trying to move me, “we need to get to her.”
I don’t want to let her go.
“Ma’am, can you tell us your injuries?”
Devin looks dazed and confused but answers them the best she can. “My head. My arm. My face. The bleach.”
It’s then that I notice the bottle of bleach lying on its side and the funnel next to the chair.
A flashlight is shown into her eyes as the other medic checks her pulse and blood pressure. “Did you ingest any of the bleach?”
“Tried not to,” she answers right before her eyes dart to me and she says, “I’m really tired, Sebastian.”
Her eyes close, and I panic.
“Devin, princess.” I squeeze her hand, trying not to think of her not opening them again. That’s a fate I refuse to accept. “Open your eyes. No sleeping. Please, baby.”
The EMTs shove me out of the way. “Sir, we need to get her into an ambulance. Now.”
“I’m going with her.” I turn to Mark. “Don’t even try to stop me.”
I see the terror in his eyes as they load Devin on the stretcher. “You better fucking call me the minute you hear anything. I won’t be too far behind.”
The medic team hooks Devin up to a bunch of tubes and shit as they begin wheeling her out to the ambulance, spouting off a bunch of medical terms I don’t understand.
“You’re going to be okay, princess,” I tell her, more for myself than her since she’s barely conscious. “You’re going to be okay.”
