A scream rips out of me. I drop to my knees and my hands sink into it, coating my palms and wrists. The smell, iron and flesh scorched, thick enough to taste.
My stomach heaves. My body shakes so hard I can’t push myself up. I stay there, staring at the space where her face had been.
Guards appear from both ends of the hallway. One kneels beside her body. Another begins collecting fragments of her skull. A third brings a bin.
I stare as they sweep up pieces of her, mop her blood off the walls, zip her into a black body bag like it is just another part of the routine.
Elliot strolls into view. Sophie, Knox, and Asher follow. All three look relaxed and unbothered. Like they have seen this before.
“Damn,” Knox chuckles. “There goes tonight’s entertainment.”
Elliot stops in front of me. I am still on the floor. Blood is smeared across my face. My dress is soaked. I can’t stop shaking. He looks down at what is left of the girl, then back at me.
He sighs. “This is what happens when people don’t follow the rules.”
I stare at him, chest heaving, tears burning down my face.
He smiles.
“Welcome to the Manor.”
Chapter 5
Brooke
The water hits my skin and runs red in thick streams.
I stand under the showerhead with both hands pressed to the tile. The blood on me doesn’t move easily. It clings to my arms, my neck, my chest, and the front of the dress I've peeled off. My chest feels tight. Every inhale scrapes the back of my throat.
I scrub my arms until my skin burns, but pieces of her still stay on me. My hair is stiff with dried blood. I run my fingers through it, trying to untangle the knots, but something catches between my fingers. I pull it free.
A tooth sits in my palm.
It is small and white with blood around the root. My breath rips out of me. I drop it into the shower floor and watch the water push it toward the drain. My stomach lurches so hard I have to grip the wall to stay upright.
My vision blurs. The ringing in my ears gets louder. I wipe my face again, but more blood smears across my cheek. My hands shake so badly I can’t hold the soap.
I fold to the tile and press my forehead to it, skin burning against the cold. Water runs over my spine, but none of it matters. I can’t stop seeing Seth. Couldn’t stop thinking about what was growing inside me. Whether this level of fear could hurt it. My palms press against my stomach.
This place is built to overwhelm people just long enough to kill them. That won’t be me.
I wipe my face and breathe through the adrenaline still crawling up my neck. I don’t need everything to make sense right now. I need one opening. If I can separate them, I can dismantle them. If I can turn their confidence against them, I can get out of this.
The bathroom door opens without warning.
Sophie steps inside and pauses, her gaze moving over me like she is assessing damage.
“Wow,” she tsks. “You really went for it.”
I keep washing, dragging my hands over my arms like I can scrub it all off if I just keep going.
She moves farther in, heels clicking against the tile.
“You know,” she goes on, “most people don’t even make it after breaking rule one.”
I swallow hard. “Can I finish washing?”
She doesn’t answer.
