Page 102 of Split You Open

“Huh, looks like you’re in a bit of a predicament,” Santi muses with a dark chuckle. “Cock out and gagged—it would be hilarious if we dragged you up the stairs like this and left you at the main entrance of Gnarly Pines.”

Rhett snorts his amusement as he comes closer but pauses when he notices the bloody knife.

“Santi…” he starts.

“Yup?”

“I thought you checked Blair for weapons before we let her in here?”

“I did, why—Oh…” Santi’s eyes land on the knife sitting beside the first aid kit. His eyes dart up to me, then down to my bandaged chest. There, his eyes grow wide. “Ah, Rhett… lookie what our woman did.”

Rhett sighs as he comes to stand beside Santi rather than uncuff me right away. His eyes grow wide too.

“Fuck… Santi, is that the letter B bleeding through that bandage?”

The two of them exchange surprised looks before Rhett chuckles.

“Holy shit, she’s crazy,” he says through his laughter. “I fucking love it.”

Twenty-Three

Wesley

“I’ll be out in a second.”

That’s what Blair said before slipping into the bathroom to wash off Ledger’s blood from her hands and face.

That was forty-five minutes ago.

In that time, Rhett and Santi came upstairs with Ledger stumbling in-tow. They helped him to his room and then slipped into Rhett’s before the light under the door went out. I've made hot chocolate that has since grown cold. I’ve changed into my own pajamas, checked all the locks and security cameras around the property, and checked the wood burning stove to make sure the house stayed warm.

Still, Blair has not emerged.

Something’s wrong.

I step out of my room and cross the hall to the bathroom. Rather than knock, I lean against the door and listen. All that I hear is the sound of water running. No movement.

My knuckles rap on the door.

“Blair?”

There’s a pause—too long to bring me any type of assurance that everything’s okay. The water stops running and then comes the shuffling of feet.

“Be right out.”

I step back and lean against the adjacent wall, crossing my arms over my chest as I wait for Blair to emerge. When she does, it’s only in a towel wrapped around her body. Her hair drips as if she hasn’t even attempted to dry it. Her face is so carefully blank that she could be a mannequin. When our eyes meet, there’s no one there. There’s just a dark emptiness that stretches on and on with no end in sight.

This won’t do.

“I’ll join you in a minute,” she says, her words lacking inflection.

She tries to move past me but I grab her wrist, preventing her from going any further.

“C’mon, to my room,” I urge gently.

“Wes, I need⁠—”

I don’t let her finish. Bending down, I scoop Blair up and throw her over my shoulder. Her gasp is sharp and she stiffens but she doesn’t fight me as I carry her back into my room. I shut the door behind us and then gently place her on my bed.