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“Was she with her friend?”
“Nah, I didn’t see her. They were dancing with two dudes, but I don’t see any of them anymore,” he says, looking over the crowd for her.
“She knows she’s supposed to check in with one of us before she goes somewhere,” I growl, clenching my fists.
“Calm down, big bro. I’m sure she had to go real bad and didn’t have time to tell us where she was going.” He grins at me, probably thinking I’m being overprotective.
Can he really blame me though? After everything Allie and I have been through, it’s hard to not wrap her up in a protective bubble to keep her safe. We had a shitty childhood, never feeling safe from the monsters that were in plain sight. I want to keep her protected from the dangers she doesn’t deserve.
Something about this feels off though. Allie knows how I feel about her wandering off around here, especially with random dudes, so I know she would’ve checked in even if she had to use the bathroom. “Want to help me cover some ground to find her?”
He nods, following me out from the booth. Walking toward the back where the bathrooms are, I see a lady coming out of the women’s restroom.
“Hey, did you see a girl with sandy blonde hair, wearing a blue dress in there at all?” I ask her.
She startles a little at the sound of my voice. “Um no, but I can go look again? What’s her name?” The lady’s voice is slightly slurred,but it beats having to go in there, getting charges for busting into the women’s room.
“Her name is Allie. Thanks.” She turns around to go back in there and it feels like hours until she comes back out shaking her head.
“She’s not in there. Sorry.”
“Thanks for checking.” I give her a small smile, nodding my head.
Blais and I head down the hallway and look around. None of the rooms back here are occupied, so she’s not in there, thankfully. The only thing left back here is the emergency exit, but it sounds and sends an alert to our phones when it’s pushed open without the code. It hasn’t gone off tonight.
As we turn around to check the upstairs, I hear a faint sob and what sounds like a metal trash can being knocked over. I look around once more, then I notice the emergency exit is slightly propped open.
What the fuck?
The only ones with a code to open it without triggering the alarms are the guys, me…and Allie. Fuck, I forgot she has the code too. Unease sinks in my stomach. Something is wrong. I can feel it. Sweat starts to trickle down my back as my heart rate increases.
Shit.
I look to Blais to see if he heard what I did and he nods his head. I’m not sure what I’m expecting, but the closer I get to the exit, the more my body screams to turn around. My fingers feel like they are tingling with anxiety for what I’m about to find. Standing in front of the door, I take a deep breath and push it open, praying I’m wrong about what’s on the other side.
My breath catches in my throat, my legs buckle beneath me as Blais catches my body in his arms. He goes rigid behind me and I can hear a croak trying to escape from him. His body starts to shake and I feel a drop of water land on my dress shirt, but I don’t look up at him. I can’t look up at him because I’m fucking frozen at the sight before me.
Blonde hair. Blue dress. Silver heels.
I blink rapidly to see if I’m imagining what I’m seeing, but every time I open my eyes, it’s still there. Every single time, the same mortifying scene is in front of me.
No. No. No.
This can’t be real. Please don’t let this be real.
Blood. So much blood.
This has to be a nightmare.
Maybe I drank too much. Fuck, maybe I was drugged. Please let that be the case. I’ll take that over this any day. I try to reason with myself, but I know I haven’t had a drop of alcohol tonight. My mind is making up any excuse for this to be an illusion.
Stumbling to my feet, I break out into a sprint and run over to the small body lying on the ground, covered in blood.
Please, God, please don’t let this be real.
A sob catches in my throat as I fall to the ground, cradling her head in my arms. Her eyes are bruised and swollen and her dress is cut completely open with her panties around her ankles. Her hair is matted to her face, covered in the sticky crimson liquid. I check for a pulse, but the blood covering her neck makes it impossible to focus.
My entire chest is caving in and it’s hard to breathe. I’m suffocating. Everything fucking hurts. I can feel my body breaking apart the longer I sit here. My limbs feel like they aren’t even connected to my body anymore. What the hell is happening? My vision starts to blur and my head feels dizzy. I don’t even realize I’m crying until a tear lands on her battered face.
