Page 71 of Hell House
“Pierce?” I ask, not in the mood for any stupid pranks. I pick up my pace, my heart hammering so hard I feel it in my throat.
“Salem, run.” A soft feminine voice whispers in my ear.
I jolt, my feet sliding on the gravel, tripping me. I go down hard, the tiny bits of stone biting into my palms. My dress tangled beneath me as another chuckle ripples past me.
“What do you want?” I scream out, hopeful that someone from the house will hear me.
Only a laugh answers that sounds like it could be anywhere and everywhere at the same time.
My heart gallops, pulsating in my ears so loud that I almost miss when whatever it is tries to swipe at me again, but this time I’m ready. I turn, running as fast as I can toward the house my dress billowing behind me, but when I’m about to reach the exit of the path, my hair is ripped backwards, and I feel three sharp claw marks ripping down my back so deep that I know there must be blood. I scream at the top of my lungs. Kicking and clawing at nothing but air. Was I going insane? I can’t see any assailant but my back burns with the rips in my flesh. At the blinding pain I feel a crack deep inside of my chest. My body heating underneath my skin. I see a flash of light gathering in my palms, I swipe to where I feel myself being held.
I’m let go as suddenly as I was snatched, my breath coming in ragged. I stare down at my hands, but they look as normal as they ever have. I shove down a wretch of vomit that gathers in my throat, confusion coating my mind.
“Salem?” Walker’s deep gravel voice asks. I blink trying to focus my eyes on the three guys walking towards me.
“Stay away from me.” I say yanking my heel off my foot, ready to use it like a weapon. My back was screaming, and I felt close to passing out from the pain.
“Baby, what happened?” Pierce pushes past Walker, taking in my disheveled appearance. I choose to ignore his use of calling me baby, but Walker sure doesn’t seem to be willing to as he glowers at Pierce. He looks two seconds away from pummeling him straight in the face, and I can’t say I wouldn’t enjoy seeing that Karma in action.
“You can stop fucking with me. Why were you guys chasing me? You ripped my back open!” All three of them gasp when I turn gesturing to the blood seeping out of my back. Pierce doesn’t even give me a second, before he’s wrenching the shoe out of my hand.
“Who did this to you?” He demands, crushing my body against him as he inspects the wounds. I look up at him in confusion.
“It wasn’t you guys?” They look at me with something that looks like a mix of fear and concern.
“Lukas! Give me your jacket.” Pierce snaps. I see Lukas shrug out of his jacket and Pierce applies pressure with the black dress coat. “Hold on baby, I’ve got you. Walker, go check the woods. See if the fucker that did this is close.”
I reach up feeling close to blacking out and run my fingers against Pierce’s stubble.
“I couldn’t see who did it. I thought it was you.” He frowns at me, his devil mask sitting on top of his slicked back dirty blonde hair. “Lukas, go get help. She’s losing a lot of blood.” Lukas takes off running, as Pierce gathers me into his arms using his body to heat me up. “Stay with me.” He demands.
“I make no such promises.” I manage to whisper, before I slip out of consciousness.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Walker
Istalk through the trees, the red sky is shit for seeing anything, so I swing out my phone and turn on the flashlight. Whoever fucking hurt Salem was going to pay. My feet stomp through the forest, snapping twigs and sending rocks flying. I remember the look on her face when Pierce and Lukas’s father called Salem a whore. The man was lucky to still be breathing. I’d never felt my Wrath slip into place so fast, ready to rip out his throat with my bare hands. It took everything I had to shove it down, so I didn’t end up murdering one of the most prominent CEOs in the country. But the way she looked as us, like she was disappointed, that gutted me the most. Especially since I’d been keeping her at arms length since that day in her bedroom, when I lost control. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt her.
I swing the flashlight letting it bathe the dense forest in visibility. I’m careful not to get too close to the edge. One wrong step, or one strong gust of wind could have me on the bottom side of a cliff, smashed or impaled beyond recognition.
A rustling to my left has me swinging my flashlight in that direction.
“Emmet? What the fuck are you doing out here?” Was he the one that hurt Salem? My rage is threatening to spill over and pummel his face in. He stumbles, obviously drunk. Fuck. I almost laid out my friend.
I grab him by his jacket collar, helping him find his footing.
“Had one too many, must have lost my way.”
“Yeah, well you were about to toss yourself over the edge of a cliff. Have you seen anyone else out here? Someone attacked Salem.”
“Sss- she, okay?”
“I don’t know. Listen, let’s get you back to the house. I’m not seeing anyone else out here.”
“Thanks, brother.”
He hangs on me, but instead of being assaulted with alcohol breath I expect, I’m hit with the smell of mint. He could have just popped a mint in his mouth, that doesn’t mean he was out here hurting Salem. I shake my head desperate to get back and see if anyone else found anything, and most of all if she’s okay.
