Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
My eyes scanned the room until they found a girl that I didn’t recognize from the party. She was standing with her back toward me, facing the sink. Long, dark hair hung down to her waist. She wasn’t topless or even wearing a swimsuit. Instead, she had on a white sundress that looked like something Melanie would buy for me. Her shoulders barely moved as she cried out again.
“Hello? Are you okay?” I asked, stepping farther into the kitchen to see if I could help her.
The girl spun around then. Large, wide eyes that were more aqua than blue stared back at me. Her pale skin reminded me of a china doll, as did her perfect features. However, when my gaze dropped to her hands, I gasped. There was a knife in one, and blood slowly oozed from the other arm.
Had she cut herself? She was clearly not an employee. This wasn’t an accident from preparing food.
“Oh shit,” I said as I began to move again, scanning the room for anything I could find to stop the bleeding. “It’s okay. You’re gonna be fine,” I assured her as I reached for a hand towel folded neatly on the end of the marble countertop. “Here, let me wrap it up to stop the bleeding,” I said.
Not waiting on her to hand me the injured arm, I took her wrist and looked down, only to see there wasn’t just one cut. There were several small cuts along the inside of her arm. They weren’t deep or life-threatening. They were shallow, and the blood was seeping out.
I lifted my gaze from her arm to her face. She was trembling and looked at me as if I were about to hurt her, which was ridiculous since she was the one holding a knife. Dropping my gaze back to her arm, I noticed it then—the pale scars along her skin that were almost camouflaged completely by her fair skin color. I inhaled deeply through my nose, then exhaled through my mouth. My heart was still racing, but I understood now. I’d seen this before.
She was a cutter.
“Can I have the knife?” I asked her softly.
For starters, I didn’t want her doing any more damage to herself. Then, there was the fact that I didn’t know this girl, and clearly, she was troubled. I wanted to help her, but I didn’t want that knife finding its way into a part of my body.
She didn’t speak or move. She was frozen with those large eyes watching me, as if I were there to harm her. No one had ever been scared of me before. I didn’t know what it was that had this girl so terrified. She was my age or possibly older. I wasn’t dealing with a child.
“My name is Maddy. I’m a friend of Trev’s. I won’t hurt you.” I spoke to her as softly as I could.
She blinked once but continued to tremble. I glanced at the knife still clutched tightly in her hand, her knuckles white from the grip she had on it.
“Could you put that knife down? I want to help you or get someone you know. Maybe Trev?”
Still nothing. No response. How was I going to get Trev when she wouldn’t let go of that knife? I couldn’t very well pull her along with me, and leaving her alone in here was not an option. I’d known cutters. This was not normal. Not that cutting was normal, but something was off with this girl or woman. I didn’t know what exactly. She wasn’t … okay.
“Angel,” a familiar, deep voice said, startling me.
I feared what Blaise’s appearance would do to this very fragile female. I looked from the knife to make sure she wasn’t about to stab me and run, then to her face. What I saw shocked me. It was relief. Tears filled her eyes.
“Let go of her,” Blaise said softly, although he still made it sound like a demand.
I did and stepped back. He moved me farther away from the girl and took my place. He reached for the hand that still held the knife, and she let him take it easily. He placed it on the sink, then glanced around, as if looking for something.
“Here,” I said, holding out the hand towel to him.
He didn’t look at me as he snatched it from my hand and wrapped it around her abused arm. “I told you to stay in my room,” he said gently. “We’ve talked about this, Angel. You promised me you would stop.”
The girl said nothing, but when he cupped her face in his large hands, she didn’t flinch, nor did she shy away. She stared up at him with almost a worshipful expression. The trust and love in her gaze were clear.
I should go. She was okay and no longer needed my help. I felt as if I were spying on something that I hadn’t been meant to see. I turned to go as quietly as I could.