Page 95 of Love Me

“His car is here,” Keelan said, pointing it out in Ethan’s long driveway.

All four of us got out and made our way inside. The music was blaring, and the house was full of students from our school.

Ethan spotted Creed and me from where he was playing beer pong. He raised his hands in the air. “Hey, guys! You’re finally here.” His gaze drifted behind us where Knox and Keelan followed. “You all came. Awesome.”

I forced a smile. “Happy birthday.”

“Have you seen Colt?” Creed asked, getting right to the point.

Ethan frowned. “Uh…yeah. He said he had missed a call from you and went off somewhere quiet to call you back. That was a while ago, though.”

“Do you know where?” Knox asked, pushing between Creed and me.

“I was in the middle of playing a game. So I didn’t see,” he said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb at the beer pong table. “The only places he could have gone that are quiet are outside or upstairs.”

Knox turned to look at me. “You and Keelan search upstairs, and Creed and I will look outside.”

I nodded. He and Creed took off toward Ethan’s backyard. Before Keelan and I could go, Ethan stopped me. “What’s going on?”

“There’s an emergency at the gym.” It was the best lie I could come up with and Ethan didn’t look like he believed it, either. Thankfully, he didn’t call me out.

I went to leave again, but Ethan started talking again. “Isabelle went upstairs. If you see her, tell her to hurry up because we’re about to play another game and she promised to be my partner.”

“I will,” I told him, and Keelan and I began weaving through the crowded party towards the stairs.

There were a few people hanging out at the top of the landing, but for the most part, the second floor was empty and somewhat quiet. You could still hear the music. The bass vibrated the carpeted floor beneath our feet as we made our way down a hall.

“Colt!” I called out for him as we poked our heads into rooms. We accidentally walked in on two people having sex in one of them. “Sorry!” I yelled at them and slammed the door closed. Keelan snorted and we continued to the next room.

As we got toward the end of the hall, where there was one last room to check, Keelan grabbed my arm. “Shi,” he said as he stared down.

I looked down, too. In front of the last room, seeped into the beige carpet, was a large spot of blood. It was still wet.

“Damnit,” I growled, and I pulled my gun from where I had it tucked into the back of my shorts. With it held out in front of me, we moved closer, and the closer we got, the more blood we could see. It was a trail leading into the room. The door was slightly ajar and there was blood on the handle.

With the barrel of my gun, I pushed open the door. It was a large, dark bedroom and there was light coming through the cracked door of what I assumed was the en suite bathroom. As I went inside, I prayed.

Please don’t let Colt be in this room.

Please let him be all right.

Once inside, we followed the bloody trail toward the en suite. I glanced ahead toward the cracked door and froze. There was a bloody handprint on the door.

“Call the police,” I said and pushed toward the bathroom.

Please not Colt.

Please not Colt.

I pushed the door open, careful not to touch the blood.

The first thing I saw on the floor was teal hair. Then I saw her face. There was blood on it. There was blood everywhere.

“No!” I screamed, dropping to the floor. “Isabelle!” I crawled to her. My knees slid in the blood that surrounded her. She had been stabbed and cut. I took in each area she was bleeding from and stopped counting after seven. There were too many—too many places where I needed to stop the bleeding. I cupped her face. “Isabelle! Isabelle, can you hear me?”

She jolted and sucked in a raspy, wet breath.

“Isabelle!” I cried, pushing her hair away from her face. “We’re getting you help. Just please, stay with me.”

She didn’t respond or move.

“Isabelle?” I shook her a little and got nothing. “No! Isabelle!”

I could hear Keelan talking to a 911 operator behind me, telling them about Isabelle. They weren’t going to make it in time. I needed to stop the bleeding. I looked around for a towel or something. Red writing on the mirror caught my attention. The red was blood, Isabelle’s blood, and what was written erased any bit of doubt that he had found me.

You are mine. X.

To be continued.