Ichor : Blood & Secrets

Chapter 56

Horrified, I squelched a scream and almost called for help. Looking more closely, I saw that a lot of the blood wasn’t actually coming from her. It was smeared on her, like it had been on her hands and she’d rubbed her face. She sank to the floor, and I followed, kneeling before her.

“Are you okay?” I whispered. “What happened?” She only shook her head, but I saw her face crumple as more tears spilled from her eyes. I took her hands. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned—” I stopped. She was bleeding after all. Perfect lines crossed her wrists, not near any crucial veins, but enough to leave wet, red tracks across her skin. She hadn’t hit her veins when she did this; death hadn’t been her goal. She met my eyes.

“I’m sorry. . . . I didn’t mean . . . Please don’t let them know . . .” she sobbed. “When I saw it, I freaked out.” She nodded toward her wrists. “This just happened before I could stop. I was upset. . . .” “It’s okay,” I said automatically, wondering what “it” was. “Come on.” I heard a knock on the door. “Rose?” “Just a sec,” I called back. I took her to the sink and rinsed the blood off her wrists. Grabbing the first-aid kit, I hastily put some Band-Aids on the cuts. The bleeding had already slowed.

“We’re coming in,” the matron called. I jerked off my hoodie sweatshirt and quickly handed it to Lissa. She had just pulled it on when Dimitri and the matron entered. He raced to our sides in an instant, and I realized that in hiding Lissa’s wrists, I’d forgotten the blood on her face. “It’s not mine,” she said quickly, seeing his expression.

“It . . . it’s the rabbit. . . .” Dimitri assessed her, and I hoped he wouldn’t look at her wrists. When he seemed satisfied she had no gaping wounds, he asked, “What rabbit?” I was wondering the same thing. With shaking hands, she pointed at the trash can. “I cleaned it up. So Natalie wouldn’t see.” Dimitri and I both walked over and peered into the can. I pulled myself away immediately, swallowing back my stomach’s need to throw up.

I don’t know how Lissa knew it was a rabbit. All I could see was blood. Blood and bloodsoaked paper towels. Globs of gore I couldn’t identify. The smell was horrible. Dimitri shifted closer to Lissa, bending down until they were at eye level. “Tell me what happened.” He handed her several tissues.

“I came back about an hour ago. And it was there. Right there in the middle of the floor. Torn apart. It was like it had ... exploded.” She sniffed. “I didn’t want Natalie to find it, didn’t want to scare her . . . so I—I cleaned it up. Then I just couldn’t . . . I couldn’t go back. . . .” She began to cry, and her shoulders shook.