Page 56 of The World Undone

“Max?” She opened the door wider, her lips trembling slightly as she ran across the room to me.

“Ellie?” Her name came out like more of a grunt as she collapsed into me, her body shaking in fear.

Wade and Darius inched closer to me, both of them looking at her like a potential threat.

I shot them a look and pulled Ellie back so that I could have a better look at her. “Ellie, what’s going on? Where is everyone? Where’s Greta?”

“I,” she sniffed, her eyes welling with tears that I could see her struggling to hold in, “I don’t know. Someone screamed about an hour ago, and I got scared and ran into the closet. I heard crashes, more fighting, and then after a few minutes, silence. I smelled blood. A lot of it. And something—unfamiliar. I—” her hand gripped mine, and because she was a vampire with a tremendous amount of strength, I felt my bones strain under the pressure, despite her age and size, “I was too afraid to come out and check.”

My stomach sank with each word she uttered. What the fuck was going on?

“She’s right. There’s blood,” Darius’s nostrils flared, his jaw tight as he scanned over the remaining patients, “a lot of it. But it always smells like blood in here.”

Everyone else was still and silent, their bodies lifting in the predictable, smooth cadence that came with their medically-induced sleep.

I shook my head and moved to the wall, flipping the light switch on. It wouldn’t be enough to alarm them or wake anyone who wasn’t already awake.

Blinking back the initial shock of the bright, hospital-style lighting, I noticed several sets of rumpled sheets on the bed, blood coating them all. A few of the light bed frames were flipped on their sides, medical trays and tools scattered around the floor in chaotic arrangements.

“Do you think someone had a nightmare or something, woke up not entirely sure where they were, and attacked?” Wade asked, though judging by the skepticism in his eyes, I knew he didn’t think it was really an option.

I shook my head. There were at least five patients not present in this room that had been here this morning when Izzy and I had been by. And, judging by the state of the place, they weren’t simply released. “There’s more than just one person missing right now.”

“And no one appears recently injured, like they were attacked and left to deal with the fallout,” Darius said, breathing in deeply, like a perfumer trying to isolate scents. “No one left smells like they have a particularly new or recent injury.”

I patted my still-drenched clothes, searching for a phone I knew wouldn’t be there. Sleepwalking wasn’t exactly conducive for leaving the house well-prepared.

The guys shook their heads and I knew they’d left without theirs too.

“Ellie,” I turned back to her, noticing a few tear streaks carving down her cheeks—she’d lost the battle with holding them in, despite the tough set of her mouth as she focused back on me. I nodded to a set of drawers on the wall. “Second drawer down, there’s an extra burner phone with several numbers programmed in. I want you to go find it and call every single number on that list until someone picks up, okay? Tell them to get here immediately and to be careful—someone’s in the woods, and whether they mean to be or not, they’re dangerous. Do you understand?”

She sniffed again, then wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands. “Where are you going? You’re not leaving me here, are you?” Her chin dimpled as she tried to contain her fear. “I don’t want to be alone.”

I shook my head and gave her shoulders a squeeze. “We’re going to check the other rooms, see if we can find Greta or one of the other volunteers, make sure whoever caused this mess isn’t in trouble or hiding in one of the rooms. After you make those calls, go back inside that closet, okay? We’ll come get you when it’s safe.”

She nodded, posture stiffening and eyes hardening slightly. In a small way, she reminded me of me when I first arrived at The Guild, trying like hell to put on the facade of bravery when every molecule in my body was screaming at me to run and hide. Some days, I still wish I’d listened. “Okay.”

The three of us left her to her task, our footsteps silent as we made our way to the back hall. I grabbed the ring of keys hidden in the lockbox and opened the door into Sarah’s room, cringing as the hinges creaked.

A quick scan confirmed that she was still there, huddled in her usual corner. Okay.

Well, not okay by any stretch of the term, but at least she didn’t seem to have any new injuries. She wasn’t missing and whatever had attacked the others, seemed to have left this room alone. Probably because it was locked.

I turned, looking for her two roommates who were kept in here. Like her, they were silent and didn’t react to the three of us hovering over them, their breathing erratic and heavy as they sank into themselves, prisoners to their own minds.

Satisfied that Sarah was still here at least, we left the room and made our way to the office and room that Greta and the volunteers usually tried to crash in for a few hours of sleep each night.

As I reached for the knob, it moved of its own accord.

Every muscle in my body tensed as the door opened.

I conjured hellfire in my left hand, preparing myself to use it if necessary.

I exhaled audibly when my focus fell on a familiar and chaotic mess of spiky hair.

“Greta. Thank gods.”

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