Page 134 of Shattered Veil

Standing among the wreck of a dining room, Cassie still had a hand comfortingly placed on Skylar’s upper back as she sneered at us all:

“It’s not too late to just fucking kill him.”

Liam admonished her from the next room over, “Cassandra!”

Skylar simply wrapped her arms around her torso, and I couldn’t decipher whether she truly believed Cassie’s vicious suggestion or not.

I did, though, because the fury that had flared in her eyes when she tore the fabric off of my face was still there in all of its crazed, beautiful glory…and I could feel the anger that was boiling beneath her skin. Despite her clearly being relieved at finding me alive—and shock at realizing that Skylar was here—she was still all too genuine with the intention of her wrath.

“Cassie,” I exhaled her name, “we aren’t doing that, and you know it.”

“Why the fuck not?” she hissed.

“Bad idea,” Colton spoke from our left, still sitting in a pool of his own blood. His words were slow, as if he had to focus on forming them, and he heavily slurred, “A-Plus for enthusiasm, though.”

One of our most abundant concerns announced itself in Colton’s ragged breathing, and I rapidly noted, “Shit, we need to get you out of here and to a hospital.”

Cassie stated, “We can get him in my car, I’ll—”

“It’s snowing,” Colton reminded her bluntly. “Red…white…”

The mention that his spilled blood would clearly be seen on the snow made us all take pause, and all that could be heard for a moment was Luke. Pacing behind us, he had been assuring both Claire and Zoey that everyone was alive with one of Colton’s headphones secured in his ear. From what I could tell from his side of their conversation, no neighbors had left their houses to investigate, and it was still, simply, quiet. It was odd to me, truly, for we had all screamed at some point—hell, the single gunshot followed by Colton’s reaction to it would be burned into my memory for quite a while—and I knew that any of those sounds would carry. But, that being said, it was midday in suburbia…and the snow was beginning to pick up once again. Even if there were individuals who weren’t away from their homes, hard at work, they were most likely inside with all doors and windows closed, and it was highly plausible that they could have only heard a single bang!

Perhaps because the sound wasn’t repeated, there was no cause for concern. Perhaps, if anyone heard, they attributed it to a car backfiring. Or, perhaps, no one heard at all.

None of us would know unless the police inevitably arrived, of course…and Skylar was the one to ask:

“Why has no one called 911?”

Cassie gestured to the other room, where Randy still remained unconscious. “He is the police, Sky…we can’t call the authorities.”

“They can’t all be like him,” she replied in a shaking tone that matched her shivering body. “He—he said he couldn’t have the rest of the force getting the calls from the dancers who—who were worried about the other ones like…” Skylar paused, her voice growing quieter as she said, “Like me.”

“He did say that,” I agreed, “but we can’t know for sure. Last thing we want is to be in more hot water because other people know that we’re aware of horrible shit he’s done—”

“So, we just…leave him here?” she asked in disbelief. “I—he’ll find me again. He’ll find you again. I—” Skylar’s voice hitched in her throat, and she brought her hands to her eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening. There’s a man,” she waved toward Colton, “bleeding out in the corner!”

I wasn’t sure how long it had been since Colton had been shot—my best guess was five minutes, at the maximum—and though Cassie had tightly wrapped his knee with a towel, it appeared to have bled through. His breathing was turning heavier with each second passed, and when we all stopped talking to glance his way, the pause in conversation made Liam nervously call out from around the corner:

“Colton?!”

One side of Colton’s lip pulled up in an exhausted smirk. “Present.”

I heard Liam exhale a relieved, “Fuck.”

“Not dead yet,” he returned wearily. Rolling his head, his brow pinched together as he took in the damage done to Skylar’s face. “Skylar, right?”

She watched him hesitantly. “Uh huh.”

“You have your phone?”

Skylar shook her head. “He took it, I—”

“Is it blue?” Liam called out.

“Yes!”

“It was on the cop,” he replied. “Jay, yours is here, too.”

---