Knox was holding her.
I didn’t understand.
“…Bambi?”
The horror of what was before me rent me apart.
She was a beautiful Omega with thick blonde hair and curious eyes that had, back in the party, lingered on Bunny for long enough that it caught my attention.
And then I’d seen an eerie, dull deadness in her gaze when Banner had spoken behind us—a silence I’d felt like a knife in my own heart.
An old pencil stub scratching against scrap paper, spiralling happiness as an image came together—until a shadow drifted over us.
It was impossible to forget how much I hated Dan—or how much he scared me… But my fear was the part I hated to face.
I’d hated seeing it in her eyes too, tonight.
I could see the tattoo of a baby deer across her shoulder, but it was the only thing familiar about her.
The white dress she wore was no longer white. It was barely even the colours of the markers that had touched it. The dress was crimson now, to match the blood seeping from the huge cuts across her.
Nasty, angry marks.
Across her chest. Her face. As if slashed in rage. Hatred…
The little red heart I’d drawn on her wrist—I could only just see it between drips of real, crimson blood.
I stumbled forward, a cold, icy terror slamming in as I realised that everything I was looking at… it was my fault.
I shuddered, seeing again the confidence on Bella’s face as she’d re-entered the party late in the evening, wiping her hands on a handkerchief.
“N-no…”
I’d known by the way she’d smiled that something was wrong. I’d buried it, like I did all the things my brain didn’t understand.
Stupid…
My chest caught, breaths not finding a way out. Bunny tumbled from my grip as my knees crashed to the floor of the limo. I was shoving Knox back as I took her in my arms.
She… she was alive.
Barely.
Wh-what have we done, Bunny?
Terrified honey eyes met mine, and I felt her small fist grip my arm.
Tears clouded my eyes.
I never… never wanted this…
I pressed my hand to Bambi’s, fingers weaving with hers, but they refused to match no matter how hard I stared. Her skin felt clammy, still shades darker than the pallor of my own.
This blood wasn’t mine.
Myfault, but not mine…
My mind careened back to the party. I’d been with Ace when I noticed Bella was gone. What had I been doing? I think I’d been half-listening to chatter while I drew red hearts on Ace’s cuff.