ThirtyThree - Ella

A door slammed open. Or maybe it slammed closed. Either way it was loud enough to have me jolting out of bed and to my feet. I stood in the darkness, wide awake though I knew I couldn't have slept for very long. It was the adrenaline keeping me alert when I would otherwise feel groggy. Something was wrong. Awful. Everyone here knew to be quiet. Had to be quiet. No one would risk slamming through door. My heart pounded so hard against my chest I was sure it would break through my sternum.

I shifted my weight slightly, my fingers tapping out nerves against my thigh as I strained to listen.

Movement sounded from down the stairs. I heard footsteps walking across the hardwood floors, some planks creaking under the weight of whoever was moving. I tried to convince myself that it was the guys downstairs.

The bedroom door was cracked open and slowly I stepped toward it, cautiously planning to investigate the noise.

Maybe Joel accidentally slammed a door. Or Miles dropped a vase or book... or book shelf. They were all trying to clean up some mess. Maybe they hadn't realized how loud they'd been. If they had, I was sure Kyle would have come up to reassure me nothing was wrong.

And then it went quiet.

Deafeningly quiet.

And I could no longer pretend that one of the guys has simply broken something.

If it wasn't them making the noise, where were they? Images of them, hurt, or helpless... or dead downstairs flashed through my mind. I quickly pushed those thoughts away. They were intelligent. Prepared. They knew these sorts of situations and how to handle them. They were probably hiding, waiting for the right moment to make their move.

I stood next to the door, straining to see down the dark hall through the two inches of space. I held my breath, listening for noise. There was nothing for a long moment.

The silence ended.

"Stuff's here." I didn't recognize the faint voice. "This is the one, boys," the same voice said louder. "Find 'em."

My breath caught. For a moment after that it was quiet again. What was happening?

Then, footsteps.

Soft. Light. Sneaking footsteps. The kind that I would have missed if I hadn't been straining to listen.

People were here. Someone was quietly making their way through the house. Up the stairs.

My brain tried to reason that it could be Kyle. Maybe he'd slid past them and was coming for me.

Then it's because I want to. You're my priority.

There was danger, but he would keep me safe. He hadn't lied to me and he hadn't failed to protect me so when he said I was a priority, I trusted him completely.

The quiet footfalls came to a halt at the end of the stairs. From my angle, I couldn't see who was standing there, but in my gut, I knew it wasn't Kyle. He knew which room I was in. He'd have no reason to stop and deliberate which way to go.

Kyle and Miles and Joel were downstairs, possibly hurt. Hunter was more than likely with Zero. Had she woken up? Had he fallen asleep? I hoped they were safe. Zero needed to be safe. I knew Hunter would protect her. His priority. It became painfully clear that I would be relying on myself. Only me.

I stepped back from the door, moving deafly on my tiptoes as I kept listening for movement. Quickly, I crossed the the floor to the nearest window. My fingers gripped on to the string to pull open the blinds and I silently cursed that the door was still open - I'd been too scared to risk closing it - because the sound seemed to scream through the room. Once the blinds were pull high enough that I could open the window, I paused to listen for sound. When I didn't hear anyone rushing me, I flicked the locks and pushed the window up quickly.

The track, which hadn't often been used screeched. There was no doubt in my mind that this time, the noise was heard. I pushed the screen out and let it clatter to the ground and leaned out to look below. My stomach dropped. It was a long drop.

I had to do something as I heard the footsteps coming in my direction. I didn't have time to think it through. I turned away from the window. There was no way I could make that jump and get out of here. Kyle's knife sat on the end table. It hadn't been there when I gone to sleep, so he must have set it there sometime later. I grabbed the blade and I ducked down to my stomach and slid under the bed.

It wasn't a second later that the door of my bedroom was pushed open, quietly hitting the stopper protecting the wall. My right hand held tightly around the grip of the knife though that didn't stop the shaking. My left hand clasped painfully tight around my mouth, fingers digging into my cheeks to keep myself quiet. I was an idiot. I was a fool who was going to die hiding under my damn bed.

What had I been scared of? Twisting an ankle?

A short, deep chuckle filled the room as steps crossed. The skirt of my bed and dark of the night prevented me from seeing where he was, but I followed the sound of the steps. They walked past my bed.

"Someone made a run," his sudden shout was loud enough that I jumped. "Get Sammy on that!"

"On it," a feminine voice called through.

Disbelief settled over me like a warm blanket. He thought I jumped out the window. Nervous, relieved laughter nearly bubbled up. He thought I made a run for it. He was leaving. I was still stuck and I didn't know what to do. Making a run for it was out of the question now. And there were at least three people in the house.

"Check the rooms Dunn." It was an order. An order that, apparently, this man intended to follow. He was back in my room, a flashlight moving around enough to know he was searching. Through my closet. When no one was in there, I hoped against chance that he'd assume the room clear. My bed was low enough to the ground that a much larger person wouldn't have fit underneath. He stopped by the bed. I could feel his presence there. He sat on the edge of the bed, his light shining on the floor so that under the skirt, I could see the heels of his shoes.

Why was he waiting? What was he doing?

Staying here was it.

Slowly, quietly, I inched further away from him. Wiggling my body as silently as I could to the other side. When I reached the edge of the bed opposite where he sat, I heard him shift, the springs of my queen bed straining under the weight. I breathed in through my nose, though all I wanted to do was scream, and slid out from under the bed and into the small, open space between bed and wall. When he looked under I knew the chances of him seeing me here were slim.

His flashlight clattered to the ground as he stood. The light was on me though I still hoped that then he looked I'd remain protected in shadows. I expected him to shift, to look under the bed. Maybe even to walk around and discover me there.

I didn't want to die here.

I didn't want to die like this.

My grip tightened further. These people had nearly killed me before. They'd left me petrified of my own shadow. Hunter had saved me. Kyle, Joel, Miles... Zero, they had all saved me. But these people were just people. And they'd tried to kill me. But I had killed them. They were not super beings. They were just people. And this one at least was not expecting any surprises. If he knew I was there, he expected to find a cowering mess.

I would disappoint him.

I wasn't so weak. I had impressed them all, at least a little.

I would not die like this.

They were waiting, they would fight. Not one of the other people in this house would lie down and let death come.

I shifted, sitting up and crawled around the foot of the bed.

If I was an idiot before, I didn't even want to know what my actions were now. Nothing short of insanity.

Leaning forward, I peaked around the side where he was. He was big, not as big as the men I was with, not as muscular but certainly stronger and taller than I. My breaths steadied and I forced my heart to slow down, at least so it wasn't trying to erupt from my chest. He knelt and then bent over to pull up the skirt of the bed and look underneath where I had just been and I made my move.

I wasn't as practiced at killing another human as everyone else was. I didn't move swift and gracefully like I'd seen Zero do. I wasn't as strong and powerful as Kyle, as bulky as Miles, or as intimidating as Joel could be. My first step was timid as I considered going back to my spot and hoping I wouldn't be found. When I wasn't immediately spotted, my movements grew more certain. In two large steps I was behind the man who, disappointed not to have discovered someone hiding, began to sit back up.

I knew the moment he felt my presence. Broad shoulders stiffened and I knew if I didn't do this now, I wouldn't get the chance. It was a surreal experience, the moment I took his life. Not like the first where I hadn't been thinking, just reacting. That happened so fast, I wasn't even sure I'd pulled the trigger until he fell. I felt like I was watching myself do this horrible thing. It didn't feel like my hands move the knife through the air.

The man turned and instead of stabbing solidly into his neck, the blade sliced deep into the same skin. The effect was immediate. Blood sprayed from his throat onto the floor, the bedding, me. Once, twice, three times before the pressure dropped in his carotid and the blood left in his body spilled steadily from his throat. Five liters never seemed like that much. Not even two gallons of milk. That's like... nothing. Until it's blood. And it's all over you and the floor. And it's coming out of another human being. I stumbled back as his weight collapsed toward me, just managing to catch his weight enough that he didn't hit the floor with a thud. Eyes still open as dropped completely. Every limb slack.

Now, what?

At least two others were in the house. Maybe one was outside, I didn't know for sure.

The bedroom door hung wide open on its hinges, but no one was there. No one heard anything. They thought this man was still searching the rooms. I creeped toward the hall. Only one set of footfalls had come upstairs. One person. Up here was safe, I told myself over and over. Maybe safe wasn't the right word, but at least reaching Zero and Hunter wasn't out of the question. Moving into the dark of the hall, I held my breath as I darted by the top landing of the stairs.

The door was open, not completely, but as if someone had entered and barely nudged it shut. I could fit through the hole without moving the door.

"Hunter," I whispered into the silent room. It was too dark to make out anything, but I didn't see them and it was safe to assume that they, like me were in an attack first mindset. At this point, risking breaking the silence was worth it. "Zero?" If she wasn't awake, Hunter had at least moved her from the bed which was now empty.

"Ella? You're alive." He sounded surprised. I would have been to. I would have pegged me for dead. He didn't ask what happened to the person that had gone into my room. I wasn't sure if he could see the blood on me, but I assumed he knew and I was glad he didn't comment on it. I was doing my very best to pretend the wetness on my skin was just sweat. Sweat. Not blood.

"Yeah. Zero?"

"I'm up."

She sounded tired. Awake. Alive against all odds. But, tired.

"Can we get to the roof?" Hunter asked. "We need a way out, gotta assume they're watching the windows."

"Kyle and the others, they're downstairs. We can't leave them."

The space between words grew uncomfortable.

"They aren't here."

"How do you know they got out?"

"No, I mean they almost two hours ago."

"Oh." I didn't let myself process that sentence. I wouldn't. I couldn't... I couldn't believe he left. "None of us are in any shape to be hopping across roofs," I whispered when I realized that he'd asked for roof access.

"I'm not seeing a better way, sweetheart. But this is your house so please tell me if you got something easier."

There wasn't.

The access hatch to the attic was in the hall. It was discreet enough that I was sure if we could get up there, we'd be safe. It was doubtful that anyone would think to look. Getting up there though, wouldn't be easy. The hatch was close to the stairs. We'd have to lower it down and pull out the attached ladder without anyone noticing. I didn't think it was possible.

We were stuck. It was only a matter of time before the body in my room was discovered.

I knew this house better than anyone. There had to be—

"The dumbwaiter."

I wasn't even sure the thing was still operable but I remembered playing around it when I was younger - hiding in the small space hoping my dad would come find me. The access for the dumbwaiter was in the hall too, close to the bathroom, but it would be easier to get into than the attic. The pulley system would get us all the way down the basement. From the basement there was a side exit. I couldn't remember the last time anyone had used it, the space between houses in this neighborhood was almost nonexistent so it seemed silly to have a side entrance. But it was there.

I explained that as quick as I could to Hunter. I knew leaving through a door, even if it was discreet, wasn't much better than jumping out one of the windows and making a run for it.

"Shh," Zero stopped us. "Someone's coming."

We stopped, instantly shrouded in silence. But my hands weren't shaking this time as I heard the distinct creaking sounds of feet against the wood floors.

"Dunn," a voice called as they walked up the stairs. It was a new voice, I was certain of it. "Paul," a brief chuckle, "get lost up here?"

The three of us stood in the room, unmoving. I could feel their eyes on me and I shook my head. This wasn't going to be good. We were about thirty seconds from shit hitting the fan. And the dumbwaiter plan was a no go.

I didn't know what was going to happen here. I didn't know how we were going to make it out of this. But I knew Zero had to. She had to. Because Zero was important, so was Hunter. It was just me. I was the most expendable.

Oh, God.

I pushed the knife into Hunter's hand knowing that if I was caught with it, they'd put two and two together. Bloody knife. Bloody girl. Slit throat. Did not want to be caught with that knife.

"Hide her."

"What are doing?" Zero asked.

"Just... trust me," I said. "And give me your shirt."

The majority of the blood on me was on the shirt I wore, which I quickly stripped from and used to wipe the blood off of my face and hands. Zero didn't hesitate to toss me the shirt she'd been wearing, a clean one I'd found that Hunter changed her into sometime after she stopped seizing.

"Fuck!"

The body was discovered.

"Go."

I could do this. I had a plan... kind of.

I could hear my room being torn apart. It wouldn't be long before he moved on to the rest of the rooms. Zero and Hunter disappeared, into the closet I guessed. They would have more cover in there, I knew, because the guest room closet had always been used as storage. Boxes, extra blankets, and the like filled the closet so that at first glance it didn't look possible to fit one person much less two. And anyway, I didn't think they'd bother checking it after finding me.

I settled into the space between the dresser and the wall in the corner of the room. I would be found.

Cowering in fear came naturally as footsteps sounded this way. I had no way of knowing which room he would enter next.

What was I doing?