14

Word Count: 1930

~Sienna

Despite the horror curling in my stomach, I can't remove my gaze from Elora's body.

A thick puddle of blood has gathered around her dark hair, spilling out across the floor. Mercifully, her hair covers most of her face, although her right leg is contorted at an unnatural angle that has my stomach pitching.

Kayn and Lexa's voices are muffled as I try to comprehend what I'm witnessing.

Slowly, I zone into what they are saying.

"I don't know what happened. I just came out and I found her like his," Lexa exclaims, her expression stark and panicked.

Her fingertips are tinted red from where she must have checked for breathing or a pulse.

Elora is dead.

"Lexa you need to get to your room," Zayn orders. His voice is so stern it rattles even me.

"But-"

"Go!" He insists.

Lexa takes one last look at Elora, grimaces, and then rushes up the stairs, her pale nightgown rustling around her legs.

Kayn's hand is on my shoulder, but I'm too numb to feel the weight of it. "You should go too."

"No...I can't," I stammer.

I need to stay here, to do a job that doesn't actually belong to me. It just feels wrong to run from her like this, to sit in my room as if she isn't here, dead.

Kayn kneels down, brushing his fingers against her slender neck. He waits a couple beats before his lips settle into a grim line.

"She's dead," he affirms.

Vacantly I feel like I should be crying. Instead, all I feel is a painful stab in my stomach, with all other emotion choked in my throat.

"How?"

"She must have fallen down the stairs." He looks up the sweeping staircase, then back down at the floor. "Fuck, look at all that blood."

I cover my mouth with my hand, seeing the reflection of the chandelier in the surface of the blood. It glistens hauntingly.

Footsteps pound from behind me. It's Onyx, followed by Lucia and a guard.

"What's going on?" Onyx demands.

He stops short, horror morphing his features as he drinks in the sight of what was once one of his marriage candidates.

"It's Elora. She's dead," I whisper.

Lucia sweeps up beside her son, wincing at the horrific sight. With her she brings a cloying scent of perfume that clashes violently with the bitter smell of blood.

"Did anyone see what happened?" She asks, pulling a handkerchief out, pressing it to her nose.

"My sister found her, but I don't think she saw anything," Kayn explains grimly. "This must have been an accident."

I look back up the stairs. How? No one has so much as broken an ankle on these stairs let alone fallen to their doom.

"She came here with her sister right? Go tell her," Onyx demands.

The mask of an Alpha passes over his face, chasing off any hints of panic. His composure in such situations is both admirable and disturbing.

"Me?" Kayn looks torn between staying with me and obeying his Alpha's command.

Onyx brushes him off. "Yes you. Go."

Indecision plays on his features for a brief moment before he obliges his Alpha's command, rushing up the stairs.

Onyx immediately turns his attention to me, his features softening.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I stammer, although I feel anything but. "I think."

"Do you need to go to your room?" He brushes a hand down the side of my face, his brows knitting together with concern.

I shake my head. "Not yet."

"We need someone to remove her body, but keep it safe so she can be brought back to her family," Onyx says to the guards surrounding us.

Lucia taps her lower lip with her finger. "This doesn't look good for us."

"It was just an accident." Onyx eyes her warily.

I look up the stairs and back at Elora. This poor girl. What a terribly cruel way to go.

"We need a way to soothe the girls. This will be confronting to all of them," I pipe up.

I need to feel helpful, like I'm doing something other than staring at this dead girl, trying not to throw up.

"We need to bring someone new here, to ease tension. These girls need to know they are safe," Lucia says, covering her mouth like the sight of Elora physically repulses her.

"They are safe," Onyx adds. "And now is most definitely not the time to think about bringing someone else here. I'm going to offer the girls a chance to go home if they are uncomfortable."

The sides of my lips quirk up slightly. Of course Onyx is going to do the right thing.

Lucia doesn't look impressed. "That's not a good idea-"

"It's what's happening." His dismissal of her is cold, but completely necessary. She presses her lips together, but nods, backing off.

Onyx shifts his attention to me. "Sienna, you should go check on Alex and I'll check on Lexa and Violet."

"Alright."

I rush up the stairs, trying not to imagine what it would feel like to fall backward like Elora had. Unfortunately this horror is going to haunt me all night.

I do as instructed and check up on Alex, who panics at first, but after we talk for a couple hours, she calms down long enough to convince herself to get some sleep.

Ambling slowly back to my room, I let the darkness drench me. I want to curl up into it, to cry for hours in hopes of letting out this horrible feeling of dread that crawls through my body.

I make it to my room, aiming right for the toilet.

Unable to help myself, I throw up, replaying what Elora's death must have looked like, what it must have felt like over and over in my head.

Time slows and contorts. For periods of time I just sit near the toilet until intrusive thoughts win and I crawl back to brace myself on the toilets cool surface, unable to stop vomiting.

Vacantly I can hear the bathroom door being opened, soft footsteps approaching me from behind.

I can feel his presence. It's like a warm blanket of surety draping over me, soothing me.

Onyx's tentative fingers gently pull my hair off my damp neck, twisting it around his hand so it's out of my way.

"Hey," he whispers comfortingly into my ear. "You're okay."

With nothing left in my stomach, I spit one last time into the toilet and lean back into him.

His body is solid, firm behind me. He lets me rest before he reaches over and flushes the toilet, helping me up. There's little light in here, which I'm grateful for. I can't even imagine what I look like right now.

"Not good, huh?" He murmurs grimly, watching as I wash my mouth out thoroughly until the taste of my stomach contents is a distant memory.

I shake my head, feeling a little delirious. "Not good."

He shifts closer, brushing the tears from my face, concern etched into his features as he notes my swollen eyes.

"Her body has been moved and the area has been cleaned. Lexa didn't see anything, and we don't yet know when or how exactly this happened, although we assume it was an accident," he tells me slowly.

I rest my palm against my forehead, trying to reconcile that information. "How does someone accidentally fall down those stairs?"

"Anything can happen. It was dark, she may have been drinking. Who knows." Onyx sighs, shrugging.

I stare off into the darkness, my voice dropping to a whisper. "I never got a chance to talk to her."

"Me either." Onyx rubs his hands up and down my arms. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Okay seems like a faraway concept. I don't even remember what it felt like to exist before witnessing that.

"Just shaken up. I wasn't expecting to see a dead body tonight."

He brushes my hair from my face. "You can talk to me, at any time."

I smile weakly. Instead of being elsewhere, dealing with the consequences, soothing other people, he's here, with me, his attention wholly dedicated to how I'm struggling with this.

"Stay with me tonight. I don't want to be alone," I breathe.

The thought of laying in these cool sheets, wrapped up in endless darkness stained by harsh visions sounds terrifying.

"Of course," he says like it was obvious. "Have you bathed yet? You probably don't want to be wearing makeup to bed, as beautiful as you look."

I think back to the food in the room that one of the maids must have cleaned up by now. Our date was going so well, and now I'm spending the night with Onyx.

"You think I'm beautiful? Like truly?" I don't know why I need to ask.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He says it so earnestly my heart cracks a little, so overfilled by his love.

"You're such a good friend to me. I don't know what I would do without you." The world would be a dark, confusing place without the path he lights for me.

"You'll never have to wonder."

"As tickled as I am with the compliment, I'm going to need some privacy," I note, gesturing to the bath.

"Of course." He backs away, watching as I turn on the taps and toss some bath salts in. I need to bathe off this entire night.

I look up, his absence cutting through me. "But don't go far..."

"I won't." I can hear the smile in his voice.

He leaves the bathroom door ajar, but I can feel his presence just beyond. I undress and test the water until it's at my ideal temperature before sliding under the surface of the water.

Were my mind not haunted, this circumstance would feel totally different. Onyx is just behind the door, merely steps away from my naked body. Maybe it would excite me on another day.

A tentative knocking sounds from my door. I tense, hearing Onyx answer it.

"Oh...Alpha Onyx." It's Kayn.

I wince. The poor man has probably come to see if I'm alright, only to find his Alpha in my room. I can sense Kayn's doubts about how platonic Onyx and I's relationship is, and this isn't going to help.

"She's not up to seeing anyone right now," Onyx tells him firmly.

"I can't just see her for a second?" Kayn asks. "I want to make sure she's okay."

I remain still and quiet in the bath. I'm far too tired to see anyone but Onyx right now. I just want my friend's comforting hold and soothing touch.

"She's in the bath at the moment. It's best you speak to her in the morning," Onyx exclaims.

Kayn's stilted pause is painful.

I can't even imagine what he's inferring from what information. Hopefully tomorrow I can explain everything fully, so he knows Onyx isn't about to join me in the bath.

"Oh, alright then."

"Goodnight."

Onyx closes the door, probably in Kayn's face.

Letting out a deep breath, I slowly sink under the surface of the water, letting it drown out the world around me until my lungs burn.

❤️••❤️

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~Midika 💜🐼