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“It’s Cove. I’m going to touch you, okay?” I have no idea if she can hear me, if she even knows I’m here. She’s so far gone inside of herself that I’m not sure how to bring her back. “I’m going to lift you and get you out of here. You’re safe now. I promise, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
She doesn’t respond, so I grab her phone and her purse and gently lift her into my arms. A frightened sort of squeak escapes her, and it takes all of my self control not to crush her into me and rock all her woes away. It’s harder to see where I’m walking with Malia cradled to my chest, but at the threshold I check over my shoulder that I’ve at least not left any footprints behind. I take a left out of the toilets and continue along the dark, deserted corridor. I’m glad now that the guy told me about the fire exit, and even though he said it wouldn’t sound, I still hold my breath as I use my elbow to push down on the bar to open the door.
Silence.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I slip out into the dark and quickly check my surroundings. We’re in a narrow back alleyway, devoid of lighting or windows overlooking the space. Good. I shift Malia in my arms so that I can retrieve my phone and quickly dial Reef.
“Where are you guys?” I demand as soon as the call connects.
“Just around the corner.” Reef’s voice comes through the line slightly distant. They’re hands free which means they’re coming in the prof’s car. “There was a parade down by the waterfront.”
“Fuck.” A parade nearby means an endless list of suspects. Police sirens sound in the distance and I hear it in stereo through the phone, making my heart beat double time. “We have a crime scene, a body, and a lot of blood here we need to clean up.”
“What about Malia?”
“I’ve got her.”
“Is she alright?”
I hesitate. Is she? “She was with the body. Covered in blood. No outward signs of injury; but she’s pretty traumatised. Completely uncommunicative, but responded to my touch.”
“How?” the prof demands before swearing lightly under his breath and blasting the car’s horn. That comes through in stereo too, so they must be close. I just hope he slows down and doesn’t draw any unwanted attention to what’s going down.
“She flinched. But she let me carry her out of there, so I’m taking that as a good sign. We’re round the back. Used a fire escape which has brought us out in an alleyway. It’s secluded and dark. When I see you guys pull up at the end of the street, I’ll bring Malia out.”
“I think we’d better take her home and get her cleaned up,” Reef suggests, which is what I was thinking too.
“Yeah and get to the bottom of this,” the prof adds. “Bhodi, you can take the car and the girl home. The rest of us should stay and do clean up duty.”
“I think I should stay with Malia. If she can hear me, I don’t want her confused and scared when she comes round and sees I’m not there,” I say.
“Fine.” The prof sighs and the tightness in my chest eases a little when the prof agrees that I don’t need to leave Malia. “But I need Reef in case there are any witnesses.”
“Understood,” Reef agrees. Memories may need wiping if anyone saw anything.
“We’re almost there,” the prof reassures me. “The victim. Was it one of us? Or human?”
“She had golden cat eyes and I swear she had a tail.”
I’m so startled by Malia’s voice that I almost drop her. Luckily, I manage to keep hold of her, but the same can’t be said for my phone. It falls to the ground and skids along the concrete, making me wince. I have to shift Malia so that I can crouch to pick it up, and just as I’m standing, headlights flood the entryway.
“Is it broken?” she whispers.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say with a slight shrug. “Let’s get out of here.”
I pocket the phone without checking the damage or seeing if the call’s disconnected and carry Malia to the prof’s car, where Bhodi already has the back door open, waiting for us. Gently, I set Malia on her feet and she slides into the car. It’s the first time I get a proper look at her and it makes me grimace. Her white dress is destroyed by all of the blood, and there’s no way it’s ever coming clean again.
“Oh god, I’m sorry. I’m going to mess up the upholstery.” Malia cringes when she misreads my grimace.
“I was thinking about your dress.”
“It’s not mine. Summer’s going to kill me.” She shakes her head.
“I’d say it’s becoming a nasty habit, getting blood on Summer’s dresses,” Reef teases, turning to grin softly at Malia from the front passenger seat.
“Oh. Hi.” She startles. “What are you…bothdoing here?” She blinks double time when she notices Bhodi sitting in the back of the car too.
“Can we get a move-on please?” the prof snaps from the driver’s seat. Malia’s eyes widen, and she looks about ready to jump out of the car, so I quickly climb in and close the door behind me. She’s snug between Bhodi and me, his large frame dwarfing the interior space.
