The Wild

-15- Bad to Worse

Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.

The door opened a crack, and I didn't hesitate to push it open all the way and realize who it was that came to greet us. Even if Tyler expected it, he still looked surprised to see me. His eyes flickered behind me to Brian, and then back to where I stood trying to look around him.

"Where's Bennet?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady but it didn't succeed. He blinked, as if processing the question took more than just a second.

He opened his mouth to say something, and then thought better of it and instead said, "Brian, take Lily back to the room."

"What? No!" I wailed, rushing away from Brian and towards the open door. I ducked underneath Tyler's arm and skidded to a halt once inside the space where two beds sat, the television on the right, and the rest of Tyler's men standing on the outskirts of the room. None of them wanted to be held accountable for the man on the ground before them.

He held his hand to his gushing nose when he looked up to me with one bruised and shut eye and the other glistening. "L-Lily-"

Before I could start squealing in agony, I clamped my hands over my mouth. My legs threatened to collapse underneath me, but I held on long enough to stumble towards him and fall to my knees in front of him. "I-It's not as bad as it looks, I swear," he stuttered, trying to sound strong but it wasn't really working.

I didn't know what to do to help him other than pull his hair away from his forehead and get a better look at the redness of his eye. My hands shook so much; I couldn't even do that properly.

"-I didn't mean to do it." Tyler's voice came from the doorway, and even if I pretended I didn't hear it, inside I felt a whirling storm grow stronger when I looked into Bennet's eyes again.

He shook his head at me, as if he knew that all I wanted to do was maim Tyler, and suggested we go to the bathroom. I helped him up by taking his hands and trying not to fall when he put his weight against me. My entire body was shaking when we came closer to the door and closer to Tyler and Brian where they stood observing us. At the bathroom, I shut the door behind us and locked it.

Bennet didn't say anything while I took one of the crisp white towels and started to wet it. He washed his bloodied-up hand in the sink and allowed me to clean up the dried blood clumped under his nose.

"Careful, careful," he hissed, reaching up gingerly to touch his nose.

"Sorry." I felt broken, as if Bennet was one of my puzzle pieces that had gotten mangled in the jaws of a dog. I didn't want any of my puzzle pieces being attacked, and perhaps that was selfish, but I couldn't help the churning in my stomach when the thought came to mind.

"I-I don't know what to do," he murmured, his voice hushed underneath the running of the water.

"I'll take care of it, just sit on the toilet seat," I ordered. He obeyed, but closed the seat before sitting on it.

"That's not what I was talking about," he said, and it took a moment for me to recall our situation. Tyler was just outside the door, as well as a dozen other men to back him up. We would never be able to make a run for it and expect to get out alive, or at least in one piece. I had a strong feeling that they weren't one to follow the law, and that made me even antsier to get out of here.

"Me neither," I replied softly. He took the towel from me and scrubbed around his nose while I bundled up another towel to dampen with cool water for his eye. "Why'd they beat on you?"