Page 257 of Ruin Me Gently

Small. Fragile.Wrong.

The oxygen whooshed out of me, my body locking up for a second too long as I took it in—the pale stretch of her skin in the darkness, the way she curled in on herself, arms wrapped around her stomach like she was trying to hold herself together, gasping and trembling.

Her eyes were wild and glassy, darting frantically, searching for me. Blinking too fast, like she was fighting to keep them open.

Blood spilled through her fingers, pooling over her hands, soaking into the pale blue of her sweater until it was almost black.

Too much. Too much.

“Katie—” my knees hit the ground, hard. I was scrambling, crawling toward her. “No, no, no. No. Oh, fuck. No.”

I reached her, hands trembling as they hovered above the mess of blood and fabric and terror.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

My breath came in ragged gasps, my chest squeezing so tight it hurt. I should’ve known what to do, but all I could do was stare at the slick, pulsing red spilling between her fingers.

Too much. Too much.

I forced myself to move, pressing my hands over hers, trying to stop it. I needed to make it stop.

The blood was everywhere. Warm and slick, coating my fingers, seeping into my skin as I pressed down harder.

“Stay with me, stay with me.”

She was shaking so hard, her whole body trembling against me, like she was coming apart piece by piece.

And then I saw them.

Her jeans.

The tiny, purple embroidered butterflies scattered across the fabric—ones I’d seen a hundred times before—now dark, drowned in blood and dirt, shoved down to her ankles with her underwear.

Ice cold horror slid down my spine, rotting me from the inside out. Bile forced its way up my throat. The world tilted, crushing in on itself.

“HELP!” My voice tore from my throat, raw and desperate, echoing across the empty brick walls. “Somebody help!”

Nothing. No one. No footsteps. No voices.

Just the wind howling through the alley, rattling a loose street sign. Just her broken, shuddering sobs.

I twisted, frantic, my pulse a deafening roar in my ears.

Where’s my phone?

Fuck.

It was on the dorm room floor. Left and forgotten.

I swallowed the rising panic and turned back to her. “Katie, stay with me.”

A soft, gasping noise, slipped from her lips, barely there. “Si…”

Her hand trembled as she lifted it, the palest I’d ever seen it. She tried to cup my face, her fingers smearing blood across my cheek in a warm, sticky trail.

I caught her hand, pressing it against me, as if that could keep her here. As if that could undo any of this.

Her eyes met mine, glassy and terrified.

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