No Time To Bleed

“Uh. Uh. Uh. Uhhh.”

What the hell? My head was pounding. God, I needed some Tylenol.

“Uh. Uh. Uh. UHHH!”

“Jessica, shut up!” I shouted. I flipped my hair from out of my face and lifted myself from off the bed. I must have slept like a rock because I felt dead from last night.

I still felt like crap.

Jessica’s lower lip was trembling now and I tried to force down the guilt that I had caused.

“Sorry Jessica.” I gave her back her mp3 and she started to smile goofily.

Once in the bathroom, I took my usual shower and brushed my teeth. Pulling on the only pair of skinny jeans I owned and one last band tee shirt that Antoinette had given me. Once I felt fresh and used the hair dryer for my hair, I waited until Jessica’s nurse aid came in.

“Having a good morning, Jasmine?” she asked.

I shrugged, hands in my pockets. “It’s going okay. Just tired.”

The nurse’s aide helped Jasmine into the bathroom. “Well, I’ll let you go. Don’t go getting into any trouble.”

I made it down to the hotel, checking my watch for the time. It was 9: 58am. The hotel lobby was brewing with the morning rush: mothers taking their kids to the laundry room with baskets slung before them, older brothers with little sisters, men hitting on women, groups of women laughing in circles on gossip, and people waking to breakfast.

I got through the hotel lobby and made it to the open eating area. I found a table with Ashton and Ashley, who were laughing away at some common joke between them.

“Hey Jasmine.”

“What’s up?” Ashley’s eyes gleamed to me and I tried not to glare back. I was sort of over taking my frustrations out on other people.

“Had a bad night?” Ashton asked worriedly. His golden blonde hair was tousled on his head and his eyes held an innocent glaze.

I gave a weak smile. “Boy troubles on top everything else. It’s stupid.” I rested my head against the table and sighed.

“Well, I’m an expert on all things boys.” Ashley muttered, biting into her toast effectively.

“I’d rather not talk about it. I’ll just suffer while I can. Find out anything new about the thing?”

“Cece’s supposed to talk to us later. She’s been drawing plans up like crazy.” Ashton muttered. “I’m starting to think she’s an evil genius!”

Ashley giggled. “An evil genius you can’t stop staring at?”

I lifted my head up and my jaw dropped. “You like Cece?! Seriously?!”

Ashton’s cheeks went to uncomfortable scarlet. “I don’t like her. I just think she’s beautiful.”

“Is there a difference?” I asked.

Ashton shrugged. “Yeah.”

I smiled at Jesse and giggled. Kyle came walking over and sat down without any acknowledgement.

“Um, hi?” Ashley greeted.

Kyle gave a slightly less blank look in their direction. He turned to me. “Did you find out any more about your sister?”

“Kyle, I told you she’s-“

He shook his head, eyes stern. “Don’t say it. That’s bad energy to the universe. You’ll jinx it.”

I looked to Ashton and Ashley for a long moment.

“So, what exactly did you have in mind?”

“Who’s your sister anyway?” Ashton speculated to her.

“You didn’t know her? Aren’t you new here?” His eyes went up and down, judging them and then to Ashley. “You’re new too.”

I tried to explain to them. “His sister’s been missing for a few days and-“

“And the guards here took her. She disappeared and she knew something and they took her.” He slammed his juice down, obviously frustrated. “And I need help.”

We all sort of seemed frozen.

“Kyle, you have to be careful where you talk about this stuff.” I said softly. “It’s not always safe…”

“But, what does that mean?” he snapped. “You won’t explain anything to me and she’s gone and I need to find her.”

Ashley seemed more invested in this now. “Well, we could help you find her.”

Ashton and I both looked to her warningly. Kyle’s face broke out into a dazzling grin.

“You will? Wait, what’s your name?”

Ashley smiled back, her cheeks turning a rosy pink. “Ashley Rosefield. Here’s my brother, Ashton Rosefield.”

“Well, look at this… Betrayal in action.” Cece stood before the table. Ashley and Kyle’s hands tore apart from their cordial handshake.

“Jealous?” Kyle challenged.

Cece snorted, sitting down to a free seat next to me. “Why in the world would I be jealous?”

Kyle smirked. “Maybe because I’m a part of your team now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be leading this whole plan soon.”

“And maybe you’ll crash into the ground, you moron!” She picked up her fork and tried to brandish it at his head. I grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“No stabbing new members! And we’ll wait to decide if he’s in or not, one person doesn’t get to decide.”

Kyle’s jaw dropped. “That’s discrimination! You let these two boozos join!”

“Don’t call my sister that.” Ashton snapped.

“Well, it’s true. You guys are blonde, that’s already a mark against you.”

“You have blonde hair so you’re insulting yourself!”

Kyle glared on further. “Well, I guess I’m really stupid then.” He stormed away, but not before ordering us to tell him when he’d be voted in.

“Remind me why I ever liked him again.” Cece uttered.

“Because he made you feel special?” I suggested sarcastically.

“Wait, you liked him? How come no one ever told me this?” Ashley jumped.

Cece sighed. “Just forget. I guess we’ll have to vote the kid in then, after all his freaking sister died. That’s sympathy points right there.”

My eyes glowered to Cece.

“What?”

“She’s dead. How can you talk of the dead like that?”

“You don’t actually know if she’s dead or not? You just believe Clarissa.” She took a sip of my water at the table.

“So, you’re saying you don’t believe Clarissa? Whatever happened to you talking about the documents looking credible?”

She wiped the water from the top of her upper lip. “I’m not going back on my word. I’m just saying it’s possible for anything to happen and we need to be prepared. No different from anything we’ve done before.”

I sank back into my chair and Ashton tapped his fingers on the table.

“So, what was it you needed to ask anyway? Find out anything.”

“Oh.” Cece beamed. “I did find out something that can help us, but it involves some things to be done.”

“When?” Ashton peeled an orange in his hands and dropped the clippings into his plate.

“Tomorrow night.”

“Well, that’ll be perfect then. It’s the night of the dance.” Ashley retorted.

Cece nodded. “Cool. I’ll get back to more of my planning and we’ll have another bathroom session later. Laters.”

She’d finished up her food and walked away to a trash can to throw the scraps away.

How is it that she’d left the table and managed to make me feel even more confused?

* * * * *

“Ow! Could you not stab me?!” I griped as yet another prick went into my thigh. “God damn! Stop pricking me!”

The girl who had been appointed to fitting dresses giggled. “You certainly are a live on. Don’t wear dresses often?”

It was weird to be in some dungeon looking part of the airport with miles upon miles of unclaimed luggage around. Soutwestern Airport was one of the most massive ones in the state, so I guess it made sense.

Still a bleeping waste though.

“No, I haven’t and I’m proud of that fact.”

A few girls nearby giggled. A lot sat on the floor, waiting their turns as they flipped through the pages of any remaining magazines.

“And I’m going to kill Ashley for bumping me to the top of the list. God, if I lose blood I’m gonna kill someone.”

My legs and arms were spiking fevering pain that I’d never faced before. Gosh, even my blood thirsty fight with Rodney hadn’t been this bad. I absolutely hated tiny needles.

“Ah!” My leg jerked up in the Alice In Wonderland styled dress. It looked cool, but it hurt. “Remember my most recent comment about blood?! It’s happening as we speak! Where did you get your sewing degree? Community college?”

The girl went unusually silent.

Suddenly, I didn’t mind the pricks so much anymore.

“Did I say something wrong?” I asked.

Laia(that was her name) rotated around my dress in a wheel chair. “Your friend, Cece, is next. I hope she makes it back and doesn’t keep me waiting.”

Now, I felt guilty.

“Look I’m sorry. I have nothing against community college. I love community college.”

Laia rolled her eyes. “I never got to go to college. Sewing was something my mother used to do before she died a few days ago.”

A few days ago?

“She died here.”

Laia sighed and speculated the dress with her eye. “They took her to the infirmary a while ago for one of her two week checkups since she’s diabetic. She just got really sick and…”

And she’d died?

“Well, I’m sorry. Feels like everyone lost someone they love now a days.”

She went back to her plastic case of sewing tools and came over with a thread. “Who’d you lose then?”

I ran my hands up and down my arms. The basement was kind of cold. The ceilings were tall and dark and filled with tubes. There were lots of doors leading to other areas.

“Um, her name was Antoinette. I only met her since I got here, but she was nice.”

Laia giggled. “You mean that girl who’s brother who used to harass her all the time? How’d that happen?”

I cleared my throat and breathed calmly.

“No one seems to know.”

Laia snorted. “Well, there’s a lot of things people here don’t know. Bunch of pacifists here if you ask me.”

“Not all of us.” I chimed.

“You’re done. You can step down and look in the mirror. “ Laia rolled her chair back.

I stepped down from the slightly wobbling stand and stood before the mirror. My sneakers rested flat and showed the dress’s bottom to be a little lower than I wanted, but with heels it would be perfect.

The fabric gripped and tugged at my abdomen, a deep lace merging of black and dark blue. The lace curled up around my bust line and formed a barricade around my breasts. The lower half of the dress was layered with thicker and more dazzling designs.

“It’s awesome, Laia.”

She smiled proudly. “I thought it’d be a good fit for your body type and your slim enough for it. I guess everyone’s lost weight to some point.”

I moved away from the mirror and went into the makeshift changing area. The dress left its way from my body and I handed it past the curtain to Laia who put it in its designated place for me. Tomorrow before the dance, all the girls were to pick up their dresses.

Talking and giggling went on behind the curtain as I changed into my clothes. Once out the curtain, a hand dragged my arm aside.

“Ow! Cece!”

We were in a dark corner. Her eyes started into mine.

“I found something with the map and we’ll need to talk about it in the meeting later.”

And just like that she was gone.

Today’s meeting sure would be interesting.