I spun quickly at the sound of the door opening. Ashley covered her mouth as Noah stepped past her, kneeling next to Elsa's unconscious frame.

   "What happened to her?" Noah asked, checking her neck for a pulse.

   I shook my head. "I-I don't know... I woke up from a bad dream and she was screaming..."

   Noah pulled her up. "We need to get this wound covered, she's losing a lot of blood."

   His training kicked in as he carried her into the kitchen, setting her on the table.

   Noah used to be a police officer. He retired after a really hard call. What happened that night? No one other than Ashley really knows for sure. But, it was enough to scar him for life.

   He wrapped a dish towel around the wound, Elsa still out cold.

   Ashley rested a hand on my shoulder as I looked on. "She'll be ok..."

I glanced at her then, before moving my gaze back down the hallway. Images of the figure flashing behind my eyes.

While Noah continued to patch Elsa's wound, I broke away from Ashley, making my way back down the dark hallway.

I had to know if she did this to herself. She had tried once before, but that was a long time ago.

Fear spread through me as my eyes landed on the white sheets now stained red, a puddle of blood soaking into the wooden floor next to the bed.

Then, my eyes shot to the corner of the room, the corner that the figure stood just minutes ago. Now, it was empty.

With a small breath, I made my way towards the bed, inspecting the little table next to it before tearing the sheets and pillows off. There was nothing in sight that she could've used to cause those wounds herself. But, who did then..?

I made my way back into the kitchen, just as Luke and Amy joined us.

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"She cut herself..." Noah replied, washing the blood off his hands in the sink.

Amy covered her mouth. "That's awful..."

"She didn't do it to herself..." I said.

Everyone turned to me then. "Peyton... I know she's been doing better, but-"

"There wasn't anything in that room she could've used." I cut off.

"Peyton, who else would've done it then?" Ashley asked.

"I'm telling you, Ash, it wasn't her." I said, looking into her eyes.

Luke grabbed a rolling pin from the counter then. "What're you saying? Someone broke in?" He asked.

I looked to him before lowering my head. "I... I don't know..."

Then, the sounds of whispers filled my ears. The voice wasn't feminine, nor was it masculine. It was a voice of something else, something unfamiliar, something wrong.

   Everyone else must've heard it to, because Luke walked up to the front door, throwing it open. "Alright, whoever's out there better show themselves."

   The whispering continued, Ashley taking my hand. "What're they saying..?" She asked.

   I strained my ears, attempting to make out the quiet whispers, but Luke yelled out once again, taking my attention from where I needed it.

   "If I have to come out there, I'm gonna seriously fuck you up." He challenged.

   Amy pulled him back inside then, shutting the door, and the whispers went with it.

   "C'mon, tough guy, you're not scaring anyone with that thing." She said, gesturing to the rolling pin.

   He set it down before walking up to a closet in the living room. "You're right."

   We all looked on as he pulled it open. "Holy shit."

   I walked up behind him first, seeing a shotgun leaning against the wall and a blood stained hatchet laying next to it.

   While my eyes focused on the hatchet, Luke pulled the shotgun, inspecting it. "Now this thing outta scare 'em." He said, closing the door.

   That's when Elsa suddenly sat up, letting out another scream.

   Everyone spun towards her as I ran to her side. "Elsa..? Are you ok..?"

   She calmed down a little as she turned to me. "What happened to my arm..?"

   I took her bandaged arm in my hand. "Nothing... You're ok now..."

   She pulled me into an embrace, whispering in my ear. "Did I do this..?"

   I shook my head, whispering back. "You didn't do anything..."

   She started to cry a little. "Please... Tell me the truth..."

   I pulled back, resting my forehead against hers. "This wasn't you... I promise..."

   She nodded a little, a few tears leaking from her eyes, as she pressed a gentle kiss to my lips...

   Luke and Amy sat on the couch in the living room, arguing over the necessity of the shotgun he refused to put down since he found it.

   Noah and Ashley decided to clean up our room, as to not worry Elsa anymore than she already was.

   Speaking of, she and I sat at the kitchen table. I handed her a glass of water, which she drank slowly. "How're you feeling..?"

   She nodded slightly as she set the glass down. "Better... My arm still really hurts, though..."

   I took her hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I know... I wish there was something I could do to make it feel better..."

   She flashed me a small smile. "Still taking care of me all these years later..."

   I gave her a small smile back, memories of that day flooding my mind...

—————

   Elsa and I had been dating for about two months. We decided to move in together off campus. It wasn't much, but it beat sharing a dorm with strangers.

   She didn't have any classes that day, so she stayed home. I was on my way there after my classes, excited for the dinner date we had planned the night before.

   When I got home that night, though, my excitement changed. I could hear water dripping from somewhere inside the house.

   I called her name. "Elsa? Where are you?" But, didn't get an answer.

   It wasn't until I made it to the bathroom that I realized why she was so quiet.

   "Oh my God..." The image before me still haunts my dreams to this day.

   She laid naked in the bathtub, the water a bright red, blood leaking from her wrists.

   "Elsa!" I yelled out, quickly pulling her out of the tub, wrapping her wrists before draping a large towel over her.

   I carried her out to my car and sped off for the hospital.

   After a few hours, the doctors told me she would be ok and that I could see her.

   It was then that I finally got my answers.

   "I've done so many things in my life that I regret... I don't deserve someone like you, Peyton... Not after the shit I've put myself through..." She went on. The choices she was referring to were her sexual exploits. She told me she lost her mother as a child and hid her pain behind alcohol and sex. She used those two things to bury the pain, mask it for as long as she could.

   I took her hand in mine, looking over her, tears in my eyes. "You deserve to be happy, Elsa... And, if I make you happy, then you deserve to be with me... I'll always be here for you... I'll always take care of you..."

—————

   She pressed a light kiss to my lips. "I love you... You know that right?"

   I nodded, giving her hand another squeeze. "I love you to..."

   Ashley and Noah re-entered the room then. Noah rubbed the back of his neck as Ashley spoke. "Your room is ready... You guys should get some rest."

   We nodded and thanked her before making our way back into the room. Neither one of us seemed ready to lay back in the bed.

   "Peyton... I..." She started, shaking slightly next to me.

   I decided to put on a brave face for her. "C'mon... I'll be right here the whole time..."

   We slowly got back into bed, Elsa holding me tight.

   As she drifted off to sleep, my eyes stayed locked on the corner of the room...