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"In the next hour? I can’t wait that long!" she grumbled

"Okay," I replied "How about in the next fifteen et hold of our caretaker"

She still looked dissatisfied, but to my relief, she headed back up the staircase

I clutched the door handle and stepped back inside the roo the door behindscene once again I half expected Ben to be crouching over the girl, drawing out the very last drops of blood fro on the floor in the far corner of the rooainst the wall, his head clutched in his hands, breathing heavily

I hurried over to hi his shoulders

"Ben," I rasped "We have to leave If so If there were any surveillance cameras in here, they ell hidden because I couldn’t spot any

"Get up," I urged

When he looked at reen eyes seemed darker than usual Much darker They were practically black

His er covered in blood I could see that he’d wiped it against his sleeve He stood up, slightly unsteady His jaw clenched as he eyed the corpse nearest to us

"Let’s get out of here," he said He reached forI knew, he was pulling uesthouse When we arrived on the street outside, it was dark He gathered me onto his back and lurched forith speed thatoverwhelmed at what I’d just witnessed Ben do I’d known that he was a va scene, even during h he had told ht he was different because of the way he’d treatedthat I was still trying to come to terms with

As he ran, ere just a blur in the darkness It was a good thing too Although he earing black, which helped to cae the stains, his robe was drenched in blood We weretraces of blood on the sidewalk

My grip around Ben’s shoulders tightened

"We have to stop and get you soue with hts about leaving a trail behind us We stopped as we reached a nightthe backpack off h for new clothes I handed the backpack to Ben, who put it on his back He stood behindainstescorted somewhere