Page 59 of Hide And Seek

Sleep took me before I could answer myself.

15

The dining hallfelt too loud for how little anyone was actually saying.

People sat in clusters around the tables, nursing mugs of coffee or picking at toast, conversations starting and dying in the same breath. No one had slept much, and it showed. Dark circles, drawn faces, the kind of brittle energy that came from running on fumes and adrenaline.

I’d been sitting with Jasmine, Wren, Tamsin, Jesse, and Simon for almost half an hour when I felt the familiar pinprick sensation of eyes on me.

I glanced up. Rhys was watching me from across the room. When he saw me notice him, he tilted his head in a subtle nod toward the exit.

My stomach tightened, just slightly.

“Time for my lesson, I guess,” I said, pushing my chair back.

“You don’thaveto go, you know,” Jasmine said, raising a brow.

“I think it’s probably a good idea. Just in case,” I said. “With the way everything’s gone so far… you never know what’ll happen next.”

Wren nodded gloomily. “I hate to say it, but I think you’re right,” she said, shooting a wary glance around the room. “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d come too.”

I met up with Rhys by the door, and we walked in silence at first. In the daylight, everything looked different. Smaller. Less threatening. The trees didn’t feel like they were closing in anymore, and the buildings didn’t seem so isolated.

We reached the ax storage shed a minute later. Rhys stepped forward and tugged the door open, the hinges giving a low creak as it swung inward.

“After you.”

I stepped inside. The space smelled faintly of wood and metal. Along the back wall, racks of axes were lined up in neat rows, varying in size and shape.

Rhys moved past me, reaching out to run his fingers along one of the handles as he scanned the selection.

“We’ve got a few different options,” he said. “The smaller ones are easier to control, especially if you’re just starting out, but they don’t hit as hard. The heavier ones…” He lifted one slightly, testing the weight in his hand. “Better impact. But harder to handle.”

I nodded and stepped a little closer, my gaze dropping to the floor as I moved.

That was when I saw that his shoes were streaked with dried blood.

My first thought barely registered. Of course his shoes were bloodstained. Mine were too after last night.

Then I stilled as another thought registered. The sneakers he had on right now weren’t the sneakers he was wearing last night.Those ones were black with a white slash pattern along the side, and these were khaki and white with stripes on the side.

Yet there was dried blood on them.

I kept my cool and took a deep breath, figuring there had to be a rational explanation.

“Hey,” I said, keeping my tone as even as I could. “What happened to your shoes?”

Rhys glanced down automatically. “Hm?”

“Looks like there’s blood on them.”

“Oh.” He shrugged slightly, like it was nothing. “One of the kids got a nosebleed on them during the break at paintball the other day. Remember?”

I blinked. “No.”

He shrugged, unconcerned. “You must’ve been somewhere else when it happened.”

“Right,” I murmured.