Page 4 of Enter if you Dare: Part Two

I exhale. The words should make me feel better—relieved. Instead, I feel like throwing up.

“But there was so much blood,” I blurt while staring at his chest. “It was everywhere.”

“Some grazes can bleed a lot,” the male paramedic responds, cleaning the wound. “It looks worse than it is. He will be fine. Sore, but fine.”

Cipher’s eyes blink open and lock on mine as panic flits across his face. “Am I dead?”

I smile. “No, you’re okay.”

“We need to get you to the hospital,” the paramedic interjects. “You might need stitches and to make sure there’s no risk of infection.”

“No,” Cipher snaps. “I’m not going to any hospital.”

“Sir, you need⁠—”

“I’m fine,” he cuts in. “Stitch me up here.”

“We can’t.”

He huffs. “Then I’ll do it myself.”

The paramedics share a look, knowing they can’t force him.

“At least let us clean and dress the wound properly,” the female says, to which Cipher nods.

The paramedics work quickly, applying some steri-strips and antiseptic cream before bandaging him up with gauze and tape.

I glance around us, wishing I knew where Cave went; Cipher is going to want to know, and I have no answer for him. Last I saw, he was dragging Rowan out of here, and he has not come back.

Noa is standing beside me, bouncing on his toes. He keeps peering into the corn, and I wonder if he knows where Cave has gone.

As the paramedics wrap up, the police arrive. It’s a good thing it wasn’t an actual emergency.

Clay greets them as they reach our small group.

“Officers,” Clay says. “Thank you for coming. I’m the head of security for Fear Island and can walk you through what happened.”

The police officer, a woman with short hair, nods seriously. “We got a call about a shooting. Who is the victim?”

Clay gestures to Cipher, who is now sitting up shirtless, uncomplaining but obviously bandaged up. “His name is Cipher. He’s fine—it’s just a graze. The incident happened right here.”

The officer’s eyes move between Clay, Cipher, and me, and it’s at that point that I realize I’m covered in Cipher’s blood, and my hands are shaking.

“What happened?” the officer asks, while her partner, a younger man, stands by her side.

“Rowan Calloway arrived a little under an hour ago, wanting to see his sister, Valli. He wasn’t happy about her having a boyfriend who works here,” Clay responds impassively. “She was here in the cornfield, and Cipher offered to show him the way. When they got here, Rowan pulled out a gun and aimed at Valli. Cipher jumped in front of her to protect her as the gun went off.”

It’s a good lie, but still a lie.

This story protects Cave, but he deserves our protection. He never asked to be dragged into my mess.

“Where is Rowan now?”

“He ran right after he shot Cipher—he must have panicked and taken off. We haven’t seen him since.”

The male officer takes notes, then asks, “Do you have any surveillance footage of the incident?”

“Our security system has been down for a few days,” Clay says without missing a beat. “We’re in the process of upgrading the entire system, so the old one is offline.”