Chapter Four

Eira

Diana and I were a bit scared to open the door because we didn't know what to expect at the other end of the door. One minute we were talking about Gianna's disappearance and the next minute, there was an ominous knock on the door.

"Do you think we should open it?" I asked.

Diana raised a hand, telling me to wait for a while because she didn't quite trust whoever was at the other end of the door and I didn't want to take any chances especially in their safety.

"Hold on for a second," Diana whispered.

She tiptoed towards the door, looking through the peephole but because it was too dark, she couldn't make out who was on the other end of the door. Then she signaled for me to come closer to see for myself if there was a way to know who was behind the door.

"Do you see anything?" Diana asked.

Try as I did, I couldn't figure out anything because of the pitch darkness that surrounded the area.

"I can't see anything," I whispered.

I walked back even as the knocking intensified. It was urgent — that was one thing I could make out of it. Whoever was behind that door wanted our attention. That much was very clear and we didn't know what to do.

"I think we should open up," I suggested.

"I think so too. If it wasn't important, the person would have been long gone," Diana said.

"Okay, on the count of 1… 2… 3…" I said.

In the next minute, Diana opened the door and what we saw shocked us beyond anything. A man we didn't know was carrying what seemed to be Gianna's lifeless body. There was blood all over her body and the sight of it scared me shitless because I didn't know if my friend was alive or dead. She wasn't moving at all, which just made matters worse.

"Hello?" Diana said.

Diana was equally surprised over her friend's condition because the last thing she knew was that she had left her at the bar in good condition but seeing her now with blood all over her body was something she didn't quite envision.

"Oh my God! What happened?" she screamed.

"I found her by the roadside this way but my best bet is that she got into a fight. That has to be the only way and the reason I'm standing here is that she only managed to give me her address and that was it. Ever since then, she has been like this," he explained.

"How long ago was that?" Diana asked.

"About half an hour ago," he answered.

My fears were renewed because this just told me that it had been a while since Gianna had been out cold. The stranger walked into the house and gently placed her on the couch before he walked back to the door.

"Thank you," Diana said.

"Thank you so much," I added.

The man nodded before finally walking out of the house. I shut the door, walking back towards the living room where Diana was tending to Gianna. She had cut open her top so as to locate the exact place where her bleeding came from. She didn't seem to notice it at first but later on, she realized that it came from a point just underneath her left arm.

"This looks bad," I said.

"Yeah, it does. Please get me the first aid box in my room," Diana said.

I walked quickly to her room and grabbed the first aid box before walking back to the living room. Diana took some gauze, some antiseptic and disinfectant so as to stop the blood which was the first thing to do.

"I wonder if she got into a fight. There are some marks on her body which weren't there before," I said.

"I'm thinking the same too. I really don't know what happened, and everything is a bit confusing to me," Diana said.

Diana did her best to clean the wounds on her friend's body even as there was pain in her eyes. She didn't like seeing her like this and she hated not knowing what had really happened. When she was done and there was nothing left to do, she allowed her to sleep. This night wasn't for questioning so by tomorrow, they could do all of that.

"I hope she's stronger by tomorrow," I said.

"I hope so too but for now, we can only wait and hope," Diana said.

We watched Gianna sleep soundly and if there was anything we were happy about, it was that she was breathing which just told us that she was alive. Diana packed the first aid box, placing it where she usually kept it before gathering Gianna's dirty, bloodied clothes and taking it to the backyard to burn them.

An hour later, she was done with everything so she came to the living room to sit with me even though it was late into the night.

"You should get some sleep," I said.

"I know but I just can't help thinking about what exactly happened to her. I mean, one minute I saw her earlier and the next, she was gone. I have no idea what happened and I hate not knowing because if I knew, there might have been a chance for me to save her," Diana said.

I completely understood her because in my pack, that was how I felt too. It was the inability to help someone just because you weren't there at that time. The feeling was creeping and very sad, and I hated that this was the fate of my friend.

So I made my way towards where Diana sat, taking her hands in mine, and I gave it a gentle squeeze. It was a silent assurance to her that everything was going to be alright.

"I know how you feel, Diana, trust me but I want you to know that everything is going to be alright. Gianna is a strong girl and she will pull through all of this, trust me. Don't blame yourself because the fates know why this happened," I said.

"Fates? Why didn't the fates help her from getting beat up?" she said.

Those were things that I couldn't explain but one thing I knew was that Gianna would come back better and stronger than this when she healed.

"I know you might not understand but I just need you to trust me on this," I said.

I didn't want to give out too much information as to where I came from because after all was said and done, I still didn't trust people. My pack members had taught me a great deal of lessons and I didn't want to fall for the same thing in this new world I was living in.

"It's late, you should get some sleep," Diana finally said.

I glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost 1 in the morning. Everything that had happened to Gianna had taken a whole lot of time and I couldn't believe how fast time had flown by.

"Alright then. Goodnight," I said, rising to my feet.

Diana smiled before walking towards her own room. There was a sadness within her that I couldn't quite place and I hated that she was feeling this way. It wasn't her fault but I knew that she would place everything on herself because in her mind, she would think she was responsible for everything that happened because she wasn't there for Gianna.

Instead of going to my room to catch some sleep, I decided to take a nap on the couch in the living room. After all, I realized that the remaining hours before daybreak were few and there wasn't really any need for me to go in again. There was a plan on my mind and I knew that I had to work on it before the morning was fully upon us. It was just a small sacrifice that I had to pay in ensuring that Gianna didn't miss anything and with this in mind, I finally shut my eyes to sleep.

***

The next morning soon came and I heaved a sigh of relief when I found out that Gianna was awake. It was a miracle indeed and I couldn't quite believe that she was talking after how she was the previous day.

"Hey, babe," Gianna said with a small smile on her face.

She was in a fresh change of clothes and Diana was already dressed in her work clothes as she attended to her friend. Even though she was still weak, I loved the fact that she was still putting in efforts to look better. It took a lot of courage and I admired that about her.

"I'll be back in a jiffy," I said, running into my room.

***

Half an hour later, I walked back to the living room but this time I had taken my bath and was now dressed in Gianna's work dress as a bar waitress. Both ladies were confused when they saw me but Diana's was more pronounced.

She was surprised at my dressing and she didn't even know what to make of it. Many questions ran through my mind and they were all centered on what Diana and Gianna would say about it.

"Are you really ready for this job?" Diana asked.

"Yes. I want to help Gianna in her shift and I promise you both that I will do my best at work."

"Okay, no worries," Diana said.

I grabbed my bag, just waiting for Diana so that we would leave together but I still wanted to know what happened and as if reading my thoughts, Diana turned to face Gianna.

"Babe, what happened last night? We need to know," Diana said.

"I got into a fight. It was between me and a lady at the bar and I guess she had the upper hand," Gianna said.

It was very clear that we didn't believe her but we just allowed it to slide because for one, we were running late and two, we just didn't want to argue.

Soon, we made our way out of the house and an hour later, we were at the bar. Just as I was about to walk in, I bumped into someone and I didn't need to look up to know that he had found me again.