The door made a loud and heavy thud against his shoulder as he slammed into it. He was calm, collected, yet his hands were shaking. His breath smelled of vomit and his clothes were slathered with blood. Most of the people inside the shed stayed asleep, not bothered by the thunk coming from the door. Pandora twitched slightly against Effy's shoulder, as Effy merely turned her head, grunting, refusing to waken. He opened the door and, panting, looked into the shed, his head spinning.
"Naomi!" he hissed. He entered the shed and slammed the door shut behind him. Again, no one woke. He stumbled over to Naomi and hissed her name again, leaning close to her ear. She awoke with a jump, blinking her eyes and looking up at him. He nodded to her before she could get a word out.
"Outside," he whispered, and then he unbent himself and exited the shed. A few moments later, the blonde, tired and slightly hung-over, stepped outside to join him. She pulled a cigarette out of her bra and lit it. She looked up at him tiredly and sucked down a drag. She motioned toward him, and then exhaled smoke.
"Well?" she asked. His hands were still shaking. He shook his head now, looking down at the muddy ground.
"We need to go somewhere," he mumbled. Without a word, and without lifting his head, he turned and began to walk. Naomi rolled her eyes and sighed, turning toward the shed for a moment. She glanced through the window at the sleeping forms inside, particularly at one red-headed one, who had her hands curled around her cell phone. Naomi followed him reluctantly, turning back and typing a text message to Emily with one hand as she smoked with the other. 'Went out for a bit. Stifling hot in there and you looked 2 cute to wake. Love you xo N.' She pressed send on her phone and replaced the phone to her bra, following him.
They walked for a while in total silence, with him far in front of her. Naomi knew that if he was silent, he had a damn good reason to be. The closer they got to their destination, the more his hands shook. He finally stopped and Naomi stared up at a large brick building for a moment, standing next to him.
"What is this place?" she asked, and she looked over at him. He had tears welling up in his eyes and he sniffled, shaking his head and pressing his knuckles up to his mouth.
"We need to go inside," he whispered hoarsely, and he started walking toward the back of the house. There was a small window at basement level, which he stared at before crawling through it and into the house. Naomi followed warily, squinting in the darkness of the basement. "It smells ran—," Naomi started, and then she stopped once she had hit the ground. He stood in front of her, fists clenched tightly at his sides.
"Cook, what did you do?" Naomi whispered, covering her mouth with one hand. Tears were now filling her eyes and she couldn't seem to be able to breathe anymore. Cook motioned toward the body lying, bruised, battered and bloody on the ground.
"I think I… I think I killed him, Naoms," he stuttered, voice filled with regret, anger, shame, hurt and fear.