Keeping one eye on the gleaming knife, she glanced around the bathroom, looking for a second exit. Besides the locked door, there was one small window placed high in the wall. It would be almost impossible to climb out the window, so she had to find a way out the door.

"Looking for an exit?" Ivy asked.

​​

"That's cute," Lily sneered. "You're not leaving until we say you can."

The girls sprang on her. Lily grabbed her arms, and Ivy held her hair, pulling her head back. Catherine took a deep breath and slammed her head backward, crashing into Ivy's face with full force. A sickening crunch sounded behind her, and the burning on her scalp relaxed. Ivy whimpered and held her hands to her face, blood trickling through her fingers.

She turned on Lily, spiraling her arms to get them out of Lily's grasp. She spun around, grabbed the back of Lily's head, and slammed her face into the sink. Lily grunted and fell her face onto the floor.

"You bitch," Susan shrieked, charging forward with the knife.

Catherine, lowered into a crouch, staring at Susan as she charged. At the last minute, she jumped to the side. Susan continued to hurtle forward, slamming into the hard tile wall of the bathroom. She staggered back, and Catherine grabbed the knife from her hands.

Wielding the knife with her right hand, she used her left forearm to push Susan against the wall. She pressed her arm hard against Susan's neck, and the girl choked and gasped for breath.

"What were you planning to do with this?" she asked, tracing the tip of the blade across Susan's cheek. "Were you going to scar me? Kill me? Slit my throat?"

Susan glared at her, and she pressed harder against the girl's neck.

"Suddenly so quiet, Susan," she said. "What's wrong?"

She pressed the top of the knife more firmly against Susan's powdered cheek. If she pushed any harder, she'd break the skin. Susan made a choked, whimpering sound.

"What's that?" Catherine asked. "Do you want to apologize? Maybe beg for your life?"

"Never," Susan gasped.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lily staggering to her feet.

"Don't move a step," Catherine said. "If either of you gets close to me, I'll slit her throat."

Catherine held the knife so tight her knuckles went white, and her fingers tingled, but she didn't dare to loosen her grip. Susan's face had gone purple against the wall as she choked and gasped for air.

"You're killing her," Lily shrieked.

"She was going to kill me," Catherine said.

"No," Lily said. "We weren't going to kill you. I swear. We just wanted to scare you."

"Oh, you mean like those men who attacked me in the alley?" Catherine asked. "Were they just going to scare me too?"

"Think of your own life," Lily said. "If you kill her, you're going to spend the rest of your life in jail. Not even Sean Blair can help you then."

Catherine pressed even harder against Susan's neck, feeling the girl's throat constrict under her arm. She had no intention of killing Susan—she just wanted to teach her a lesson. Susan gasped and sputtered, and Catherine felt her strength starting to fade.

"Please," Ivy sniffled from the corner. "We were stupid, but don't kill her."

Catherine loosened her grip on Susan and watched as the girl took several shallow breaths. The purple color drained from her face, leaving her pale and weak. Slowly, she began to back away from them all, headed toward the bathroom door. She kept the knife in her hand in case any of them made a sudden move.

"You're sick," Catherine said. "You brought a knife to cut me up once I was unconscious. You should all be in psych wards."

"Please, don't hurt us," Ivy sniffled. She lowered her blood-smeared hand from her face and stared at the knife in horror.

"I'm going to leave this room and head back into the lobby," Catherine said. "From there, I'm going to call the police and tell them I was attacked by you three. If you run fast enough, maybe you'll be able to leave the country before they catch up with you. But there will always be warrants out on you. You'll never be able to set foot in the UK again. Understood?"

The three girls nodded silently.

"Good," she said. "Don't even think about making a noise or getting anyone else involved."

She fumbled for the lock on the bathroom door, almost throwing herself out into the hallway. Jimmy lay unconscious on the floor with the fabric over his face. Catherine dropped the knife and sprinted down the hall back to the lobby. She expected to see Sophia waiting for her, but the lobby was empty, save for a pair of quiet businessmen checking in.

"Sophia?" she called. "Sophia?"

She grabbed her phone and punched Sophia's name in. The phone rang and rang and went to voicemail. She tried it again, frantically looking around the lobby. With the phone ringing in her ear, she ran to the concierge desk, pushing past the businessman.

"Did you see what happened to the girl who was waiting here?"

"Please wait your turn, miss," the concierge said.

"This is urgent," Catherine shouted. "What happened to the girl?"

"What girl?" the concierge asked.

"She's blonde, and she was wearing an ivory dress," Catherine said.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen anyone like that," the concierge answered, the same empty smile frozen on her face.

"Hey," someone called.

Catherine turned and saw one of the quietest boys in her year.

"Are you looking for Sophia?" he asked.

"I am," she replied.

"I think I saw her leaving with someone," the boy said. "It was a man."

"Sean?" Catherine asked. "I mean, was he tall with blue eyes?"

"No," the boy said. "He was short and really strong looking. I think his name was Adam—I saw him talking to you before."

The lobby spun around her, and she felt her knees begin to tremble. Why would Sophia go with him? she wondered. It doesn't make any sense—she hates him. Besides, I asked her to wait for me. She'd never leave me alone like that.

She dialed Sophia's number again, but it went straight to voicemail. She dropped the phone into her purse and spun around in a slow circle. The hotel was huge—she and Adam could have gone anywhere.

"Did you see what direction they went?" she asked the boy.

"They got in an elevator," the boy answered. "I watched the numbers as they went up. It stopped on the fourth floor."

"Right," Catherine said. "Thanks."