The pain was teeth grinding, and it was the first thing Keziah felt as she woke up to the setting sun. It travelled from her wrist to her shoulder. It spread through her back and then concentrated at the base of her neck. She contemplated moving, but even the slightest twitch was misery. She decided it was better to stay put. She couldn't tell what was broken, but the dampness beneath her alerted her that she was bleeding.

But as she lay there, watching the sunset, she realized she could be waiting in vain. No one knew where she was. Maybe they found her car, but she didn't know how far from it or in which direction she had run the previous night.

Night!

Her eyes flew open. Her breathing shallowed into short, panicked pants. How long had she been lying there? Was her phone dead? Was it blood beneath her or dew? If it was blood, how much had she lost? How far from the road was she? If people were looking, they'd have found her by now, especially if she had been gone since the night before.

Keziah tried to lift her right hand but immediately set it back down when the discomforting pain made flashes appear behind her eyes. Carefully, she lifted her left, ensuring she wasn't in any pain as she reached behind her head. She touched the wetness and lifted her fingers to confirm her suspicions.

Blood.

She sucked in lungfuls of air. She needed to steel herself for the oncoming pain. If she thought about it too much, she wouldn't move. If she didn't move, she could die. She didn't die as she thought, so why waste away when she had another chance? She had to get up and find someone or something to help her. Maybe her phone wasn't too far from her fingers. She would see it better if she sat up.

She tried to move as little as possible. The pain in her arm was probably a dislocation, and the one behind her head was obviously from the rock she was still lying on. She kept her upper body rigid, biting down and locking her neck to keep her head steady. The first lift was agonising. She stopped and tried again. That failed, but she kept pushing.

Eventually, with screams, groans, and minutes of excruciating torment, she got herself sitting upright. Steeling herself against the pain, she tore what she could of her shirt and bundled it up, pressing it gently against the gash in her head. Her legs seemed the least affected by her accident, so they didn't hurt when she tucked them underneath her to help get to her feet.

The first thing her blood-deprived brain sought to do was find her phone. She was losing light fast. It was nowhere to be seen, and she quickly abandoned the search. She couldn't look properly anyway. She was better off using whatever light remained to find a road or a person.

She kept the pressure on the back of her head and staggered around the forest, calling out as loud as she could. Keziah considered walking quietly. Screaming could bring more unnecessary attention, but she was losing blood rapidly. Her vision worsened, and the sun was nearly out of the sky. Her legs could barely carry her, and after what felt like an eternity on her feet, she started taking breaks on the tree stems.

"Help!" She croaked into the dimly lit forest. "Please."

She didn't want to die. She wanted to see her sisters again. Kingsleigh and Kamari. She longed to sleep on her bed and smell the fabric softener on her sheets that reminded her of her mother. She wanted to prove her dad's innocence.

Most of all, she wanted to have more of a life than how she had lived till now.

"Please." A tear leaked from her eye. She couldn't tell if it was from the pain in her body or the fear.

She walked for as long as her legs could drag her. Her eyes searched the growing darkness for any signs of life, but she saw nothing but barks and leaves. When she was near giving up, she spotted a glow. Faint and fleeting. It swept past her face and vanished. At first, she thought she had dreamed it. Maybe the blood loss was finally getting to her head.

Then it happened again. This time, farther to the right. Another flash appeared not long after.

Torches.

"Help." She croaked.

She couldn't wave her hand to get attention. Her left applied pressure to her bleed, and her right was dislocated. Her voice had grown raw after hours of dehydration and her previous tries at calling for help. So, even if she couldn't shout as she wanted, she gave it her all. The last thing she needed was for them to go in a different direction and miss her by only seconds.

"Help." She croaked.

She willed one of those swinging lights to hit her. And as if manifested, one did. The bright white slammed on her face and blinded her.

"Over here!"

She heard the voice before she saw his face. But when she did, relief made her knees buckle. The hand behind her head fell away, but he reached out, one large palm going to the back of her head and the other arm catching her around the waist as he kept her from hitting the hard surface.

Before his knees hit the ground, Keziah was unconscious. He felt her body drain the moment he touched her. Fearing that she was dead, Mikal checked for her breathing by placing a finger beneath her nose. It was shallow, but he felt the air and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Over here!" He screamed louder for the rest of the search party to hear.

He looked down at her face, and that's when the moisture on his hand caught his attention. Mikal frowned in worry and scooted to a reasonable distance where he could bend over and inspect without moving her head too much. The blood pooling through the cloth on the back of her head covered his hand.

"Oh no."

"Keziah!"

Kamari was first to arrive, but Kingsleigh was not too far behind. The older reached forward, but Mikal held his hand out over Keziah's chest to stop her from grabbing her sister's shoulders. He didn't know what caused the bleeding, but he feared moving her more than she already did herself.

"She's bleeding behind her head."

"What?"

"Call an ambulance." He instructed, and Kingsleigh pulled out her phone. "She was conscious a second ago, but she fainted."

"Oh, Keziah."

Kamari rested a gentle hand on her sister's cheek. A tear slipped from her eyes and stained Keziah's dusty forehead. Kingsleigh called the search party off after she called the ambulance. Hallan arrived not long after with Kamari's husband and their doting bodyguard. A few neighbours who volunteered to help with the search also stayed behind to offer help.

Mikal held Keziah's hand against her chest. He could feel the weak thumping of her blood against his fingers. It served as his reminder that she was alive despite the sickening amount of blood that soaked through the cloth. He believed she'd be fine. She had been strong enough to get up and walk. Hopefully, she didn't do much damage to herself.

Had she been bleeding the whole day? He thought, fearfully, resisting the urge to stroke her hair. Her sisters and his brother were around, so he stomped any impulsive thought that surfaced. He didn't whisper to her to let her know he was there for her. He didn't stroke her hair or arm or offer any words of comfort. He wondered if she could feel their presence. If she knew she wasn't alone anymore.

"They are here." Kingleigh jumped.

Though unwilling, Mikal decided it was best to stay behind. The ambulance drove off, and he sat in his car, washing the blood off his hands with help from Hallan. He couldn't imagine what it must have felt like for Keziah to try and save herself, knowing she was losing so much blood. For a moment, he doubted his reasoning for not going to the hospital. He couldn't expect her sisters to share any information with him regarding her health.

"You should have told them to give you a call."

"About?"

"Keziah," Hallan replied. Then almost as if he read his mind, he added, "If you don't tell them you'd like to know how she's doing, they wouldn't know you want a call."

"We found her. That's all that matters."

Hallan arched a brow but decided not to say anymore. "Ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go home."

Hallan started the car and turned to return home. "Must have been rough being out here the entire day."

"I can't even begin to imagine."

"Do you think...it had something to do with her trying to investigate the case with her father?"

"That's what the detective suspected."

"I know that's what they suspect, but do you?"

"Why does that matter?"

Hallan shrugged nervously. "Have you...I mean...since they returned. Have you ever wondered if their father was innocent?"

"Why are you asking? Have you?"

"Not till today."

"Because of the detectives?" Hallan nodded. "They were trying to follow up leads."

"Maybe."

Hallan drove silently for the rest of the trip, and Mikal pondered his lie. He believed this had everything to do with her father, but he couldn't bring himself to tell the truth to Hallan because he didn't have an explanation for himself. As with his unrest regarding his parent's inactions, he just had a feeling that wouldn't quieten or go away. It filled him with guilt to the point of thinking that he was allowing Keziah to affect him with her thoughts.

Mikal understood the implications of their father being innocent. His parents never gave evidence to prove that he was the murderer, but they testified against him in court and were beneficial to his conviction. From what he knew, they had testified against his character and classified him as a "very dangerous criminal who would do anything to retain his power." Not to talk of everything his mother did outside of court to defame him and his family.

When they arrived home, Mikal stopped his brother at the door.

"I know you are not ready to talk about Grace, but I want you to know that anytime you are...I'd be there for you."

"I know, and I am sorry."

"For what?"

"The shares. I shouldn't have sold them under any circumstance, and I put us in this situation."

"Don't worry about it." He slapped his shoulder hard, laughing when Hallan did the same. "As long as you are alright. Everything else can be remedied."

"Thanks, and don't tell mom and dad yet."

"Of course not. I believe I'll be too busy handling questions on Pope to get the chance to gossip about that."

And true to the word, his mother and father greeted them stiffly when they walked into the house. Hallan announced that he was exhausted after informing his parents that Keziah had been found and promptly excused himself. Mikal watched him leave before joining his parents.

"How was your day?" He asked.

"Fine. We just got back from lunch with the Martins, actually."

"Really? How are they?"

"Fine. The news about Keziah's disappearance reached their doors before we did."

"Bad news travels quickly, and whatnot."

"And how was she? Was it as bad as the detectives thought, or is she back home?"

"Not as bad, she wasn't floating under a bridge, but she is pretty hurt. I don't know much else. We left after the ambulance drove off."

His mother's eyes finally caught the blood on his pants. "Are you hurt?"

"Not my blood." He immediately stated as his father began to look. "Keziah's. Like I said, she had it rough."

"I pray she gets better."

"Me too."

Mikal smiled at his parents and nodded, happy they were focusing more on the issue with more empathy than they had earlier in the morning. He knew tensions were high, but despite the bad blood, he hoped his parents would understand their situation shouldn't warrant them being cold-blooded about Keziah's disappearance.

"Well, as you can see, I am unfit for company. I should go up and change."

"Probably take a shower, too, and get some sleep. You must have searched the whole afternoon."

"I will shower, but I have some work to do, so sleep is out of the question."

"And Mikal," His mother called as he stood. "I am sorry for how I took the news of your meeting with Keziah this morning. I should have trusted your judgment more, and I didn't."

"Don't worry about it, mother."

"We are just hoping that as you aim to build this bridge for the sake of the business, you keep an eye open behind your back."

"I will. Don't worry."

What they meant was they were afraid she was getting under his skin. He could tell even if they didn't say. Mikal wanted to assure them and himself that it wouldn't happen, but he knew better. While he wasn't buying into her crusade in her father's honour, he had to admit that she was chipping into him in other ways.