Author's Note: Not sure I like this chapter... I may edit it more or change it.         

*

I had gone to the paddock to catch Rorschach who Hayden had asked if I could ride for her since she couldn't come to the barn that day. I was not happy about having to ride alone since my friends weren't there that day and Christie was working on school work, but planned to come to the barn later. Anxiety rose in me when I saw Hayden's father's horses were all jockeying for a position at the gate to get out. I worried for a moment I'd have a hard time getting Rorschach out without all the others shoving through us to escape or causing a fight with Rorschach while I was leading him. I considered briefly getting help, but I didn't want to be high maintenance when everyone else seemed able to get their horses out of their paddocks. I slipped through the gate and Rorschach approached the other horses to get to me, causing the large palomino gelding, Archie to squeal and try to bite Rorschach's neck to get him away from him where he had stood in the way of the gate. I pushed on Archie's side to get him to step away from the gate, but he was stubborn and even my strongest shove wouldn't be anything to him. Jensen's horse Bane was on his other side anyway. I sighed and stepped by them to get Rorschach on a lead while my mind tried to come up with a way to get the others out of the way of the gate so I could get Rorschach through.

"Crap." I squeaked when Archie, Bane, and Coach's other horse didn't move out of the way and instead Rorschach's ears pinned back threateningly as he spun to aim his butt at Archie's. I knew there was going to be a fight and pulled the lead rope to get Rorschach away from the others. "Hey, can you help me!?" I called to the nearest worker who was leading a mare out to the neighboring paddock. My voice was small and I was mad I sounded like a child as the horses all grumbled with their ears back as Bane aimed a bite to Rorschach, making him kick out. I was able to pull him away from the other horses and thankfully they had all avoided being kicked, but Archie was approaching me like he thought he should be the one on the lead rope and I was panicking slightly at being surrounded by a bunch of fighting horses.

"Hey, can you just help me?" I called again. I thought I saw the guy look over at me, but he seemed to be ignoring me and pretending not to hear. I started leading Rorschach around the ring to get him away from the other horses and maybe draw them away from the gate so I could sneak through, but Archie was still following me and then Bane came barreling over and I decided to unhook Rorschach's lead rope and get out of the way so I didn't get kicked.

"Hey, hey!" I heard a man's voice from near the gate. It was enough to distract Bane and make him turn back to the gate along with Archie. It was James. He had been bringing hay and had seen the commotion. He drew the horses away with the hay and I rehooked Rorschach's lead rope and led him over to the gate with relief.

"Thanks, James." I sighed as he opened the gate and pushed Archie back out of the way so I could get Rorschach through.

"This paddock sucks." James said with a laugh. "Why didn't that asshole come and help you?" he asked with anger coming over his face as he walked with me. "Hey!" James called, making the guy who had been nearby turn back to look at him. "Why didn't you help her?" he demanded. The man glanced at me before turning back to James with a secretive look on his face. He was older and I hadn't seen him before so I guessed he was a newer worker.

"What do you mean?" he asked, sounding like he knew exactly what James was talking about.

"She was calling for help. Why didn't you help?"

"I didn't hear anything." He lied with an irritating shrug.

"Bullshit!" James spat. "I heard her from all the way on the other side. What is wrong with you?"

"The brat's fine, so what's the problem?" the man asked to my surprise. James looked ready to punch him in the face.

"This 'brat' owns the place! She's your boss!" James countered in a dangerous voice. The man laughed like he didn't believe James. "Wait until Christie hears about this." James threatened with his straight white teeth showing as he shot a look of disgust at the dirty man.

"It's fine, James. Thanks for helping me." I told him softly as we continued by the man back to the barn.

"No, it's not! Those horses suck. You could've gotten hurt, little birdie." He said with a sudden concern in his voice.

"Yeah, Usually, we help Hayden get Rorschach out first before getting the other horses. It's much easier with more hands." I murmured as Rorschach snorted behind me.

*

I had gotten on Rorschach and was up to a working trot as he curved around the Breyer indoor on the bit. There were two private lessons in there each with an older rider on school horses and I was in my own world until I saw Christie come striding into the barn looking angry. James approached her and I heard her ask 'where is he?'

*

"You wanted to see me?" the man asked sounding evasive as he approached Christie where she waited near the boards.

"You're fired!" she growled. I could see the shock on his face as James stood with a dangerous smile on his clean-shaven face next to Christie.

"What?" the man stuttered, his eyes glancing at me as I cantered by.

"My sister could've gotten hurt!"

"Y-your sister?" he asked, sounding nervous.

"Even if it wasn't my sister, the co-owner, you can't ignore anybody that calls for help whether it's just some insignificant kid or not! Everyone here is important and shouldn't be treated like they're below you!" she hissed with venom. The man had a grimace on his face as he took the powerful force of Christie's disapproval.

"Sh-she shouldn't have gone in that paddock if she couldn't handle the horses in there." He defended, crossing his arms and turning his head away like he couldn't handle the anger on Christie's face.

"She went to get her friend's horse who she was asked to ride by the horse's owner." James spoke up.

"I don't want to see you here ever again. Your final check will be mailed to the address on file. Take your things and leave." Christie demanded, her voice shaking in anger. The people in the ring were all looking on with tentative curiosity as the man looked at Christie with shock.

His eyes went to me with blame burning into me and I looked back at him grimly, but knew Christie made the right call. If one of the riders that were there for a lesson was ignored and got hurt, we'd be liable especially when one of our own workers ignored their call for help.

"You can't fire me!" the man blurted out after turning back to Christie.

"She's the owner! Of course, she can!" James insisted loudly, before letting out a mocking laugh.

"I-I was hired by someone else." The man stuttered out defensively.

"I'm not in the mood for this. Get out." Christie growled. The man finally gave up and left and Christie turned to me as I stopped Rorschach where she stood on the other side of the boards. "Wren, are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"I'm fine. James came to help. That paddock is awful..." I sighed.

"We'll move Rorschach to a different paddock so Hayden won't have to deal with that either." Christie sighed.

"Usually, we help her so there aren't any problems. It's just hard when you're all alone." I explained. She nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry, I wasn't good enough to be able to get him out without trouble..." I felt inadequate about it, but she and James shook their heads.

"Wren, nobody has an easy time getting a horse out of that paddock. Do you know how many times Archlight's gotten out?" Christie asked with raised eyebrow and a laugh.

"Yeah, even Jensen's had a hard time getting his horse out." James said with a laugh.

*

"You bitch! You got me fired!" a man's angry voice came up behind me making me flinch and Darko let out a deep bark. Even with his puppy frame, his German Shepherd bark was menacing. It was the man Christie had fired and he came at me in the parking lot. I started to walk quickly away from him and Carlos got out of the car hurriedly to get in the man's way so he couldn't follow me.

"Back off!" Carlos growled as the man came up close to him like he was going to punch him. Carlos was small and thin compared to the tall man with his medium build. I felt my heartrate spike in worry for my loyal driver.

"Get out of my way, you Spik!" he said rudely, making Carlos' face show the hurt from the racist insult.

"Is there a problem here?" I heard Coach's dangerous voice as he got out of his truck, looking strong and intimidating. The man took a step back from Carlos making me breathe a sigh of relief. Hayden skittered to my side as Coach had an argument with the man and told him the same thing Christie had said the other day. He told him he wasn't welcome here and was fired. He left in a huff and I thanked Coach and Carlos.

"I'm sorry about that, Wren." Coach sighed, patting my shoulder protectively. Carlos looked serious.

*

I knew I had no choice when Vati pulled me out of school to go to Munich with him. I had been to Munich once before and it wasn't very fun. It was cold and grey. Not as exciting as LA or the tropical places we had been. I knew he would be working and he told me he'd be taking me with him to sit in his meetings. Ivanka and Mina were going to come and he said they'd be tutoring me and keeping me up to date on whatever schoolwork I'd be missing while I was away for the week. I knew I'd have to take my tests and quizzes when I got back and was surprised that the school would allow me to leave for a week randomly.

Christie called me as I followed Vati onto the private jet with Mina and Ivanka as well as like ten of Vati's suited men including security guards.

"Hi, Christie." I answered quietly as I took a seat and Vati sat down across from me after talking to one of the men.

"Wren, grandpa said I have to take care of Darko for the week. What's going on? Are you going somewhere in the middle of the schoolyear?" she asked worriedly.

"We're- uh- going to Munich." I answered sounding as unsure as I felt, as the door closed and the speakers dinged before the pilot started telling us where we were headed, how long the flight was, and about how he was making his way to the runway.

"Why?" Christie's voice was worried and I guessed she heard the pilot on the speakers over the phone.

"Uh, it's fine, Christie. I'll see you when I get back... Take care of Darko for me." I said in a childish voice. I hated how I sounded over the phone. I felt like I almost sounded scared, but really I was just unsure about what it would be like to go to Vati's meetings with him. I remembered the meetings I'd attended at the house. They were a lot different than the meeting I'd attended at the Greyson Corporation skyscraper in New York City.

"Just be careful, Wren. I'm going to worry about you. Will you call me when you land?"

"Sure, but it'll be late. We won't get there until like 9, I think." I answered.

"That's fine. Just be safe..."

"Okay." I muttered, hanging up.

"Mach dir keine Sorgen. Ich werde dafür Sorgen, dass wir in München Spaß haben." 'Don't be worried. I'll make sure we have some fun while we're in Munich.' Vati insisted in German with a half-smile. I smiled back, but I wasn't sure how I felt to be pulled out of school to go to a bunch of meetings in cold Munich.

When the plane had taken off, everyone took off their seatbelts and six scantily clad women came to offer us food and drinks. The food wasn't what we usually got on planes. It looked like real food and tasted really good. Vati and I both got steak with a carrot and beet salad and some fancy mashed potatos.

When I finished my meal, one of the women took my plate leaving just my water glass and I looked over to Vati. He had been given a glass of whiskey. The others had all eaten faster than me and Vati. I looked over to see Ivanka was sitting alone jittering as usual as she sipped a drink.

"You want some?" Vati asked me, making me turn back to where he gestured to his whiskey after his plate had been cleared away. I eyed the glass before shrugging and he slid it over the little white table between us. I put my water down and analyzed his unconcerned expression before tentatively bringing the glass to my lips. It smelled like poison and I couldn't imagine it actually tasted good. I took a good-sized sip, filling my mouth with the potent alcohol that seemed to burn the inside of my mouth and then all down my throat. The after-taste was sweet, but I still felt burning in my nose from the strength of the alcohol. I had focused on not making a face, but from Vati's laugh, I knew I wasn't successful.

"Oh, shut up. I'm sure you made a face the first time you drank nail polish too." I defended, unable to resist smiling in embarrassment.

"You did better than most. Drink more and keep a straight face." He dared with his eyes peering intently into mine.

"Fine." I chirped, unable to resist his challenge. After the second gulp, I braced for the pain of it and even felt a swimming sensation in my head like the alcohol was already making me drunk. "Hah, I win." I said proudly when I put the glass down. He was still smirking and the others were looking over in curiosity, but they avoided looking into Vati's eyes when he seemed to scan the cabin for disapproval.

"What do you want?" Vati asked, sounding serious as he turned his blue eyes back to me and they seemed to be dancing with amusement. I furrowed my eye brows and narrowed my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked in suspicion.

"You won, so what do you want?" he asked with carefully enunciated words. I blinked.

"I don't know... a medal?" I said sarcastically.

"How bout I get you a drink?" he shrugged. He didn't wait for me to answer and his eye contact alone was enough to get the nearest woman in a stripper's version of a flight attendant uniform to come over. "Can I get a glass of pinot grigio?" he commanded, making the woman's green eyes go to his glass before she answered with an airy 'yes, right away.'

The wine glass was placed on the edge of the table and she poured the white wine in it with the utmost concentration before stepping back with the bottle. She seemed surprised when Vati slid the glass closer to me. I took a sip and found the taste to me much less painful than the whiskey.

"Do you like it?" Vati asked emotionlessly.

"Yeah, it's fine." I shrugged, as the woman was still staring at me. I made eye contact with a look that told her to mind her own business and stop staring at me.

"D-do you need anything else?" she stuttered out, looking up away from me.

"No, that'll be all." Vati answered without looking at her.

"What's the time change again? Six hours?" I probed as Vati lounged back in his seat with his glass in his large hand. He just nodded and looked distracted as one of the men put his hand on one of the 'flight attendant's' butts as she brought him a drink and leaned down to place it on the table in front of him.

*

As the sun went down, the men got more pushy with the flight attendants. Their incessant crude flirting was getting to me more than the stripping flight attendants, who were putting on a show for six of the men. Three of the flight attendants were shirtless, dancing to some music while the men watched raucously throwing out suggestions and approval. One of them had a flight attendant on his lap while another had his hand in his pants as he stroked himself as he watched one of them gyrate her hips as her boobs bounced nakedly in front of him.

"Let's go to bed." I suggested to Vati as he finished his drink and I could feel the warm relaxation from the wine I had savored. He stood up and took my hand. When he pulled me unsteadily to my feet, I felt a rush of dizziness as I stumbled behind him, before he turned and picked me up.

"Vati! I'm fine. I can walk." I insisted in exasperation as he carried me like a damsel. We went past Mina sitting with a few men sitting quietly furthest away from the strippers reading and a couple were sleeping. Mina glanced up at me and I thought I saw concern on her face. I guessed she thought the naked women and masturbating men was something that would bother me, but especially in my drunken state, I didn't give a crap. Or maybe she was worried because she saw me drinking.

*

I found myself asleep when I heard Vati speaking in an odd friendly, persuasive voice to someone before the bed dipped next to me.

"But what about-?" the woman was asking as I opened my eyes to see Vati hovering over one of the flight attendants, whose eyes flickered to me in alarm from where she laid next to me.

"She's fine." Vati insisted as he leaned over her and put his hips between her legs that opened for him automatically.

"But-" she started trying to object when I made a rash decision to press my lips against hers to shut her up so she didn't make Vati mad. I moved my lips against hers and my tongue went into her willing mouth as she started kissing me back as her breathing got deeper. She seemed to fall into the kiss and I was proud I'd gotten her to succumb. I had my hand on her jaw when I pulled away with buzzing lips and gave her a smug look.

"Shut up." I told her with a sweet smile as she blinked at me in surprise, before I got out of bed and Vati watched me leave and close the door behind me. When I went back out, it seemed most of the flight attendants were with a guy. Some of them were making out with men grabbing their boobs or touching their butts. I found an empty couple seats and plopped down closest to the window. I could hear the girl with Vati moaning loudly from the room behind me and then I found a bunch of concerned eyes pointing at me.

"What?" I asked Mina and the three younger men with her.

"Are you doin' okay?" one of the men asked carefully like he thought I was going to have a break down or something. Ivanka came down the aisle with her eyes on me distracting me from the man's question as my foggy head tried to remember what I was going to say to the guy. She had an annoyed expression on her face as usual and wordlessly handed me my backpack and my phone. Then she made her way back up the aisle toward the bar and made herself a drink. One of the men over there was calling to her and she shot a mean comment back at him that made the other's hoot and laugh at his expense.

I decided to put on some music and found my ipod and headphones as I scanned though my songs mindlessly. I was glad the music blocked out the quiet murmuring from the group near me. I didn't need to hear them express concerns about me seeing naked women or drink alcohol or whatever. It wasn't quite loud enough to block out the women's cries from the bedroom, but I just looked out the window at the stars and thought about what Munich would be like.

*

I woke up when I felt a tap on my arm and I flinched up straight to find that I was still in my seat. Vati was sitting next to me and he pushed a water bottle into my weak grasp.

"Drink." I could plainly see his lips move to form the word and I slipped my headphones off and obeyed. "Ivanka!" Vati called in a demand that made a few of the passengers look over nervously. She got up obediently from where she had sat with her finished drink and came over at a fast, but graceful stride. He started speaking to her in fast Russian and I only caught the words 'meeting' and 'tomorrow'. She answered him in similarly fast-paced Russian confirming that she had set up a meeting for tomorrow at 9 AM European Central Time.

*

When we landed and got off the plane, limos and SUV's were waiting for us at the airport and we strode through quickly before I found myself with Vati, Ivanka, and two men in the back of a limo. I opened my phone and switched it out of airplane mode to see that Christie had called me twice. I sighed and decided to give her a quick call.

"Wren?" she asked urgently when she picked up.

"Yeah, who else would it be?" I asked with a laugh.

"You said you'd be there at 9. I got worried!" she insisted.

"I said 'like 9'. It's over a ten-hour flight, Christie." I shrugged. Vati answered one of the men's questions in German and I could practically hear Christie listening nervously to the manly voices in the background.

"H-have you been there before?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah."

"Where are you?"

"Munich." I answered slowly with an I-already-told-you tone.

"No, I mean, are you still at the airport?"

"No, we're in a limo- Vati, gehen wir in einen Hotel?" 'Are we going to a hotel?' I asked, hearing Christie pause as if she was waiting for his answer. He answered with a 'ja' and I continued. "We're going to the hotel. It's... 3:45 AM here." I told her with a quick glance at my phone that had switched over automatically to the time change.

"Oh." Christie just made a surprised noise.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" I heard Frankie's far away question and I yearned to see him as my eyes searched the dark carpeted floor of the limo unseeingly.

"Yeah." Christie's voice was soft as she answered him. "Do you want to say hi?" she asked hesitantly as if she was holding the phone away from her ear.

"No, it's fine." I was disappointed by his answer, but didn't say anything.

"Well, I'll let you get to bed. Be safe in Munich, Wren." Christie said finally after a long pause.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later." I answered before hanging up and making eye contact with Ivanka. "Why are you staring at me?" I asked her. She didn't say anything. She just looked away.

*

It was the third day in Munich and I had sat in on all the meetings that Vati had save a few where instead I was made to do school work with Mina or Ivanka. I was getting pretty tired of being stared at. A few women had talked to me like I was five years old and too stupid to follow the conversations that were all in German. We met in a conference room not much different than the one in New York City. Vati and I were taken on a few tours of some Pharmaceutical research centers and then we went to a restaurant we owned after a long day with a large group of people we had met with in their fancy business wear. I was wearing a small blazer with a blouse and pencil skirt not unlike Ivanka's.

"Do you want to do something fun tonight?" Vati asked after we had been served our meals. The large group of the people were all seated around the big round table and their eyes were all on me as I answered.

"Yeah, what did you have in mind?" I asked with a shrug. He leaned to whisper in my ear about going dancing at a club. "How would I get in?" I laughed, shaking my head. He just shrugged with a mischievous look on his face. "Sure, sounds fun." I smirked.

*

Ivanka seemed nervous when she came to my room after dinner to give me the dress she had gone out to get for our evening out. It was bright red and satin and reminded me of a prom dress. I eyed it with conflicting emotions.

"You don't think I'll look stupid?" I asked hesitantly as Mina came in with a make-up case. I was holding up the dress to analyze it.

"Du musst nicht gehen, wenn du nicht willst." 'You don't have to go if you don't want to.' Mina said with sympathy.

"I want to go. I just don't want to look stupid." I answered with a funny face.

"It's all I could find in your size." Ivanka murmured with pursed lips. "Try it on." She sighed.

"Okay." I threw my towel off and pulled the dress up, moving my hair to the side to zip it. Mina's hands found the zipper before mine could and she slid it up for me, the silky dress sliding against my skin softly. It was shorter than I had ever worn, but I felt like it fit well. I tossed my hair back into its normal position and looked up to see their reactions.

"It looks like it fits..." Mina said, sounding hesitant. "How does it feel?" her eyes darted down to the hem at my mid-thighs.

"Good." I shrugged. "As long as I don't look stupid- if I'm the only one wearing a dress..."

"You won't be." Ivanka spoke up as her dark eyes looked over the shining red dress analytically.

*

Mina and Ivanka had done my hair and make-up before Vati came to find me. We had stayed in the penthouse of the hotel and his room was right down the hall. There were security men in the kitchen and I could hear Vati saying something to them before he came to my room to get me.

I found myself sitting next to Vati on a VIP couch with my eyes stuck longingly on the dancefloor. He was speaking about a deal with the men there and I had crossed my legs next to his so I didn't flash anyone my underwear with my short dress. When Vati had made a deal to buy the club, I had a smile on my face.

"Du sprechst Deutsch?" 'You speak german?' one of the men asked in surprise.

"Darf ich jetzt tanzen?" 'Can I dance now?' I asked Vati excitedly. He smiled at the exhilarated look on my face as I hopped up to lean down with pleading eyes. He stood up making me think he was going to dance with me, until he stepped closer to a girl who had been eyeing them. He whispered something in her ear with a gesture at me and I tried not to grimace when he handed her something stealthily. She put the money in her dress by her boob and then put her hand out to me.

"Ich heiße Wren. Wie heißen sie?" 'I'm Wren. What's your name?' I asked over the music, seeing surprise on her face and slight smile on her full lips.

"Heidi." She told me as she led me out to the dance floor. I looked back to see her friends had all gone to talk to Vati and the men.

I let the music fill me up and Heidi laughed at my crazy dance moves that my friend Karilena taught me. I had met Karilena in New York City at a club. She was a stripper and had taken an immediate liking to me when I had asked her to teach me how to dance. Vati had shaken his head with a smile when I had stolen Karilena away from him out of a group of girls who had been paid to dance for them, but he was glad I'd made a friend. She often kept me company on our outings in New York when Vati and the others left me alone and Ivanka had often ditched me too.

Heidi and I were joined by a bunch of other girls and the music was so loud I couldn't hear their laughing or whooping as they danced and jumped with me. The bass vibrated my body like I was part of the music and I let my body do whatever it wanted as moves came naturally to me.

"Du sollten Tänzer warden!" 'You should be a dancer' A girl called to me when the song was quieter as it switched tunes. I laughed and shook my head bashfully.

"Ich muss ins Badezimmer. Wird es du gut gehen?" 'I have to head to the bathroom. Will you be okay?' Heidi asked.

"Ja." I shrugged.

When Heidi took ages in the bathroom and I got tired of dancing because the music turned too techno and had less bass, I went back to the couch. Vati and the men were gone and there were different men there. I almost approached them, having only seen their suits. They all looked up at me like they were going to eat me alive.

"Es tut mir leid. Haben sie Herr Greyson gesehen?" 'Sorry. Have you seen Mr. Greyson?' I blurted out, taking a step back away from them hesitantly. I was sure there was suspicion in my eyes and my heart was pounding in adrenaline because I couldn't be sure if they were good people or not. They looked...sketch...

One of the men got up and I kept my posture straight and looked up at him with a demanding expression. I thought he was going to lead me to him and he put his hand on my back as he started leading me towards the back of the club. I told myself it was probably fine, but in my gut, I wanted to run.

"Fass mich nicht an." 'Don't touch me' I said boldly as I pulled his hand away from my back. To my horror, he laughed. He obviously wasn't one of Vati's men if he had the guts to laugh. I stopped and started to distance myself from him and move back to the couch, but the other men had gotten up.

"Du bist lebhaft, du kleine Schlampe!" 'You're feisty, you little bitch!' the man said dangerously as they had me surrounded.

"Fuck." I breathed in fear before trying to fake going right before dashing left to scream for help over the balcony. The music swallowed up my voice and their arms crushed my ribs and covered my mouth before I was pulled from my feet screaming bloody murder.

They had blind-folded me and gagged me before I could figure out where they were taking me. I felt the cold November air on my sweat-soaked skin and goosebumps plagued me as I tried to scream through the gag and kick and hit whatever I could. I stabbed the heel of my shoe into somebody's crotch and he dropped me swearing savagely as I ripped the blindfold and gag off and screamed as loud as I could. Screaming through the gag had made me breathless and my scream was not nearly as loud as I would've liked. Suddenly, a fist came at my head and I landed sprawled out on the concrete in shock. I could barely breath with my lungs spasming and my eyesight was blurred even though my eyes were wide.

"You fuckin' assholes!" I heard a man roar before I was pulled up by one of the men and they started trying to get me into the van. Gunshots in the night air sounded louder than anything I'd ever heard and made my ears ring painfully after. They felt like the bullet had pierced my ear drum. I realized it hadn't when the man behind me went limp and dropped me. The others took out their guns as Vati's men came racing over with rage. My head was pounding and my ears couldn't hear anymore as my eye sight came back enough that I could see the man closest to me get his face hit with a bullet. At my vantage point on the concrete, I could see pieces of his skull fly out behind him along with a spray of blood. I felt a gasp vibrate my throat as I felt the hot drops of his blood splatter the skin on my face and arm.

A man I recognized had run up to pull me carefully from the concrete with his eyes wide in worry as the other men tried to get away and the other men shot them before they could get in the van.

"Bist du in Ordnung?!" 'Are you okay?' I could read his lips plainly as he steadied me. I swallowed through my scratched throat and nodded hesitantly because I could feel the blood dripping from the painful bruise on my head.