After driving down a rural dirt road, we arrive at the mill. It was very run down and beat up with vines and weeds covering the brick buildings. We pull up to a rusty chain fence and Roman shuts off the car engine.

"How does it feel to have your name on everything?" Peter asks, looking around.

"Like a fucking pimp."

I burst out laughing, but Peter doesn't even smile. "Isn't there somewhere around back we can park this? You know..."

"Nobody gives a shit what happens out here," Roman shrugs, lighting a cigarette. He gets out of the car as it dangles from his lips. He unlocks the rusty lock and opens the gate. Slowly, we walk on the gravel trail toward the building.

The inside smells like rat feces and rust. Tall structures towered over us as we venture farther into the dark mill. We turn on our flashlights and use them as a guide.

"Did you ever see this place when it was running?" I ask Roman, stepping over a pile of rubble.

"My old man closed it before I was born," he says as Peter and I trail behind him. "Lots of people died here - workers and shit."

We enter a large room, water pooling down from the ceilings. I look around and notice puddles and steal beams. The sound of our feet hitting the water echoed throughout the room. I stumble over a rock and luckily Peter grabs my arm to steady me. I say thank you and he nods before walking away. Roman quickly grabs my hand and keeps me close to him.

"You know when you close your ears, sometimes the sound of your heart is like a little man walking through snow," Roman points out and I wonder how he even comes up with stuff like that.

"Yep," Peter said, not sounding interested. "Hey, what was that, uh, big structure outside?"

"It's a Bessemer converter. At one point they made pig iron into money."

"Do you guys have any idea what we are looking for?" I question, bringing the attention back to the mill and why we were even here.

"Uh, driver's license, social security card, dream journal," Peter slowly explains.

"This is a joke," Roman huffs as we jump over a puddle and onto a dry rock that had formed in the ground. "Left or right?" He asks, looking around. Darkness was on either side of us, and there was no way we could cover it all.

"Let's split up," I suggest.

"I don't want to leave you alone, Elsie," Roman said sternly. "You could trip and hurt yourself like you almost did back there."

"I'm fine," I grumble. "I'm a big girl and chances are, we won't even find anything."

"Way to be optimistic!" Peter says sarcastically, giving me a thumbs up.

"Fine, but if you see or hear anything weird, just call for help," Roman explains and I nod. We go off in separate directions. I could hear their footsteps slowly fade away as I went further into the darkness. I shined my flashlight on the ground, walls, and ceilings and saw nothing out of the ordinary. A rat runs passed me and I jump.

"Fucking hell," I mumble, my heart still beating fast. I shine my flashlight to the side of me to make sure there were no more. Suddenly, my feet hit something and I stumble down, scraping my arm and head against some rocks. I slowly sit up, unable to process what had happened. I look up and see what I tripped on, my eyes widening in horror.

I screamed loudly as I watch rats and maggots feed on a leg. The shin and foot still had skin, but the rest was covered in blood with exposed flesh and bone. The smell was extremely unbearable and it made me want to throw up. I hear footsteps racing toward me with flashlights in every direction.

"Elsie!" I hear Roman shout. "Where the fuck are you?"

"I see her," Peter tells him, shining his flashlight directly in my face.

They run, their faces scrunching in disgust as they smell the rotting flesh that was just a few inches in front of me. Peter shines the light on the leg, his eyes wide. Roman quickly crouches down and wraps his arms around me.

"Are you okay?" He pants, looking me up and down with concern. "Fuck, your head is bleeding pretty badly," Roman says as he takes my beanie off and strokes the hair away. His hand gets blood on it and he stops for a second and stares at it. What was he doing?"

After a moment, he shakes his head and helps me up. My head hurt and I felt slightly dizzy as Roman keeps me steady. "We need to get you to a doctor."

"No, I'm fine," I assure him. My head and arm did hurt, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. "We have other things to worry about. Like, how there is a fucking leg right in front of us," I point out.

"It's Lisa Willoughby," Peter whispers, watching the rat nibble on the flesh.

"Who the fuck comes in here?" Roman grumbles, running his long fingers through his hair.

"I don't know," Peter shrugs. "It's your fucking mill."

"Should we tell someone?" He asks, his voice getting louder. I could tell he was frustrated and confused. Hell, we all were.

"Tell them what?"

"I dunno."

A siren bleeps from outside and we turn our heads. I could hear tires along the gravel road, getting closer and closer.

"Shit!" Peter shouts, his arms failing.

"I'll deal with it," Roman hushes as he lets go of my arm. He is about to walk away when Peter snatches his arm.

"Just do it, okay?" He breathes. I knew he was referring to the creepy thing Roman does with his eyes. "Don't fuck around."

"You've made your point," Roman sneers. Peter lets go, but Roman doesn't leave. "Where?"

"Where what?"

"You said you ran into Letha in town, where?" He questions, getting closer to his face. I stand back and don't say anything. I don't want to get involved in their fighting. I was just worried about the cops. They were already on my ass, so if they catch us here with Lisa Willoughby's leg, then we were all fucked.

"Jesus Christ!" Peter shouts in disbelief. "Come on!"

"Was she helping out with the water heater too?"

"They're gonna find your car," Peter hisses through his teeth.

"You should have told me you were into the pregnant thing," Roman scolded, his knuckles almost white from clenching his hands so tightly. "I could have hooked you up."

"Roman, she's your cousin!"

"I don't like secrets," he growled through his teeth. They were both in each other's face and I prayed they wouldn't begin throwing punches.

"Elsie knew," Peter blurts, looking at me. "She saw my phone. I figured she would have told you."

Roman turns to me, his face filled with anger. "You knew? You knew that Peter was with my cousin and you didn't think to tell me?"

"Okay, first of all, what the fuck, Peter?" I shriek in disbelief. Was he really going to try and put the blame on me? "And second of all, you guys have more drama then any girl I know. I don't need to get involved in whatever you guys fight about."

"I can't fucking believe you," Roman sneers, looking down at me like I was a disease or rodent. My heart sinks into the bottom of my stomach. I couldn't believe Peter would even say something. It wasn't my fault he lied to Roman.

We hear a car door shut from the outside before someone yells, "Hey, you might as well get your tight ass out here! Cause I'm gonna be real pissed if I have to go in there!"

"Just get rid of them," Peter pleads, anxiously pacing. "Please!"

"Since you said the magic word," Roman spits before walking away.

Peter sighs in relief and turns toward me. "Elsie, look-"

"Don't fucking talk to me," I snap and turn around. I see a small broken window and I slowly peak my head outside to watch Roman speak to the cops. I hear them talking, but I can't make out what they were saying. I knew Roman making jokes and the officers were clearly not tolerating it. The scrawny officer suddenly grabs his handcuffs and twists Roman around.

"Oh my god," I shake my head. I couldn't believe he just let that happen. Roman sees me through the small window and devilishly smirks. The officer glances over and I quickly get down, my breathing hitched.

I wait and listen for the cop car to leave. When I no longer hear the engine, I slowly walk toward Peter who was leaning against a moldy wall.

"Roman got arrested," I tell him quietly. "He left us."

"Fuck!" Peter shouts, grabbing on to his hair.

I don't say anything. I look at Lisa's leg one more time before going out of the mill. I felt upset and really hurt. Not to mention, my head was pounding and still bleeding. I look at my arm, it was scratched and I knew I should get these cuts cleaned as soon as I possible. I pull myself toward the door and begin the long walk home.

- 

The GIF used in this chapter is from bonniebirdgifcentre on Tumblr!