SHADES of RED
CAROLINE BRADBURY, 2016
She knew exactly what she had to do. The night was watching her as if she were a ghost, haunting everything in her path. Her feet glided along the forgotten pavement like fog rolling through the night. Still, she smiled in spite of herself and in spite of the terrible events that brought her here.
Before her stood a door. It's texture was weathered and it's surroundings were overgrown with vines, twisting into endless stories of abandonment. The door was normal in nature, but what made it so intriguing to her was the fact that it had a large red X painted onto it’s surface. It's color vibrant and deadly, making the greenery around it alive. Her fingers grazed the worn wood, making her skin turn shades of red.
"You're not serious." A male voice chimed behind her. She removed her touch from the door gasping to herself in response. She knew that voice all too well.
"I told you not to follow me." She said sternly, not wanting to give away her emotions of fear. She let her hand she used to inspect the door fall to her side, dripping with paint like blood. He didn't question it.
He nodded towards the door. "That's the fifth one this week isn't it?" She nodded, looking to the gravel covered ground at her feet. He let silence fill the air for a few beats before his gaze met hers. "I wasn't going to let you do something this stupid all by yourself." It was too dark for her to see his expression, his tall stature and dark hair making him look that much more intimidating in the ink covered night. She would never guess that the figure standing in front of her were merely a boy if she hadn't known him, hadn't understood that his presence being here was a sacrifice.
"They marked the entire building, every single door." She whispered lightly, not knowing who would be listening or moving within the walls of the structure in front of her.
"Why do they want us?" He asked, moving closer to her. He too was attempting to shield the fear lacing through his body. It wasn't working.
"I think you can answer that for yourself." She responded, her voice wavering and rushed.
"Have you been marked yet?" He asked, his eyes searching hers.
"No, but my sister-"
"My brother." He said simply and they both looked down slowly, somber. They understood why they were both here and what they needed to do.
"I just need to know what happened to her." She breathed, barely audible.
He nodded in agreement and eventually they stood facing the door, it's X glaring back in a standoff.
"We need to go inside don't we?" He asked. She answered him by moving closer to the door and placing both hands on it's surface.
"Yes, but not here. It's too obvious." She explained, removing her hands from the door to reveal two handprints in shades of deep red, hoping to throw off their real location. He understood as she motioned for him to move towards the wild pile of vines and overgrown grass that hugged the building. They walked silently through the bush, knowing the path all too well.
"Do you think we have a chance?" He asked, more to himself than to the girl walking defiantly in front of him.
"No," She stated plainly, letting her fingers graze the edges of the leaves, leaving fingerprints of red in her wake, "But I have to try."
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