The Grey. *-(A SciFi Thriller)-*

Part XI: Red

Red was sitting on the floor, his long legs bent, pretzelled in his arms, his sharp chin resting on one of his knees. His jaw was sore from clenching his teeth. He had thought that finding her would make it better. It hadn't.

About a foot from his face, Sabrina was passed out on his couch, wrapped tightly in his blankets. He elevated her swollen foot after removing an inch long shard of glass from her heel. As he stared at her sleeping face, a flash of how she looked when he found her appeared to him, and sent an electric ripple of darts up his spine.

Red found Sabrina on the south side of town, well off the main road. He had followed a trail of tiny dots of blood to a back alleyway, fearing the worst. He had almost walked past her, but the fuzzy orange industrial light was shining off her bright white hair on the ground. He pulled the damp boxes that lined the alley away, and found her there, sprawled out on the ground. She was covered in the grime of the city, and her bare feet were caked with dust and dirt. Her arms were tightly clasped around a cloth bag on her chest, and he was relieved to see it slowly move up and down with her strained breaths. There were tiny splatters of blackened blood dried to her face and hands, and her heel was still dripping. But she was alive.

Red was scared to touch her at first, fearing he would somehow injure her further if he tried to move her in any way. It took him a couple of long seconds, and a couple of slaps to his own face, before he gained the courage to lift her up into his arms.

When Red finally brought Sabrina inside, he started by cleaning her off with a warm cloth, and inspected her for injuries. As he wiped away the speckled blood on her sleeping face, then hands, then arms, he paused.

This isn't her blood.

Red had to stop every so often as he cleaned her off to compose himself. Could this delicate little body, these fragile, thin hands, have murdered someone? Where had she been? What had she done? The only injury Red found was on her heel from a broken lens, maybe even broken by her when a victim was trying to call for help.

Red shook his head.

No.

No. This body may have done horrible things, but somewhere, locked away underneath the white-blonde tangled locks, was Sabrina - trapped within a body she did not control.

He watched her asleep on his couch, anticipating who she might be when she woke up.

Why isn't she waking up? Red's mind started to race. Was it because of the injury? Did her body just finally give out?

His eyes wandered over to the floor where the cloth bag she had clasped so tightly was leaning against the white Sage cube. He carefully pulled it open, his eyes racing through its contents, and his heart started beating in his head.

The bag was packed tight with what seemed to be medical supplies. It was filled with tiny vials and needles. He picked up one of the tiny plastic containers. It was a powerful sedative. He recognized them from the days before he started sticking to Sage. He had friends who were hooked, and several had overdosed. The right amount would put you to sleep - just a bit more and you wouldn't wake up.

Visitor!

His door was chiming in alert. He jumped up in surprise, almost dropping the tiny vial, but catching it before it hit the floor. He looked back at the door screen to see Ami standing there, looking around anxiously. He almost forgot that he had messaged earlier.

Red waved his wrist around, and the door hissed open when the sensor recognized his ID chip. He stepped to the side, allowing Ami through, greeting her with a stiff and silent nod.