BOOK ONE - Scarlet's perfect world gets turned upside down when life begins to drain of color. After losing her parents, Scarlet realizes she has the power to see things no one else can.
Struggling to bring it all back to normal, she finds herself o...
All scarlet could do was blink like her life depended on it. Every time she shut her eyes, she could only hope that this was a lie. A nightmare. But no matter what she did, Silver stood there. Ash wasn't tricking her. At least not yet. Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched her best friend keep the glass container surrounding her parents shut, even though she stood so closely to her family and he knew exactly how much she wanted this reunion. She wanted to scream at him, to tell him how much he meant to her, but all of the courage that once flowed through her bones now disappeared. Unable to speak even though she tried to say something, anything at this point, all she could do was stare. It was unbelievable.
"I told you he was fine, didn't I?" Ash said, breaking the terrible silence that stood in the room.
Still, no words left her mouth. Even though she wanted to pay attention to Ash and make sure he wasn't trying to pull anything, she didn't care. She was here and got the answer she never expected she would ever receive. Doubting her best friend now, she wondered if he really was her best friend. If her parents really did something to cause Ash harm, did Silver's parents know and choose to have him spy on her? Scarlet shook her head, letting the tears fall from her cheeks no matter how much she didn't want them to be seen. Quickly wiping her face, she didn't think Silver would ever truly do that. But she also never thought he'd be standing here, preventing her from happiness. Wanting her to be happy was everything to him, at least it used to be. From loving him so much that she would do anything in the world for him to wanting to hurt him for all the pain he caused in a matter of minutes, all of her emotions ran wild. She had no idea how to react anymore. All that strength she got from wanting to save Silver slowly started leaving her body.
Ash cleared his throat, looking at Scarlet. "Since you've now seen everything you can't save, come with me. We can fix it."
For the first time since she walked in and noticed Silver, she spoke, but her voice was soft. "No."
"What did you just say?"
Scarlet raised her voice now, making sure Silver heard her. "I said no. I'm staying here." She thought about everything, wondering if he still thought of her the way she did. Wanting, longing for his touch and now, she walked toward him, her face bright red and wet from all the tears she spilled. So close to him, yet far enough away, she wanted to yell, to hurt him as much as he caused her pain. But all she could do was cry. In the midst of her tears, she asked, "How could you do this to me? What did he do to you to make you do this? This...This can't be real. You're my best friend. I–"
"Don't listen to her. She's hallucinating, Silver. Remember? I told you that when she showed up, she wouldn't really be here."
"You're right," Silver responded.
They were the first two words he spoke, even with her standing just feet in front of him crying, but all that came out were the two words she never expected. She knew she was real. Standing here, feeling every bit of pain was definitely real. But she didn't know if Silver knew she was real and was just agreeing to not cause trouble or if he really didn't think she was standing there. Knowing if she stretched her arm out, she could touch him, how would he react? Maybe this was a test. Maybe Ash was trying to get her to think he was fake and that he was somewhere else in deep trouble. Maybe there were rules here that she wasn't supposed to break. But it was time for her to know for sure if he was real. If he felt the same way she did. Clearly, he had to. Her red sweatshirt was still on him, and she knew he hated the color red, just like he hated fire. But that single piece that she gave him before he vanished was still there. Did that mean his feelings were too?
Trembling, she knew this moment would determine everything she knew about him. Everything he told her throughout their adventure would prove to be true if he followed through the way she thought he would. Slowly, as tons of thoughts filled her mind about how every step of this could go wrong, she reached out and held on to his wrist, smiling at him as best she could. She sniffled, wiping the tears away with her other hand. A chance that she was losing everything right here scared her, but all she truly cared about was losing him.
Seconds passed, even though it felt like an eternity of her holding on to his wrist, standing there as if she had nothing else to do. Just about to give up and remove her hand from him, a tug made her feet move just a couple steps forward. He let go of the controls, pushing a button on the bottom to keep her parents secure. That one movement hit her in the chest, part of her hoping he would let them go, but she anticipated his next move, watching the way his lips parted as he pulled her close.
Next thing she knew, their bodies were touching, his hands wrapped around her body, slowly making their way up to her hair when their lips finally crashed against each other. It was an amazing, beautiful moment she never wanted to forget as the fire and ice mixed between them. Gentle and passionate, just as she'd imagined it to be. For a moment, it was just the two of them. She knew he'd never forget her. Just like she'd never forget him. They'd always be together, even as her arms wrapped around his waist, the two of them so close there was nowhere else to go, but neither of them wanted to pull away. Every bit of their emotions from all the adventures they had, poured into this one kiss. Their sadness, happiness, anger, and anything else they shared flowed through them.
Silver pulled away, taking a breath, too soon for Scarlet; she wanted it to go on forever, but every movement of his lingered on her lips. Knowing it was the right time, she held his hand and smiled at him. "I love you, Silver."
He laughed, gripping her hand tighter as if he'd never let go. "I love you too. But there's something you need to know..." he trailed off, glancing at Ash. She watched Ash nod back, as if it was some type of signal. The smile that was on his face disappeared. "I'm sorry...for everything."
THE END
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