Cherish Red ✔️

Chapter Three

( all credit goes to Seon's Red Wristbands animatic for the picture )

~ Not So Fast ~

"AHHH!!"

Red grabbed slammed her fists against her skull, trying to bite back tears. It's stupid, that's what it was. Jixi was probably just in the moment, so determined. Ready to fight whatever she could get her hands on. But Red wasn't. She just wanted to fade away from the scene, to not get noticed. Jixi wanted the opposite of that, and she succeeded.

"Jix, you bastard!"

Red collapsed to the floor. Jixi slid away, looking confused. A tiny bit of concern, but other than that... she seemed more entertained than worried. Red began to hyperventilate, as unwanted thoughts swarmed in her mind. Jixi didn't realize how much this mutation hurt her. She never seen this side of Red before, and that didn't help. The least she could do is get a firm grip on her scale-filled wrist and hold it there so she wouldn't run away afterwards.

"What? What?"

Red tugged at her eyes.

"What?! WHAT? Don't act you don't know!" Red yelled. This isn't what she wanted. She did not want to attract anyone with her yelling, or get shot with a hot arrow that pierced her spine. Well, what was left of it anyways. "I mean, you could've just poked me with the arrow, and not SHOOT me with it! That fucking hurts-!"

"Why didn't you just say so?" Jixi asked, as if Red were perfectly calm. "You should-"

"No, no, no!" She hissed. "Do NOT start with that! The 'oh you should've done that' bullshit! You were the one who shot me, goddammit! Not me-"

Red choked all of a sudden. It felt like a cold liquid had filled her lungs as she gasped for air. Jixi showed some more concern. But Red didn't see it that time. She was focusing on the black blood or liquid that was bleeding out of her mouth like a broken faucet. Her skin began to break and fall off, revealing a inky substance underneath and bunches of eyes staring at Jixi. All of Red's eyes turned a dark shade of red as well as the inky liquid. It had a reddish tone to it too.

Before Jixi or Red could blink, Red had turned into a monstrosity of eyes - some with broken blood vessels and some normal - a black substance, and blood. It was as if a spider had begun to melt rapidly, and ran into some other spider, causing the two to melt into each other. Jixi froze, shuddering at what her friend had become.

"Red...?"

Jixi stood up and took a step forward. Cautiously, she approached the mess of eyes and blood that was Red. She took a deep breath and whispered "Red... are you still there? Do you still know the plan-!"

Red sprung at Jixi, but she shot another arrow at her. Jix bit her tongue and tumbled to the floor. Shaking, she picked herself up and aimed the bow at Red. Red seemed to recoil away. She wasn't really sure what she was up to. Jixi didn't know if Red would attack her again, or give in and help her with her plan. Maybe she's just scared, she thought. How can I get her to trust me?

Jixi put the bow away. She held a hand out, trying to reach for Red's mutated mess of a body. Red slid away, and Jixi sighed. She was so mad at her before, and now frightened? What was going on? She went onto her knees, realizing she was running out of ideas. But as soon as Jixi did so, Red lunged at her and used an inky arm to stab Jix's tail. Jixi cried out.

"Ah!" She yelled, yanking the arm out. "Please, Red! What do you want? How long does this last? Do you know what you're even doing?"

"HEY!"

Jixi inhaled a shaky breath; he had noticed her and Red's little fight. She tried to run off, but Red summoned spiky tentacles and wrapped them around Jix's tail, causing her to fall and face plant into the concrete. She winced, her fins quickly inflating. It was a way to show worry.

"You two!" Mr. Henderson shouted. He looked down at Red, who kept Jixi trapped in an inky mess. "Hm... tsk. I would've killed you by now, but I'm guessing bullets won't kill you?"

Red snarled at him, but Henderson wasn't afraid. Jixi, on the other hand, was a different story. She stared at him with a wide mouth and eyes, as if crying for help but was unable to say anything. Red's several eyes glared at him with dark fury, as Mr. Henderson took out a gun and shot an eye. Red shrieked wildly, letting go of Jixi and racing towards him.

"Ugh!" He yelled, as she wrapped the same ink around his leg. Mr. Henderson shook it off, and shot another two eyes. They bled into the other eyes, blinding some of them. Jixi tried to run away, but she wasn't free from him either: Henderson pulled the trigger and shot her in the forehead. Well, almost did; Red used another ability, summoning an inky shield with eyes as protection of some kind. Jixi breathed a sigh of relief, but Red slapped her arm with another tentacle.

"Goddammit!" He said, his face turning red as sweat dripped down his forehead and neck. He took another shot, which successfully hit Jixi in the right cheek. Jixi gasped, and fell. Red roared and was about to attack Henderson again, but she froze. He faced her and rudely asked "What's wrong with you now? Do you want me to shoot you again?"

Red shook viciously, as the black liquid began to evaporate and grow skin. Some of the substance formed into silky black hair, and the eyes seemed to scream. Before Henderson knew it, Red was back to "normal" and was laid out on the floor in a fetal position. Then, she whispered "I-I killed... did I..? Did you kill Ji- I..."

He held the gun, but sat down next to Red. Maybe I can inject her with something in this state to make her trust me, Mr. Henderson thought. He looked at Jixi, who was on her last breaths. He faced Red again, who seemed to be in a different world. Then I could "raise" her and use her as a defence weapon.

"Hey, Red," Mr. Henderson said. He glanced at the other three things he'd killed. A werewolf - eight years old - who was innocent as Ted Bundy. A cyborg - thirteen, oldest of the three - whose only purpose was to act as a spy. The last was a girl who was slowly turning into a flower - just eleven - the only one who listened to people. He had killed them.

"Red, you're coming with me. Do you want any to hear your dumb friend's last words?"

"Last words?" Red stammered. "I... no.. no, no, no. Uh... yes... I... this is my fault-"

"No, it isn't."

She faced Jixi.

"You're gonna be strong, alright, Nine-Eyes...?"

Red was paralyzed in her spot, all except for the bloody tears flowing down her puffy cheeks.

"Yeah... I-I guess... I..."

"I love you, Red. You're like a sister to me."

Red choked.

"I love ya too, Jixster...I-I-"

Jixi's body went limp on the ground. Red burst into bloody crying.

Jixi was dead, and it was all her fault.