DROWNING

Chapter 7: Drowning

Red.

Red: the ragged cloak with frayed edges that twisted in the wind.

Red: the blood stains and splatters that painted the reflective white mask.

Red: the dark rags wrapped around the reflected girl's arm and torso.

Red: the chipped nails that dug into the neck beneath the mask.

"Hails!"

Red: the face of the girl's boyfriend who begged to be released from her grasp.

Hailee squeezed the neck of the horror below her even tighter, her eyes widened and crazed. She screamed at it, her spit and blood mixed with the venom and disgust of her voice.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!"

Qiaren gasped for air as he squirmed and wrestled just to eek out his voice from the girl's furious might.

"It... wasn't... me..."

The girl's cheeks gained more and more tear stains, her grip weakened.

"I WANT MY DAD BACK! GIVE HIM BACK!"

The boy's expression softened between coughs and gasps as Hailee released the grip on his neck. The girl's shoulders trembled as her lungs shook with each breath. Her eyes darted around at both everything and nothing as she fell back against the tree trunk behind her.

"Please. Please. Please. Please. I just want him back."

Her limbs went limp from shock as she pleaded.

Qiaren's face loosened as the cloaked figure sat up with a groan. The face quickly dissolved into ash as it fell from the white mask, piling ontop of some of the red cloth before being gently wiped off by a gloved hand.

Hailee silently stared at the person before her.

"Hails, I-"

"If you lie, I will kill you."

The girl flatly threatened the person despite her unmoving limbs. A small laugh was barely audible beneath the mask and hood.

"If only I could lie."

Hailee's scowl darkened with rage before the cloaked person switched to bowing with the mask against the dirt.

"I'm sorry, Hails, that's irrelevant. Look, I promise I won't lie to you."

The figure's head raised to face the girl, the hood falling back to reveal the long tangled mess of muddy black hair that hid beneath it.

"I can't bring your father back."

The girl's eyes began watering again as her voice shook.

"Did you kill him?"

The mask dipped down and away from the girl's gaze

"I couldn't save him, no matter what I did I couldn't save him."

Tears dribbled down the person's neck as the cloak trembled.

Hailee regained some of her strength to grab at the scruff of the masked one's neck.

"Did you put the damn blade through his head?!"

The mask still looked to the side.

"He is... was my best friend."

The girl lobbed a right hook against the side of the figure's head. The masked person folded onto the ground with a damp thump.

"YES OR NO, BASTARD?!"

Leaning heavily against the tree, Hailee pulled herself up onto her feet. Her legs stabled as she watched the cloak slowly stir.

"ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!"

The girl grabbed a rock from the ground and lifted it above her head.

"LAST CHANCE, FREAK!"

The cloaked figure began to sing in a low, solemn tone.

"My beautiful daughter, so bright and shining.

Oh how you wonder, about what's around you.

There's plenty of flowers, and lots of dancing.

There's so many people, both big and tiny.

Yet when they're around us, it's clear to see-ee-ee:

You're the only one here that matters to me."

The rock fell back to the earth with a thump as Hailee lost her hold on it.

The cloak flinched.

"Dad?"

The figure looked back up at Hailee as the shiny mask gently shook side to side.

"I'm not your father, Hails."

"Stop calling me that, I'm half tempted to rip that mask off your face and beat you to death with it."

The figure looked down again.

"I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that. What the hell are you even sorry about?!"

The mask continued to face the dirt.

"Derk died because I was too reckless."

"Excuse me?"

"He protected me even after you were born, even after he got wrapped up in everything."

"Start talking clearly or I swear to God..."

Hailee closed her eyes, leaned her head back against the tree and screamed. The figure stood up in a shaky stance immediately. Yet, the girl soon quieted and took a deep breath.

The breeze was cool and ran between the trees and tussled some of the grass on the ground. The green leaves shone under the evening sun.

The girl held a steady gaze with the mask.

"That song. Where'd you hear it?"

"While I was hiding."

"How?"

Beneath the mask, the person took a very deep breath.

"The way I'm made to."

The girl's vision went blurry as wiped her eyes. Handfuls of dust and sand and tiny grains of blue rocks poured out. She tried to catch them as they quickly flooded out and dissolved into the air, but they all slipped through her fingers with ease.

There was a warm campfire that felt like the sun she had seen, and a small rustle of branches from the cool wind.

The grass was a thin layer ashy snow covering the frozen dirt. The green leaves and trees were empty husks made up of angular veins of bark reaching out and up into the dark starless night.

A forest of black and grey and blood red stains from the hundreds of corpses. The bodies were mainly intact, giant silver wolves split open from mouth to tail. Some steam was even still rising from the open wounds.

Across from her, the red cloaked figure was covered in mud and gore and blackened ash.

The mask was broken. A portion of the top left was shattered and gone.

Behind it, twisting with the flickering shadows cast by the campfire, was part of a human face.

The visage was more scar tissue than actual skin. 

There were two eyes visible from the gap, each with no eyelids or eyelashes, that had the inner pupils glowing a soft blue light against the dark.

The first eye was in its normal place.

The second eye was in the middle of the person's forehead.

"My name is Jayne R. Thestern. I'm unfortunately God's Sense of Sight."