Seeing Red

14 Again, I woke up screaming, breathing hard, and covered in sweat. It was the second dream in a row in which I was killed. Only now I had some sort of idea as to why. Scarlett was aware of Jade and was apparently jealous. I didn’t know that she was even capable of feeling jealousy, or any emotion at all. Those creepy white-eyed clones, however, must’ve done something to make her realize that I need a girl in my waking life also, judging by what she said shortly before she shot me. Now, however, I found myself wondering if I would be able to carry on a relationship with Jade as long as Scarlett was around. Sure, Scarlett was only in my dreams, but the things she could do to me in my dreams were limitless and, while they couldn’t actually hurt me, they could cause me to get little to no sleep. She could’ve even caused me to go insane. The mind is a powerful thing and having your own mind turn on you could be deadly. But what could I do? I couldn’t just break up with Scarlett because she literally lived in my head. I would have to try to reason with her and convince her that she needed to leave me alone. I didn’t see that conversation going well but I didn’t have a choice. If I was going to have any kind of relationship with Jade then Scarlett had to go. The fear of having that conversation with Scarlett prevented me from falling back asleep. Fortunately, it was 8 o’clock when I woke up anyway so I still got a decent amount of sleep. It was also Saturday, my favorite day of the week, and I had nothing planned. I considered asking Jade if she wanted to come over but I didn’t want to seem too clingy so soon. So I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon playing my racing game so I would be more of a challenge to her the next time we played. I was about to put away the game for the day when there was a knock at my door. I looked through the peephole and, to no surprise, found Tanner flipping me off on the other side. I opened the door to let him. “Dude, don’t you ever call first?” I asked. “Why should I? You’re always here and never have plans. If I called first then you could come up with some excuse or just ignore me.” He wasn’t wrong. “What’s up?” “Nothin’ really. I’m just bored so I thought I would see how my good buddy, Grayson, was doin’.” “I’m good.” I was giving short answers in hopes that he would get the hint and leave. I was looking forward to a day of nothing and, if I were to have company, the only person I wanted it to be was Jade. “Cool,” he replied. “Let’s play some hockey.” He let himself in and sat on the couch. “Don’t you get sick of that game?” “What else is there to play?” “Let’s play this racing game I have.” If I had to play with him then I figured I might as well get some good practice out of it. “All right, sure.” Apparently my practice was working because I beat him four races in a row. Of course, like me, Tanner didn’t play racing games often so he wasn’t much of a challenge. It was satisfying watching him get frustrated, though. “Man, f**k this game!” he yelled out of frustration and turned the game off. “Let’s play hockey now.” “All right,” I laughed. “What made you wanna play that game anyway?” “I need to practice. Jade kicked my ass at it last night.” Dammit! Why did I just say that? “What?! You went out with Jade last night?” “Yeah,” I answered reluctantly. “We got dinner and then went back to her place and played some games.” “Dude, that’s awesome!” “It was a great night. She’s really cool. You’d like her.” “Well, she plays video games so that’s already a point in her favor. So, I know you and you wouldn’t have had s*x on the first date but please tell me you at least kissed her.” It actually took longer than I thought it would for him to ask. “Yes, we kissed.” “Yeah, you did! Look at my little Grayson growin’ up and kissin’ girls!” he teased obnoxiously. “I’m happy for ya, man. Seriously.” He actually seemed sincere. It was a side of him I didn’t think I would ever see. “That’s it?” I asked suspiciously. “You’re not gonna make fun of me for not having s*x with her? You’re not gonna tell me how I’m going to screw it up with her? You’re not even gonna ask if she was a good kisser?” “No, man,” he replied, seeming a little offended. “I’m actually happy for you. This is good for you. You needed a good girl that will make you forget about that fake girlfriend of yours. Have you had any dreams about her lately?” “Uh, no. No, I haven’t seen her in a while.” It would’ve made my life a lot easier if he thought she was gone. “Good,” he said and turned the racing game back on. “I thought you wanted to play hockey now?” “No, you have to practice. You can’t let a girl beat you at the only thing guys are actually good at. If she takes that away from you then you have nothing.” “You know, Tanner; sometimes you can actually be a good friend.” “Yeah, I know. But don’t tell anybody else that,” he said and gave me a soft punch on the shoulder. “So, I have to ask… is she a stripper?” “No!” There was enough snow on the ground to cover my white dress shoes and more was falling. I was wearing an all white suit and tie, no jacket, but I wasn’t cold. Scarlett stood next to me, no longer wearing the blue jeans and flannel shirt that she was in the previous dream. Instead, she was back in a white dress, but not the typical sundress as before. This one fanned out at the bottom and was strapless, like a wedding dress, but I knew it wasn’t one. She held a small white umbrella over her head to protect her long red hair from the snow. Her blue eyes and red lips were more prevalent than ever, standing out against her pale skin and the snow behind her. Trees covered in nothing but ice and snow surrounded us on all ends. “Kinda reminds you of that night we went ice skating, doesn’t it?” she said. “Well, minus the ice and buildings.” “This is even better, if you ask me.” It truly was beautiful. And so was she. But I couldn’t help but think about how the last dream had ended. She must’ve sensed that, though, and said something before I had a chance to. “Grayson, listen. I want to apologize for the way things have been lately. I acted like a total i***t at the museum and I was a total b***h when trying on clothes. I just… I didn’t like that you found a girl in the waking world and that caused me to act like a crazy schoolgirl. But when those white-eyed Graysons were chasing me the only thing I wanted was to find you and run into your arms. Then I found you and did exactly that. That’s when I realized that, no matter how things go with this new girl, you’d always come back to me whenever you close your eyes. Whenever she hurts you, it’ll be me that you’ll come to to make everything better. So it’s okay, I’m not upset anymore. I just want things to go back to the way they were before her. Can we do that?” I knew we couldn’t do that. While Scarlett and I did have great moments together, I saw her true colors in the last couple dreams and there was no way of knowing that such a thing wouldn’t happen again. I knew I had to let her go, but she looked so beautiful and seemed so happy that I decided to give her, and myself, that one last moment of bliss. “Sure, we can do that.” “Great! Then let’s see who can make the best snowman.” She dropped her umbrella, got down on her knees and began rolling a snowball. It wasn’t long before we both had our snowmen made. They were the best-looking snowmen you could picture. Coal eyes, red scarves, black top hats, carrot noses, branch arms, even smiles made out of licorice. The problem was that they both looked exactly the same. “Well,” Scarlett started, staring at the two identical snowmen. “Your mind can imagine saber tooth tigers, a world made of paint, and a museum filled with sculptures of Greek Gods that exists in the clouds, but it can’t think of two different looking snowmen.” “Don’t blame me, I just live here.” Right then, a bright red cardinal flew in and landed on the top hat of Scarlett’s snowman. “Ha! That settles it! I win!” she shouted with glee. “I guess so,” I laughed. She walked beside me, put her arm around me and rested her head on my shoulder. “This is just the perfect moment,” she said. “Nothing can ruin it this time.” We stared at our snowmen and the cardinal, enjoying the moment, while the snow continued to fall around us when I noticed the coal eyes of the snowmen begin to widen, taking the shape of actual eyes, but still as black as can be. “Do you see that?” I asked. “Yeah, what is that?” “I don’t know but,” I paused as the licorice followed the eyes and turned into an actual smile that stretched from one end of the face to the other. Only this wasn’t a happy smile; it exposed long rows of sharp teeth on the top and bottom, like a great white shark. “It would appear that you spoke too soon.” Scarlett’s snowman slowly reached it’s branch arm up and snatched the cardinal and shoved it in it’s mouth, sending a few red feathers fluttering to the ground. It then swallowed and burped out a couple more feathers. “Well that was just unnecessary,” said Scarlett. The snowmen began moving toward us, even though they severely lacked legs. Scarlett picked up a snowball and threw it at them, hitting mine but having no effect. I looked at her with a confused expression on my face. “It was worth a shot,” she said, defending her actions. The snowmen were now about ten feet away and getting closer. “So what do we do now?” “The thing we’re best at. Run!” We turned at began running toward the trees, hoping that the snowmen wouldn’t be able to navigate through them. We were nearly there when a tall wall of ice suddenly rose from the ground, preventing us from going any further. I punched and kicked the wall to try and break it but it was too thick. The wall was longer than we could see, leaving us no place to go. The snowmen closed in on us but both reached for Scarlett as they approached arms length away. I pushed Scarlett out of the way, sending her falling to the snow. Both snowmen then wrapped their wooden arms around me, binding me like a snake suffocating its prey. I knew that the worst thing that would happen was me waking up screaming again but I was still terrified. The danger still felt so real. I closed my eyes as their grip got tighter and tighter, preparing myself for the moment that I hear a pop. Instead, I heard a yell from behind the snowmen. “Hey, Frosties!” yelled Scarlett. They turned their heads and I heard a loud blowing sound and felt a wave of heat. I opened my eyes just long enough to see the bright flames engulf the snowmen. I closed my eyes tight again to shield them from the heat. The snowmen’s grip loosened enough for me to wiggle free and crawl away. There, I watched as they melted away and their wooden arms and top hats burned where their bodies used to be. About twenty feet away stood Scarlett, holding a large flamethrower that was still smoking from the end. “You okay, baby?” she asked with cockiness that I hadn’t seen from her before. “Yeah, I think so. Where did you get a flamethrower?” “I just got really angry watching them wrap their arms around you and suddenly it appeared in my hands. It was like your subconscious gave me what I needed to save you.” While I was thankful that she saved me, I was also a little frightened because she had that same look in her eye that she had in the last couple of dreams. I knew that she said she was fine with Jade but that look told a different story. “Scarlett, we need to talk.” I stood and dusted the snow off of myself. She looked at me with a concerned look on her face, still holding the flamethrower. I looked at it and snapped my fingers, causing it to vanish instantly. “Why’d you do that?” I didn’t answer but truth was that I felt much safer without that in her possession. “Scarlett,” I was nervous but felt it best to just come out and say it. “I think it’s best if you go.” “You mean, like… you wake up?” “Like, I don’t think I should see you anymore.” “Oh,” she said, surprisingly calm but clearly disappointed. “It’s just that, the girl in my waking world is great and I really like her and want things to go further with her. But I don’t think that can happen while you’re here. If it’s going to work with her then I have to give her all of my heart. Which, unfortunately, means I won’t have anything left over for you.” It sounded really mean after I said it but I really didn’t know how else to word it. It was going to sound mean no matter how I said it. “So you’re choosing her over me?” she asked, her head down looking at the snow. “No, it’s not like that.” “Yes, that’s exactly how it is,” her voice began to break as she choked back tears. “But that’s okay, I get it. You can marry her and have children with her and spend of the important parts of your life with her. All stuff that I can’t give you. I knew it would happen eventually. I was just hoping it wouldn’t happen so soon.” I lifted her chin up to look her in the eye. “I’m really sorry,” I said as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I’ve really enjoyed every second of our time together. I’ll never forget it.” “Me neither.” She gave me a soft kiss on the lips and held my hand as she stepped back, eventually letting go but leaving both of our arms extended. I stayed the same size as the entire snowy world suddenly shrank until it was small enough to fit into the palm of my still extended hand. It was now encased in a glass dome and filled with water… a snow globe. I was surrounded by nothing but darkness but I didn’t care, my focus was solely on the snow globe. I brought it up close to my face to examine it. Inside was a forest of bare trees, covered in nothing but ice and snow. There was a perfect circle in the middle, however, where there were no trees. Instead, there was a tiny woman, wearing a big strapless white dress, with long red hair and a white umbrella. I shook it to see if she would move but she didn’t, as she was simply plastic. I watched the snow float around in its dome and began to cry.