Crimson

Fall Out...

I was dreaming .

I knew it was a dream because I could see Mama .

She was watching me sleep . Behind her , on a table lay an empty bottle .

It had been half filled when I had found it , I had then proceeded to transfer the contents into my stomach .

" You are awake honey ".

She was smiling .

" I don't know what happened ".

I really did not know what had happened .

She chuckled .

" That is what happens when you decide to have a taste of the forbidden ".

" The forbidden tastes horribly ".

She threw her head back and laughed .

When she laughed , her whole body laughed too .

Her hair so much like mine was adorned with hair accessories she had either carved herself or dug up somewhere .

And like every time she laughed , I found myself doing the same too .

I laughed along .

****

I woke up slowly .

I was completely aware of my surroundings and the fact that the sun was yet to rise .

I had not slept for long .

I pulled the blankets closer , it had either gotten colder during the night or I had caught a chill from the previous night .

I did not want to leave the comfort of the warm sheets but I was thirsty , so , I began my ritual to get off a bed .

I started off slowly , rolling my body around to gather momentum and when I was satisfied , I gave myself a push towards the end of the bed .

I immediately rolled off .

I had miscalculated , Ali's bed to floor distance was farther than mine , I hit the floor and all of the air rushed out of my lungs .

I was silent as I tried to breath despite the pain , it hurt .

When the pain had finally subsided , I stood slowly letting the blanket fall .

I changed my mind immediately and got the blanket to cover me like a cape .

" What are you doing ?"

I turned around immediately to find Ali standing by the door that led to his office , he looked puzzled .

I tried to walk and ended up hopping , I stopped .

" I was coming to find you ".

I tried to explain , his eyes were still on the blanket around my neck , I was not explaining that part .

He nodded once and walked into the room , he had worn a shirt during the night.

" Did you sleep down there ? "

He shook his head , he was by the nightstand pouring water from a jug into a cup , none of which I had noticed earlier .

" I had a lot of things to go through ".

He began to drink his water and I gulped , my previous thirst remembered .

I hopped back the way I had come to the jug I had not noticed and waited for him .

" Are you going to sleep now ?".

He passed me the jug and cup and moved , giving me space .

I dropped the cup back on the nightstand and drank straight from the jug .

" No , I am not tired enough and why are you drinking from the jug ? "

I stopped gulping foolishly and looked back at him .

Ali had insomnia , the only way he could fall asleep was by tiring himself out .

So , he worked overnight for days till he was exhausted enough to drop asleep .

Sometimes , when he was stressed it took a while for him to fall asleep .

" I don't want to use the cup you used ".

I returned the jug back to the nightstand .

" We both know that you forgot again or this time did you just forget that I was here ? "

I narrowed my eyes at him , not that he could see it in the early morning light .

" Nice try , take away the focus from the fact that you have not been sleeping " .

He did not reply .

I sighed quietly .

" Is this why you wanted a go this morning ? In case you were not tired enough from working through the night ? "

He did not reply .

I wiped my mouth and released the blanked from around me .

" Let's do this ".

" Do what ? Wait..now? "

I ignored him , gave my own version of a battle cry and ran out , flinging the door open .

I ran down the short flight of stairs and past the few rooms that led to the backyard of The Haze .

I could not stop , I did not want to give the cold a chance to tire me out before I could successfully tire Ali out .

I began running in circles trying to raise my body heat , I spotted Ali walking casually towards me .

His shirt was gone , the cold to him was probably normal morning air .

But , I was highly susceptible to the cold .

Exposures to the cold did not make me sick just increasingly irritated .

Ali stood outside the circle I was running as he watched and waited .

I also knew from experience that he was flexing his muscles .

Mid - run , I threw a punch and he dodged .

I laughed and he hissed at my cheating .

He was supposed to be used to my cheating by now , I mean all was supposedly fair in war .

I took on an offensive stance and rushed at him , I threw a false with my left arm and just as he ducked , I threw my right fist at him , he predicted that too and dodged .

Ali was stronger than me but I was faster .

I threw a kick immediately after , he had not been expecting that , so it struck his head like I had expected , he staggered backwards .

I laughed as I changed my stance , he changed his stance too assuming an offensive stance .

Someone was in a bad mood .

He took a running start and leaped into the air at me , I did not wait for him to land , I jumped and kicked him while he was in the air .

He changed his move and grabbed onto me , he sent a kick into me as we both fell down .

I grunted loudly .

The day had begun to get brighter and I could see all of his movements clearly .

I did not wait to catch my breath , I ran at him , the same moment he ran towards me .

We met halfway and just as I threw a punch , he got down and used his legs to swipe at mine , I fell and rolled away .

Ali was a better fighter when we were low .

I just could use my legs better and faster .

I rolled back towards him and swiped back , he jumped back and I swiped at his legs again in the opposite direction .

This time when he jumped back I was ready , I jumped back to my feet and kicked as high as I could .

It hit him exactly where I had wanted , in his face .

He groaned loudly and took another step back .

I laughed again , I was enjoying this too much .

" Are you going soft on me Ali or is it the lack of sleep ? "

He did not respond or falter , he just wiped his face .

" Come on , don't be a pouty b***h ".

He came at me then .

My other not so secret weapon was charming or annoying my opponents into losing sense of my movements .

Annoying people came naturally to me .

When he reached me , he began to attack .

Each punch packing more weight than the previous , I had to switch to defensive mode .

I searched for an opening while I tried to hold my ground .

I found the silver lining then , he was attacking while trying to cover his exposed parts but his neck was open .

I moved back and fisted my right palm , he took the bait and turned slightly to try to hold back whatever was coming from my right .

I flattened my left palm and threw a chopping board fist at his neck , he choked immediately .

I had restricted his breathing briefly .

As he grabbed his neck , I tightened my left leg and threw my right leg in the air .

I brought it down on his head and watched as he fell back and then on the ground .

He sat back up immediately and took a deep breath , he turned his head and spat out blood .

He turned back around to face me , he grinned and exposed bloody teeth .

I smiled at the image and did a mock bow .

I sat on the ground too watching his chest rise and fall .

" Another ? "

He asked again showing his bloody teeth .

I nodded .

" Are you letting me beat you up ? On purpose ?".

He got to his feet at once , while I spent a few seconds crawling up .

He slapped me once I was fully up , a full on ' stepdaughter I hate slap ' , I fell back down .

He gave me a triumphant smirk as he looked down at him .

Dissatisfied , I lifted both my legs and twisted it around his left leg .

When he tried to move with my leg still wrapped around him .

I suddenly pulled back with all my strength , he had not been expecting it , so he fell .

Mid fall I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him down completely , with my leg still around him and his face in the ground , I had won by putting him in a lock .

He struggled for a short while and then tapped the ground lightly.

I released my arms and legs and twisted his body , so that he was now facing me while I was sitting atop him .

I laughed at the ugly look on his face , when I looked up Vita stood there in the morning light watching us .

I looked back at Ali who had also noticed him before I stood .

I began to walk over , just as I reached him , I noticed the look on his face , it was something I did not know what to call .

But , I hated it .

It made me angry all of a sudden but before I could ask him why he was looking at me that way , he turned and walked away .

The last thing I had noticed were his eyes narrowing angrily at me .