Crimson

Eternity with you.

Mama and I had been in the forest for days .

I had even lost count of how many sunsets and sunrise I had seen .

Mama was more jumpy than usual , it almost seemed like we were running away from something .

All my life , we had never stayed at one place long enough to be known but it had never been this bad .

Even at night , Mama pretended to sleep with me and when she thought I was asleep , she woke up to stare at me and clean her blades repeatedly .

She did not sleep during the day either .

Her lack of sleep and her rising paranoia had scared me but I had not asked her if anything was wrong , asking her meant acknowledging that there was a problem .

It was the same way I had never really asked her why we did not live like normal people .

One night after walking through out the day and practicing pacing with arrows , I had gone straight to sleep the moment we had stopped for the day , Mama had become more strict with our trainings .

She still did not sleep , she had told me she would go ahead to check the area for animals .

Wild animals were not really common post-cleansing but they still appeared here and there .

We never fought or killed any of them though , Mama loved nature too much .

I had been too exhausted , so , I had just gone to sleep .

A while later when she had not returned , I had stood up to look for her .

That's when I had seen the light , I had rushed to hide every evidence of our presence , it had been a messy work because I had begun to hear loud voices of men .

I killed the fire , covered it and ran the way Mama had gone .

Mama had taught me to go through the forest without leaving a trace and then , it had worked solely against us .

I had lost track of Mama because I had wanted to sleep .

I ran through the forest searching and avoiding the men that were not leaving .

I did not find Mama but I found blood , lots of it and Mama's blades .

The forest was uncharted territory for Mama and I , I did not know where I was going .

I had been made .

The men came after me , their torches blazing .

Arrows whizzed past my head and I just focused on getting as far away as I could from them .

I stopped running when I saw where I had reached , the sun had began to rise and I was standing by a cliff .

I had not found any trace that my Mama was okay .

But , I knew she would come for me , she would .

I should have waited to see if she would come back .

I should have gone with her .

They had found me , an arrow whizzed past my head , so close to me .

I stepped on the wrong spot , lost my footing and fell .

As I fell , the only thought that had been in my head was of Mama's fear stricken face as she watched me these past few days .

I realized now the fear had been for me .

I should have asked her what we were running from .

****

I awoke with tears running down my cheeks .

My chest was tight and I could not breathe , I threw the cloth that lay over my face away and grabbed my chest , screaming into the room .

I kept screaming till I could not .

My dream had been so vivid , it had been like I was revisiting what had happened .

I had watched it all happen , powerless to stop everything .

I had fallen off a cliff instead of searching for Mama who was probably injured somewhere and in need of my help .

And now , I had tried to get rid of Mama from my dreams , the only place I could see her .

I had been so worried of having a nightmare around Vita that I had resorted to expelling my own mother .

I slumped down at the foot of my bed and weeped .

My vision had darkened and the faint lavender smell in the room wafted around me filled with memories of Mama .

It stuck to my neck , clinging and pulling me into memories that I had buried deep inside .

Visions of Mama run through with a sword .

Mama , on a stake , choking and dying , I knew people like Mama were considered witches and generally disliked , but was that enough reason ?

I got to my feet and stumbled around searching for an anchor , I needed to get to Ali .

I had to make sure the only other family I had was okay .

Vita was okay , he was a brigadier , no one would hurt him .

I stumbled around , my vision cloudy .

I ran out of the door and threw myself into the gate , I opened it with power I did not know I possessed .

I was out of the gate and in the street , I could hear it , the sounds of Mama begging me to save her , begging me to help her .

I ran down the street , my hands over my ear .

I would find Ali , Ali would know what to do , he always did .

I had no idea how long I had been running but somehow I knew I was going in the right direction , the direction that had Ali at the end .

The lavender that clung to me had begun to slowly disappear and my vision had slightly improved .

When I arrived at The Haze , I was better but still unaware of what was going on around me .

I heard the distant noises and grabbed the first person that came towards me .

" Ali , bring Ali to me ".

From there , it was loud talking and grabbing that I avoided by returning my hands over my ears and manipulating my body out of their grasps .

Another pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and I stilled , I heard myself sob quietly .

It was Ali , he had this distinct smell and his hands were rougher than all the previous hands .

I let him hold me , burrowing into his chest .

He held me to him tighter and said some words before he lifted me bridal style and began to walk .

My sobs had quieted down now but I still could not regain my consciousness fully no matter how much I tried .

I struggled to grasp anything that would bring me out of my haze but it was futile .

" Let go , Juno ".

I heard Ali say .

I shook my head , I wanted to but I could not let go of Mama , she would remain in eternal darkness if I let go of her hands .

" Let go Juno and hold unto me ".

I had betrayed Mama once , would I do it again ?

Leave her again ? I could not even if I wanted to , she was holding me to her and refusing to let go .

She had told me that she had only me , how could I let her go when I knew that she had no one but me ?

She pulled me under again .

****

I opened my eyes and Ali was staring at me with red eyes .

" Did you cry ? "

He did not reply and just kept looking at me .

I tried to move to touch him , I couldn't .

My legs were gone , I looked down scared and shocked .

My legs were still there except , someone had wrapped them with gauze .

That was not the only strange thing , I was dressed in white , a long white robe .

I looked back at Ali .

" Did someone die ?"

Had I died ? But , why was Ali with me ?

Had he died too ?

Ali blinked and I saw it.

If Ali had not been an Albino , I might not have noticed the teary eyes .

I sat up immediately , gauze forgotten .

" Who ?"

" He looked down at his fingers , they were intertwined strangely .

" Juno , you came here almost naked and barefoot ".

I just stared at him .

" You were crying and talking to yourself , you kept asking me to save you ".

I kept staring at him , trying to comprehend what he was saying.

" Juno , you left your house and walked for almost an hour in the cold to come here and you don't remember ? ".

I had remembered , I had remembered now .

That explained my gauzed feet .

It had never happened before , was it as a result of the sleeping spell and the intention behind it .

When I had told Ali that Mama had taught me spells , he had told me never to tell anyone else and never to use them .

If I told Ali half of the story , he would figure out that I was not telling the complete truth and I could not tell him the complete truth that started with Vita staying the night .

" You remember now ".

It was a statement , he had been watching me .

We were interrupted and I was saved momentarily when someone knocked .

Ali looked at the door and back to me , he was deciding whether to answer or not .

The knock sounded again sharper and more urgent .

Ali stood up and walked to the door , he opened it and went out .

My feet had no feeling in them and I could not shake off the weird feeling that I had no feet , so , I bent to peel off the gauze .

After unwrapping layers of gauze I stared at my reddened feet , I had blisters and cuts all over them .

I sighed quietly , I deserved them .

Trying to get rid of my dreams had been an absolutely stupid decision .

The door opened and Ali came in .

He went straight to the foot of the bed and grabbed the clothes that were there .

He threw them at me .

" Change now ".

Ali did not notice the gauze that was lying on the floor .

He had an expression ,that I had not seen in a long time .

One that I had tried to forget , an expression of fear .

Not fear for his own life and safety but for someone else's and like in my dreams , I knew it was for me .

" What's wrong ?"

" Nothing's wrong , change ".

He was headed towards his office , I let him go and started to change .

I was older now , better and wiser .

I was not going to let anyone fear for me or leave anyone behind .

Ali came back out , he was holding a satch and blades that I had once left behind .

I looked at him and he must have seen the resolve because he sighed .

He walked closer .

" The governor brought a Truth Prompt to Agrippa ".

I blinked , why ?

What could they possibly be planning ?

" What does that have to do with us ? Why do you look like that just because the governor brought a Truth Prompt ? Why didn't Larona inform us of this ?"

Ali stood still , he closed his eyes.

When he opened them , I realized that everything was ending .

I had suspected that our days in Agrippa was limited but still .....

" Larona was arrested ".

My body grew limp , a Truth Prompt for Larona .

We had Known that it would of course end but not with endangering others .

I stood up and fell back on the bed ,I had underestimated the injuries on my feet .

It seemed the skin under my feet had opened up .

Ali was at my side immediately .

" We will get Larona out , right ?"

He did not reply , so , I grabbed his hands .

" We won't leave her there , right ?"

Ali did not look like he agreed with me .

" If they are with a Truth Prompt , then Larona would have told all there is to about us , we have to leave now ".

I removed my hands from his and pulled the boots that rested at the foot of the bed close .

Ignoring the pain , I placed my feet into them and stood up .

I was not abandoning anyone , never again .