To Be A Champion

Chapter 46: Only Love Can Hurt Like This

I'm running. Red runs under my skin, bursting through my decaying flesh as I try to reach for my friends.

I can see them, dying and rotting and overcome with the red fungus. I have to save them. I have to get to them!

"Please!" I beg, although the word doesn't come out right. It sounds strangled, dead. "Please, wait. Don't leave me!"

I run. I feel no pain, but it takes tremendous effort just to get my legs to move. And every step I take, no matter how hard I try, I can't get any closer to them.

I want to cry when I see Sam and Nicole on their knees. Fungus covers their arms, skirting up their necks and faces. I think Nicole is screaming, but I can't make out the words. Paula is beside her, only on one knee, but seemingly unable to get up. She's gripping her head. Her red hair has blotches of color that are too bright to be normal, and that's when I realize the fungus is growing out of her scalp.

Tom is holding himself up with his arms and his knee, barely remaining balanced as he coughs up red fungus. Jody is on her stomach, trying to push herself up but unable to do so. Fungus tethers her to the ground, growing out from the earth and inside her legs and back, pulling at her as she reaches out and tries to get to Tom.

I want to cry, but no tears come.

"I'm coming!" I scream inhumanly. "Don't worry. I'm coming!"

I feel someone beside me before I see her.

"Arrêter! Arrêter! Callista, il faut arrêter!" Catherine screams, but I shake my head. Doesn't she know I can't understand her?

Catherine keeps yelling, her lips white from death, her skin ashen gray. Red grows under her fingernails and traces the veins of her hands and wrist.

"Arrêtez-vous maintenant, Callista! S'il vous plaît! Vous ne pouvez pas continuer à les poursuivre. Vous ne les atteindrez jamais!"

I grit my teeth. There's no pain, but I hear the bones crack. "I can't understand you!"

"Écoute-moi! Il faut s'en sortir!"

Broken fingers grip my arm hard. Dirty red nails break my decaying flesh. I hiss. For the first time in the red world, I feel pain.

"Tu m'entends? Sortez-en!"

There's a tug, and suddenly the red is gone. I'm on the ground, my hands and knees digging into the dark earth. I look at my hands, now free of red fungus. I raise one up and inspect it, confused.

What just happened?

There's heavy breathing beside me, and when I look to my right, I see Catherine sprawled on the ground. She pushes herself up, face morphed into a disbelieving expression.

"I didn't... I didn't think we could do that," She says, and I look at her in shock.

"What did you do?"

"We both did it. We escaped for now, got out of the red dream world." She swallows, and it's then I see her eyes. The ring of red fills half her gold irises. It's much more apparent than the red that stains my brown eyes and more terrifying.

Catherine smiles. "I see you've noticed my eyes. It's getting worse. I do not think I have long until the fungus overtakes me. I can't see your thoughts anymore, not like how I used to. It's why I haven't been able to get you to listen and pull you out. When we're in the red world, I can't understand you. I can't understand English. I can only remember my first language."

"You... can't see my thoughts?" I ask, and she nods. I'm surprised by her honesty, mainly because it reveals weakness.

"No. Lost touch with your memories and mind days ago. These... skincoats you saw just before I lost connection to you—or rather, the normal connection we have—they're the ones behind this, aren't they?"