Red Vert (Adult 18+)

Chapter 8: Dreams vs Realities

"You can really feel the anger, obsession, and desperation radiating from the walls." I was still very much confused by just what exactly I'd just walked into. "There's a dash of psychotic break down in there too."

Red was frozen in place. She'd gone pale, and I'm pretty sure she may have been having a heart attack. "Not again." She mumbled under her breath. I almost didn't hear her. "This cannot be happening. Not again."

"Someone want to explain this to me?" I asked, growing impatient with the vagueness of all of this.

"He's coming back for me!" Red whipped around to face me, borderline screaming.

"Who?"

Her face fell into a distraught frown, as she looked down awkwardly at the floor. She looked so ashamed. "Slim." She muttered again.

"And who may I ask is Slim?" Pausing solemnly before speaking, she fumbled with her sleeves.

"He's my ex-boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend?" Valerie chimed in, sounding just as, if not more confused than I was. It was clear that this shit was all new to her too.

"You would know him as Damien, Val."

"Wait.... Damien, you dated when you were in high school?"

"Yes." By now she was on the verge of tears. I had no idea who this Slim Jim guy was but it was obvious he had not made a good impact. I stood back listening to the exchange. It was funny how someone could go from being extremely happy, to being extremely distressed in a matter of seconds. Before we entered that apartment, Red was the happiest I'd seen her since we'd met, and just like that, her smile was gone.

"But.... that was almost 9 years ago Kay."

"Tell him that."

"I don't understand. What does he want? Why is he doing this?"

"He wants me, and he'll kill anyone who gets in the way." She pauses, as if struggling to form her next sentence. "He already has once before."

A familiar expression spreads over her features. A pained expression, full of intense sadness and guilt. She's thinking about that something again. The same something, she was thinking about before. It tells me, she's reliving that something; and it was horrible. It becomes blatantly clear that whatever happened, was because of this guy.

And here comes the feelings. I mean seriously, what the hell was happening to me? I can't even remember the last time I actually felt....empathy - Yuck – for another person. I was not about to let gross emotions land me in a situation that really has nothing to do with me, with Jack the Ripper's little brother. In the best interest of my sanity and future contentment, I needed to get far away from this girl and forget she ever existed.

"So... I think I'm just going to go now. Good luck with whatever this is and I hope it all works out for you." I've heard enough. I sped walk from the living room to the road in a matter of seconds, but Red was on my heels.

"Vert wait." I heard her call from behind me. Fuck. I stopped in my tracks, turning around slowly to face her. The last thing I wanted was for her to give me a chance to change my mind and come to her rescue AGAIN.

"I guess this is goodbye." She said looking up at me with big grey eyes.

"I guess so." I said awkwardly, trying not to crack under the heavy emotional pressure.

"Goodbye Vert." She turned away from me, looking down at her feet again.

"Bye Red." I gave one last wave before turning away myself and making my way back across the street. With each step, the feeling of guilt and remorse grew. The thoughts of what could happen to her if I left her there made me sick to my stomach. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her simply because I didn't want to be inconvenienced. For the life of me, I could not understand why I was so affected by this – by her. Sure, she was cute and of course I'd fuck if given the opportunity, but besides the tremendous amount of guilt I felt, there was nothing. I'll admit, I was intrigued by her but that was the extent of it. Why was this girl, in particular, reviving feelings that have been long dead? Fuck if I knew, but I had a feeling I'd be finding out soon enough.