A Very Red Love (BoyXBoyXGirl)

Chapter 1: The Approach

I purse my lips and sit on my balcony, looking out over the quiet city. It's nearing the end of the day, people are home from work and are eating dinner. Enjoying the life that they have. You never know when all of your dirty secrets are dragged squirming and thrashing into the light and everyone sees you for what you really are, or for what they really are. 

Abnormal.

Different.

Unfamiliar.

Unnatural.

Supernatural.

"Sirys!" Mom calls, pulling me from my thoughts. "Come to the door, Anna is here."

I look away from the darkening city to look past my plain room at the door. I move out of the room, down the small hall past the living room and the kitchen to the front door. My mom, her short blond hair all wild and her eyes dull, turns away to the living room.

"Hey," Anna says, leaning against the door frame. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure." I shrug.

Anna's black eyes widen slightly and motions for me to follow her. That's a look I know well, she's got something important to tell me. I nod and look back to the living room to see my mom draped across the couch, her eyes closed.

"I'm going out, Mom." I tell her quietly, knowing she probably doesn't hear me.

I close the door and follow her out of our apartment complex. We walk down the street slowly. I wait for her to speak.

Anna kicks a rock down the street, a breeze ruffling her short copper-brown hair. Then she finally says, "I was approached by someone yesterday." not even looking at me. Her head tilted downward to watch the concrete pass us by.

"Approached?" I echo. "By who?"

"Someone claiming they could help people like me," she tells me softly.

I blink confused. "Wait, what? Someone knows that you're..." Anna nods slowly. "Oh, my God. How did they know?"

Anna shakes her head. "I have no idea. He just walked up to me, asked what my name is, then told me there is a place for people like me."

"What was he like?" I ask.

"Creepy," Anna says quietly. "But I didn't feel threatened. He didn't ask me what my power was or if I even had a power. He just gave me a card with an address, and told me the hours that they're open."

"What is this place?" I ask, turning to look at my best friend. She shrugs.

"I don't know. It's just an address. He told me that it's safe for people like me," Anna lets out a light breath before she looks at me with a determined expression I've seen before. "I want to see it. I want to know what this place is like. If it really is safe for someone like me. And you too."

A bitter smile tries to cross my lips but I stop it. People like me. People like Anna. People like a boy named Richie that used to live where Anna now lives next door to me. He died about six years ago; he was pyrokinetic and so stressed by the world that he set his apartment aflame. The fire department said that the fire started in his bedroom, on his bed, where they found his body and a lighter.

Richie's parents were so devastated after the death of their son that they packed up and left. Almost two years later Anna and her family moved in. Richie was almost seven years older than me, so he and I never spoke even though we were neighbors, but Anna was my age; she and I walked to school together.

With a small sigh, I glance at my best friend. "Are you sure? What if this is some kind of trap? People trying to get to our secrets?"

Anna falters, eyes rapidly flying around, trying to organize her thoughts. "I never thought about that."