Rebel Red Hope

2

     Something in my soul wouldn't let me leave the man's building that night, so, watching the sunset from the roof of his housing building, I wait for the firey glow to dance across the walls, but they never seem to come. The sound of the door of the building open and close followed by footsteps catches my attention. Curious, I look over the edge of the building to see the man walking away, but fail to see the glow on the walls while he captured my attention until he waves and greets someone who comes into view followed by others carrying torches and strange bags, all in green and camo jackets with strips of yellow tape. It takes me a moment to process that they are all Banditos. Lots of them.

     One hands his torch to another and approaches the man while pulling his bandana down off his face as I notice the others with the bags start to pile them on the ground and greet each other with hugs and kindness while the two do something that makes me chuckle a little as they do a long, secret handshake as children would do during breaks in between lessons. After the group was done, they started setting something up while one hands the familiar man his own jacket, which he puts on as the thing in the background starts to take form and the man with the yellow bandana sits behind it and starts playing as the familiar man is handed a microphone and they perform together.

     Seeing my chance, I run as fast as my mostly frozen legs could carry me down to the floor level and run out, bursting through the door which in doing so, got the attention of everyone who all are understandably startled, but smile at me; that same warm smile that the familiar man smiled at me. Standing there for what seems like years just watching, mesmerized by all these people who were not meant to be, another Bandito runs around the corner and skids to a halt,

     "Bishops incoming!" he warns everyone between pants, and as soon as everything began, everyone starts to pack up leaving me to watch as the Banditos repack the set back into sacks, but the familiar man walks up to me with that smile,

     "Now that you've seen us, would you like to join us?" he asks. The question catches me off guard causing me to freeze up, but he waits for a response,

     "You-" I start, still puzzled, "You mean, become a Bandito?" my brain still trying to finish processing the question. The man nods,

     "You can come with us now or wait till we come back," he offers again. I can hear the man that greeted him calling out names as the person whose name was called gives out a number, doing a headcount,

     Watching the headcount, my brain still spinning, I look at him,

     "I can't," was regrettably the first thing out of my mouth, "You already have a lot of banditos here, you need to be sure they all make it out. I can wait." My answer seems to shock the man as his smile drops into a shocked confusion,

     "We won't be back for a while, we aren't sure when we are coming back next," He seems to almost beg, 

     "I can wait and distract the bishop, you go with the others. I'll find you again," My voice was calm but his face told me he knew. The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a yellow bandana, 

     "Stay safe, Arlyn," he nods while handing it to me, and with his bandana in hand, my soul was full of a brave feeling my soul has never known as my feet carried me the way the Bandito came from that warned the others about the Bishop in hopes of stalling them, but before turning the corner while throwing a glance behind me, it almost pained me to see the man standing quite sadly where I left him before his friend placed a hand on his shoulder and they turned to leave.

     I know this isn't going to end well, so while sprinting to meet the Bishops, my hands work fast to tie the bandana around my arm and shove it under my jacket with a small bit of the tail dangling into my palm as a reminder.

~~~

     "REISDRO!" My voice bounces off of the walls of the city once I catch up to the Bishops, shouting the name of the Bishop that I knew well, 

     "What is this?" Keons asks stepping out of formation with the other Bishops to stand in front of me leaving the others to stop a few paces behind him, "Stand aside child, and stay silent. This is not something you wish to be apart of," his tone harsh and orderly, but strangely calming. His tone and words would usually sway me to step down, but my feet plant themselves as Lisden walks up, causing my vision to warp and wave while my breathing starts to quicken the closer he gets as he examines me from behind the black veil they wear before he turns to walk back to the group whispering something to Reisdro,

     "Move." Comes the startlingly stern voice of Reisdro. His tone wasn't usually so harsh. Was it? His sharp tone startles me a bit, but I stand my ground, the tail of the bandana still gripped in my hand as an anchor, my vision still warping and waving from being so close to Lisden. 

     It wasn't until Nico stepped forwards that things started getting too much as my body seemed to both tense and relax at the same time. The feeling was too much, but I stand my ground as he walks up to me, stopping only a foot or two in front of me before he grabs my arm with the bandana, his eyes locked onto mine through the veil as I struggle to take my arm out of his tightening grip before I let out a small yelp as he pulls back my sleeve, revealing the yellow bandana.

     "They escaped, didn't they," The voice that came from Nico was one I never heard before. It was cold and angry, yet collected. Almost menacing if it wasn't for the slightly nasally tone to it,

     "They did," My eyes shoot daggers into his head before he does something that scares me even more. Nico smiles. My face immediately drops just before he pulls the bandana off of my arm and grabs onto my bare arm leaving me little time to struggle before he leaves black finger smudges on my arm that grows, and as it does, I lose control of it as it lowers to my side and he goes for the other arm. 

     Thrashing what would work to keep from being lost doesn't work for long as Nico manages to grab ahold of my other arm, my wrist to be precise, and the control in that arm is gone as well, covered in black that keeps spreading but skips my hands.

     By the time my brain processes enough of what just happened, my body was no longer under my command. 

     "Follow me," Nico turns and my body starts to walk with him while I scream and thrash trapped in my head, unable to do anything. The feeling of someone or something in my mind with me only makes me try harder to break free while following the Bishops, walking further away from the man's bandana on the ground.

     The thrashing becomes a desperate fight between me and whatever was taking over my mind to turn back to get the bandana. I didn't care about what was about to happen to me, as long as that bandana was with me, so were the Banditos. For a second as my brain thought of the banditos, something happened that pushed the thing in my mind back and it clicked: Hope.

     In a desperate attempt to get the bandana, I flood my mind with all my memories of the music, the fire, the tape, the familiar man and his friend, and for a split second, my mind was free. Free enough for me to immediately sprint back and grab the bandana and shove it into my inner pocket before the thing in my mind took over again and turned back to the Bishops, who were all turned towards me, whispering amongst each other as my body walked back to them. This time, I was calm,

     'I'll find you again,' My last words to the man ring through my head as everything goes black,

     'Hopefully."