Jena had now stepped in to give her two cents. Her idea to stop again upset him, but it was probably best. He finally unclenched his hands again. He wasn't going to lay hands on Reese at this moment. "Fine, Jena." That was all he was willing to say now. He walked a little ways apart from the group to light a cigarette. He sat on the floor with his back against a wall. None of this was helping. Jena was right. Only thing is, it wasn't helping because Reese was no leader. No matter what his daddy told him, Reese had no idea where this goal was. M started to get upset at the word goal.
Suddenly as Reese had predicted it his pupils narrowed like a beast staring at prey and he found a thin line of red. That smell, that unknown smell he could sense. The red line was dragging that way, towards the air and cumulating in little red bubbles the red was there. The survival was there. Reese pointed in that direction. "There is where we go,"
"There is where we go," "Were you not listening at all to what Jena just said?" Keira finally snapped. All of this arguing was driving her crazy, and it was getting them no where. Everyone besides Reese wanted to rest - that much was clear. He was the only one who wanted to find this . . . this red goal, or whatever. Was he going crazy? "I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't do, and I can't stop you from finding this . . . goal. But before you run off and get yourself killed, could you please tell me what this goal even is?"
Reese stared at Keira almost upset at her behavior. "You don't know of the Red Goal, it is the goal that appears in front of hunted beast," Reese said, "The goal the beast sees to survive, it is when he is at his most, all beast can see it because they were bred for it." Reese stared at her. "You don't trust me, yet how were you led here and there cause the red goal is close and I know where it goes, we are close because they formed their bubbles the red forms their bubbles," Reese said.
Anna was barely listening to all the arguing. She didn't care. The one part she caught onto was that Reese wanted to keep moving. Yes. Move. Run. Kill. She wanted to go. In a flash she had hopped from the bed and appeared next to Keira, startling the other woman with her suddenness. "Let's go," she said; her voice was strong again. "Anything but stay here like sitting ducks and f***ing targets."
Keira still didn't know what the hell Reese was talking about, but it didn't matter. Obviously they were close to something. Then Anna came up behind her, startling her, saying that she was going as well. "If Reese and Anna are going, I'm going," she announced. "I'm not tired anyways." Her concern for Reese made her want to come along more than anything else; she was worried about him, and he was acting strangely. "Let's go, then."
Ok, so Anna had now decided to join Reese in being an idiot and not resting, and Keira was going with them because she didn't want them, especially Reese getting into trouble without help. Well two heads were better than one, and since both Reese and Anna seemed to be temporarily insane, Jena might as well add another mostly-sane person to the mix to help Keira. "I'm coming to, safety in numbers." Then she drew her gun and walked over to Keira.
Reese stared at all three. "We are close, close to the red line, the red flag, we're close to the red and the beast shall be revealed," Reese said. He was eight sitting on a rock he found the red line before his father caught up to him. This time he surpassed his father. He father sat and stared grimly at the fire. "It times to show you what you are," his father said. He remembers hearing a stretching sound and one minute his father was there next was a black creature. Something like a werewolf itself. With a strange symbol on it's muscular body. "We are beast of the Red Line," the creature said. "Dad, where are you? Reese began walk following the Red Bubbles.
Vic was sitting on the floor, with his back to the wall, smoking. He took a puff, then passed the blunt to his new pal, the Mystic Monkey. "Look at them, arguing. Like crabs in a bucket," the Monkey said, returning the blunt. Vic took a long puff of the good herb before handing it off again. "Yeah, man. They trippin,'" he said, watching the fight. "I would like see M hit someone, preferably one of the girls." Vic grinned and took another puff. "Yeah. That'd be crazy, man. You crazy." "I'm crazy?" The monkey laughed. You're talking to a monkey. Which of us is crazy? Vic glanced to his side. The monkey had vanished. The blunt had vanished. No blunt, means no smoke; no smoke means he couldn't be high; if he wasn't high, then how the f**k was he seeing things? He shook it off, realizing that the group was moving on without him. Vic stood and followed along, constantly looking over his shoulder, lest his new 'friend' make another appearance. "So. What's this red goal bulls**t?" he asked Reese. "If this don't amount to sumthin' I'ma blow ya f**kin' head off. I swear." "Jolly good show. I'd love to see that," a familiar voice cheered in his ear. Vic ignored it.
"All beast can see it, it's something that no one who wasn't bred for this," Reese paused, "Cannot see the red line, but I see it...I was shown the red line and I am the beast."
"Uh . . . Beast?" Keira was utterly confused now. Concerned, but confused. "OK, OK," she added, hoping she wouldn't make Reese mad. "Let's go find this goal, then."
Reese began walking away with no more contact to Keira or Jena or Anna. He was now content on that red smell. That unknown scent that smelled of nothing, but you knew it was sweet. The bubbles collected and would making strange popping noises as they stuck with one another. The red line was close quivered the bubbles.
Jena watched Reese uneasily, what was he talking about now? "Keira, what does he mean by 'beast'?" she muttered to the other woman. This was a whole new Reese, the guy must have multiple personalities or something, because this was getting ridiculous.
Run faster Reese. Reese you stupid child I'm going to get you. Reese you're a beast like me. Beast ain't afraid. You were bred for the red line. Reese wondered why he was doing this. Because his father was still in his thoughts. Or maybe because the red line appeared. That sweet scent always made him like this. It controlled his feelings because that scent made him very different.
Anna kept a wary eye on everyone around her, especially Jena and Keira. She trusted the rest to let her be; it was them she was worried would butt in. She didn't want their comfort or their sympathies. It was her life, and she'd be damned if she couldn't handle it on her own. Heartbreak and betrayal was nothing new. Nothing new... "Momma!" A little girl, maybe a year and a half old reached for the teenager. The one called "momma" was no more than a child herself. Eleven or twelve at most. The young girl picked up the child, but the smile on her face was sad. "I have to leave you," she whispered. "It's not safe. Goodbye, Ali." She handed the toddler to an older woman as tears began to spill down her cheeks. "Take good care of her..." Anna's hand tightened around her gun, though she managed to keep it at her side. She hoped no one could see the glistening tears on her cheeks, and just to be sure she shook her hair into her face.
The group continued on in silence, a heavy silence. The kind of tense silence that brings back unwanted memories. She could feel them coming to her and she tried to push it back, but it wouldn't be pushed back. "Jena?!" the voice was slurred, he had been drinking...again. She didn't answer the voice, "Jena!!" She watched the door of her bedroom warily, fear creeping into her mind, "JENA!!" the voice was right outside her door and a second later it crashed open. "Dad! I...I was listening to music...I didn't hear you..." he never bought her excuses, but she always hoped he would. "When I call you, you answer! Got it!?" "Yes" she mumbled to the floor. "Speak up!" "Yes" her voice wasn't much louder. "I SAID SPEAK UP!" His hand came crashing against her face forcing her to stumble backwards, a large red handprint now glowing with pain on her cheek. Unbidden tears sprang to her eyes from the pain, "Are you crying?!" "No! no! I-" "Crying is weak!! WEAK!! TOUGHEN UP!!" he hit her cheek again and again, then finally left her room, leaving her sitting on the floor a large bruise forming while she struggled not to cry. Tears pushed at her eyes again, and her hand automatically reached up to her cheek. But she did not cry, her father had taught that lesson well.
Anna bit her lip, trying as hard as she could to keep the onslaught of emotion from overwhelming her. She cleared her throat loudly and said, "Are we going somewhere, or what?"
Anna's voice brought her out of her memories. She jerked back to reality get a grip she thought to herself. "Yes, we are....I think..." she turned to Reese, "Where exactly are we going Reese?"
