Page 4 of Crimson Promises
“These gadgets are stupid. Here, I got it.” He played a video of a girl riding a tricycle down the street with red and orange leaves strewn on the ground behind her. “Look at my Delilah go. She’ll be speeding down that road in no time.” He scrolled to a picture of an older boy with a soccer trophy raised above his head. “Cole’s team just won the county’s soccer championship.”
“They’re beautiful, Vic, though they don’t look at all like you.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Cole’s the spitting image of me when I was younger. When they come out to visit next month, you should come over. All my grandkids in one place. I promise Darlene won’t make anything weird.” He winked.
A part of me wondered if I should be worried the only friend I’ve made so far is my doorman, but one couldn’t resist Victor’s charm.
“You got it. Let me know when, and I’ll be there.” I reached forward and squeezed his forearm. Victor and Darlene treated me as one of their own; he usually had an extra container of leftovers for me. Highly convenient for late-night study sessions. “I’m going to head up to get out these clothes. Best of luck with trying to avoid Darlene’s chili.”
“I’ll do my best. Goodnight, Ms. James. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Once inside the loft, I immediately secured each of the three locks, shuddering at the memory of Disgusto.Another deadbolt didn’t sound like such a bad idea.My body sagged against the door, the adrenaline finally crashing.
* * *
A pair of beady red eyes jolted me awake. I clutched the bedsheets and looked around.No one here. My shirt was plastered to me like a second skin. On instinct, I reached for my pendant, its weight in my hand usually a source of comfort. It wasn’t there. Must have left it in the bathroom.Crap.I’ll have to look for it tomorrow.I flipped my pillow over and snuggled up back into the covers, determined to get some sleep. It wasn’t long before I entered the same dream I’d had since I was a little girl. A memory, really. It always starts the same…
I’m back in Cannon Beach with Lucy, standing near Creek Bridge. Charles, my pet bunny, was with us—he was a gift from Dad for my tenth birthday.Lucy and I laughed and sang Taylor Swift, collecting rocks to beautify Charles’ cage. A few other girls from school walked over the bridge and waved Lucy over. She looked at me, dropped the stones she had collected into our pile, shrugged her shoulders, and began to walk up the hill to the bridge. I was about to stop and ask her to stay. Lucy was my only friend then. I didn’t want her to start ignoring me like the other girls. Before I could, I noticed Charles had hopped away from the shoreline into the forest. Glancing over my shoulder, I confirmed Lucy was already withthosegirls. I looked into the depths of the trees. Without another thought, I added my rocks to the pile and scurried after Charles. The whoosh of the stream penetrated the stillness of the woodland. The white of Charles’ coat was a stark contrast against the mossy greens and brown undertones, making him easy to spot.
“Charles, stop! Wait for me.”
I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me. The next thing I knew, I went from almost catching up to Charles to sprawled on the floor. I hadn’t noticed the gnarled root sticking out of the ground like a semi-circle.A Sailor Moon-shaped crescent bruise on my hip now.I got up slowly, using the giant oak tree as a crutch, and tried to figure out where Charles had fled during my tumble.
There he was. Straight ahead and a little to the right. All of a sudden, a blur of black snatched Charles into its mouth and shook him from side to side. I reached around, grabbed a stone, and threw it at the coyote. Startled, the creature threw the bunny’s limp body to the ground and stalked away. Free from the root, I rushed over to Charles. There were puncture holes in his abdomen about two inches from where the coyote held the rabbit between its jaws. I ran my fingers over his body. It heaved up and down a few times. His paw was contracting in tandem with his ragged breaths.
Abruptly, his movements stopped.
Tears streamed down my face: my mom, Lucy, Charles, why did everyone in my life leaveme?
Gingerly, I placed two fingers where I guessed his heart would be and pumped lightly. They were always doing things like this on Dad’s medical shows. If it works for humans, there’s a chance it could save Charles. Heneededto wake up.
I kept pushing, but nothing happened. Dad had spoken to me about death before, but it was never something I saw firsthand. My hand ran through his soft fur, and I buried my face in his warmth for a final moment.
“I love you, Charles,” I mumbled. Finally, I rubbed the piece of fur between his eyes. “I’ll miss you. Thank you for being my friend.” For a moment, I could have sworn I saw silver sparks fly from my fingers to the center of his forehead.
I looked upwards and whispered, “Please take care of him. He was a good rabbit.” The trees were a blanket above us, blocking any direct strip of sky. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed or what time it was, for that matter. “I should probably head home. Dad will be worried if I’m not back before dark.”
Scanning my head from one side to the other, I tried to figure out which way I had come in, but I’d gotten disoriented when trying to resuscitate Charles. The path directly behind me seemed the most familiar. I got to my feet and bent down to brush the dirt and twigs from my knee when I heard a faint bristling sound. My gaze immediately flew to Charles. His right ear, the one lying against the forest floor, was twitching.I thought he was gone. I bent back down to scoop him up. Cradled in my arms, both of his eyes opened. He was breathing. It was like nothing had happened. I prodded his body with my fingertips, searching for the puncture wounds that were there a moment ago. Nothing.
A familiar heat licked the slice of skin on my lower back between my t-shirt and shorts. Each time, the heat felt like a warm, snug blanket against my skin. But I wanted to make sure.
“Remy, is that you?” I called to the boy no one believed existed. The boy girls would call me crazy for talking about. My invisible friend.
The tall, onyx-haired figure padded across the ground toward me. None of his footsteps made a sound. His jade green eyes were wide with shock. “Rory, what did you do?”
I cradled Charles closer to my chest. My eyebrows drew together. “Have you been here this entire time?”
“No. I’ve been around….” Offering another one of his vague answers, he flicked his gaze around the trees. Somehow, he always knew everything that was going on.
“Did you see what happened?”
“I did.” Remy shook his head. “I still can’t believe you made that happen.”
I wrinkled my nose in response. “Charles was gone one minute. The next, he wasn’t. At least, that’s what it seemed like. I didn’t do that, did I?” Asking that question more to myself than to him.
Remy tapped his chin, ignoring my question. He tended to avoid most of my questions.
“Well, Charles is fine, and that’s all that matters. I should probably head home now anyway.” I spun on my foot and walked away. If he didn’t want to answer me, fine.
