Freeze Red

11

"Um. We aren't sure yet. I heard there's a virus going around Paris so we can't go there. I'm net letting my angel get sick. Or her sidekick." Jasper smiles kindly, suddenly very cautious.
Sam slaps his arm, "I am NOT a sidekick." She says it with disgust. I could practically see her spitting on the ground with irritation.
I suppress a laugh, "partner then?" I suggest.
"He is your partner. I'm your bestie." She grouches and I finally giggle.
The woman frowns, "so you don't know yet? That's a bit odd..."
"Why are you so interested in what we do?" Jasper snaps.
I finally notice the inhuman shine in her eyes, crap.
Sam gets to her feet, bringing us up with her, "well sorry but we have to go. Nice to meet you..."
"Lisa Brown." She says sickly sweet.
"Well nice to meet you Lisa. We're going to be late for school, so, bye!" I say casually. We stride out of the shop and walk a few steps before breaking into a run, a very fast run.
Sam and Jasper are a lot quicker than me so I push myself to go faster. I turn into an ally way, always good for hiding.
Where did they go? They aren't in front if me anymore. I look behind me... They're gone.
I immediately stop. But not before colliding with another person.
I fall back from the collision and so does Chase.
"Chase! Oh, shit." I scramble to get to my feet.
His head is twitching and his body is bloody and battered. He didn't stand up, he just lay there on his side mumbling and twitching and groaning, "can't control... Hurts too much..."
Curious, I move forward, "Chase? Are you ok?" I should be happy that he's hurt. It's a chance to run. But I'm not happy.
He grabs my hand, "Kill me..." He looks at me with such pleading eyes, "please." The British/Irish accent making his voice crack a little.
"What? No. I can't do that." I say getting to my knees beside him, "who did this to you?"
"Anya... Controlling.." Chase wheezes before spitting blood on the ground.
I pick up on what he's saying, "She controls you? That's why you twitch and stuff."
He coughs, "please, just kill me!" His pleading makes my heart ache.
"I- I'm not a killer. I can't kill you." I shake my head.
"Do you remember me?" He asks hoarsely.
"Remember?" Great, another one, "no."
"Please, remember. Maybe you'll kill me then." He spits again.
I touch his shoulder to comfort him, only to have one memory flash up. When he saved my life from a gas truck. I was only little, but so was he. He jumped in front of me and stopped the truck with one hand. I had been wanting to die that day. It was the day my mother died. He foiled my suicide.
"You saved my life." I whisper.
He shakes his head and groans, "I ruined it. If you died that day you wouldn't have to go through a slower death soon." He looks up to face me.
"What?" I frown.
"Anya knows all about Paris. Haven't you guessed yet?" He scoffs before his breathing becomes faint.
"Lisa?" I asked.
"Nope." He says something I can't hear, "duh." Chase whispers. He closes his eyes. His breathing slows too much.
"You aren't going to die." I decide, playing my hands on his temples.
My red cloud appears.
He sits up, back to normal, "now how the hell did you do that?" He asks curiously. I smile at his uppity attitude and accent.
"The same way I hurt you at the cottage." I shrug.
"Did you hear who told Anya about France?" He asks, flexing his strong arms in awe of my magic.
"Uh, no." I think back trying to remember.
"Your friends, Jasper and Sam. Pity you put so much faith in them. Especially, Jasper." He shakes his head.
"You're lying!" I jump back to my feet.
He grimaces at my anger, "I'm not going to lie to the girl who just saved my life. By the way, thanks for stopping Anya controlling me, you are powerful." He gets to his feet casually.
The memories, "what about my memories? They're my friends. One even more than that." I blush a little, burning tears cloud my vision.
"They planted those memories. It's what the illusionists do." He pointed out gently.
Illusions... Jasper said that's what he could do. Apparently Sam can do that too, "No." I finally sinks in.
"They vanished thinking I was ready to finish you off. They didn't know that Anya hurt me." Chase winces at the memory of what he had wished.
The kiss. The friendship, the trust, everything... It was all a lie.
I fall to my knees in shock, "Why me? I didn't kill anyone. I never did anything. I'm innocent!" I wail.
He sits beside me, unsure of how to comfort me, "the murder was just a cover story. Anya wants to kill you because you have more power than her. She knows you haven't learned to use it yet so you're too weak to save yourself."
"Oh that's a nice thing to find out," I scoff through my unstoppable tears, "I thought he loved me."
He puts his arm around my shoulders, "Jasper is good at his job, better than Sam or Leo." I shrug his arm off me.
"Sam. I really believed she knew me." I grit my teeth savagely, "lying bitch." I spit.
"She does know you, she knows every way to kill you." Chase shrugs and cowers away in my glare.
I mutter something about lying again.
"Yeah. I agree. They are good liars..." He mutters.
"Ok so why haven't you killed me? Why?! Are you just waiting for Anya to tell you? Is this all a trick?!" I move away, red shining inside my fists.
He grits his teeth in pain, "I never wanted you dead. Still don't. controlled, remember?" He gets to his feet carefully.
I shove him against the wall with an invisible force, "Is this a trick?!" I snap again, not paying attention to my invisible force keeping him against the wall.
Chase grins, "Hey look at that! You have Scira power too. You are way better than Anya."
I smack his head against the wall, just hard enough.
"No! This isn't a trick. She really did throw me away to die, and you really did stop her from bloody controlling me. Can you please let me go now?"
I take a deep breath and lower my hands. As I do he lands on the ground roughly on his feet, "god, your strong for such a small girl."
"Small?" I scoff.
He sighs, "Well Red, what are you planning to do now?" He crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the graffitied wall.
"Don't call me Red." I snap.
His face actually saddens, "That's always been my nickname for you. Jasper replaced me in your memories. The kid you saw in your dreams was supposed to be me. Anya isn't my mother but he somehow muddled the story up in your head." He explains.
I frown, "that's great to know... Whatever, call me Red." That's probably why Jasper and I didn't really... Spark? But I'm not going to kiss every guy that claims he knew me. That's just slutty.
He rolls his eyes, "relax. It was a stupid kid crush. I don't feel that way anymore." He grumbles.
I smile, "No problem." I'm not sure if I should be sad or happy. Happy is probably better.
Chase nods, "ok, game plan?"
"I thought you were Mr Stuck-Up I'm-with-Anya." I point out.
"Yeah, I was until she beat the crap out of me until I was almost dead. So, run or fight?" He wonders.
I think for a moment, "Running won't do much if Leo and the others can track us. And I haven't got a clue on fighting. I only do a little self defense."
"You haven't learned to fight yet?" He asks with disbelief.
I nod slowly, not understanding his surprise, "Anya wants me weaker so of course Jasper and Sam didn't teach me."
He smiles, "I'll teach you."
"You don't have the same powers." I state.
"I have some of the powers you do. The others you can learn to use without me," Chase smirks, "Plus, fighting isn't all about magic."
I roll my eyes, "Let the pain begin." I smile and it hurts my tear stained face.
Lies. All of them. I really thought Jasper loved me. He was so honest... He promised he wouldn't hurt me. Lying little son of a-
"Red? Are you ok, I think your off in the clouds." Chase grins.
"I am a dreamer, aren't I?" I snort as we walk away.