Fever Dream Red

32

I wasn't sure what to do afterwards, but I knew I had to find Alfie or Doug or Sunny and warn them, if they didn't know already.

I checked the corner of the garden that was our usual meeting spot. The space hung, lonely without anyone to keep it company.

They weren't there, which caused my heart to quicken and my heart to plummet further. The terrible feeling of anxiousness fed on me. It was a truly awful feeling; it almost hurt to feel.

I checked in the cafeteria. I also thought I could get myself a slice of cake on the way there. I felt I needed it for what I'd been through.

I got myself a slice and sat down, eating it absentmindedly. I supposed that the others knew what was happening anyway. I'd probably find them more efficiently just waiting, eating.

I thought a bit about Aggie. The stress of it all had really made me forget the heart of the situation. Aggie was dead. Her face haunted my mind, the blankness of it seemed like a robot.

I had known Aggie for the majority of my life. She had lived on Gloomy Cay in the town where the orphanage was. She had taken a bit of care to us all, it had to be admitted. She left the island with Lily and Fae in tow. The next time I had seen her was the first day back.

She was like an old relative who was sort of insufferable. I didn't really know her enough to make a judgement, but she never took much to me either.

A tear dropped all the same. It sank onto my cake like water soaked up by a sponge. I got back to eating, just to distract me.

The man I was looking for walked throgh the door suddenly. He scanned the room and when he saw me his eyebrows shot up and he practically ran over.

"How'd it go?"
"Not good. For you, I mean. I'm pretty sure Nick suspects you."
"Why? He has no proof."
"You were acting suspiciously last night. He has proof of that."
"That doesn't have any relation to a murder!"
"No, but it's the closest thing he has." Alfie interjected. I hadn't really noticed him, but now he seemed awfully stressed. He began pacing and pacing and pacing. Once it was clear Doug was suspected, he became jittery.

"He is a madman on a power trip who has to keep the peace." I started.
"The only way to do that is to pin it on someone with circumstancial evidence, if only to calm things down." Alfie finished.
"So?" Doug asked.
"So you're done for, pretty much. Unless you up and go now." Alfie realised what he had said and thought about it for a moment.

Three pairs of eyes connected right then.

We were all thinking exactly the same thing.

"It's perfect. No one will notice." Alfie whispered, a smile growing on his face.
"What about Danny?" I asked nervously.
"Tell Inez about it. In fact, tell Inez everything. She can carry on your work."
"She won't want me to go! And what if she tells someone?"
"Firstly, a murder's just been committed. If anything, I would be glad to get you out of there! Secondly, she won't. She's an adult. She can keep her gob shut, unlike some other people." Alfie gave me a dirty.

"What about Sunny? You aren't taking her?"
"Oh-"
"We better." Doug finished decidedly. "Without us she'll be all alone."
"We better bring Skye too then."

Me and Doug both gave Alfie weird looks.

"What? They're all alone too!"
"Cool." Doug shrugged.
"You still got your bags packed?"
"You bet!"

How cringy.

"Finny, you go tell Inez. We'll go tell Sunny and Skye."

I went off and collected my bad in my room yhat had laid waiting for a few days. It knew I would come back for it.

I picked it up and glanced around the room I had spent some of my time in. I had to admit, I would probably miss the beautiful opulence of it. I hated the lack of freedom much more, though.

I met them both at the place we had plotted in the garden. It gazed at us all in secrecy. Skye seemed reluctant yet determined to go. Sunny just seemed sad to leave. She was being forced by Doug and Alfie. This was for her own good.

My stomach dropped at the suggestion she didn't want to spend anymore time with me. I also felt bitterness towards Skye. If they weren't there, I would have Sunny all to myself.

We ran like we always did, down to the beach. It felt as if we were flying out of there forever. I felt like laughing and smiling and crying all at once. This was living, I decided. It had taken me this long to live. I wondered if I ever would have done without the apocalypse.

We climbed over the fence with a surprising amount of ease. As I stumbled over it, I landed in the sand. Sunny piled on top of me. I had my back to the sand, and she had her back to the sky. We were facing each other. I could see the slight heat pool to her face. I could see the light shining from her pretty facade. Her lips were parted in confusion. I wondered how they would taste. I was this close to them. It would be fairly easy to just...taste them. But I couldn't.

I'd never wanted to be alone with a person more.

We both scrambled up and began dusting ourselves off, shooing the sand away.

I hoped I didn't imagine the look in her eyes as her pupil bore into mine. A mutual understanding passed between us, it seemed.

I hated love. It was easy to spot when you were looking for it. Sometimes it masqueraded as misunderstandings. That was the worst.