Blood Red (2)

Chapter 13

I stormed to the hospital, Peter waddling behind. While on the trip, a memory played in my mind.

It was they day I met Will...I'm not sure why I was thinking of that one. Peter grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

It was about ten o'clock on a Friday night. No one was really there. Ruby, aka my cursed and, cringe, terrible self, was cleaning the tables. The bell rang and a man walked in. His hair was crazy short, and his jaw was covered with jagged whiskers from weeks of not shaving. He wasn't that tall, about the size of myself, and his face was grim.

"Hello," the man greeted, his accent none other than British. "A hot cocoa please."

"Alright," I replied, finishing up the table. he was a pretty handsome looking man. I took him his drink and leaned on him table. My fingers trailed along the colored wood. "So, what's your name stranger?"

"William Scarlet."

I giggled. "I'm Ruby Lucas."

William smiled a kind smile, and I smiled back, giving away a flirtatious look. "I'm sorry," he told me, grabbing my hand. "I'm not really the romantic time."

"Oh you don't have to be," I replied slyly.

"I'm not into flirtin' either. I think I'm in love with someone anyway."

Please let it be me, I begged silently and crossed my fingers under the table. "Oh?" I insisted instead. "You think you're in love?"

"Well I'm not sure. But I keep having these dreams of this woman," he replied, closing his eyes.

"What does she look like?" I whispered and sat down in the seat across him.

"Long, fair hair. The most beautiful shade of yellow, a goldish color. Pale skin, and plump red lips. High cheek bones and a well shaped body." He paused and opened his bright blue eyes again. "Eyes the color of the ocean, colored with a certain softness, a certain odd happiness and hope." William sounded like a poet, perhaps he was. "But in every dream, she was crying or being cruel. In every dream, she wore a crown atop her head, and she was a tyrant.

"Well I have four out of six."

"What do you mean?" He asked curtly. That might have been because I completely ignored the last part, the "romantic" part of you will.

"High cheek bones, pale skin, blue eyes, and a well shaped body." I leaned towards him again, wetting my lips.

"Yes, but it's not you."

I grit my teeth in frustration. "Who then?"

"All I know is that I called her Ana."

"Oh."

"I know I said I'm not the firty type, but would you like to come over to my house?" William asked casually. "After your shift of course."

I shot up out of my chair, knocking it over. "I'd love to!"

He laughed. "Alright then." Then he frowned. "But Ruby..."

"What is it?"

He turned an embarrassed shade of pink. "I...can't pay for this..."

"It's on the house," I told him with a wink. "It's nice meeting you William."

"Please," he corrected. "Call me Will."

"Ok...Will." I picked up my fallen chair, a smile playing at my lips.

----------------------------------------------

Will opened the door to his house and said "Sorry, it's a little small."

"Oh I don't mind at all," I replied devilishly. No one could resist my charms.

"So," he continued. "Do you wear those clothes all the time or just for work?" He had a bit of a sneer. "Because some might think you're a pros-"

I cut him off with a loud, "No!" Then I said it again, more calmly. It was my turn to go scarlet. "It's just for work," I lied, my voice uneven. I untied the bottom of my white shirt, moving my jaw. Then I buttoned it all the way down, my thin stomach disappearing beneath it. I self consciously pulled my shorts lower.

"So what do you want to do?"

I scooted closer. "Anything's fine with me."

He shifted awkwardly. "Alright. I was uh...thinking we could...play a game or somethin'."

"Ok. What are we going to play?"

"Sports...on the Wii."

I nodded. "That sounds cool."

So we played sports on the Wii, mostly tennis and golf because Will claimed he was "bad" at the other things. After that day we became close friend's, like Mary Margret, Ashley and I. Only, Will was different from them so I didn't really say anything about him. We hung out a lot till the day he came into Granny's, his expression worrisome, and his face ghost like.

"Ruby," he told me, not bothering to even sit down.

"What is it?" I questioned.

He grabbed my hand in his. "I...I'm going to...disappear...for a long time."

"What why!?"

"Shh," he whispered. "You can't tell anyone. I'm hiding because I did something I'm not very proud of alright." I nodded, only trying to understand. "You'll see me again...one day."

"Until then..." I sighed.

"Until then." He pecked my head, and as much as I wanted to grin against the tingles, I let it slide. This was no time to be happy.

Will left, and the sherif came to take his place. "Hello Ruby," he said.

"Hi. Do you need something sherif?"

"Just...just call me Graham." He smiled uneasily. "Have you seen this man? he's in a lot of trouble." He held up the picture I knew I was going to see.

"No sir. He told me he was headed out of town."

"That's funny I thought bad things happened to people who leave. Or that's the rumor at least."

I chuckled. "I guess so. If anything happened, I'm sure he would have just gotten out and ran."

"Very funny." Except...it wasn't...at least, not to him.

Graham died shortly after Emma came into town.