Growing Pains

Chapter 14: Chase

Second POV

"Red!" I yelled. I saw her look up, see me, and then she ran. And my stomach dropped. She was running away. From me.

"Chosen! We need to go after her!" I heard myself say to him. He then flew towards her, then stopped.

"Sec I'm going to drop you off! It's too windy for Dark and I to fly! We'll get blown away!" He yelled over the roaring wind. "You'll have to follow her on foot!" He dropped me off and I ran through the busy streets of Stick City.

Running through crowds of shoppers, and people with umbrellas, I could feel the storm pick up. Sticks clutching their umbrellas gave me rude looks as I ran by. Kids followed their parents in their colorful raincoats, but I couldn't take any of it in. My mind was too focused on her.

On Red.

Red, who loved animals. Red, who could light up a room with a smile. Red, who could make someone's day better with a hug, or helping hand. Red, who never once failed to make someone happy. Red, who loved her family more than anything. Red, whose catchphrase was always the same every time.

'Hey,' She'd said to me in those beautiful lush caves 'Let's not cry over spilled milk. What's done is done, and we can't do anything but move on.'

Red, Red, Red, Red, Red....!

Red, who would stand in the way of a bullet for us.

Red, who didn't know my heart belonged to her, and always would...

I don't want to lose her.
That would bring me to my breaking point.

I would die inside, because without her, I would be incomplete.

She's what gets me out of bed. She's what gets me to go help Alan, because I know I'll see her afterwards. She's my whole world.

Her eyes, her smile, her touch, her anger, her joyful nature.

And I can't lose that.

God, I'm so in love with her, I don't know if I can let her go. Call me selfish, because I am. She just means so much to me.

"Second!" A voice yelled, and I saw Green, his head out the window of Dark's jeep. "Wait up!" He hopped out of the vehicle, and ran after me, as I ran after Red.

"Did you see her?" He asked, as we ran through the street together. I nodded, but didn't say anything else. "So we're chasing her as we speak? Or, as I speak because you're not talking." He said, and again, I nodded.

We ran, keeping her red hoodie in our sight.

And after what seemed like forever, she ducked into an alleyway.

Green and I stopped.

"You go get the others." I said, trying to catch my breath. "Let me deal with her."
Green went to protest, but he stopped at my glare, and ran off to get the others.

I entered the alleyway. It was dark, and seemed to go on for a while. No sign of Red. Until I saw the yellow bandanna.

It was lying in the middle of the street. I picked it up, and when I looked up, I saw her.

"Red..." I didn't know what else to say. There she was, looking at me with scared eyes, and a broken expression.

"Second.." She said back, and I stood there, stunned. She was leaning heavily on a brick wall, bags under her eyes, looking weak. "You need to leave." It seemed to cause her pain to say this.