Glassheart Chloe x Red (book 1) {Nightmarish Reality}

chapter 18: who i am

Chloe's Pov
The sight in front of me made me want to crawl into a hole and die. Red was curled up in a ball, muttering to herself. The Queen of Hearts-no, Max-was standing in front of her, wearing the same wicked smile I saw on family day. Every so often, Red would look up at her mother's face, her eyes glazed over. It was like watching a completely different person. Max looked like he was having the time of his life. I wanted to help, but I knew it would just make this all so much worse. If Max would do this, what's keeping him from... "Chloe," I heard my name called, but there wasn't anyone around me aside from the obvious two. "Chloe, listen to me." I knew this voice. "What do you want?" I thought, hoping that's how you talked to a voice in your head. "You need to help Red before she consumes herself," the voice said. I could sense something different in his usually booming voice... was that sadness? "I don't know how to help her. I can't do anything, not against Max," I thought.

I stared into Red's eyes, which usually showed so much emotion, but now faded to a misty brown. I watched as Max bent down to Red's ear and whispered something to her. I saw Red's eyes widen in terror. The voice cut back in, "Repeat after me if you want to save her." I felt like I had no choice, so I stepped forward "Max!" He turned around with a crooked smile and said, "Don't worry, boo, your turn will be soon. Just let me finish up here," he said with a sly smile.I waited for more instructions, but the voice was gone.i guess I'm doing this myself. I turned to Red to plead with her "Red, please listen to me." Red kept gazing at the floor, not indicating that she heard me. "Red, I know this isn't you. You're so much better than this. You need to understand that the world is cruel to people who don't deserve it. You need to understand that no matter how dark your life can be, there will always be someone who will fight for you because you're worth it." but she kept gazing down at the floor, ignoring me. Max smirked at me and said, "Let's see how well that speech affected her, shall we?" I wondered what he meant by that. He went back to Red's ear and whispered something. She stood up and walked over to me, her eyes clouded as if she was staring straight through me. "Red?" I asked softly, but she just stood there. Max snapped his fingers, and Red looked up at me. But it wasn't Red; it couldn't be. In front of me was someone in Red's body, glaring at me with so much hatred.

"Red... what's wrong?" I asked, taking a step back. "You are," she said, her words filled with disgust. "Red, this isn't you," I said, hurt stabbing my heart. "And you know who I am? You say you understand me, you say you love me, you say I'm strong, that I'm beautiful, that I deserve happiness. You say others have no right to define who I am, but that's all you do." She gave me a scathing look as she took a step forward, tears starting to form in my eyes. "Red, I only tell you those things because you won't tell yourself," I said, my voice cracking. "And you just know who I am and what i need, don't you," she said, hate running through her words. I took a step back. "Red, what's happening to you?" She took another step forward. "I let you in. I listened to your lies. I listened when you told me my mother changed, and what happened?" She rolled her jacket sleeve to show me the words 'love ain't it'. "Re-" she cut me off. "No, it's my turn to talk," she said. "I listened when you told me people loved me. I listened when you told me you loved me," she paused. "If you don't recall, you hit me too," fake pity in her voice. "You're no better!" Disgust filled her words as she stepped toward me. I stepped back, my back hitting the lockers, and I heard Max laughing in the background. "Fine, Red. What you say is true, but you've told me yourself that you felt safe with me, that you loved me. How can you ignore that?" I said, hope filling my words. "Simple, really... I lied." 'This can't be right. Red would never do this.'

I hear Max sigh in the background, then a snap and Red starts staring straight through me again. "Valiant effort, I'll give you that, but I can't have you yapping. You might trigger something, and we wouldn't want that now, would we?" A wave of anger flows through me. "Why hurt Red? Your fight's with me," he smirks. "by hurting her I torture you" He says slyly, "Now, how would it feel if the person you love most hurt you? Maybe then you would understand how I feel," he said with amusement. My eyes widen. He snaps his fingers again and Red snaps out of her trance, glares at me with her glazed eyes before punching me hard in my chest. With the wind knocked out of me, My body slammed against the locker, and my head hit it hard with a loud thud. The last thing I see is Red's eyes which still gave me a scathing look, but for a millisecond they turn pained before I passed out.

A/N ik ik you guys prob hate me rn but... ye idk how to save myself. next chapter will be out soon enjoy btw i have no clue what i am doing i write it as it comes