Red Ligaments

Chapter 1

{2284 words}

She stared at her wrist. The blood red lines going perfectly around it.

Most people got them surgically removed. Others hid them behind watches or piles and piles of bracelets. Like they were fooling anyone.

She had seen a couple kids in her school go from never wearing a bracelet in their lives to wearing loads.

So much for secrecy, she thought to herself.

She didn't care. She was already the outcast and it didn't affect her all that much. The only thing she didn't like was how hard it was now to do anything without people staring down at her wrist, their gazes piercing her skin like they were making the lines again, this time with daggers.

Her finger ran across two lines, remembering when she got them.

**Flashback**

She leaned against her bike, one foot on the ground as she waited for the light. A small, black and red Harley. Her best friend, Kaito, somehow saved up enough to buy her one. And it was her favorite model too.

She smiled to herself, lifting her foot and following the big produce truck in front of her.

The school day had just ended and she could see all the other kids walking home, talking with their friends. The smile faded slightly, remembering one person in particular.

She had been friends with Kai since she was around four. They were always doing everything together. Like a dynamic duo. Then one day, when she was waiting for him to come to the forest and play, he brought another kid. He brought the Nagai family's eldest. He was a year older than her, like Kai, so the boys got along right away.

A small frown turned at her lips as the thought of him just leaving crossed her mind. Kai was sad for weeks and she knew she had to be "strong" for him. Like that was ever a problem. Her and Kei never got along, anyway.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a screeching from the truck in front of her and yelling from the driver, gasps from people nearby echoing in the slow motion.

The truck turned, hitting someone in the process and stopping abruptly. Her eyes widened as she tried to stop her motorcycle, causing it to turn sideways, gliding under the truck.

But that's when it went black.

Just as she started blacking out, though, she saw a hint of red on her wrist, but it went at an angle, rather than straight across.

Her eyes slowly shut as everything disappeared.

From the street, the other kids and civilians watched as both bodies lay under the truck and the motorcycle skidded from under it, the metal squealing against the concrete.

The people watched in horror as two of their beloved high school students lay lifeless under the truck, blood pouring from one's body while the other from their head.

A loud fizzing sound echoed in her head as she groaned, trying to move. The crowd was already watching in disbelief as the boy was crawling out from the truck's underside.

Her eyes widened as she realized what happened. She glanced at the boy, recognizing him immediately. Kei Nagai. Serves him right he gets to be tortured. What an asshole. She thought. But now she had to take her chance to run the other way.

While everyone was staring at him, she slid out the back of the truck, the side no one could see, and ran. Forget the Harley. She needed to go. Right now. If she took it or even started it, they'd know she was there.