Blood Red

Phase 4.5: The Redemption

I watched in fascination as the droplet made its way along the edge of the wall, leaving a trail of red behind it. I waited for it to hit the corner — to leave a smear that could never be erased —  waited for it to weigh down on itself and prepare for the inevitable fall. Then, at the last second, I held out a tentative finger to catch the drop before it fell. 

 I couldn't let the fragile drop become another stain on the floor. It was too beautiful to become something so ordinary. Oh no, beauty deserved to be appreciated until it lost itself. It deserved to be held in the palm of a hand and coaxed to do one's bidding. 

It deserved everything something ordinary didn't.

Ava Jones was the epitome of beauty. I remember looking at her on my first day and wondering why something so beautiful had to act so tough. I swore to myself that I would strip her armor bare and make her talk to me. I would hold half the weight of her world because beauty was fragile. I wouldn't let another crack taint it.

It was the season of fall when I first saw her bleed. She bled like the trees around her. But the trees didn't matter to me, she did.

Blood red, which was usually my favorite shade of the color, didn't fill me with the usual sense of invincibility. It just filled me with a cold-sick feeling of dread. 

That was the day I made the second promise to myself. I would keep her safe no matter what. No matter the consequences.

Ava was smart, I'll admit. All through the investigation, she had been looking two steps ahead of what she thought the killer would do. That was her problem. She didn't bother putting her feet in the murderer's shoes. If she had, she would have probably learned that everything she knew was wrong.

Green wasn't the color of envy for most of us.

It was the color of love.