Red Water

Flowing Rivers

Three days later, at the man’s house, Erza was getting dressed in some more of the new clothes that he bought her. She liked to think of the man as her father, but he didn’t like it when she called him dad. She sometimes slipped up, but she normally just called him sir. She pulled up her leggings and pulled on a seafoam green shirt, and put on a knee high skirt to match. She pulled on her beanie and walked out of her room, watching the man type away on his computer.

    “I think I found her…”

    Erza’s eyes went wide. “Where is she?”

    “I don’t know if you want to see this… but you said she had red hair?”

    She nodded slowly. “W-Why wouldn’t I want to see it?”

    He turned the computer around. Two cops were carrying a small girl, younger than Erza, but with much longer hair. She had a red dress, that was singed at the ends, as if she had been lit on fire. There weren’t any burns on her, but the cops were wearing flame retardant equipment.

    Erza recognized Faith instantly, even though it had been almost 5 months since they had last seen each other. “Faith…”

    “She looks to have the gift as well… Odd…”

    She looked at him. “Odd? Why is it Odd?”

    He shrugged and looked back at his computer. “It’s just that you’re water, and she seems to be fire. Of course, you can also move blood, so maybe it’s not the four elements, it’s just the states of matter. Such as liquid, and plasma. Maybe there’s someone who can move solids, or someone that can control gasses.”

    She shook her head. “Maybe, but we need to find my sister. Can we go there now?”

    “Well, we could head over there now. It’s a few states away, though, so it may take a few days. You’ll need to pack your things.”

    She nodded and ran back to her room, pulling out her backpack and shoving her clothes into it. She ran out to his room and helped him pack up everything. She pulled him out the door and jumped into his car.

    “Alright, do you have everything?”

    She nodded and buckled up in the passenger seat of the car, throwing her backpack into the backseat and looking back as they slowly made their way out of the driveway.

    She looked around in the car. “So, you’re a doctor, right?” he nodded. “What’s your annual salary?”

    He looked at her. “You are eight, right? You said you were eight years old.”

    “I believe so, yes.”

    “Why do you talk like you’re 18?”

    She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t remember much schooling, it’s just information in my head. Almost like I lived two lives.”

    “You talked like you were eight when you were… you know…”

    She nodded and sighed. “I called blood ‘red water’. I said mommy had red water in her.”

    He shuddered. He was obviously traumatized by the event, and every time it was mentioned, he trembled with fear, even though she had no memory of the situation.

    “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t say that.”

    “It’s fine.”

    “Your partner… Ian, right?” he nodded to her. “I’m sorry about that.”