Colour Me Red

Chapter 28: Dune (The Biggest Idiot Alive)

Chapter 28: Dune (The Biggest Idiot Alive)

"I'm an idiot," I said, pressing the phone to my ear.

"You're telling me?" Marc replied rhetorically. By the sound of his voice he was grinning.

"I'm being serious," I dead-panned, swerving to avoid impact with yet another car.

"What've you done now?" Marc asked, all jokes aside.

"I got into a fight with Ellie and she ran off. It's dark, Marc - it isn't safe for her out there," I said through gritted teeth. I slammed my hand against the wheel once more, overwhelmed by my own stupidity - I was only glad that I'd given her a knife so that she could protect herself. I was driving like a mad man and was receiving various honks and hoots so I decided to pull over on the side of the road to steady my breathing and let my anger simmer.

"Well go find her you doofus and apologise," Marc said like it was the simplest thing in the world. I stayed seated in my car, breathing heavily and reprimanding myself for not chasing after her when I had the chance.

Why did I have to be such a jealous moron? If I hadn't gone back to give that Blake guy another beating then I wouldn't even be in this situation; Ellie would be safe and I wouldn't be in this state - worrying the hair off my very head.

"How am I supposed to find her Marc? She could be anywhere," I sighed, scrubbing a hand across my jaw in attempt to erase my wrong-doing.

"You said she was on foot, right? She couldn't have gone far - just circle the house and think about where she might go while you're at it," Marc said logically.

I nodded in response and muttered thanks in response before putting the phone down.

I started up the engine and tore away from the pavement in a more orderly fashion, retracing the route I had taken. I circled the block, once, twice and then a third time before giving up and heading back towards the cottage. By now it'd been a good half hour since Ellie had stormed off, giving her enough time to walk all the way back to the cottage. I pulled up in the driveway and spotted Marc in the window as I swung out the car. He shook his head as if to say 'she's not here' so I headed for the woods. Ellie could have gone anywhere; she could've got on a bus back to her hometown or she could've gone to a friend's house, but something in my gut was telling me that she was close by.

I followed the twists and turns of the forest path, occasionally ducking out of the way of over-hanging branches, and headed for my desired destination.

Whenever me and Ellie were out running, we'd stop by at the stream that ran though the forest to take a break and splash our faces with cool water. By day it looked like your average stream, with rocks and tree trunks providing seating and the cool water carrying fallen leaves over the pebbles. But by night, with the fresh water glistening under the moonlight, it looked truly magical. What made it more so was the fact that Ellie was crouched down by the water, her nimble fingers tracing patterns in the ripples. Although it was dark out, the moon provided a substantial light source that cut its way through the trees in beams and found refuge on the forest floor, lighting up Ellie's features in a striking way and successfully taking my breath away.

I sighed in relief and slowly made my way forward. I wasn't sure if she'd heard me approach but I didn't want to startle her so I stopped when I was a few feet away and opened my mouth to speak - only she beat me to it, not even casting me a glance.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked me with a sad voice, although I'm not sure if she was really expecting a response. She stood up and turned to face me, her long hair swaying in the breeze. It pained me to see that her eyes were rimmed with red, her eyelashes clumped together from the tears. I ran a hand roughly through my hair and scanned her form briefly to check that she wasn't hurt. When I was satisfied that she hadn't been attacked on her way here I opened my mouth to speak.