Poisoned in Red

20:59

          The little girl awakens from her nap as the rising sun that shone through the forest trees stung her pallid skin. "Who's there?" her sharp voice echoed, addressing the presence she felt lurking in the shadows. She felt her throat churning from the direction of the scent.

          A little figure appeared limping from the behind the tree she was under. Her eyes that reflected the color of the crimson sky, locked with the boy mesmerized by the black-haired beauty before him. For a moment, he forgot about the gash on his leg; which was all she could see.

          "What's your na—" before he could finish, she pounced onto him and started licking on the blood oozing from his wound. "Hey, what're you doing?"

          She felt another presence from behind, approaching them at a high speed. Without a word, she ran off, leaving the bewildered boy alone.

          "Prince," the guard called, running towards him. "Are you alright?"

          He stared at the wound that stopped bleeding and mumbled, "It doesn't hurt."

          "I let you out of my sight once and you get yourself hurt!"

          His eyes widened in confusion. "Why doesn't it hurt?"

〰️

          "Sky!"

          "Stop following me," the little girl groaned. "And stop calling me that."

          "Then tell me your name," he insisted, trailing behind her.

          She sighed. "You should go. Your guards are coming."

          He stared at her eyes that darkened since the first time he saw them. "How do you know? I can't hear them."

          "Prince Scott!"

          He flinched. "Sky, what are you?"

〰️

          "Aren't you cold?" Scott asked, observing Sky balling the frost with her bare hands. "What you have on is way too light, too."

          "You're leaving tomorrow?" she changed the topic.

          He laid on the pile of snow to get a better look of her face. "How'd you know?"

          "I overheard your guards talking," she paused, looking away. "Are you coming back?"

          He stared at her, smugly. "You want me to?"

          Annoyed, she threw the completed snowball on his face. The fresh fallen flakes burst open on impact, showering crystalline fragments that glint in the wintry light. He sat straight up and coughed.

          "Hey!" he yelled with his nose bright red from the cold.

          The corner of her lips curved upwards and her eyes lightened up, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Even if it was just for a split second, he thought that he would never forget the moment he made her smile. It was the first and last time he witnessed it.

          As her fingers tangled around his silky hair, Raven restrained herself with so much power from within, not to harm him. Simultaneously, a series of unknown flashbacks came flooding into her mind. When she opened her eyes, she was on the floor with Scott's unconscious body in her arms.

          "Cross," she called. Her hands were shaking from replaying the unfamiliar memories in her head. "What are these?"

          He knelt down in front of her and embraced her to calm her down. "Princess, what do you see?"

          "Scott and. . . me?" she cried. "How could I forget?"

          His breath hitched. "Scott's memories might've triggered yours."

           She swallowed. "What do you mean his memories?"

          "Raven, you took his memories."