Monique

Jimmy Timms

Monique runs seven red lights and almost kills five people in the space of under an hour. Adrenaline is still pumping through her veins from the meeting she had with the shrink. She's not sick. She's not mentally insane.

"Can you take me back to my mummy? She said she'd make me bacon and eggs for breakfast and then take me to the pictures." Monique slams on the brakes. She grunts as the she's jerked back into her seat.

She turns to the boy casually seating on the passenger's seat beside her and says, "Who are you?"

He shrugs. "I just want my mummy."

"Well, I can't help you if I don't know your name!" Monique snaps. The boy's bottom lip wobbles. It's then Monique realises why she hates children. "Don't start crying!" She looks him straight in the eye, "If you help me, I'll help you too." The boy nods. "Ok. Now that's a good boy. Who is Blood Red?"

"She's the Doctor," He replies.

"She?" Monique begins driving. This time, she takes a left turn at the traffic lights.

"Yes. She."

Monique comes to a stop in front of Rosalie's shop. "Come with me kid," She says as she undoes her seatbelt. The boy shrinks back into his seat. Monique can see the fear in his eyes. She sighs, "Are you going to help me or not?" The boy hesitates and then nods. She opens the door and walks in, her footsteps eating the floor.

Rosalie turns around and smiles, "Hello Monique. Would you like some Blood Red?" Monique's skin crawls. She can feel the fear radiating from the boy beside her.

"Actually no. I just wanted to know, how do you make it?"

Rosalie smiles and shakes her head, "I can't tell you, Monique. It's a family secret."

"She's lying," the boy, whispers.

Rosalie's eyes narrow. "Who said that?"

Monique's face almost drains of colour. She can hear the boy.

Monique turns around and abruptly leaves the shop.

The boy looks at her sadly as she's about entering her car. "What's your name?" She asks.

"Jimmy. Jimmy Timms." Monique smiles. It's a cute name. "Will you help me find my mummy? She must be worried. She wouldn't go to the pictures without me."

Monique nods, "I'll try to find her." She purses her lips together before asking, "Why are you scared of Rosalie?"

"Her name is not Rosalie. It's Blood Red."

"Why do you need her?"

He leans in. Their noses are touching. His eyes burn with intensity. They remind her of the way John looked when he was pissed after she tried to kiss him on her fifteenth birthday. "She left me in the basement. She left me with the monsters. She wouldn't let me go." And with that, he disappears.

John used to say, "People are not really people. Some are just monsters hidden within human features. Soon they break and there's no going back. Only blood lust satisfies them. They feed off people's screams until there's nothing left. They steal their souls and bury their body in the dirt."

He'd then turn to her and smile, before adding, "But everyone dies someday. Don't they?"