Carrots Are The Best Vegetables

Chapter One

The grass bound against her bare feet. She'd left the safety of Green Gables to visit Gilbert, since they'd been scheduled an assignment together in school. Despite the time, they agreed to meet at his house at six.

The moon was nearly set among the clouds in the starry sky, but Anne was barely focused on that, as a trail of footsteps stomped behind her. "CARROT HEAD! Where are you going?!" A boy was chasing her. A boy she wished she'd never met... Billy Andrews.

Anne was an intelligent girl. She was also fast, and knew that if she could make it to Gilbert's house before Billy decided to use the bayonet that hung around his shoulders like a book-bag. Anne just had to get to Gilbert's.

Thankfully, Green Gables and the Blythes' house weren't too far apart... though, it wasn't exactly the Blythes' house anymore. That title had turned to ash, like a forgotten memory. Now, to her at least, it was just Gilbert's. And Sebastian's, of course... and who could forget Delphine? Nonetheless, she just had to get there before Billy caught her. She had to get there.

"CARROTS!" Billy screamed again, his voice ripping through the silent-night air. He was slowly gaining on her, and it was like she could feel his breath against her freckled neck.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Anne cried, ignoring the fact that Billy was barely a foot behind her. And then, he caught her, like a hunter trapping its prey. "Billy, STOP!" Anne sobbed, but her defense was useless. He pushed her limbs against the dirt and gravel, which was ripping through her coat and scarf like blades. "Billy!"

"Don't you dare scream, you hideous orphan!" Billy threatened, as he dislodged the surprisingly short blade from his bayonet. It seemed like he'd just pasted a knife to his rifle, and called it an evening. "Shut up!" He hissed, as he began to press the blade against various points on her skin, causing red blood to spurt up. It reminded her of the red berries that surrounded her hide-out, where Diana, Cole, Ruby, and her met after school almost every day to discuss certain topics that itched them, or their writings.

Anne tried to disclose her cries, but she couldn't help it, and then, she noticed a chance. A chance to survive this horrifying encounter. A chance to see Marilla and Matthew again. To see Diana, Cole, and Ruby... to see Gilbert. "Billy, please." Anne sobbed again, as he petted her red braids like she was a dog.

"I said shut it, orphan-girl." Finally, Anne took her chance. She kicked Billy in between his legs, where his mouse was, and ran. She just ran. Anne didn't take the time to look back at Billy, who was groaning, but reaching for his gun, and propping the blade back onto the barrel as Gilbert's house came into view.

The lights were on, and it appeared that he was waiting outside on the porch, and Anne figured that he must've heard her screams, since he had a tense expression on his face. Anne began to open her mouth again, to pray for help, when a deafening gun-shot rang through the air like a bomb tearing through Anne's ribs, certifying her fate.

That was when Gilbert saw the desperate Anne, just as she collapsed onto the damp grass, in a pile of blood... the red blood... those red berries... for some reason, Anne kept thinking about the red berries... and then she saw his face. Gilbert's face.

Anne's lips nearly broke into a smile, until she realized the blood that was decorating her puffed sleeves. She loved her puffed sleeves so much. When Anne was forced to sell her puffed dress to help Green Gables, Matthew had bought another one when she was feeling self-conscious about her short, masculine hair. She loved Matthew so much.

"Anne!" Gilbert's voice seemed to echo through her ears, and sprint out of her eyes in the form of tears. "Anne, it's Gilbert. Can you hear me?" He asked, his arms immediately slipping under knees, and under her arms to pick her up, and bring her to his porch, where he could actually see what was wrong, and if she was still awake.

"G-Guh-Gilbert?" Anne stuttered, her voice shivering with fear. Was Billy still here? Did Gilbert see Billy? Why was she so sleepy right now? "W-where's... where's..."

Anne began to drift in and out of consciousness as another voice swam into her body... it was... it was Sebastian's. She could recognize his accent anywhere, and then it felt like she was flying, but she soon realized that Gilbert was just carrying her into his house, since the screen door whined like an infant when it opened. She knew that, since Anne had been over to Gilbert's frequently as of late due to the hold of exams that seemingly penetrated the young pupils. "Blythe? What's all the damn screaming-"

He must've seen the limp Anne in his arms, due to the moment of silence before the sudden warmth that surrounded Anne. She could tell she was inside Gilbert's house now, on his chestnut-brown couch. Anne hoped that she didn't stain the couch with blood, but she had an inkling that Gilbert wouldn't be terribly upset. If she survived this night, of course... she really wanted to survive. She'd nearly finished her novel, featuring the skeleton arms that reached for her deep in the woods. Soon enough, she knew she'd even miss those.

"Anne, don't close your eyes. Okay?" Anne could hear Sebastian shuffling out of the house with a scarf, coat, and his boots to retrieve the Avonlea doctor. Gilbert was merely an apprentice when it came to medical care, but he would be able to keep Anne alive until Sebastian returned. "Anne, stay awake. You can't close your eyes right now."

She could feel her coat and scarf being stripped off of her to reveal a storm of gushing blood, which was covering a deep gash, and in the cut, was an embedded led bullet. "Okay... this will hurt Anne. I'm going to give you something to help you. Okay?"

Anne focused her vision on the ceiling. It was a remarkable ceiling. It looked to be plaster, or some sort of other material Anne wasn't familiar with. Suddenly, a prick in her shoulder shot pain through her body as Gilbert continued to anxiously blabber beside her. "G-Gil..."

"Save your strength, Anne. It will be easier if you just stay still and silent." She expected him to end the sentence with some sort of tease, but he was dead serious, so she followed his instructions.

Instead of the ceiling, she focused on his eyes. She never noticed how extraordinary his eyes were. They were a deep brown, but there was also specks of black and a hint of amber, too. She didn't know if it was whatever Gilbert had injected into her that was precipitating these thoughts, but she was currently seeing Gilbert in a new light as he pressed a cloth against her ribs, and she soon realized it was her scarf... the only thing she'd taken from the orphanage. It was her mother's scarf, or at least, that was what they'd told her.

Suddenly, an anger rose in her. Anne knew that Gilbert was trying to help, but that was the only thing that remained of her parents, and he'd covered it in her blood, ruining it. And without thinking, she grabbed for the scarf, and sent a whole tsunami of pain sinking through her body like a plague, causing her vision to begin to fade.

"Anne!" Gilbert yelled, ignoring Anne's mad expression as he flashed in and out of her eyes. "Anne, stay awake! Anne! Carrots!" He was trying to upset her, so that she'd stay awake, but it wasn't working. The only thing that was achieved was a wave of memories flashing through her of Billy, pressing her down, letting his hands explore her shirt. "Anne, please, stay awa-"

His voice drained away as her eye-lids drooped for the last time, and she fell into the depths of unconsciousness, with nothing to comfort her but the idea of Gilbert begging for her to return to him, and the scarf pressed against her, like a blanket.