Chapter 210: Interlude: Scarlet - Major Fangs

Nia settled down in the back seat as Rachel’s vision narrowed, and the hare half-shut the door after Scarlet pulled in her umbrella. "Okay, we’ll take the long way." Closing the door, she walked around and entered the vehicle, starting it up and turning off the radio. "I’m listening."

They pulled out, and Scarlet tentatively went through the entire experience. It was a little hard at some points, causing the pattering of the rain to come into focus as they stared out at the soaking streets of Miami. Rachel looped the office block twice before pulling into a parking space outside the building.

"Well?" Scarlet asked, hands held against her squirming belly. "I want to help you. I don’t want to feel like a burden..."

Nia sniffed from the back seat, having cried a little during the story. "Little Fang..."

Rachel held up her hand to have the kid quiet down as she thought, narrowed eyes on the steering wheel. The tapping droplets filled the space for several seconds before Rachel rubbed the back of her neck with a short sigh and looked at her.

"So, in essence, you’re telling me that Veronica has been marinating in this bloodstorm for... at least twenty-seven years, and she’s changed a lot in that time. We don’t know if all of that time had passed in an instant or progressively over a week before she escaped, using Relica’s spell as a bridge. Well, if she’s telling the truth. Is that right?"

Scarlet quietly nodded. "She talked like she abandoned who she was to survive. It was... kind of scary since she, you know, wanted me to jump into the storm, too."

Rachel slowly nodded, folding her arms on the steering wheel and leaning forward to rest her forehead against them, ears pressing against the windshield. "Hmm. She made that house for herself, and... somehow you found it? No. She put you there when she left."

"Really?" Scarlet sank deeper into her seat, fingernails digging into her sides. "I... guess that makes sense. Is the storm getting worse since she left... and that’s why it’s breaking?"

"I don’t know, Scarlet." A quake ran down her spine at Rachel’s soft words; the hare was the one who always had the answers. "Twilight has her own objectives. Whether she sees it or not, we can’t believe she hasn’t been twisted by whatever is below that sea... We don’t even know if it is a part of your Seed or if it is some other entity feeding off it, as scary as that sounds."

Legs knotting, Scarlet tried to breathe out her stress. "So... could she be planning something with my... with my mom or for the funeral—maybe the vampire that Mei warned you about?"

Rachel shook her head and pushed herself back up, showing her a frown. "There’s no way for us to tell at this point. Think about it this way: if you do nothing, the house will break, and you’ll enter the Red Sea, or you open the door and brave the storm yourself. Maybe Twilight wants you to go before the storm really gets bad or is trying to trick you for some other purpose... There’s no way for us to tell."

A small smile lifted Scarlet’s lips as she turned around to look at the frightened and confused bunny girl. "What would you do, Nia?"

"H-Hide under my blankets and wait for the major to save me."

"Hehe. And what would the major do?"

Nia forced a laugh. "Be stupid and open the door to dive— No, hehe, she’d open the door and fly to outer space using moon hops! No freaky blood lady is going to tell her to dive into a spooky ocean. She’s going to the sky!"

Rachel snickered, reaching back to ruffle the bunny’s hair and make the girl balk at her superior and try to fend off her hands. "That does sound like a certain kind of stupid I would do."

Scarlet’s tight muscles relaxed. "It does sound like something you’d do... Thank you, Rachel, and you, too, Nia. I’m feeling better now. Can... we go up?"

Holding up a fist for her to pound, Rachel smiled again. "Let’s do it, Major Fangs."

Nia giggled. "Major! Hah! I’m higher rank as a— Wait... Why is she a Major like you, and I’m only a Captain?! Major... Major?!"

Scarlet’s belly hurt as she opened the door and unfurled her umbrella, the bunny continuing to pester Rachel about ranks Scarlet didn’t understand but was sure Rachel used to just get under the kid’s tail.

The doors were open since they’d called ahead and let him know that they were the nocturnal type of changed people. Nia’s loud voice announced them as the receptionist ushered them to go inside; it was 9:15 p.m., and the woman was likely more than ready to retire for the night, since she got up and started getting ready to leave the second they walked in.

"Mr. Cruz is waiting for you, Ms. Johnson. He said to let yourselves in."

Scarlet bit her lip at the last name the woman used; this was the attorney’s office her parents used, so they had to be members of the Scarlet Hand, right? The military said they’d cleared them, but she couldn’t believe it.

Her pace increased rather than slowed as she went right for the door and burst through it, feeling the heat rising inside her chest. "What did my parents leave me, huh? Is it a hit list of targets they want me to kill or some bullshit?! Some hypnosis trigger to make me destroy the world? What?!"

The Cuban man in his fifties lifted an eyebrow from behind his desk as she stormed into his office, breathing hard and red-faced. "Ms. Johnson... I— What? Y-You’ve lost me. Ahem. Regardless, I have no clue as to what your father’s intentions are. The military required a copy of the message and will he left behind for... some reason, and cleared it, but that is the extent of my knowledge. Please, sit down," he offered the chairs that were in front of a large television.

Somewhat bewildered and lost as to what to do next, she accepted Rachel’s guiding prompts toward the leather chairs. "Is this supposed to be a private message?" Rachel asked.

"No. No! You can stay, Rachel," Scarlet blurted out, heartbeat now increasing rapidly. "I... I don’t want to be alone."

Rachel’s soft hand slipped into hers as Mr. Cruz gave her a shrug and nod. "Okay, Scarlet. I’m here. What do we need to do?"

Scarlet couldn’t speak as the man brought over a remote and set up the message; it felt like the whole world was lodged in her throat. Before she knew it, the attorney had handed her an unsealed envelope, probably from the army’s inquiry, and left them in his office for privacy.

Nia took the opposite side of her, reaching over to bring her other hand onto her lap. "This isn’t, umm, scary... right, Major?"

"It shouldn’t be," Rachel soothed. "Are you ready, Scarlet?"