Chapter 22: Breakdown

After a few slow, tense minutes—each making Rachel more nervous about the others’ responses—Scarlet sniffed back her tears, and the blood she’d wept returned to her body, leaving only the crimson shell enclosing them.

Pulling away a little, Scarlet looked at her, face not puffy in the least, yet her eyes glistened a bright blue; her red irises were gone. "D-Did I hurt you... I don’t want to..."

"No. You didn’t," she soothed, giving her an encouraging smile. "Just take a few more minutes to breathe. Do you need anything—anything at all?"

"Uh, no... I-I don’t think so," she stammered and released a sigh, her quakes gradually easing. "I-I don’t know what I want! It’s hard—I c-can’t..."

"It’s okay," Rachel repeated, gently shaking her back. "Take your time. Your name is Scarlet?"

"Mhm... I-I could have killed you."

"Can you count with me?" Rachel asked. "Maybe it will help—one..."

Her brow furrowed, a tad confused, but she followed her instructions.

"One... I don’t know anything..."

"Two..."

"Two..."

"Good." Rachel smiled. "Three..."

As Scarlet sifted through a few numbers, she gradually regained her composure, her breathing becoming steadier. However, despite her efforts, she couldn’t stave off a few tears of blood that trickled down. "I just want to die...but this blood—this blood won’t let me. What am I supposed to do?"

Rachel swallowed the lump in her throat and let her thumping heart settle. Taking her hands, she forced a smile. "You don’t have to know what to do. If you want, you can just tag along with me until you figure it out. What do you say? Did Mrs. Peck make me sound scary or what?"

Scarlet frowned, looking at their held hands. "I don’t want to think about anything..."

"Okay. We can wait here as long as you want. I’m Rachel, by the way; I like to fight in Muay Thai competitions, exercise, and, well, schoolwork isn’t my favorite," she chuckled, "but I want—eh..."

"What?" the girl asked, glancing up in a panic as if thinking the blood was going to spike her. "D-Did I do something?"

"No, no," Rachel laughed. "No, umm... I just realized... I don’t know if I want to be a lawyer anymore."

"Heh-hehehe. You’re thinking about school and a job when there’s a blood field around us? You’re crazy!"

"Haha. I’m kind of learning that recently," Rachel mused, shooting a sheepish grin to the side. "Umm. Did you know about the Crystal monsters that are probably going to be coming?"

Scarlet shook her head, seemingly unwilling or unable to drop the rippling liquid that encompassed them; Rachel instinctively felt she’d need to have access to both moons again to even try to get out, which defeated the point when she was encased in this blood shell; it certainly was a weakness she had to address.

"Is there going to be a wave of monsters that come out of gateways...like some anime? It’s what I was thinking when you were talking about the other world."

"Ah! An anime nerd like Zoe, huh?" Rachel gave the girl a snickering look that made Scarlet’s cheeks darken.

"I mean, some anime can be really wholesome. You...don’t like it?"

"Meh. I’m a sports head," Rachel returned, pulling away a bit to enter a more casual atmosphere that would bring the vampiric girl into a more familiar setting instead of this nightmare she thought she was trapped in. "Are there sports anime?"

"A ton!" Scarlet said, puffing out a long breath that was chilly instead of hot. "Umm. Thank you for helping me calm down; it’s just...I really was hoping this was all just a nightmare... It isn’t, is it?" she whispered, hands knotting in her lap.

Rachel shifted, crossing her legs, and shook her head. "Not that I can tell. I don’t know what the government or military intends to do with us...but I’m going to shoot for as much freedom as possible. Do you have anywhere to go?"

She shook her head again, trying to fight back tears again. "I didn’t think the Scarlet Hand was a real cult... Why did she freak out when she saw you? She called you the Bringer of Misfortune?"

"Uh, yeah, I do have a Feat called [Bringer of Misfortune]," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck, feeling like she had to be honest with this girl. "No one should have known about that, though. It’s really suspicious."

"Not really," Scarlet mumbled, shoulders drawing in. "I think...I think my mom and dad caused all of this to happen. I think I was the trigger for everyone to change."

Rachel forced her ears to stay bowed, which was hard when they wanted to go straight up. "Scarlet, I won’t make you talk about what you don’t want to... Do you just want to follow along?"

"You aren’t scared of me...or mad at me? What if I really did cause this huge change... What if I broke the world?"

A giggle shook Rachel’s chest as she felt a pull within her chest; it was the same draw she’d had when guided to the goblin cave and Anthony, which all turned out well in the end.

"Why are you laughing? I’m serious! I could be the devil incarnate—I have...something inside me—something that tells me t-to..."

Rachel put a finger over her lips. "Shhh. You don’t have to tell me anything yet. I’ve been following my instincts lately—well, so long as they make sense to me—and do you know what my instincts are telling me?"

"What?"

She flashed her teeth to show the girl a smile that she probably hadn’t seen for what, to her, must have been ages. "I should not trust the Scarlet Hand—or that Mrs. Peck woman—and...I can trust this girl; I trust you are not a demon, Scarlet. I want to help you."

They locked eyes for a moment before sniffles came on, crimson falling from the girl’s eyes again; scooting forward, Rachel pulled her in, dissecting her actions while allowing Scarlet to release her anguish.

I’m not supposed to be here... In other words, I’m not supposed to meet this girl. Misfortune follows me, hmm? Alexa was certainly my misfortune, but now that I’m looking back... I was kind of a bitch, stuck in my own little world, and I’m definitely more violent than I thought. Damn you, [Strategic Mind].

So far, we have this blessing I’m being granted by a Celtic goddess, a cult that knows about me, and a girl I’m not supposed to meet or befriend. Where will all these strings take me? My only issue is... Am I sincere? I don’t know, and that is important.

It was ironic that Scarlet’s emotions were so hot when her skin was like that of a corpse; it didn’t take too long this time for her to pull away.

"Sorry. I’m sorry..."

"Hehe. Stop saying sorry all the time," Rachel whispered, thinking back to Zoe and how she always apologized; Rachel had rarely ever apologized throughout her life because she was never sorry for what people perceived as being bad. "I have one thing I want to run by you, though."

"Okay?" Scarlet straightened, blinking and setting her face; she noticed the girl was trying to hide her fangs whenever she talked by mumbling. "What’s up? You want something from me?"

"Hehe. Wouldn’t that be a stellar way to get to know each other?" Rachel mused. "Hey, let’s be friends; okay, do my bidding!"

"Haha. I didn’t mean it like that," Scarlet chuckled. "I just kind of expect people to use me... It’s what Scarlet is whispering to me—I shouldn’t listen... Oh! Umm, the devil-goddess-thingy, umm...umm, yeah, it’s also named Scarlet... My parents named me after it," she choked, rubbing her arm and glaring at the carpet they sat on; it truly felt like they were the only ones in the world.

"Sure, go parents," Rachel huffed, making the girl smile; Rachel didn’t want to focus on that part, even if Scarlet kept returning to it, which would bring her back into the depression loop. "To be honest... I don’t know if I’m being genuine or not with you."

Scarlet’s eyebrows drew together. "What do you mean? Uh...you do have a very, eh...how do I say this, heh...cold feel."

"Go on?" Rachel prompted, glad to be on another topic. "You can sense emotion?"

"Yeah...it’s more like a smell—but not really—it’s complicated," she sighed. "I don’t think you’re not not being genuine... Does that make sense? I think that’s how you say it?"

"Hmm... I know you have a lot of power," Rachel frankly stated. "I can tell just by looking at you that you’d kill me without breaking a sweat."

"And...that doesn’t scare you?" Scarlet tentatively asked, creased eyes drifting to the blood field around them. "It scares me...but you’re weirdly excited."

"Hehe. Yeah. I kind of am, I guess," Rachel chimed, glad Scarlet could understand that. "You’re giving me answers and...I kind of want to use you as a test marker to gauge my progress. I want to get stronger."

"Okay... I don’t know how I should respond to that," Scarlet mumbled, "but sure. I’ll just...follow along because I don’t know what else to do, and you’re the only one not scared of me."

"Perfect! So, think you can pull this blood back inside of you? Is your butt sore? I think mine is, but...really, it’s my whole body after fighting a hobgoblin to the death."

"A what?! You seriously did fight a hobgoblin? How big was it?" Scarlet asked, suddenly acting like a normal girl. "I thought hobgoblins were small, eh... Were there...female goblins or only males?"

"Hahaha! You watched the same crazy anime as Zoe, didn’t you?!"

"What? It’s just...it’s so morbid that it’s interesting, like...I just kept watching," Scarlet grumbled, playing with her ripped sleeves. "Dang it... I was trying not to look threatening; do you think they’ll try to shoot me? I don’t want to hurt them; they’re really nice guys."

Rachel reached out to pluck at the torn straitjacket. "Eh, sorry to burst your bubble, but seeing a girl with a muzzle and straitjacket—in sleeping shorts and bare feet—is way more frightening than a girl with pointed ears in normal clothes. It’s like you walked out of a horror movie."

"Eh-heh...true," Scarlet groaned. "Let’s see if I can make this go back in..."

Her mouth drew in, giving Rachel a chance to really study her appearance as she worked on withdrawing the dangerous, illuminated ruby pool surrounding them. It looked like she wore permanent black lipstick and fingernail polish. If that wasn’t enough, the girl’s shiny, raven hair fell to her lower back, her bangs hiding her forehead and forming in a way to half-cover her pointed ears.

The blood drew into her skin, seemingly entering without issue. As they stood, Rachel concluded she was roughly half a head smaller than she was—at least, before The Oscillation; including her ears, Rachel towered over the vespertine reaper.

Mateo hissed out a sigh of relief with several others as Scarlet nervously held her arm, unable to look any of them in the eye. "Are you doing better?"

"Y-Yeah, I’m sorry for scaring everyone; Rachel helped me calm down... Umm, Rachel?"

Rachel’s head followed her ears, fingers tightening into a fist. "Mateo, I can’t hear Vincent or that Mrs. Peck woman...anywhere!"

The soldier flipped channels after processing her statement, with everyone’s attention now on the Green Beret officer. "Vincent, respond!"

He waited—nothing, but Rachel heard it.

"Vincent!"

Rachel’s hair weaved at her back with her head motion, unnerving the soldiers. "His radio...it’s in the room."

The implication sent shivers down their spines, and Mateo cursed.

"Let’s move—they’re coming with us," Mateo ordered, pointing at Rachel and Anthony while speaking to his apprehensive men through the device. "Oliver, any activity down the next hallway?"

"None, Lieutenant; should I check the room Vincent went into with the woman?"

"Go! Roll call."

The members of the team sounded off, checking in as Oliver jogged to the room; when he opened the door, the man froze, whispering, "The hell? Shit! Vincent’s dead! You’re going to want to see this, Lieutenant... Damn insanity."

Rachel caught Scarlet’s eyes flash red again, bright blue sinking into a ruby abyss before the girl slowed to a stop; everyone else increased their pace.

"Why..."

"Scarlet?"

"Mrs. Peck... Why?"

Knowing she needed reinforcement, Rachel reached out and took her hand, squeezing it to pull her back; the girl’s eyes returned to their blue hue as more tears fell down her cheeks, but she didn’t refuse her guiding hand. Scarlet didn’t enter the room, remaining against the wall outside, seemingly having already seen the horror inside.

The whiteboard was covered in alien scribbles, occult-like symbols, and, in the center of it all, the woman’s bloody palm imprint, perfectly plastered with a vertical eye running down its center.

There was only one phrase repeated in the gore that Mateo spoke aloud, turning his enraged, questioning gaze to her: "Rachel is an Infelicity... Rachel must die... What is that about?"

"I don’t know," she truthfully whispered, moving inside to examine the bodies Oliver was inspecting; the man was by his murdered comrade, grim expression rising to his buddies that entered the room, noses twitching with anger.

"She slit Vincent’s throat with her glasses—damn... The frames feel like they’re steel, and it’s sharpened on the upper half like a knife... She must have done it while he was looking away because there’s no struggle; she did it to herself after...all of this. What kind of crazy person does this with glasses before doing it to themselves—the hell is going on, Lieutenant?"

"I don’t know... Shit! The whole world’s gone insane."

"Hell, I think a lot of this is Vincent’s blood, but...the handprint is definitely hers. The thing is..."

He lifted the dead woman’s soaked sleeve to show her palm; it was cut down the center, and there wasn’t a way for her to make the imprint so detailed or the symbol within it. Rachel felt something unnerving and supernatural in the shimmering, illuminated eye—the mark of the Scarlet Hand.

Well...that isn’t ominous, she thought, glaring at the woman’s ramblings, written in the blood of a trained military man she’d murdered. Apparently, some high school teacher Scarlet had known for years. She did all of this in under ten minutes. What is this cult?

To make matters worse, the soldiers watching the Crystal just radioed Lt. Thompson. It had changed its glow, and he spoke over the intercom, signaling an evacuation and how much time they had left. Soon, they’d be trapped inside an impassable dome. It wouldn’t be enough, though; from new military reports coming in, they only had a minute’s warning.