Red. All she could see was red. Red hair, red tail, red skies, red waters, red everything. The water glittered like rubies in a chest, the sky was red like the sunset, the rocks were red like they had been painted, the bushes were covered in red— red fruits, red flowers, red leaves, all red. She needed to escape. Needed to get out. But why? It was a natural color! Red was an amazing color, and she looked ravishing in it. But her body moved without her permission, her tail swishing and splashing in vain. This feeling grew stronger and she wanted, no, needed to swim but then the water turned warm and thick like the way blood runs down your fingers, soft and slow, dark against pale skin, beautiful in its simplicity. She was drowning into a familiar embrace, a comforting touch, like the way a mother cradles her child, like the way friends hug, like the way lovers embrace, like—
Rivulets of blood sliding down fingers and coloring lips, heads thrown back in victory, screams swirling in the air, eyes frozen in their betrayal, satisfaction, bones snapping and crumbling to dust, ringing silence, joyous laughter, nails scraping over skin, pain and pleasure mixing, pure satisfaction, happiness—
Run, her instincts yelled. You need to run.
A hand reached down to grab her and she wanted to flail, wanted to shove them away, wanted to hiss but she was being pulled out of the water, and she couldn’t do this and the hand needed to let her go. But it was dark hair and a familiar smile on a boyish face filling her vision that made her relax because she was safe. She turned around, glancing into the water and— the water wasn’t thick, or bright red. It was just water. The water she had grown up in, the water she had made her home, no matter how terrible it became. She turned back, words already forming and ready to fall from her lips but the face of a boy morphed into the face of a man, and suddenly his grip on her was loosening once more, some outside force pushing her into the water, and she didn’t want to let go and she hoped he didn’t either but it didn’t matter because she was falling, falling further and further and—
You can’t run without legs, she whispered quietly.
What once glittered was now dull, the bright red now something darker. Suddenly, the vastness of the water wasn’t comforting and walls that weren’t there before were closing in, the exits narrowing and narrowing into the horizon, getting smaller by the second. The skies cycled through weathers, through the times of day, almost dizzying with its speed. The sun turned into the moon, which turned into the sun, which turned into the moon, which turned into the sun, and the bushes withered, then came back to life, then withered, then came back to life, then withered, then came back to life and it stormed, and it was sunny, and it rained, and then it didn’t, and then it snowed, but then there were clouds, but then the sun, and then the rain, and then the sun, and then the night and it needed to stop. Her fingers were coated with dark blood and her head threw itself back in victory and phantom bones snapped in her fists and familiar hazel eyes were frozen in betrayal and she was laughing hysterically and skin was breaking under her nails and everything need to stop.
She had forgotten to ask herself where she would run to.
Alana woke with a gasp. She doesn’t normally sleep, but those stolen moments? They were precious. Something had disturbed her carefully stolen peace, and if she were to be completely honest, it frustrated her. Just a little bit. But what had woken her up? There was nobody around, no animals, no people. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. Well, now was as good of a time as any for her to start her day. Not that there was much to do— actually, maybe there was. She’ll go find Nerissa. Maybe there was something to do in these damned waters. Maybe today something good will happen— No. She doubted it.
