NightTide: The Girl With Red Eyes

The Pathfinder made me spend time with Owen and Kayla, for quite a while actually… I don’t know why he was pushing it so hard though… I was here for about three years now; my birthday was coming around again. The pain of being away from Elizabeth and Jessica started to go away, I missed them but it didn’t hurt now… They probably thought I was dead anyways…

It was nice though, they started trusting me again… Occasionally I would carry boxes for the Pathfinder instead just some papers, though that was only when there was more then he could carry… When I wasn’t helping him and Kayla or Owen weren’t busy they’d either come talk to me, or we’d go somewhere… It was nice seeing some of the old people we’d talk to… I had multiple opportunities to escape, but I promised Kayla I wouldn’t leave… It was hard to not take those chances.

I got lucky with the tooth Kayla knocked out, another one started growing back in but it was pretty slowly… I couldn’t bring myself to throw the tooth away though, I kept it wrapped up and stuffed away. I still had the collar Elizabeth gave me, but it was starting to fray… As much as I didn’t want to, I had to take it off… I didn’t want it to break so I kept it on the desk next to my bed, it was safe there at least. Losing that tooth messed with me for a while, I kept licking where the spot where it used to be and would accidently cut my tongue… Now that’s it grown back in I don’t have that issue.

I’ve learned more about the Pathfinder then Kayla or Owen… He’s a very kind person, I’ve watched him interact with children, they seem to adore him, and adults look up to him… Jessica was bullheaded, he is as well… But he’s different about it, while she was playful at times; he makes it a point to be nice… I think I like how he treats people better than she did… He seems to treat me like a child though, but not in the sense that Jessica did… He asks me to do things, he congratulates me when I do them right and tells me how to do them right when I do it wrong… Jessica, she would scold me if I did something wrong and not do much when I did something right… I liked having the way to do it explained to me, rather than being lectured because I didn’t already know…

It was nice walking around the city, Owen went with me for the walks, Kayla only did once though. This Owen is different, he’s seem more interested in being a person’s friend rather than leading them… He’s always so nice, though his kindness is different from the Pathfinders. The Pathfinder seems more courteous, while Owen is genuinely friendly.

We were walking around, it was cold but the coat I was wearing made up for it… Owen was happy as usual. “How’s your day been?”

Fine so far. “Good, so far at least.”

He laughed a little. “So far? Do you think something bad is going to happen?”

Maybe… “You never know what’s going to happen. At least in my case, one second I’ll be doing something uninteresting and the next thing someone’s trying to kill me.”

He sighed. “You’ve had a run a of bad luck, haven’t you?”

He’s not wrong… “Yes.”

He was laughing again. “You’re not supposed to agree with me on that!”

What?! “B-but, what am I supposed to do then!?”

He put his hand on my head. “Be more upbeat.”

How is that helpful? “Hey, I think I’m pretty happy!”

He ruffled my hair, I had to fix it. “You are for the most part, but I do see you get depressed every so often.”

I think it’s my turn to pick at him. “So, how do you feel about Kayla?”

He still seemed happy. “What do you mean, we’re friends?”

He wasn’t catching on! “Do you… like her?”

He paused for a second. “I guess so, she’s nice enough. I can’t think of anyone I don’t like though.” It went right over his head…

I’ll try that again. “I know you like her as a friend, but that’s not what I meant. Are you, attracted to her?”

He coughed. “No, not really.”

Oh? “Why did you cough? Are you lying?”

He replied quickly. “No, that’s not what I meant. She’s my friend, plus she already has someone.” Oh… Now I feel bad. Then he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and lifted me into the air, that’s unfair, using his height against me. “Do you like her?”

What? “No…”

He frowned. “That’s not the response I was hoping for… How about this then.” He pushed his lips onto mine. “Do you like me?”

I didn’t know what to say, I still liked Elizabeth… But my face felt hot. I tried answering but I kept stuttering, I couldn’t understand what had gotten into me. “W-Why did you do that!?” He pushed me up against the wall.

He was smiling and kissed me again. “I like you Red, I feel bad when I see you hurt. I feel joy when I see you smile, I want to make you happy.”

I needed him to put me down. “L-let go of me! Please!” He sat me down and I took off. My face was hot, I didn’t know how to respond. I ran to my room, buried my face in the blankets, and screamed.

Owen liked me, not Owen, Owen. It was this new Owen! There was a knock at the door. “Are you ok in there?” It was Owen?!

I was freaking out. “I-I’m f-fine!”

He opened the door and walked in. “Red. I’m sorry if I freaked you out.”

I pulled my face out of the blankets. “It’s fine! Really, I just need to be left alone!”

Owen looked depressed. Kayla walked in behind him, she was smiling. “Aw, what’s wrong? I think you two would be cute together!” Why was she encouraging him!

I shoved my face back into the blanket, I heard footsteps and then felt something touch my hair. I looked up and saw Owen, Kayla was pushing him. She whispered into his ear and then she took off. Owen put his hands on my shoulder.

He was looking around nervously. “I’ve been trying to build up the nerve to say this. I think I love you, I’m still getting an idea of what that means. But I think I know with you.” H-he loves me!

I was shaking, I didn’t act this way with Elizabeth. I don’t understand why I feel like this! It was intense, my face was hot, my heat was racing. My head was pounding, I ended up passing out…

I was warm when I woke up, I opened my eyes and I was sitting in Owens lap. There was a tissue shoved up my nose, I pulled it out and saw blood. My nose wasn’t bleeding now but I was confused. His chest was against the back of my head… Was he asleep?

Turns out he wasn’t “How are you feeling?”

I felt my face get hot again. “F-fine.”

He hugged me, the feeling got more intense. He put his hand on my head and twisted my neck around, he kissed me again! I felt my nose start bleeding, he squeezed my nose with a tissue.

He was laughing. “I think you’re getting too excited.”

My voice sounded weird. “You’re being mean now.”

He gave me a look, it was devious… “Am I?” He tilted my head back and kissed my neck. I couldn’t take it, my chest was pounding, my face had to of been bright red. He leaned me back. “Do you want to?” I knew what he meant, but; I couldn’t bring myself to say no… I just nodded… It was the most intense experience I’ve ever felt…

They said I would eventually get over Elizabeth, I didn’t know it would be like this… I struggled to think of anything that would describe the experience, ecstasy? Maybe, but this wasn’t like how I liked Elizabeth. I liked her for who she was, but that was all… She was kind, and quirky… Owen was kind as well, but something felt different about this. His approach was more than I could handle, while I was resistant to what Elizabeth did… is it our past, or something else?

We laid in bed for a while afterwards, I was breathing heavily from it, he seemed fine. He smiled at me. “That was amazing.” His kissed me for a long time. That intense feeling went away. All I felt was relief… I don’t understand why, I was happy, but different. Did I finally have something that could get me to stop thinking about her?

The moment was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. “Ahem!” Owen freaked out and got dressed quickly, I covered myself in the blanket…

Owen was scrambling to get dressed, I looked towards the door and saw the Pathfinder. He was, facepalming. “This is not the place to be doing such acts…”

Owen quickly apologized. “I’m sorry sir!”

The Pathfinder sighed. “It’s fine, just don’t do it here again.” He waved for Owen to leave, he ran out rather quickly.

The Pathfinder walked up to me, I was sinking into the blankets now. “I came to get you, I need your help… I wasn’t expecting to find this though… I’ll need you to take a shower and get dressed, you smell like sex… Meet me outside in half an hour.”