Love Is Red

Ch. 7 Beginning

My brain spiraled with confusion. There is so much I don't know and so much I will never know. It would be so much easier if I just knew everything. The death of my mother must be more complicated than I thought. My fist tightened thinking about her. This time I was not specifically sad about her being gone. I was filled with anger. A taxi cab came by. It was light blue with yellow accents. It was rather ugly but certainly grabbed your attention. There was a sign on the top that said taxi in all capital letters and a larger LED light beside it that was red presumably to signal that the taxi had some in it and could not pick up another person. We do not have taxis in Azia because our king thinks it ruins the country's prestige but in my opinion, it is better and cheaper than the alternative which is a car pick-up app. I would not say our country is rather prestigious because of how many families struggle with poverty. We all wear a mask pretending to have the best country but in reality, we are like everyone else thinking we are so much better than everyone else. Most of the population works supplying the rich. We are lucky to live among the rich although most people can barely afford it. My father says it is worth the luxury and safety. In my opinion, a better life does not mean a happy life. I want to be happier. The safety never saved Mother and the luxury can't feed us or give us water unless you are drinking from the local pool. I think it is more about what the public sees of our family. Does my father want to look like the majority of the Azian Population or the rich and prestigious? I bet you that the majority of people living in our neighborhood can barely afford their houses. It is truly sad. A man got out of the taxi cab and the door screeched as it opened and closed. He slammed it harder than he had to to get it closed. The taxi sped off. As he got out I realized It was a driverless taxi which meant Ai drove it. I was not surprised because the majority of cars are driven by artificial inelegance. It is also more profitable to have a driver that you don't need to pay so all the money goes to the person that owns the fleet of cars or the car and the maintenance. The man that stood there had green hair. He was tall. He was recognizable. He was the idiot who knocked me over on the bus. He was sage. "Hey," He huffed. "You late." Mr. Arc smiled. He was glad he was late. He just wanted the fact this was the place my parents met to soak into his father making him feel worse. Making him feal more vonarabile. Mr. Arc just wanted the feeling of being more stable and atop of others. He just had to be the best person there. Maybe he was trying to confiscate about how cruel he was by making others feel bad or maybe he just wanted to weaken my father to pry on him or us. I was not happy either. "Sorry I was tired so I grabbed a coffee," He answered. My father was clearly angry "So that's it. You just wanted me to feel bad. You cruel peace-" "Let's not get too angry. We are just meeting Sage." Mr. Arc was milking every second of the situation. "Strange place to meet but I won't complain," Sage committed. He technically just complained. This guy is just an annoying imbecile. "Are we going to leave soon? I thought we had things to do?" I asked. I grabbed my pants and squeezed them in anger. Not just because I was angry about my mother's death I was also angry about what MR. Arc was doing to my father. Mr. Arc is really just a jerk feeding off us. Of our anger and annoyance. If I am to murder anyone I want it to be Mr. Arc. Mr. Arc smiled cruelly "After introductions." "We are all already introduced." My father just wanted to leave this place and its memories. How could he choose to work for such a man? "This Is sage. He is one of our top operatives and the person Evalyn will work with. He has completed many missions and rarely lets us down. He will also be helping with the training of Evalyn." I can't believe where I am and how I got here. Sweat dripped down my forehead and down the side of my nose. I was not swearing because it was hot outside. It was because I was filled with fear. Here I am stuck in a position I'd never even imagine being in. I looked down at the mural below me. It was intricate but very faded. If anything bad were to happen I'd hope the buildings next to us would discover it unless Mr. Arc His those tracks too. I could run but I don't want to spill my blood or get my father in trouble if I do escape. "Hi." I gave Sage a death stare. He was definitely nervous about finding out the woman he'd be working with was the same one who cried like a baby when she'd got knocked over on the train. "Hi," He responded nervously. He definitely was nervous about what he had done on the train. "Evalyn why don't you introduce yourself." Mr. Arc was persistent. "No, let's go start the training, or kill me here. I will not stand to be here any longer." I was also persistent. "Ok, no need to be so rude," He huffed like I was the one wrong. I want to really do want to hurt this man. Sage had his hands in his pockets trying to emphasize he was not a part of the argument. "I will lead the way," said Mr. Sage Pridefully. We all followed behind him. Sage in the back kind of mindlessly minding his own business. On the way we passed old brick buildings and in one I stopped to look through the window. My hand pressing onto the cold glass I looked into an abandoned house. A crib sat in front of the window. There was blood on the floor. And a mother holding a child on a couch. She was crying over her child. I can only imagine what had happened here. It hurts to know that people hurt. Who do we think we are to do this to each other? Sage came over and grabbed my shoulder. He was looking at me but his voice was down. "It's not nice to look through people's windows." "their hurting." Suddenly the prick I once saw was just a hurt person too. "We all hurt. If not now we have or will hurt. Again and again, it will happen." His hand that was on my shoulder drifted into his pocket. I took my cold hand off the window to catch up.

Dear. Readers if you are wondering who this poor family is and what happened to their parents I will be more than delighted to ruin your day even more. Mr. and Mrs. Onust was a happy and simple family and they had one child but like many they owed a debt and the debt was to be paid in money that they did not have or blood. Mr. Onust was murdered earlier that day and their debt was paid. Whoever they owed the dept to must be doing something with all the bodies they have "Collected." Some answers must wait but like all things, no good is always waiting for the right time.

"Here we are. Our state-of-the-art training facility" Mr. Arc was proud and happy with his voice while we were confused. We stood in front of a large rusty metal warehouse. "So- I was expecting it to look a lot- newer," Sage complained extending some of his words while he was trying to phrase his thoughts with his hands waving in circles while he spoke. "It's a disguise, you imbecile." Mr. Arc rolled his eyes. "Works for me. I guess." Sage just had to add something to make his comet ruder. "Anyway, I will lead the way inside." Mr. Arc pulled out a little key card and scanned it on a small reader conflated into the rust and a large one rolled up almost silently.