Chapter 20 – …We are…

Chapter 20 – …We are… “So what did you want to say?” Red asked as she opened her eyes in their Soul Space. Still half submerged in the pool. White hopped out of the pool and sat on its side,  “We… have never really talked about what we are… to each other. Our relationship is weird, mostly likely unique, but… we have two parents that want to properly connect to us…”  “So what are we supposed to be anyway?” Lilly, unable to control her emotions, screamed, “Some sort of forced family!” Tears dripped down her face. “Is… that so wrong…?” White asked, “Aren't all families forced in a way?” “Yeah…” Red sighed, “But…” “Red.” White turned to her, “Can you say you never wanted a family who loves you.” Red said, “I don’t see how that is important.” “Red, I know you were the oldest out of the three of us, but as you said, ‘new life new me’. I know… I’m the last person who should say this… because I haven't managed to do this myself, but don’t let the decision of your previous life hold you back.” “So are you agreeing with me to forget our previous lives?” “No… I can’t… not for a long time, but don’t let the trouble from it cross over. Again… I haven’t managed to do that… but if I want to make this life my best one, then I have to at least try!” Red, trying to fight back, asked, “...What even made you decide to bring this up?” White looked up and stared straight at the other two, “Because I realised… this was my one opportunity to have an attempt at a life I wanted.” This caused Red and Lilly to sit back in thought. They both knew the feeling to extremely opposite extents. Out of the three of them, White by far hated her previous life the most, but it was an experience that would never leave her. Lilly on the other hand, despised it because she was in it, but besides that, she held a deep fondness for many things within it. They both were still extremely tethered to their previous life. Red meanwhile thought very differently about her previous life. She was completely happy with how she lived and with how she died. “You know… we could run away,” Red mentioned off heartily. “From the forest?” Lilly questioned. “From this town, we aren’t really Anna after all.”  “Red!” White exclaimed, while Lilly stayed silent and thought about it. “What?” Red replied, “There are three of us here, we can’t just decide what we are going to do with our life based on one person's opinion. At the very least it has to be a majority vote.” “Ergh…” White couldn’t argue because Red was completely right. But she was worried about what Lilly’s opinion would be in this situation.  Then from the distance, they all heard a desperate scream. “ANNA!”  A pained female voice and a desperately worried male one called out, inside the harsh dangerous forest. Red muttered, “...What are they doing… they are putting a target on their back…” Yelling out would only attract more beasts towards them, but they were still doing it. The three of them jumped back into the body and looked to where the sound was coming from. Lilly… didn’t know how to feel, [They won’t… abandon us.] Internally, she kind of hoped they would… it meant she could leave without worry…without regret… but deep down, she knew they wouldn’t. [They are here for Anna… ] (Red) [Well we are Anna.] (White) [While knowing that we are still separate…] Lilly replied, [And for some reason… they… care… about us while knowing that…] They jumped out of the tree and stumbled closer. Soon before long, they found their parents with panicked expressions charging through the forest. “Anna!” “Anna!”  Sёarch* The Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “Where are you!”  “Please yell out, only once!” A scared George screamed, “Don’t worry we will get you safely back home!” They stumbled forward. Tears began to drip from Anna’s eyes.  Anna wasn’t completely sure what to do, but then an unwelcome guest decided to visit. A large wolf jumped towards George and Anna screamed at the top of her lungs using Blood Gift to enhance her vocals, “Behind you!”  The wolf was unnaturally larger than the ones before, but within a moment they could tell it was about to chomp George’s head off. So they ran. To save their father. George’s eyes widened in relief upon hearing her voice, before he quickly turned around and heard the panicked scream of his wife.  As the wolf’s sharp teeth neared, he saw a child with a flaming leg crash into the beast's head. Both tumbled across the ground with the child landing mostly perfectly if not exhausted, while the wolf had a massive burn across its face. The wolf retaliated by swiping at the child. Red tried to dodge, but their body started to give out, which caused them to be sent flying. Then the beast lunged forward to finish off the smaller target. “Don’t touch my daughter!”  But before it could, a fiery fist pelted in the beast's face, and George grabbed the vermin and threw it to the ground. George’s other fist alighted, and he started repeatedly beating the wolf until it stopped moving. “It’s okay George!” Jen ran up and hugged George from behind, “Anna’s okay, Anna’s okay.”  Jen then immediately let go and ran to Anna who she quickly checked a moment ago. “Anna sweety, everything okay?” “Yes… just tired.” Red responded, perfectly masking the pain. While White and Lilly stayed away, knowing they would be completely unable to hide their expression. George said calmly, “Let’s go home.” He stayed back from embracing his two loved ones for fear of getting blood on them. “Home?” Anna’s tired eyes began to close, Red couldn’t hold back the body’s natural function anymore. “Yes, our home,” Jen replied.