13 Something to Believe

"... Those with red eyes are said to be cursed…"

"... It's because of you, they're dead!"

"You should've died with them!"

"You're red eyes… They really are ugly to look at."

...Why…?

"You're nothing but a cursed child!"

"If it was only it was you instead, the man I loved--MY SISTER WOULD STILL BE HERE!"

… Why was I…?

"You'll never belong anywhere, you damn freak."

"Go back to the hole you came from!"

… Why was I born with red eyes…?

***

The first thing she expected when she woke up, was in hell or some part of the afterlife. Though she had been surprised when she didn't find any of that. Instead, she found herself sitting in what looked to be a hallway where the lights had dimmed. After her vision became clear she heard the sounds of someone breathing softly. She looked to her side and saw a familiar girl with long golden locks leaning against her.

"Ra...Chel…?" She groaned out of confusion.

"You know something Kris…"

Kristen had flinched at the sound of a familiar voice; when she turned to her right, she saw that Zack had been sitting beside her, his scythe just leaning against his shoulder.

"... If you're gonna try to play Guardian or some shit like that, the least you can do is stop scaring people."

"Zack…?" She said before coughing a little.

She soon saw just beside him had been Eddie and Faith asleep like Rachel had been. While Eddie was using a crate provided to sleep against, Faith laid was on her back using her backpack as a makeshift pillow.

"Where…" She said as moved a little, being careful as to not wake up Rachel, "... Where are we?"

"Where does it look like?" Zack replied, "We're outside of that room. Ray's plan worked like a charm." He let out a laugh, "Showed the bitch back there."

"I can see we're out of the room but…" Kristen said, "... What are we doing over here? And for that matter…?" She soon looked above her head, "... How come Cathy hasn't spotted us here?"

Zack let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head, "Well since your fat ass passed out I guess I can explain…"

***

-Earlier-

"Safe?" Eddie at first didn't know what she was talking about, until it hit him like a train, "Oh yeah the safe! We can take cover in there!"

"Go!" Kristen told them, "Go now!"

Just like that, Rachel and Faith stood up with Eddie leading them towards the safe. Zack went to follow along with Kristen, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Kristen fall to the ground.

"KRIS!" He exclaimed as he ran over to her.

"Zack!" He heard Rachel call out, "Come on hurry!"

Zack clicked his tongue and looked at the woman on the floor.

"Damn it!"

He lifted her up off the ground, and ran towards the safe where the others had been. It had been a miracle that they all fit inside the safe, as he closed the door only keeping it partly open so that they would be able to get out.

The wire ignited and it had caused an explosion as Rachel had predicted; though it had been larger than any of them could've expected as they were forced to shut their eyes from the blast; They shut their ears from the loud piercing sound it had made.

Finally after what was like to be an hour or two, the small group opened their eyes.

"Is it over?" Faith asked as she struggled to breathe, "Are we still alive?"

"I--" Eddie said as he coughed a little, "I think so."

Zack went to open the door, but retracted his hand when he felt the hot metal surface. "Gah! Hot!" He said as he did this, "You sure it's safe?"

"It should be." Rachel said.

Zack soon stepped out of the safe, taking Kristen with him, after he threw her over his shoulder again. They stepped out of the room with the three of them close behind Zack. He had the biggest smile on their face as the smoke finally cleared. He laughed to himself, "You really blew the damn thing clean off. You showed that damn bitch!"

"Thank goodness…" Faith said softly, "... It really worked."

Zack flinched when heard multiple thumps. He looked and saw Rachel, Eddie and Faith on the ground. "Hey, get it together. I'm not a pack mule you know."

"Were we…" Rachel groaned, "... Useful to you…?"

"Yeah." Zack replied with a smile, "It wasn't for your quick thinking, that bitch's poison gas would've killed us." He soon looked over to Faith and Eddie, "You guys were pretty cool too, helping out Ray like that."

"Thanks…" Faith said with a tired smile.

"... I didn't think you were capable of commenting…" Eddie soon added.

"Tell anyone and you're dead." Zack told him, as he made a slit throat motion, causing Eddie to laugh a little, "You three can still move right?"

"Yeah…" Rachel replied as she sat herself, "We're okay…" Eddie and Faith did the same as they struggled to keep their eyes open. Cathy's voice soon came over the PA once more.

"Now that's surprising!" Cathy said, "You're all still alive after that! I opened the door as a special service to you all."

"No shit we're out you dumb bitch!" Zack shouted as he flipped Cathy off. The three of them stood up from the floor; staggering slightly as they did. Rachel looked at Kristen as she let out a soft groan. "Kristen…?" Rachel said with worry in her voice, despite her expression remaining unchanged.

"Ah, the Red Eyes?" Zack said as he adjusted his hold on her, "She passed out, though she's still breathing."

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, as she patted her hand, "Thank goodness."

Faith and Eddie breathed a sigh of relief since they heard Kristen was alright and still breathing. "We should go…" Faith said tiredly.

"Right…" Rachel said.

Thus the group started to move forward, with Zack leading the way. Despite having Kristen over his shoulder he had been able to keep up his pace. He couldn't say the same for the others. "Jesus, can't any of you walk any faster?!" He said.

"Sorry…" Faith said as she wobbled, "... We'll… Try…"

Zack merely clicked his tongue as he kept on walking forward; every now and than he would adjust Kristen slightly so that she wouldn't fall off. Rachel, Faith and Eddie's pace seemed to have slowed down slightly. They tried their best to keep up but they only failed to do so.

Eventually Zack found himself, dashing back towards them.

"DO YOU REALLY EXPECT ME TO KEEP WALKING AT THIS PACE!?" He shouted practically in their faces; though he didn't get any reaction out of them; not even so much as a flinch.

"Can you… Blame us…?" Eddie said, "... We're just… Really worn out…"

"You can take Kristen… And go on ahead…" Rachel soon suggested.

"Yeah…" Faith added, "... We'll catch up… Eventually…"

"I would if I could!" Zack said, "But you know I'll just end up getting stuck if I'm on my own! I would ask Kris for help, but I don't know when the fuck she's gonna wake up!"

"We'll try…" Rachel soon said.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN BY TRY!?" Zack shouted at Rachel, "TRY OR NOT WHEN YOU'RE GONNA DIE, YOU'RE GONNA DIE! MAYBE THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT, BUT IF YOU DIE WHAT HAPPENS TO WHAT THEY WANT!? WHAT I WANT!? HUH!?"

"He's got you there…" Faith said to Rachel.

For a moment the child thought to herself as she soon said, "... I guess… That's true… We'll have to try… Even harder."

Zack let out an annoyed growl, "I know you're supposed to be smart Ray, but you're like a fucking doll. You're just saying the damn thing over and over again!"

"... What else… Should we do…?"

"Don't go asking me! You're human beings so think for yourselves!"

Faith soon let out a cough, before she suggested, "... We're not gonna… Get far with the way we are… Maybe if we can sleep… For a minute or two…?"

"Yeah…" Eddie soon added, "... In fact… I think we can all use some sleep right now…"

Rachel nodded before she turned to Zack, "Is it okay with you… If you wait a few minutes?"

Zack looked to the three, before taking a glance over to Kristen; he let out a sigh, "...Whatever."

***

"So… I found out there was a blind spot where the camera's wouldn't see us, and they fell asleep soon after." Zack finished, "You know the rest from there."

"That's what happened huh?" Kristen said as she leaned back, before she looked around the area, "I'm surprised that there was even a spot where Cathy didn't bother to put her camera's."

"That bothers you?"

"Nah, not really. I'm just glad that there's a place where they can finally get some sleep."

Zack merely let out a huff, before he looked over to Rachel, "Ray was worried about you ya know?" He told her, "She didn't look at it, but she was worried." Kristen stayed silent at this as she looked over to the child. He let out a sigh, "I know you told them you would keep them safe, but you gotta stop putting your life in danger, Red Eyes. You keep on doing that--"

"Zack." Kristen suddenly said, taking him by surprise, when he realized her tone of voice changed, "I'm fine with you calling me Kris but… Could you… Stop calling me Red Eyes?"

Zack couldn't help but tilt his head, "Why not? That's the color of your eyes isn't it?"

Kristen clenched her hand as she bit the bottom of her lip, "It is. But…"

"Those born with red eyes… Are said to be cursed…"

"... I hate the color of my eyes."

Zack's eyes widened slightly at this as he saw the look on her face. It looked as though she had made a look of disgust. He merely looked over to the wall in front of him as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Now that I think about it. That bitch…" He started to say, "... She said that your eyes are supposed to be cursed. What did she mean by that?"

He saw her arm start to shake when he asked her this. This time he saw her expression to something more fearful; Finally she spoke.

"... People that are born with red eyes… Are said to be cursed…" She said softly, "... At least… That's what my aunt told me, when she finally snapped."

"You're aunt?" Zack said surprised, "What about the people that were responsible for giving birth to you?"

She was a bit surprised to hear this as she looked at him, "You mean my mom and dad?" He only nodded at this. It hadn't been long before she added, "... No. They weren't like that at all. They told me it was okay if I was born different from the others, and that I shouldn't worry about what others thought. They promised they would stay by my side forever… But… In the end…"

At that point she seemed to break.

Before his very eyes, he saw tears fall from her eyes and onto her hand.

"... They ended up breaking it…" She said with her voice cracking, "... They were killed when I was six. Someone ran into them with their car, and fled… Even when they did find the person responsible, they ended up making up some bullshit story…" She ended up covering her face with her hands, as the tears continued to fall.

"My Aunt…" She said, "My Aunt said… She would love me… Like mom and dad did… But she ended up loathing me instead. She told me that… I was the reason… My parents were dead… And abandoned me… Everyone said I was beautiful but… They talked behind my back, saying that I was ugly… They said I was a curse… She promised she would never leave but… But--"

"That's your reasoning huh?"

Kristen had been taken back when Zack had cut her off; her hands still covered her face to contain her tears. "What… Do you mean?" Kristen said with her voice shaking a little.

"I was wondering for awhile, why you kept on asking if I was telling the truth, even though I told you I hate lies." He said, "Now I know. It's because asses like your Aunt kept on telling you one lie after another. In the end, you just stopped believing anyone would ever tell you the truth. Right?"

Once more Kristen stayed silent as she sniffled. She didn't even bother to stop the other tears from coming.

"Kris…" She heard Zack say, "... Show me your face."

"N--No…" She said, "... You'll just laugh… Or maybe you'll tell me what others have said over the years…"

Kristen had been taken back when she felt his hands on hers. Despite her fighting back a little, he successfully pulled her hands from her face. She felt his hands grasp underneath her chin and turned her over to him. He looked directly into her eyes as Kristen found herself frozen, like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I don't what the fuck everyone else is talking about." Zack said, keeping her still, as she continued to fidget, "Your eyes are normal to me."

He saw that tears had started to run down her face, as her body shook underneath his hands. "Stop it…" She said with her voice shaking, "... Stop saying shit like that to make me feel better…"

"Who said I was?" Zack said, "I'm just stating the facts. Whoever told you otherwise is just fucking delusional."

Kristen couldn't help but cry harder, as she couldn't find anything else to say or rebuttal with his comment, or at least she thought it was a comment. No matter how much she tried she couldn't get the tears to stop flowing.

Zack on the other hand, didn't know how to respond or react; sure he's had people cry in front of but they mostly cried out of fear. Right now, she was crying because she was… Upset? Honestly Zack couldn't tell. He couldn't help but find this situation familiar.

"Look Re--" Zack began to say, stopping himself for a moment "---Kris. I'm not gonna make fun of you right now. There is nothing wrong with your eyes. They're not a part of some superstitious bullshit. They ARE normal. And--" Zack let out a groan as looked away from Kristen; she could almost swear that he looked embarrassed, "--You're not ugly. You're actually… Pretty."

Kristen looked at Zack just shocked; she looked as though she stopped crying as she had been too baffled by what he just told her.

"Did you just…" She started to say, "... Compliment me?"

"SHUT UP!" He yelled suddenly taking her back, "DON'T READ TOO MUCH INTO IT, ALRIGHT!?" He soon turned his head away from her, before she could say anything more, "Anyway, you should hurry and go back to sleep! You don't know when the hell you're going to get this kind of chance again!"

Kristen though she had still been shocked and nodded her head in response. Zack froze up when he felt Kristen put her head on his shoulder after she moved Rachel so that she had been laying down on her lap.

"Zack…?" She soon said, as her eyes closed shut, "... Thank you."

Before Zack knew it, Kristen had fallen asleep as she began to breathe softly.

"She even looks cute while sleeping…"

Zack had been taken back at this, "Why the fuck am I even thinking about that?!"

He soon noticed that his vision started to blur up a bit and his body started to shake a little as he looked to his own hand; it hadn't been long before he started to see Kristen shiver as she slept. With a click of his tongue, he placed the scythe against the wall, before putting his arm around Kristen, bringing her closer to him, her shivering seemed to have stopped.

"This is so damn annoying…"

Zack soon shut his eyes, before his mind entered a deep slumber as he leaned his head on hers.