Hi! for anyone reading this story I just want you to know the first chapter takes place in the real world. This is also my first story but it won't be last.

Red: bla bla bla, get on with the story!

Okay, little miss bossy.

Red: I'm not little!

Sure~

RE-WRITTEN. 4 -21-15

"Only those who will risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go."

-T.S Eliot

Chapter 1. Rewind

Trying to dodge falling debris, I raced to find an exit. I had to keep moving or else the floor would break under me. I coughed; the smoke is getting to my lungs. Even though my vision started fading in an out, I had to find a way out.

CREAK!

The ceiling above me caved in. I soon found myself trapped and running out of time . . . and air! I need to breathe! My vision started fading once again. I can't die here. I kept on chanting in my head. I still need to complete my goal, my dream.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop the tape! Who forgot to rewind the tape! Now the viewers know part of the chapter's ending. Ugh! I'll just rewind it to the beginning.

Please wait for the tape to rewind, while you're waiting enjoy one of your favorite tunes…

Elevator music ~ ~

. . . CLICK!

The tape has now re-winded to the beginning. I hope this won't cause any confusion for you while you read the fanfic.

ENJOY!

Running. It's something I always seem to be doing. Some people think I'm running away from something, but sometimes I'm chasing something. Something that I always wanted. "GET BACK HERE!"…but right now I'm running away from someone.

Zigzagging through the crowd of people, checking every now and then that my red cap is still on my head, yup this is my life... I should probably get a hobby. Turning my head around, my raven-black hair slightly getting in my eyes, I notice the guy chasing me isn't there. Maybe he gave up, but just to be sure I should probably keep running.

The situation I'm in is pretty... complicated. I was doing a favor for a friend. He's sick and can't afford to buy medicine, so I decided to help him. You don't need money if you have a 'five finger discount'. Yeah. That may not have been the greatest decision of my life, considering I got caught and was running away from security, but I still would do it if it was for a friend.

Jumping over the garbage bags in front of me, I take a sharp turn to the left, past the hot dog stand. I'm almost there, just a little farther.

If I notice my surroundings, I might have noticed the lack of people... that and the crow bar heading toward my face. Jumping back on instinct, I look at the three goons in front of me. One on both my sides, each holding a weapon, and the leader is smirking at me. The cobras!

I remember these guys anywhere. "Well, well, well" the leader said while walking forward. "What is little Red doing on our turf?" He stated. I 'tched' I'm not little!

The other two cronies start to get closer. I got in my defensive stance. "Get out of my way, Nick; I don't have time for your games."

He chuckled. "Last time I checked you guys still owe us money." LIAR. We won that gambling match fair and square... well sort of. Hey, we're thieves not saints.

I looked over my surroundings trying to find the fastest route to escape. Small ally, nothing here but a few crates and glass bottles. Nick moved forward, gripping his crowbar "We can let you go if you let us have what's in that satchel.''

My hand clutched the chestnut brown satchel as I pulled it off my black jacket. Okay, it's now or never. I could see the smirk on his bearded face as I lifted the satchel. Fool the mind and the battle is yours.

"Catch!"

I threw the satchel straight into the air, making them all looked up at it. Idiots. Quickly, I grabbed the nearest bottle and hit nick on the head and sweep his feet, making him drop his crowbar and land on some crates.

The other two guys notice this and went after me. I smiled my sweet-but-deadly-smile and lunged forward, hands balled into fists.

Both of them had a knife. The tall man lunged forward knife pointed at me. I ducked under his knife and whirled my foot out, clipping his template. He dropped to the ground with a thud.

Two down, one to go.

I looked up at the second guy as he scowled at me, clearly not happy 'bout what I did to his 'buddy'. He was leaner than his friend, and seemed to have gotten his partner's knife. He moved forwarded, trying to jab me with his knifes. I rolled out of the way and picked up the crowbar Nick dropped. It gave me great pleasure to knock him on the head with it. Though, I did get grazed on the arm, he's the one that's unconscious, so I call that a win for me!

I stood straight and brushed off some dust from my worn down, blue jeans. Well better keep moving. I picked up my satchel and walked a few steps before I spotted the crowbar. In the end, I decided to take it with me. just in case I run into any more trouble.

I started running again.

Running is my life. I run because I can, because I must, because I want to see how far I can go before I have to stop.

xxx

I kept on running till I reached the railroad and then the fence. It's like a barrier, separating them from us... the poor. The outcasts.

My paced slowed as I swung around the corner. My right hand ran along the cold walls, counting the passage ways as I went by.

8

9

10!

I stopped in front of an opening that contains a stairway leading down. I went down each stone step, being careful with the slipperiness' of the moss. Each step brought me closer to the darkness. Good thing I know this place like the back of my hand. One left turn and two right turns. I began to hear voices as I entered the small hideout.

As I walked toward the two familiar voices, I noticed they started slowing down before stopping altogether.

Crap.

Suddenly (but not unexpected) two bats were swung towards my head. I jumped back and raised my hands up in the air.

"Whoa! Guys calm down, it's just me, Red."

The two guys looked to at each other and sighed in relief. They must still be jumpy 'cause of what happened last time. Let's just say that you shouldn't gamble with a mob gang leader. "Sorry Red, you can never be too careful around here." Explained Carl, the gambler.

I shrugged as I walked over to the hammock and put my satchel down on the floor, then laid down in the old hammock. "So Red, what took ya so long?" asked Theo as he put away the bats in one of our many hiding places.

I turned my head to face the twenty year old, his face covered in messy brown locks, "Well, it turns out the cobras still haven't gotten over the beating we gave them last time."

Carl chuckled, "They were always sore losers." He stated as he went back to drinking his liquor, letting his mustache and dirty white t- shirt get wet.

"Well, we did cheat" stated Theo as he sat on the run down sofa.

I chuckled "Well, they were going to kill us if we lost so-,"

"We had no choice." Carl finished. I nodded my head in agreement and laid back down in the hammock, pulling my cap over my blue eyes.

Frankly, I was tired. Running around all day can take a lot out of ya. And I was almost in dreamland when a gruff voice woke me up.

"By the way I got the thing you asked me for."

When those words left his mouth I shot up from the hammock so fast that it almost tipped over. "What, really?!" I exclaimed while trying not to fall of the hammock. Carl only nodded him head and tossed me a small box. I grabbed it and tore it up.

Theo chuckled. "Man, I've never seen you so excited."

It's true. I've never been this excited since I got the latest issue of One Piece. Hey, I need some way to entertain myself. I got it by chance. Though I'm not a total fan girl and I haven't read all the issues but I still get the story. Besides I don't have a lot of free time or money to read. I have other things to do, like not starving to death or ending up in jail, you know, just average teen stuff.

I took out what was in the rectangular box. Butterfly knifes. It's a folding pocket knife with two handles counter-rotating around the tang so that, when closed, the blade is concealed within the handles. I had one before but I lost it in a fight.

"Thanks," I said, still admiring the knifes.

"Don't mention it; think of it as a late birthday present."

I stop and looked up at him, confused. Birthday? "I don't have a birthday."

"Well, the day they found you is good enough." Theo chimed in. I glanced at him and put the knifes in my satchel. That day, the day I lived and died.

"Whatever, I'm going to get some rest." I deadpanned.

They both glanced at each other before shrugging their shoulders. I laid back down in the hammock and finally let the darkness take over.

Dream land~

White. That was all that I saw. 'It's so bright,'

Light was everywhere. It was all around me, so cool and warm similar to a thin blanket.

Then voices, voices from the past and all many colors that came with them.

"There you are my little flower," silver.

Find us…

"You're a mockingbird" blue.

Find us

"I will never forget you, my little wildflower" red.

Find us!

"We want to go with you" yellow.

Find us!

Suddenly, the light seems to shatters and the scene changes. Now I'm in a vast meadow with hundreds of wildflowers…

The night sky…

"I see everything, I'm know everything,"

The stars…

"You are never alone because I'm everywhere,"

The moon…

"Will you come back one day?"

Your eyes…

"I promise,"

The rose

The scene changes once more. All I see is darkness as I fall into a cold abyss…

"We will forever be your child of the night... mother,"

Red.

"Death cannot stop me from keeping my word."

"Do you accept…?"

"Yes"

Paradise grove!

Then fire… everything was red… like me.

I wake up with a gasp, shooting up so fast that the hammock tipped over and I fell off with a thud.

"...Ow."

"Red, are you ok?"

I look up and see Theo staring at me, a worried look on his face. I flashed him a reassuring smile "I'm fine, I didn't fall that hard."

His face didn't change. "You know that's not what I'm talking about." He stated, his face turning serious for a second.

Standing up, I started brushing the dust off my clothes. "I said I'm fine, let's leave it at that."

I could feel his eyes still staring at me. "You had another dream didn't you?"

Ignoring him, and went over to my satchel and grabbed a dark blue leather journal and start writing in it. After a few minutes of silence I thought he gave up.

I was wrong.

Hearing light foot steps come closer to me made me frown in aggravation. I know he's worried but can't he just drop it. The light is blocked out as his shadow covers my journal, making me stop writing. He heavily sighs, "You haven't been getting much sleep lately."

I scoffed "I'm fine."

"Fine? Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?"

I sighed. It's time. My harsh eyes meet his as he continued to stare at me, waiting for me to respond or retort with some type of comeback. He looked so serious. He means well, but…I can't do this again.

My eyes glance around as I noticed something was missing, or someone. If Carl's not here then that means...

We're alone.

"Where's Carl?"

"H-he went out." He stuttered, surprised by the sudden question.

Roughly, I closed the journal and grabbed my satchel. "Good, tell him I said bye." I put the journal in the satchel and stood up, briskly walking past him as he tried to process what just came out of my mouth.

"W-wait, what?"

Placing my cap on my head, I turned back to him. "I'm leaving for good." I simply repeated as I walked away. Or at least tried to.

"Red wait!"

That was the last straw, I snapped as I turned around to glare at him. "Wait for what, life, death? Just save it! You know that I can't stay in one place for long; you know that this was going to happen and I know what you're going to say, I heard it a million times before, Its either "You don't have to go" or "You can't live like this" so for once in your life don't say anything!" My voice raising to a near scream at the end.

I looked at him one last time, his wide eyes and hanging mouth and turned around and walked out.

The blazing sun continue to hit my back as I walked down the cracked pavement. I've been walking for a while, just trying to clear my mind. I know I could have been nicer to Theo, but I just couldn't go through that again. Still, I should have been nicer.

The sun is starting to set and I still don't have anywhere to sleep. And there is no way I'm going back to the hide out. My shoulders slouched. I'm gonna have to sleep under a truck again.

I stopped and looked at my reflection in one of the windows of the shop. My red t-shirt and black jacket looked a little torn and old, my jeans weren't any better and my black boots were all scuffed up. I looked at my face, my raven black hair with that one white strand of hair on my right, the red cap still on my head covered my messy bun. My blue eyes did have bags underneath them from lack of sleep. I looked kinda tan from all the sun I get.

Still, I didn't look that bad compared to most of the people who live here. I don't look great but at least I'm alive. That's when I heard it, the thing that changes my life forever.

Find me~

I know that hearing voices in your head is bad and you should probably ignore them, but this is the only thing that seems right. I look around, trying to find the location of the voice.

I'm here~

Where's here? The voice seems to be in the wind, coming from all directions. Then I hear it once more, but this time it's clearer, louder.

Walk~

I didn't know what was happening but I found myself walking to who knows where.

Faster~

I was gaining speed with each step, before I knew it I was running.

I'm here~

Any sane person would PROBABLY ignore the voice and walk away but I'm not sane. The voice soon faded away as it called one last time.

Stop

I stopped moving and looked in front of me. There on the floor was an old lady and in front of her were old trinkets, watches, books, broken vases just about anything you would find in a store.

"Hello, would you like anything little lady?" her voice was sweet but ratted.

"I-I, um…"

I stared at her dumbfounded. What am I doing looking for a mysterious voice that I probably made up? Red you need more sleep. I was about to walk away when I heard the voice, much clearer than before like it was in front of me.

Look down

That's when I saw it. A flute. An old wooden flute. The lady must have seen what I was looking at. "You can touch it if you like."

I bent down and picked it up. I looked closer and saw weird markings on it. I stared at the glove on my left hand. It has the same mark. It's a crescent moon made out of music notes and in the center is a weird Japanese rose. I looked at the flute again and noticed it has weird burn marks. Was it in a fire?

"It's was in a fire a very long time ago."

I looked at her wide eyed. It's like she read my mind.

"It's broken." She stated.

Broken? I looked at it again. It looks perfectly fine. "What do you mean broken?"

She smiled at me and spoke in a voice that made her sound young. "That flute doesn't play a single tune."

I blinked. "Really?"

"Try it if you don't believe me." She said in a calm manner while pulling her grey hairs back.

I looked at the flute in my hands and began to lift it to my mouth. This is absurd. I was about to blow into it when loud sirens started blaring in the background. Turning around, I see people running down the street shouting "Fire! Fire, down town!"

Glancing back at the lady, I hand her the flute but she put her hands up in a stop motion. "Keep it; it won't do me much good."

I stared at the flute before looking at the older lady. "Um, thanks?" I put it in my satchel and started running down the street.

Half way down the road I swore I heard her say, "Good luck little lady, you will need it."

I was half way there and I could already see the fire. I pushed through the crowd of people that was starting to form, saying ''scuse me' or 'sorry' each time I bumped into someone .

The sun's finally gone and the sky turned dark making the building look like a giant night light. The fire is pretty strong that the water doesn't seem to be affecting it. The crowd of people surrounding the building started getting worried. The fire department doesn't seem to be doing that great a job...

Moving ahead of the crowd I was able to catch a glimpse at some of rescued people. Their clothes were burnt and charred and ash smudged across some of their faces. It's just like before.

A scream broke me out of my thoughts. "No! Let me go!"

Looking over, I noticed a lady being held back by two fire fighters. Tears stained her pale face. "My kids! They're still in there! Let me go!" she struggled against the fire fighters, trying to get out of their grip.

"Sorry ma' am, the fires to intense, no one can go in."

Fire fighters, they're useless. I looked back at the building and noticed that one of the windows is open. Maybe I can- no! What am I thinking I can't go in there, in a burning that's falling apart-, what I remembered gave me the final push I needed.

"Someone help me!" A younger version of me screamed as the fire around me intensified.

I don't remember much of what happened that day. One minute I was in a fire, suffocating to death, then I was in the hospital. All I know is that the fire fighters got there to late. I was the only survivor.

Ah! screw it! I looked back at the burning building one last time before racing toward it. I can't let the same thing happen to them!

I raced past the scattered fire fighters so fast that they couldn't register what happened. One of them shouted, "HEY WAIT!" but by then I already jumped through the window.

I rolled on the floor and jumped up. The fire was everywhere, eating the walls and destroying the ceiling. I grabbed my cap from the floor and put it against my nose an race up the stairs.

The smoke is stronger than I remembered and it started to fog my vision. The hallway is pretty long and most of the doors are left open or locked. There are too many rooms to check. I look and see the flames growing bigger. "HEY! IS ANYONE IN HERE?!"

No reply.

Maybe they can't hear me. I can barely here myself think with all this debris falling. That's when I hear it again, that voice.

Play me~

I looked at my satchel and remember the flute. That could work! I immediately took it out and blew into in. At first nothing happened. Maybe the old lady was right. But then my left hand felt warm and that's when I heard it.

Toooooooooooooooot~

I still heard no reply. Maybe the lady was wrong, no one's in her-"HELLO!? SOMEONE OUT THERE?!"

I looked ahead and raced to one of the doors. I shook the knob. Locked.

"PLEASE HELP US!"

I hate doors. I kicked the door open and raced in the room. I used my cap to move the smoke away and looked around. Small apartment, looks like I'm in the living room. I move towards one of the rooms and turned the knob. Luckily it wasn't locked.

I move past the bunk beds and looked in the closet. Two kids are huddled on the floor with blankets on them. I put the cap on my head an sticked out my hand. "Let's get you out of here."

They looked at each other before the boy, probably the older one, took my hand and grabbed his sister. We raced out of the room and tried to find the stairs. The fire wasn't dying down and most of the floor has broken down.

I could see the stairs. Only a few more feet…

CREAK!

I looked up and saw the ceiling ahead of us about to fall down. If that thing falls it'll block the stairs! I run faster but it doesn't seem like we'll make it in time.

Damn it!

I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed the two kids an threw them ahead of me just before the ceiling fell.

The burning wood blocks the hall way but I can see the kids made it to the other side safely. They both look at me wide eyed. The boy races to the wood an tries to move it.

"NO!" I yelled. "KEEP GOING, I'LL FIND ANOTHER WAY OUT!"

The boy looked at me with fear in his eyes before nodding him head and grabbing his sister, leading her down the stairs.

Great they're fine… but what about me? I back track an try to find another exit.

Trying to dodge falling debris, I raced to find an exit. I had to keep moving or else the floor would break under me. I coughed; the smoke is getting to my lungs. Even though my vision started fading I had to find a way out.

CREAK!

The ceiling above me caved in. I soon found myself trapped and running out of time . . . and air! I need to breathe! My vision started fading once again. I can't die here. I kept on chanting in my head. I still need to complete my goal, my dream.

I fall to the floor, suddenly weak by the lack of oxygen. I could feel the heat and the floor board starts to creak. I try to get back up but can't find the strength. Black spots danced in my vision when I suddenly heard a sweet voice.

"So you're her~"

I look up and try to see whose talking but with all this smoke all I see is something white. A big white blob.

CREAK!

The floor board is starting to move underneath me. It can't take the pressure

"Don't worry, you can't die just yet little lady."

Little lady? It moves closer to me but I still can't make it out. It's a person… I think. Defiantly female. Her voice is so soothing that I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. The creaking sound gets louder. I look down and can see the floor about to break under me.

"Looks like you're going out the same way you came into this world, with flames."

I look at her wide eye. How did she- that's when my vision started spinning and I collapsed on the floor, coughing.

"Your time still not up, after all what type of protector would I be if I let you die now."

I look at it one last time before the floor gave way and I started falling. As I fell I felt the world start to spin and my left hand started heating up. I looked up and saw the world turn white.

The last thing I heard was, "Meet you back home~"

Then I was swallowed up by the light.

Red: That was, by far, the most interesting day I had IN A LONG TIME.

Oh, you haven't seen anything yet.

Red: what does that mean?

Oh, you'll see.

Red: . . .okay, don't forget to review!