Red Red RED RED Red Red. Red.
Red. Red happiness. Red joy. Red. Red. Red.
Hot. Hot. Burning. Hot. Fever. Hunger. Fever. Hot. Food. Endless loop.
Noise. Noise meant food. Hunger. Noise. He staggered to his feet. Noise. Hunger. Toward the noise. Smell. Unwashed. Red joy. Odor of blood, dirt, and Red sweat. Red. Others like him. Red warriors. Two. Red. Hot. Noise. Hunger. Follow Red warriors. Red. Together they ate. Hunger. Together they got more gifts for the Red Red. Hot. Hunger. Hot.
Smell. Not Red warriors. Red. Noise. Heartbeats of prey. Hunger. Smell. More Hunger. Hunger Hunger. Noise. Music. Noise. Blood Red HUNGER. Red. Red warriors. Red. Hunger. Hot. Blood. Smell. Heartbeat. Smell. Listen. Smell. There.
Fight. Kill dead. Hunger. Smell blood. Smell dead. Eat. Eat, eat, eat, eat. Hot. Eat. Fever. Eat. Noise. Eat. Noise. Eat. BANG! Bang-bang noise. Eat. Red warriors dead. Red. Fever. Eat. Music. Eat. Eat. Eat. Hot. Eat. Eat.
Noise. Eat. Light too bright. Noise too loud. Prey. Two heartbeats. Noise. Hunger. Noise. Hunger. Music.
BANG!
Darkness. Nightmare.
Fever. Smell. Hunger. Noise. Hunger. Hunger. Hot. Hunger. Noise. Hunger. Eat, eat, eat. Noise. Noise. Fire. Red. Fire. Red. Fire. Dead.
Void.
Fever. Hunger. One heartbeat. Hunger. Chained up meant torture. Torture meant Red. Red. Chained up meant Red. Red. Red.
Hunger. Fever. Two heartbeats. HUNGER! Three heartbeats. HUNGER HUNGER HUNGER. Hot. Hunger. Chained up. Red. Torture. Red. Chained up. Red. Fire. Red. Chained up. Red. The Blonde Death and the Sky Warrior. Red. Chained up. Angel. Torture.
Red. Convulsions. Red. Hunger. Light too bright. He needed Red. He needed gifts for Red. Three gifts for Red. No, two for Hunger, one for Red. Fight for Red. Fever. Hunger. Anger fever. Rage hot. Red. Fight for Red. Red. Red. Red rage. Red fight. Red fever. Red hunger. Red hot. Fight for Red.
Void.
Hot. Hunger. Fever. Red haze. Red frenzy. Convulsions. He needed Red. Hunger. Red. Hunger. Red dead.
Red not-dead. Hot. Hunger. Red. RED RED. Red Dead.
Dead. The Red Death. Finally released from his earthly prison. Walking on clouds, free. Floating through the water, free. Riding on a rainbow, free. Soaring among the stars, free. He was finally free.
Someone was crying. He was supposed to leave but the woman's crying was distracting him. He had somewhere else to go but she was still crying. He was supposed to be free but she needed to stop crying first. He couldn't leave until she stopped.
An external jerk on the physical realm he left behind. No, he was free now. He wasn't going back.
FIRE through his veins! He was falling from the sky, dragged from the water, yanked from freedom and forced back into his cage, gulping for air. His eyes opened and he gasped at the mental and physical anguish consuming his body. A tear-streaked face swam before his vision, tinged red from the fog of his broken mind, a beloved face, one he remembered from a dream.
"Oh, Lincoln," she whispered.
That was him. His name was Lincoln. It sounded so foreign, coming from a familiar voice and a face he recognized better than his own. His angel of salvation.
"Octavia."
