Sunnyside Up with Red Ketchup

by Andrews, Ashley

  "He's coming. Blaine's coming for him."

  She dropped the phone. Blaine was coming for Zane.

  And she wasn't there to protect him.

  * * * * *

  Zane, Casper and Seth left the park, tiredness etched over all their faces.

  "We used to do this all the time, but now it just feels like someone's missing." Casper frowned deeply at Zane.

  He ignored it.

  Casper shook his friend’s arm. "Zaaaane. Why couldn't we bring Red on our late night walk? She would have loved it!"

  Zane continued to ignore him.

  Casper released Zane and turned to Seth, shaking his arm. "Seeeth. She's your girlfriend. Why didn't you bring her?"

  Seth looked back at Casper, his lips twitching into a small smile. "It's not appropriate to bring a lady out this late at night." Seth smiled warmly and looked down at the ground. "Especially not Red."

  Casper released Seth, pouting like a child. “She's hardly a lady, though."

  Zane snorted at this. Casper had been so unobservant the time he'd bumped into Red in the hall, he hadn't even noticed her clothing. If he had, he wouldn't have easily said that she wasn't a lady.

  Casper's phone rang. He stopped walking and rummaged through his pockets for his phone, Zane and Seth watching him. After he had hung up on whomever it was who had been talking to him, he looked at Zane.

  Zane knew what was coming next.

  "Business matters. I need to meet someone at the gate.”

  “It's alright, go."

  Casper nodded, turning to hurry in the other direction. "Fine. See you later guys." He waved at them and headed back the way they had just come. Casper was the heir to a business, just as Zane was, but the blonde happily scampered off to do the president's beck and call. He was only at Sunnyside to have a little fun. And to dance a little. Casper loved to dance.

  Zane refused to do that. Seth shared the same view as Zane, refusing to even pick up calls from his mother, father, and friends from back home.

  Zane was going to sing and play guitar as his career, using the large sum of money he had saved to pursue that dream. Zane pushed down the irritation that rose in him. He wasn't ever going to take over the family business. He didn't want to be the president of a company at such a young age, or at any age for that matter. He wanted to sing.

  Just like Seth did.

  They turned a corner, relieved that the small, secluded road they were heading down was only a short distance from the camp.

  Zane felt like he should talk to his friend, but there was nothing to say. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence between them, but it wasn't really comfortable either.

  Both of them looked up when a black van turned onto the road at an immense speed. They didn’t really pay attention. It was common for people to speed on the dirt roads in this rather rural area.

  But then it stopped in front of them. They both stopped walking, sharing confused glances with each other.

  The door opened and five men stepped out, covered completely in black. They ran towards Zane and Seth at an incredible speed.

  Everything happened so fast.

  "What are you doi—" Zane started. He didn't finish his sentence. A syringe had been plunged into the vein in his neck and sent him collapsing face first into the ground, unconscious.

  A look of fear spread across Seth's face. "Zane!" he shouted, taking a step towards his friend. Two of the men grabbed Seth's arm to hold him back. He lashed out. "ZANE—!" He yelled as loud as lungs would let him.

  Only to be silenced when he was punched hard in the gut, then the jaw.

  The men let him drop to his knees, but held onto his arms. His eyes were scrunched up tightly to try and block out the pain. When he heard a heavy boot thud to the ground out of the van, he opened them a crack. A hand curled around the door and a figure emerged from the opening.

  "Looks like we've got him, boys."

  Seth looked up slowly, blood dripping from his lip.

  This man looked different from the rest. From what Seth could see in the darkness, he had a bandana covering the lower half of his face. Long red hair fell to his shoulders; his dark eyes were in full view. He was dressed in combat trousers and a bullet-proof vest, the pants were tucked into a pair of steel toed boots. He looked ominous. And more than a little mean.

  Seth struggled to get out of the men's grip, but they held onto him tightly.

  "Keep that one awake. I want him to know it was me that took his friend." The guy bent down towards Zane raising a finger to touch the unconscious boys face.

  The finger never reached his friend.

  The man’s arm was kicked with so much force it knocked it away and sent him spinning to the ground. The masked man yelled in pain and snapped his head up to look at the figure that had appeared at Zane’s side.

  A young girl with solid black hair ran in front of Zane and stuck her arms out wide, making a barrier. She lifted her head up slowly. "Don't touch him," her voice was shaking.

  The really bad guy quickly stood, gesturing at his men. "Get this little bitch," he cursed, stepping back to give them room.

  The three men that were free ran towards her.

  Seth stared in shock. The girl twisted, jumped, leaped, punched, kicked, slammed, pushed, and dodged. It was like a dance, but so much better.

  The men were getting pummeled.

  She was hit just once, across the face. One of the men had landed a lucky punch.

  Seth looked to his left and right. The two guys who were holding him had loosened their grip while they were paying attention to the fight. So he yanked his right arm out of its hold and punched the person on his left. He kicked the other guy in the stomach. He ran to help the girl.

  "Don't!" she yelled, ducking under a punch that was thrown at her before sending the man to the ground.

  Her voice was so familiar.

  She jumped back into the light, her back to Seth. Her hand reached into her pocket and pulled something out.

  He sucked in a breath, his eyes wide. It was a gun.

  Everyone froze, including the guy whose arm was hanging limply at his side.

  "Don't move," her voice was trembling fiercely, as was her hand. She was obviously scared, yet so in control.

  The guy—the one who seemed to be the leader—rose from the ground to his feet, an extremely displeased expression on his face. "How dare you point a gun at—?”

  "My backup will be here soon. Don't even think about running, Blaine." The girl's threat didn't sound as scary as it should have.

  The guy with the heavily bruised arm looked at the girl in surprise. "You know my name. My, my, this little girl appears to know more than is healthy." He rose to his feet.

  The girl tightened the grip on her gun. "Don't move!" she yelled and sniffed.

  Seth stared at her back. Was she crying? He didn’t think she should be crying while she was holding someone at gun point.

  The guy he now knew as Blaine, took a step towards her.

  The girl's hand started to tremble even more.

  Blaine grunted. "You're nothing but a kid. You couldn't shoot a gun." He let out a humorless laugh. "You have some skills, girly, but you don't have confidence. You're trembling like a lost puppy."

  Seth turned to look at the girl. He noticed movement down by her foot and stared in horror at the man who was slowly getting to his feet; ready to knock the girl over. "MOVE!" Seth yelled, pulling her backwards. He sent a foot into the guy’s stomach and the black-clad assailant went crashing back to the ground.

  Blaine lunged forward to grab the girl, but Seth threw a hard punch at his face. Then he stepped forward and, bending down, he took one of Zane's arms around his shoulder. The girl took the other, still holding the gun.

  Zane half slid onto the ground when the girl was kicked forward. She landed on her hands and knees.

  Blaine had recovered from Seth's punch and obviously intent on hurting the girl.

  Seth started to move
forward to help her up, but she turned quickly around on the ground and fired the gun.

  She did it.

  Blaine's yell echoed down the country lane. He was grasping his arm, blood seeping through the gaps in his fingers.

  The girl—whose face was still hidden by darkness—hadn't moved. The gun was sitting limply in her hand. Seth leaned forward and grabbed it, thrusting it into his pocket.

  "RUN," he yelled at her, snapping her out of her trance.

  She stumbled to her feet and wrapped Zane's arm around her shoulder again, running with Seth down the road toward camp.

  Seth was feeling so much at once, he almost forgot to breathe. How had everything gone from normal to deadly in a few moments? Who were those guys? Who was the girl? As they staggered into the main road, his eyes moved to the girl.

  He stopped walking, dropping Zane's arm from around his shoulder. He didn't realize that he’d abandoned his friend.

  She drooped under Zane’s, not noticing that Seth had let him go. She was carrying Zane on her own. She turned around.

  Seth was standing there, staring at her with wide eyes, his hands limp by his side.

  She was standing underneath a lamppost and the light was shining down on her.

  Seth stepped forward, wiping the back of his sleeve slowly along his bleeding lip. He approached her quickly and placed one finger underneath her chin, lifting her face up so he could see it clearly.

  She had a cut above her eyebrow, her nose had a small trickle of blood coming from it and her lip was bleeding almost as much as his, but beneath that it was obvious who it was. He sucked in a breath. It was Red.

  Chapter 17: Burgundy

  She didn't remember ever being so frightened in her entire life, if she hadn't gotten to them in time…

  She was surprised at her own boldness. She never thought she’d have the confidence to step in front of a person, ordering someone not to hurt them. And when she’d engaged in combat, the training she’d taken had come back so fast, her head felt like exploding. Block a punch, duck then kick, dodge and push. She'd been so caught up in protecting Zane, she hadn't even thought about what action to take next. She’d just moved.

  Nor had she thought about the fact that Seth was behind her and was watching every move she made. She'd just grabbed Zane after he'd told her to run, and hobbled away. She hadn’t been concerned that he would see her.

  And now that he had identified her? He stared down at her, his finger under her chin. She looked back, her eyes wide with horror. There was no getting out of this sticky situation.

  "You… you're…" He lifted his finger away from her chin, his eyes wide and gleaming with emotion, and his mouth slightly open in shock. “Red.”

  She gripped Zane's hand; the one slung over her shoulder, and broke eye contact with Seth.

  "We need to get him back," she whispered, starting to walk again. It was a while before she felt the weight lift as Zane's other arm was wrapped around Seth's neck.

  They ran in silence through the camp gates, and the closer she got to the dorm, the more she dreaded the phone call from Dexter.

  They laid Zane down in his bed and slowly moved back, both breathing heavily.

  She hoped by now that Blaine would have been arrested and Dexter was at Headquarters, filing the reports. Looking down at Zane's sleeping face, she felt her stomach turn. She was unbelievably happy that he hadn't been hurt. She wouldn't have been able to live with herself if he had been.

  Seth had left Zane's side and sat slowly down on the sofa occupying his room. After she’d rested a hand on Zane's forehead to check his temperature, she looked over to Seth. She straightened up.

  He’d have questions.

  Thinking of Vikki, she started to believe that this undercover mission was slowly becoming a mission for more than just her. It seems that there were several “civilians” getting involved as well.

  She trudged over and sat down in front of him, Zane's handy first aid kit in her hand. Seth met her eyes when she put a hand under his face, wiping at his bleeding lip with a wipe. Slowly she wiped around his entire face. He gazed at her so intently, she felt like she was the only thing that he could see.

  When she’d finished taking care of him, she stood up to go put the kit away.

  Seth grabbed her wrist. Then he pulled her onto the sofa beside him and switched places with her. He placed his gentle fingers underneath her chin and turned it as he started to wipe at her eyebrow and nose, making her wince when the antiseptic liquid brushed over the wounds.

  "Who are you?" he whispered, tilting his head to the left so he could see her eyebrow better.

  She had expected the question.

  "I’m undercover," she whispered in return.

  Seth froze in his actions and looked at her. Then, surprisingly, a smile spread across his face. He moved the wipe to his lap, looking down at it and starting to fiddle with it. The smile was still on his face. Then he let out a quiet laugh and lifted his head back up, shocking her with the rare amusement in his eyes.

  "If you'd told me that this morning, I wouldn't have believed it." He went back to wiping her face, his smile dazzling. Seth tucked the strand of blue hair behind her ear. "You're trying to capture the man you shot."

  She grimaced.

  He sent her an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

  She shook her head. "It's alright. It was my first time holding a gun on someone. An agent gave it to me before I chased after you. He brought it to me today, saying I might need it because Blaine had come for Zane—"

  She stopped talking. She'd said too much.

  Seth stopped wiping her face and his surprised eyes moved to hers. "They want Zane?" he whispered.

  She nodded and broke eye contact.

  He moved away slowly, back onto his knees. "Is that why you're friends with all of us? Is your name really—Red Hart?" His question made him sound pained.

  She couldn't help but lift sad eyes to study him.

  He looked miserable.

  She shook her head. Protesting, "No!" She looked over her shoulder to make sure she hadn’t disturbed Zane and lowered her voice. "No. Well, yes, I had to make friends with Zane so I could stay close enough to protect him, but I really do believe we're real friends."

  Seth's expression didn’t change.

  She leaned forward. "Really. Red Hart is my name. I’m not faking."

  There was silence between them for a moment, but Seth's lips twitched upwards into a smile.

  “I know. I knew there was something different about you the first time I saw you in Zane's room." His smile widened more at the look of surprise on her face. "You were so innocent and naïve, I suspected you had a fake personality. One that you would use to try and win people over." He smirked. "By the second day, I knew you were for real. But that didn't explain why you were staying in this dorm when you weren't famous, you weren't rich, and yet you weren’t staying in Royal Nature."

  Her eyes were wide. She had no idea that Seth had paid that much attention to her. No idea that he would suspect her.

  Seth put the wipes back into the first aid box. “I guess now I know the reason you're here." He ruffled her hair and gave her a toothy smile. "You were incredible."

  She felt her cheeks grow hot and laughed nervously, breaking eye contact again. She could never stare at him for long before feeling slightly flustered.

  Someone knocked at the door. She quickly got to her feet to answer it.

  It was Dexter and one of the agents from Headquarters who was a fully-trained medic. Dexter entered the room, giving her a distraught glance that sent her expectations plummeting.

  The agent sighed and nodded. "He got away, leaving only blood behind." Dexter looked at her sternly. “I guess that was you."

  She nodded, sending him a forced smile.

  He shook his head. "He was so close. He even had the balls to leave a message before driving off," Dexter handed her a piece of paper.

  It, read: This will not be my
last attempt. I know you're looking for me, but I’m also looking for you. Don't think that I’ll be easy to catch.

  Zane Noble will be mine, and when I’m finished with him, I’ll get your agent.

  She swallowed. Well, that was just what she needed to end the night, a threat from the man who murdered her parents. She was just thankful she didn't get a great look at his face, thanks to the handkerchief mask and the darkness. If she had, his face would haunt her dreams.

  She turned to give the note back to Dexter, but his eyes were on Seth.

  She wandered over to her friend. "He knows. There was no way to keep it from him since Blaine attacked with him there." She stood by Seth, staring at Dexter. "He's helped out a lot since I've been here. He even let me stay in his room when mine was flooded."

  Strangely, that darkened Dexter's expression. He walked towards Seth slowly, examining him inch-by-inch.

  Seth nodded. "Hello, sir," he said politely.

  Dexter looked at her. "You're sharing a room with this boy?"

  She nodded.

  Seth looked at her in a strange way, as though trying to tell her something.

  She had no idea what to say or not.

  Dexter folded his arms. "Is that allowed here?"

  She quickly nodded again. "Yes, if you're lovers. Seth said we could pretend to be lovers so I can stay with him instead of the girl that was bullying me."

  Dexter's eyes narrowed. He looked at Seth in a way that sent a shiver down the boy’s spine. He leaned forward. "You asked an innocent girl to pretend to be your lover so she could stay with you? Do you know this girl has lived underground her entire life? She's clueless to this world and yet you still want to—"

  "Dexter." She grabbed his arm and frowned.

  He looked at her apologetically and moved back.

  Seth was still frozen to the spot, his eyes wide with fear.

  "Why did you come here?" she asked the agent, looking over her shoulder to watch as the medic attended to Zane, injecting him with something.

  Dexter ran a hand through his short hair. “I need you to stay here. It's dangerous, so for the time being I'll station a few men outside. No point being careful now as Blaine obviously knows we are after him."