1 Red for the chance

"Grimesbrook Preserve claims its 25th victim" 

Delightful news! Perfect kickstarter for a fantastic day, right there… But let's not get ahead of ourselves, that was just the title, after all; let me read the rest of the article, because things can only get better from there, right? 

"Jeremy Callaway, age 19, was last seen the previous Thursday night on the 16th of this month, roaming close to the infamous soul devourer that our Grimesbrook preserve has become, according to witnesses. Grimesbrook police remain tight lipped on the subject ever since the Morgan case and detective Reed, who has been assigned to the case, refuses to let any information filter outside the station walls. Mr and Mrs. Callaway have confirmed that a search party for their son had been organized and scheduled for this Saturday afternoon, starting from 3 pm," 

Detective Reed... Of course, he was assigned to the case; I am sure he's not complaining though. He has always loved standing at the heart of storms like these. His bread and butter. 

I truly feel for the parents but I am not holding my breath. To be completely honest, and on a scale from zero to a billion, I think the chances of finding the boy, dead or alive, are very much close to zero. Things in Grimesbrook haven't been picture perfect for the major part of the past three months. 

In fact, if I had to put a pin on the exact date when all of this started, I would have to jump three months back in time, to the first of October. However, and according to the town's records, this isn't Grimesbrook's first rodeo with crap like this. I found out that exactly fifty years ago, people just started vanishing without the ghost of a trace behind them, and oddly enough, even back then the disappearances began around October as well. 

The questions I really lose sleep over are: Why do people seem to always vanish close to the forest area? Where do people go once the forest has swallowed them? Is the same thing from fifty years ago causing the disappearances now? And finally, the question that lives absolutely rent free in my mind is…

"Red or Black? Which color is yours?" 

"Hum? Did you read the news today?" I ask my roommate instead of answering her question.

"No, I don't need to feel more depressed than I already am. Red or black? You didn't answer," 

I realize that my eyes are still glued to the newspaper I am holding. I pull my gaze up towards her as I slightly fold the top corner of the paper in order to have a better view of her. Standing still near the doorframe of our living room, Izzy holds two dresses up, in her right hand a red one and in her left, a black one. She'd already asked me to pick a color, therefore I know what's expected of me, "The red one. Got a date?" 

"Red one it is! Not me, it's for your date, silly!" 

And she announces it with the biggest smile I've ever seen her display. I do not like the glint in her eyes one bit, "My date?" I quizz as I allow the newspaper to escape my grasp. I clinch my butt cheeks together in anticipation for her answer. Any moment now, she was going to inform me that she'd already picked a date and a venue for my wedding.

"So, this guy came in to visit a relative at the hospital, I chatted him up and it turned out, he was a perfect match for you. He was very sweet, very hot. Did I mention it was a man? Yeah, he's exactly the type you're attracted to and when I told him about you, he looked ecstatic, almost like he was looking for a date too!" 

The audacity of this bitch… She set me up on a date with a guy that she talked to for like… Five minutes? Is this how people get dates? I don't think I am the right person to answer that question anyway, I haven't been in the dating scene in… I don't even remember for how long anymore. But I had it all wrong, I think she went beyond my wedding day. I think she has names lined up for my future children... Respecting boundaries was never her forté. She's a menace, but then again, in her defense, I don't think I ever made it crystal clear that I was uncomfortable with her antics. I have always been too lenient with her on the matter. Yeah, it must be that... 

Shooting her in the ass would definitely get the point across, once and for all, though. But I am not a murderer so there goes that plan. Although, if she keeps going like this, I might be able to claim self defense and get away with murder. 

That's future me's problem. For now, I know that in order to get her to stop and see the error of her ways, I need to remain extremely calm and speak with utmost eloquence, grace and delicacy, picking my words very carefully, "Izzy, what the fuck?" there, simple enough. She'll respond better to that approach.

"What? You're what now? 24? 25? Your ovaries are all shriveled up! How many operational eggs do you even still have? You need to start screening for a suitable candidate and build a relationship from now, so that you get the time to have all the babies you want," 

Lord help me, I am living with a psychopath! Now, I can't see what I look like at this moment, but my posture and facial expression may or may not have communicated my murderous intentions perfectly. She blurted all of those words out at once, very quickly and put her arms up in front of herself in a defensive manner.

"Operational eggs?! I am 23 for your information! And don't talk about my ovaries like that! Let's talk about yours, how about that? You're older than me, aren't you? And still single!" I protest.

"Not for lack of trying...," she mutters under her breath.

The look on her face and her words sent a sting of guilt up my entrails, I always knew how touchy that subject is for her, yet I still managed to fumble the bag, "I didn't mean it like that...," 

"Look Rose, just give it a chance. What's there to lose?" 

She pulls me right back out of my spiral of guilt. Now I am reminded of why I wanted to shoot her as much as I do now. 

"Well, for starters, he could be a cold blooded serial murderer that travels from town to town in order to find his next victims. I mean Grimesbook is not that small but compared to other towns it pretty much is. The fact that you have yet to give me his name, means that you're never seen him around before. Am I wrong?" I know I am not wrong; I know her too well for me to be wrong on the matter.

"I... Well, besides that! Can you just trust my judgment? For one night? We can argue about this until we're blue in the face but we both know that you want a relationship, and that's not going to happen if you don't give people a chance... If you don't give yourself a chance," 

As much as I want to argue with her about it, I simply can't. I can't when I know she's a hundred percent right. Well, not about the 'setting me up on a date with a complete stranger that I have never seen before without my approval' part, at least. But at the end of the day, I don't want much from this life, I just want to settle somewhere down the line with someone I give enough shits about. Someone that wants to be with me just as much as I want to be with them. I want to give more than what I was offered when I came to this life, and I am still not sure if that's a selfish reason to bring a new life into this crap-show of a world. All that aside, none of what I want will happen if I don't... Give people a chance like Izzy said. For some reason, out of everything I have to face, opening up to and trusting someone other than myself seems like the highest mountain for me to climb, "I have you... I gave you a chance," I... have no idea why I said that. 

"Yeah, believe me, I am grateful for it, but I can't be the only one in your life. Besides... I don't have a dick and I know how much you're into those," 

Once again, the audacity of this bitch..., "Why not shoot your shot with him? I know you want a relationship too. Doesn't he fit your standards? Or is it that you just want to get rid of me?"

"If I thought for a second that I had the slither of a shot with that guy, I wouldn't be having this conversation here with you. Trust me, I've been rejected enough in my lifetime to know when a man isn't interested without having to ask him if he is. Oh! And yeah, I also kind of want to get rid of you but... Just a little bit," 

I feel my guts twist into a knot once more. It cuts really deep to listen to her speak about herself like that; With the way she flung her eyes to the floor when she said them, the way her voice slightly cracked despite her best attempts to sound alright and worst of all, the smile she gave as she utters them... I can almost taste her pain. I know how much she too wants a relationship. Yet for some reason, things never work out for her the way she wants them to in that field. I think she has what it takes to get the attention of any guy she wants but… I might be biased, her being my only friend and I've never really stuck around to hear the way she talks to a guy she's into. I know it's been eating her from the inside.

"Does he have a name?" I ask without lingering on the subject.

"So, is that a yes to the date? His name is Nathanael," she might blow a fuse from the dangerous, high levels of excitement she is showing. 

"Yeah, yeah... I guess I am. So, I...," yeah, I guess I really have no backbone with her.

She immediately cuts me off, of course, it's something she does when she's over the moon about something. The best course of action in these circumstances is to let her carry on. I know that all attempts at stopping her are futile, "He's tall, about 6'4 tall; now I know, I know you like them a bit shorter than that but please hear the rest. His hair is as dark as a starless night. Dreamy, obsidian black eyes and a flawless, warm ivory skin. You can't miss him, he'll come all the way to our door to pick you up,"

I did not ask for a physical description but sure, I guess we... Wait a minute, "You gave our address to a complete fucking stranger?" 

Nevermind everything I said before until now, I feel the need to shoot her again, the judge will definitely rule in my favor in court. I have legitimate reasons to believe that my life is at stake with this woman, she will get us both killed.

"We're going to be fine. He's a good guy, I know he is," 

The way she drags her words when she downplays the severity of her actions grinds my gears... Lord help me survive one more day with her... , "How do you know that? You just met the guy!" 

"I just know it, alright? Trust me on this, okay? He'll be here at around eight," 

"Well, screw you too, I guess," I think I am starting to understand why I am having trouble meeting and opening up to people. I have a quota of trust and I am exhausting all of my efforts on her. How can I trust anybody ever again when I live with someone like her?

In any case, she left me to my devices with the red dress she landed me for the night. 

I should put my foot down and let her know exactly what she did wrong. That I appreciate her efforts but that this isn't the way to go to help a friend… I should do that… But I am not going to, aren't I? I am going to go on this date despite my gut screaming at me not to. Even if I end up dead in a ditch at the end of this night. All and all, for some reason I never seem to wrap my head around, Izzy gets what Izzy wants from me.