All That Is Red (3 page)

“Sir,” the boy started. His voice was filled with hesitance, but he continued wading toward the peculiar man.

The man grunted an incomprehensible reply and proceeded to break into hysterical laughter. With every guffaw, his body heaved backwards, closer to the water, until a final laugh completely
toppled him over. In that instant, his head went in after his body and he disappeared through the film of Red.

Panicked, the boy and I scrambled through the dark water trying to grope for the man’s form. We were both thoroughly drenched with Red when at last we heaved the man out onto the shore. I
turned the man’s face toward me to check his breath and an uncontrollable gasp escaped me.

The man had a face on each side of his head: three in total. They were all identical and they were all unconscious.

I glanced up at the boy, who had been drawn to my side by my gasp. He hovered at my shoulder, looking at the three-faced man in the same way that I had.

“We can’t leave him,” he said, echoing my thoughts.

“We’ll just have to wait until he comes to.”

Luckily, it wasn’t long until the man regained consciousness and soon he was sitting upright with support from the boy.

“Are you ... all okay?” the boy asked, changing his original question when he saw the man’s two other faces.

“Don’t know about the other two, but I’m fine,” the middle face replied with a smile.

“Of course you are!” the face to the left growled. “It’s not the first time you pulled something like this. Now don’t associate with the humans.”

“That’s not nice, Ralph. It’s also not nice to point fingers at people,” the middle face chided with a chuckle. “Besides, they just saved our life.”

“It’s not nice to almost drown us all either, Ralph.”

Before the left and middle faces could argue further, the right intervened. “I’m so sorry my brothers are like this.” He sniffed, as if holding back tears. “We’re
Ralph,” the right face said, holding out one of the brother’s two hands.

The boy and I both shook his hand in turn. When it was my turn, I didn’t know which face to look at, so I tried to smile at all of Ralph’s faces.

“We’re all very much obliged for your help. If you hadn’t been there ...” The right face broke down crying.

“You’re always too sentimental,” the one on the left snarled.

“Oh, I think it’s adorable,” the middle face happily added.

“So, why are you here?” the boy interrupted, cleverly changing the subject and avoiding another disagreement. He sat down in the tall Red grass and his head was the only part of him
I could see.

“The same reason you’re here, I suppose,” the center face cryptically answered, a smile playing on his lips.

“My brothers and I are hunted by the unfeelings. The Pure One saw something, a vision you can call it, and in it, a man with many sides helps the human who’ll champion the
cause.”

“The Pure One?” I asked. All three of Ralph’s faces rotated in my direction with a turn of his neck. I looked over at the boy and his face was blank.

“The Utmost One?” The left face tried. “The Innocent One? The leader of the White?” I shook my head, confusedly.

“You should know The Pure One,” The right face said. “Look around you. You’re in its domain.” My eyes followed Ralph’s outstretched hands.

“It’s just blank. White.”

“Exactly. It’s the absence of everything. Even nothing.”

I tried to object, or to ask how something could be nothing, and not even nothing itself, but Ralph’s left face interrupted.

“As I was saying, that’s why The Pure One ordered the White guards, the unfeelings, to execute any man who fits the description of many sided,” the sad face added.
“Trigons seem to be at the top of the list.” He seemed beyond nervous, as his voice cracked. I wanted to ask who the unfeelings were, but I didn’t want to upset Ralph further, so
made a mental note to ask the boy later.

“I wish we were the ones to bring an end to The Pure One’s rule, but we’re not. Not that that’ll keep them from killing us,” the left face said. “There were
more of us before the killings started. We Trigons didn’t join the Red cause when The Pure One took over. We thought if we didn’t choose sides, we could stay out of all of this entirely
and live peacefully.”

“And we did ... live peacefully that is ... until The Pure One’s vision. Since then, its guards have hunted every one of us. The killings drove hoards of Trigons to seek protection
from the Red cause. We might be one of the last Trigons left. We don’t know.” The right face sniffled. “We just had to run away when our family was taken. Since then, we’ve
been wandering from place to place.”

“Oh, don’t be a crybaby. We’ll hide from the unfeelings until a Red rebellion starts and then we’ll die with honor.” At these words, there was an audible gulp from
the crying face.

“There’s bound to be a rebellion soon,” the enthusiastic center face said. “We can’t stand for this.”

“And yet we do,” the boy replied softly. Those were his first words in a long time. The tall Red grass in front of his lips bowed and swayed with his breath.

I had forgotten that the boy belonged to this world. He had more in common with the three-faced man than he did with me. I had gotten used to his presence, but his words reminded me of the
truth.

As I walked toward the riverbank, I thought over the things I had just heard from Ralph. I decided that whatever or whomever The Pure One was, it or they, had to be stopped in some way; it was
wrong to kill people like the Trigons; like Ralph. If they were at all like Ralph, they were harmless. I put my feet into the crimson waters of the river and drew shapes on the water’s
surface with the tips of my fingers. I tried to imagine what The Pure One was like and how it could mindlessly issue orders to end lives, but as I reached the edge of my imagination, I realized I
just couldn’t.

I heard the three-faced man and the boy’s voices murmuring behind me. It was the same sort of conversation that the boy had with the girl who had given me the blade. Mysterious and
undecipherable. I felt like an outsider, which, I had to remind myself, I was in this place. I knew nothing of this world or what Ralph was talking about. I didn’t mind it much though. I
didn’t feel the need to be a part of what they were talking about. It sounded important and I was sure it was, but I didn’t think it concerned me, so I was happy to stay out. Rather, I
wanted someone to find a way into my thoughts. I wanted so desperately to have a person I could trust and tell everything to without having to worry what they would think of me, but in the end
everyone has their own opinions of me. That’s how I learned to keep to myself.

As I dipped my fingers into the river and pulled out ruby drops, I noticed something strange starting to happen. The river water was becoming milky.

“Th ... the water!” I managed to choke out. “It’s turning White!”

Just as those words left my lips, I felt something knocking the air out of my lungs. It rammed into me and smothered me to the ground.

My body lay aching and I felt something heavy on top of it. I gulped in air to yell for help, but a hand was firmly clasped over my mouth. From my position, all I could see was the Red earth and
the base of the tall Red grass. I could smell the Red all around me, but it was of little comfort. I could only keep still and listen to the voices around me.

“Another Trigon ... How many of your kind are there?” a voice as chilled as December mockingly sneered. The voice was flat and low, but it was as piercing as hard metal.

“Not as many now, due to your kind,” I heard the left face growl at what I assumed was one of the unfeelings. The unfeeling let out an icy chuckle.

“Then you should thank us.”

This was met with a chorus of laughs, equally chilling as the first. They blended together eerily, both echoing each other and simultaneously appearing to form one unified body. I guessed there
must have been around five or six of the unfeelings, but there could have easily been more.

“We’ve chatted enough,” one of the unfeelings said. “I think it’s time to take our guest to see his most gracious host.”

I heard snickers along with the clink of metal, and I shuddered to think what might become of the poor Trigon.

As quickly as they arrived, the unfeelings were gone, taking the three-faced man with them. Moments after that, the hand on my mouth loosened and the weight on my back rolled away. I sat up to
see the boy had been the one to knock me to the ground. Again, he had stayed with me; protected me, though I had not helped him when he had suffered. The guilt in the pit of my stomach felt heavier
than the blade at my side.

“Why did you do that?” I had intended it to be a simple question, but it left my mouth sounding harsh and judgmental.

“I tried but ... it was too late,” the boy said glancing in the direction the unfeelings might have gone.

Although that hadn’t been my original question, it left me with more feelings of guilt. The fact that the boy had thought of saving a stranger, when he was in danger himself, amazed
me.

“Where did they go?” I asked.

“The Pure One’s city.” He pointed forward, toward where the White sky met the White earth.

With no plan, but a determination to do something, I started walking toward it; anything to stop the White and The Pure One. The boy ran after me surprised.

“Where are you going?”

“The Pure One’s city.”

C
HAPTER
5

The boy was gasping when he caught up to me. I doggedly continued to stride forwards, refusing to look at him, but he took my arm and spun me around to face him.

“I don’t have anything to say to you.” The words angrily flew past my lips. I regretted them immediately, but it was too late to call them back.

“But I have something to say to you,” he said, taken aback by the tone in my voice. “You’re crazy to just march into The Pure One’s city alone. They have hundreds,
if not thousands, of unfeelings guarding The Pure One. What makes you think they won’t kill you?”

“Maybe they will.” I spat the words out, as if they were bitter in my mouth. “But, frankly, I’m beyond caring. The White has to be stopped.”

“You won’t stop it with your death,” he said.

I knew he spoke the truth, but I couldn’t believe him. I simply didn’t want to accept it.

“I promise we’ll do something,” he said. “But right now, we have to take things slowly.”

I let him take my arm again, but this time his grip was softer. He turned me toward the now White River and pointed me to where it would end, if, indeed, it had an end. Somewhat reluctantly, I
allowed him to alter my path. I had no idea where we were going, but the boy moved with confidence, as if he knew, and I found myself trusting him.

In the expanse of flat White, all we could see was a speck of something up ahead. As we neared it, I saw a small house with a picket fence around it. I would have thought it picturesque, if it
hadn’t been for the peeling White paint and the crooked door that was hanging off its hinges. It looked like something had stormed through and destroyed it.

“We can stop here to look for supplies,” the boy said, turning toward the White house.

He went through the doorway first, and I heard him draw in a sharp breath. His body stiffened, as he turned away from whatever sight he found there. I edged my way around him and took in the
scene myself.

The house was only one room and the furniture was sparse. An uneven wooden table lay knocked over onto its side. Pitchers lay strewn on the floor, their contents spewing out. The windowpanes on
one side of the house illuminated the room with a harsh White light. Cold and dull, it seemed that the house itself held an exhaled breath. The chill in the room immediately brought to memory the
iciness in the unfeelings’ voices.

My eyes stopped on the crouched body of the boy in a corner of the room. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw that he was bent over another form.

From what I could tell, it was of a Trigon woman. Her body was crumpled and disfigured to the point it was hard to comprehend that the body had once belonged to a living being. Her skin looked
bleached of color. With my limited knowledge of this world, I could only attribute it to one thing: the unfeelings.

I shut my eyes in an attempt to escape from the image before me, but what I saw behind my eyelids was no less horrifying. Placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, I tried to comfort him in
the only way I could. He looked up at me with gratitude brimming in his eyes. The drops were Red and slowly slid down his cheek.

I knew we couldn’t gather supplies from this house, not after what we’d just seen. Neither the boy nor I had the power to do that, so I started making my way out of the house. As I
neared the door, I heard a soft but distinct gasp, as if someone were quietly crying. It seemed to come from the shadows of the other side of the room, away from the morose figure of the boy.

My first instinct was to reach for the blade at my side. However, quickly realizing that the sounds didn’t seem in the least threatening, I lowered my guard. “Who are you?” I
directed my question to the shadows in the corner. Receiving no reply, I ventured farther and continued calling out.

There, in the dark, sat a girl. Although she was much younger than the first one I met, she looked a lot like her. She sat motionless, her pale skin illuminated in the somber dimness. She was a
Trigon, probably related to the murdered woman. With each silent sob, her thin frame shook. All the girl’s eyes were squeezed tight and only the occasional gasp escaped her.

“D ... don’t hurt me,” she stammered.

I was taken aback by her pitiful plea. “We won’t hurt you,” I assured her softly, crouching at her side. I tried to think of a way to convince her, but all I could give her was
my word. “I promise.”

The girl’s head lifted, and if she’d had her eyes open, we would have been staring directly at each other. But she didn’t; all of her eyes were closed. With a clear view of her
faces, she looked younger than I had thought her to be. I guessed her age to be around six or seven, certainly no more than that.