Your Burning Kindness

Link to article: Your Burning Kindness.

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**Content Warning:** Gore
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“Think you could lend me some of those?” Ash looked at the red cup filled with rattling change.

Katie gripped her quarters tightly to her chest. “What happened to all yours from yesterday?"

“Spent it all trying to beat my high score,” Ash said with a grin, sticking her hands in her flannel jacket pockets as they walked.

“All of it?! On Tron?! It’s not even that hard!”

“The games keep changing!” Ash waved her off. “Just when I get the hang of one—” A soft breeze blew her long blond hair into her face, and she swept it back over her ear.

Katie sighed, “Fine, you can borrow some of mine when we get there.”

“Sorry, know I usually pay for everythin', but my dad figured out I was using his card and cut me off.”

“That’s what you get for stealing,” Katie huffed.

“Nah, fuck him! He’s always off on his ‘business trips’, spending God knows how much, least he could do is toss some change my way from time to time,” Ash grumbled, kicking a rock down the sidewalk.

“Stealing is always wrong, though, Ash. That’s what my mom says.”

“Get off your high horse Kate, you don't know what you're talkin' about. //Your// mom’s always there when you need her.”

Katie rubbed at her arm awkwardly, her pace slowing down. “Yeah… guess so…”

Ash just snorted back. She was usually right about these things. “C'mon, race you there!” she yelled with a tap on Katie’s shoulder and took off sprinting. Katie struggled to keep up, putting a hand on the cup to keep all her money from spilling out.

The sun beat down on the sleepy small town of Sitka. This summer was unusually hot; the air felt thick and stuck to their clothes. Katie wiped sweat off her forehead, squinting and struggling to see the neon sign of the arcade up ahead. She couldn’t wait to get into the air-conditioned indoors.

The duo sprinted past scattered adults and dark storefronts. The town had been through a rough patch since the logging business died out, but the arcade was hanging on, fueled by all the kids out of school.

Ash got there first and ducked inside. Katie followed after, and a blast of cool air hit her face. She leaned against her knees, out of breath, her eyes adjusting to the darker interior. Beeps and boops assaulted her ears, and the pop music playing loudly on the speakers didn’t help either.

Ash chuckled, “You're super out of shape, Kate.”

A boy shoved Katie from behind, almost sending her tumbling to the floor; she just barely kept a grip on her cup.

“Hey, watch it, bitch!” he hissed at her.

Ash stormed right up to the skinny boy and grabbed him by the throat, “Call her that again, and you’ll be eatin' out a plastic tube the rest of summer, got it?” dripped from her voice like venom.

The kid struggled to shake his blond head, holding his hands up in defense, “Y-yeah sure, whatever man!” She tossed him back, and he stumbled off clutching his throat, “Fucking psycho…”

Ash sighed. She set her hands on Katie’s shoulders, inspecting her, “You okay?”

“Yeah…”

“Hey, if anybody ever gives you trouble, you let me know, huh? I’ll hack ‘em up and hide the bodies,” Ash grinned.

“No, don’t get in any fights for me, Ash,” Katie mumbled, rubbing at her arm.

Ash let out a soft sigh, “M’kay sure, whatever you want, dude. C'mon, let’s get out of the walkway here.” Ash quickly reached her hand into Katie’s cup and grabbed a fistful of change before disappearing into the rows of cabinets and crowds of kids.

Katie stood herself back up, ready to follow, before a raspy voice rang out from just behind her.

“Hey, can I play with you?”

She turned to see a teenage girl about her age wearing a torn, stained hoodie. Her tangled black hair fell to her shoulders. Her greyish-black eyes were sunken into her pale face, and her pupils were extremely dilated . She looked like she didn’t know what to do with her limbs, standing like a puppet with its strings cut. Katie felt a chill run up her spine looking at her.

“Oh! Uh, you need to borrow some quarters, too?” Katie offered.

The girl cocked her head to the side, “Um... I guess? I don't think I've ever been to one of these places before.”

Katie shuffled around awkwardly. The girl’s bloodshot eyes bored into her soul, and she slouched and held her right arm close to her body. She was actually rather cute in a sort of creepy way. Katie decided to take a chance on her and took a deep breath to shove her fight-or-flight response down. “Here, lemme show you then,” she said with a forced smile. She guided the girl over to a machine; Space Invaders, and put a coin in. The game started with its 8-bit jingle. “See? You use this stick to move and press this button to fire.” The girl hesitantly stepped up to the machine and started playing. She was quite bad, but she had a smile on her face.

“So… you new in town? What’s your name?” Katie asked, leaning against the machine. The girl glanced to the side, eyes flicking between Katie and the screen.

“Oh right… I… I’m Riley. Just… got here, yeah.”

“Well, it's nice to meet you, Riley. I’m Katie. My friend Ash should be somewhere 'round here too…” she trailed off and glanced around, but couldn’t spot her at the moment. “Anyway, you stayin' here in town long?"

Riley sucked in a breath, then sighed as her character died on screen. She let go of the controls, rubbing at her arm, and returned her attention to Katie. “I... hope so?"

Katie frowned, "Like... you aren't sure if you're gonna move here or... what?"

Riley just shuffled around under Katie’s gaze, not answering. She looked dirty and underweight. An idea came to Katie and she gestured over her shoulder, “Come on, why don't we grab some pizza? I’m starvin'.”

Riley perked up at that, "Okay."

Katie led her new friend over to the red booths along the side of the building and sat her down along with her cup of change. “Wait here a moment," she said, and then went to the front desk to get some slices.

When she came back, Riley was fiddling with the strings on her hoodie. Katie slid into the seat across from her and set the steaming plates down.

"Here you go, hot 'n fresh!"

Riley inspected her slice before grabbing it and shoving half of it in her mouth. She spat it back out a moment later, sticking her tongue out into the cool air with a wince.

Katie snorted a laugh, “You are so weird, dude.”

A soft blush filled Riley’s face.

Ash appeared and slammed her hands down on the table, making both of them jump. “Hey, I’m out.”

“Already? You serious?”

Ash didn’t answer, instead turning her attention quickly to Riley, who looked ready to bolt out of the arcade at the sight of the intimidating girl towering over her, “Who’s this?”

“Oh, this is Riley! She’s new in town, I was just showin' her around the place.”

Ash glanced between the two. “Not lookin’ to replace me, are you, Kate?” she said it like she was joking, but a slight frown was on her face.

“No?”

“You starting at the high school here?” Ash stared at the new girl, squinting slightly.

“Uh… s-school?” Riley stammered.

“Yeah? What are you, homeschooled or somethin'?”

“No… I just…” Riley looked down at the table and squirmed in her seat.

“Hey, lay off her for a moment, Ash,” Katie glared at her friend.

“What? Just askin’ her some questions.”

Katie stood up a little in her seat. “Well, I don’t think she needs you interrogating her right now.”

“She probably doesn’t need you speaking for her either,” Ash snapped back.

“Well, she’s just—”

“I’m sorry!” Riley suddenly spoke up, “I’ll just— I’ll just leave…” She slid out of the booth, not making eye contact.

“No, Riley, don’t!” Katie stood up fast and moved to stop her, “I’m sorry, okay?” Riley held her arms close to her body, eyes darting between Katie and Ash like a cornered animal. “D'you have somewhere to stay tonight?”

“What do you mean?” Riley tilted her head a little.

“I mean, are you here with your parents?”

“Kate, what are you doin'?” Ash mumbled to herself, barely audible under the music.

Riley kicked at the colored spotted carpet, “I-I don’t…”

“You don’t… have parents?” Katie tried.

Riley was quiet for a moment, then nodded, “Yeah... sure... that.”

Ash let out a loud sigh. Katie ignored her, “D'you want to stay at my place for a bit? No offense... you smell like you need a shower.”

“Kate,” Ash barked.

“What?” Katie answered in a tired voice.

“We’re going— //right now//.” She grabbed Katie’s hand, but Katie just ripped it away. “Kate, this is a //bad// idea.”

“How? I just want to help her out.”

“I don’t… want to cause any trouble…” Riley whimpered.

“You’re not, I promise. I’m not tryin' to force you into anything, I just— You look super lost,” Katie admitted, offering her hand. After a moment, Riley slowly reached out and took it. Her skin was hot, hotter than the summer weather could explain. Katie almost pulled her hand away, but stopped herself. Riley couldn’t seem to keep eye contact, her grip was light and shaky.

Ash rubbed at her eyes. “//Fine.// Let’s go,” she grumbled before storming off towards the front entrance. Katie grabbed her money and followed with Riley in tow.

As they stepped out into the harsh sunlight, Riley squeezed her eyes shut and covered them with her free hand. She kept close right behind Katie, never letting go of her hand. As they walked down the hot sidewalk out of downtown and into the surrounding suburbs, the shade of the trees lining the sidewalk provided some relief from the sun's assault. Riley brought her hand back down, though she still seemed to struggle keeping her eyes open.

Soon, they made it to a small house painted a faded pale blue. The lawn was overgrown, and a rock path led up to the screen door. Ash walked right in, and Katie followed. Nobody ever locked their doors in this town. Ash made for the fridge in the kitchen off to the right and grabbed a can of Coke, cracking it open as she kept an eye on their visitor. Katie left her coins on a cabinet next to the door and led Riley down a short hallway past the stairs to a bathroom on the left.

“You can wash up here, I’ll get you some fresh clothes,” Katie explained. Riley peeked into the room before slowly heading inside. Katie gently closed the door behind her and returned to the front door to kick her shoes off. As she turned around, she jumped back with a gasp as Ash stood right behind her. “Damn it Ash, what now?”

“You tryin' to adopt her?” Ash spoke sternly.

“No, Jesus, Ash! She’s just homeless, okay? I know we don’t have anybody like that around here, and I wanted to help her out.”

“She’s probably a runaway, or a criminal, or somethin'.”

“Or maybe she was kidnapped? D'you ever think of that?” Katie pushed Ash out of the way and moved towards the stairs.

“Then we should turn her in to the cops or somethin', Kate!” Ash raised her voice. “Not invite her into your house while your mom’s at work, what a great fuckin' plan, what if she robs us or murders us?!”

Katie spun around with clenched fists, “What’s your problem?! She’s just a scared girl!”

“She freaks me out! Didn’t you see her eyes? She looks like she’s on drugs! Something’s really wrong with her, and we shouldn’t make it our problem too.”

“You know, you’re always like this! What if it were me? What if I was scared and hurt and just needed a place to stay?!”

Ash rolled her eyes, "Sure, like I'm not already taking care of you every moment of every day."

Katie’s hands shook; she was clenching her fists so tightly her nails dug into her palms, “What's that supposed to mean?! I can take care of myself just fine!”

"No you can't Kate, anytime something happens at school you come running to me. When you want something I'm always the one buying. I'm always the one taking the heat when you get in trouble. You can barely function without me! I always have to be there every fuckin' second whenever you do something stupid."

Katie struggled to come up with a rebuttal. "Y'know what? Fuck you Ash." She spun back around and stormed up the stairs.

"Kate, wait— Come on!" Ash yelled out.

Katie just went straight into her room and slammed the door. She fell onto the end of her bed, taking a few deep breaths. Just this once, Ash didn’t need to have her way.

Sitting back up and resting her elbows on her knees, she ran her fingers through her short auburn hair. She massaged her scalp and felt her heartbeat slow back down. With a final deep breath, she stood back up and slid her closet door open and grabbed some clothes off the floor that she hadn’t yet found the energy to fold. With a cautious peek outside, she inched back down the stairs, clothes in hand. Ash was nowhere to be seen, so she turned and moved down the hall to the bathroom. The water was running, but it was otherwise rather quiet.

“Everythin' alright in there?” Katie asked with a light rap of her knuckles against the door. There was a bit of a rustle inside, and a bottle hit the floor.

“Yeah?” Riley’s voice echoed quietly.

“Got some fresh clothes here when you need them, so… just let me know, okay?”

“H-hold on!” There was another clatter, and the door opened a crack. Riley’s face peeked out. “Um… how does the shower… work?”

“Just turn the nozzles? What, is it not warm enough?”

To her surprise, Riley shook her head. “No, I want it colder…”

“What? But—” Katie just sighed, “I’ll just leave these here then.” She set the clothes down just by the door. “Come find me in the kitchen when you’re done, okay? I’ll get you something to eat, sandwiches maybe. We never finished our pizza, remember?” she chuckled.

Riley just stared blankly for a moment before an awkward smile suddenly broke out across her pale skin. “Thanks... Thank you, Katie.”

Katie smiled back just as awkwardly. Riley's face was very symmetrical and slightly angular, but when she smiled her cheeks puffed up a little. Katie thought it was cute. Riley broke eye contact and slipped back inside, shutting the door a little forcefully.

Katie headed down the hall and took a peek out the front window. Ash sat on the front steps with a lit cigarette between her fingers, her can of Coke next to her. Katie appreciated that Ash never smoked in her house at least, even though Katie's mother did occasionally. Ash's blond hair shone in the sunlight like a halo surrounded her. She was so tall and lean and gorgeous, Katie felt so short and soft and a little pudgy in comparison. She sighed and tried to shove the thoughts from her mind as she walked into the kitchen.

Katie stood on her toes to grab a bag of bread off the top of the fridge. She pulled out two pairs of slices; then hesitated a moment before pulling out a third for Ash. After some peanut butter and grape jelly from the fridge, and she had three PB&J’s ready to go on paper towels. She sat down and tapped her fingers on her leg. Around five minutes later she heard a door open and Riley came around the corner trying to squeeze water out of her hair.

She was barefoot, wearing the grey Atari tee and black shorts Katie gave her. Water steamed off her skin, strange given how cold she had claimed her shower was. She peered at the round kitchen table with squinting eyes, “What’s that?”

“Pee-Bee-Jay,” Katie grinned at her. Riley looked a lot better now, her skin had a little color in it again. Her pupils were still unnaturally wide open though, her eyes looked like two tiny black holes.

“Oh, right…” Riley sat down beside her and took a hesitant bite. She closed her eyes as a subtle smile spread across her face. Katie watched her for a bit before venturing a question.

“So… don’t mean to pry if there’s uncomfortable stuff you don’t wanna get into right now, but would you wanna tell me a little more about yourself? Where you come from, for example?”

“Um… south,” she mumbled before taking another messy bite.

“Okay, how far south? Like, the Cities? Or Wisconsin? Iowa?”

Riley stared up at the ceiling as she chewed, “I uhh…” she went quiet for a moment, then swallowed, “I don’t… know…”

“How do you //not know//?!”

Riley squirmed in her seat, “I just— I can’t—” she sighed, “It's… hard to explain…”

Katie let out a deep sigh of her own, “Fine… I’ll leave it be.” She took a bite of her sandwich and turned away from Riley.

Something was up with this girl, but once again Katie took that unsettling feeling and crammed it back down. She wasn’t gonna deny somebody help just cause they acted a little weird and had some issues, everybody had their quirks.

To her surprise, though, Riley set her sandwich down and turned to face her, “Wait… Katie?” She rubbed at the underside of her arm with a thumb, right along her veins. Her arms shook slightly and her fingers twitched randomly.

“Yeah?” Katie tried to return eye contact; Riley kept glancing away.

“I guess… you've been real nice to me. I mean, I think I can trust you,” she sucked in a deep breath, “I ran away from home. I lied, I do have parents. Or... I did?"

"What d'you mean? What happened to them?"

"I... can't remember. I don't even know how I got here."

"How's that even— I'm sorry I'm just havin' some trouble wrapping my head around this," Katie admitted with a sigh.

"I woke up laying on some rocks in the woods a few hours ago. All I've managed to remember so far is my name and the image of an apartment in a city somewhere. I think I lived there. But the memory feels... sad. Melancholic. And... there's fear too. Something bad happened there. I think I ran away because of that, but I don't know how I ended up here. I just feel... weird. Sick." Riley scratched at the table while she explained, her fingernails cracked and broken.

"How can you just forget your entire life?" Katie wondered out loud. Riley simply shrugged. "Is there anything I can even do? I want to help you, but I don't know how."

Riley looked up into her eyes. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because you're really—" Katie stopped herself. "I mean... it's just the right thing to do."

"Your friend seems to disagree. I heard what she was saying."

Katie felt her face drop. "Oh, you caught all of that? Shit, I'm sorry. Ash is— Well, she usually looks after me. Or... tries to. I don't know why she won't do the same for you."

"Probably because I'm so wrong and freaky looking." Riley mumbled, echoing Ash's words.

"No, you're not! I mean, you were definitely a little... disheveled when you approached me, but that's not your fault. Now that you've cleaned up you're actually really pretty." That seemed to send a heated blush through Riley's face and she broke eye contact.

"You're just saying that."

"No, I mean it!" Katie said, leaning in closer. "I really... like..." Her words seemed to get tangled up in her throat as Riley glanced back up and the both of them found themselves face to face. "Um..." was all she managed to mumble out before she felt Riley's warm lips meet her own. Katie's heart seemed to skip a beat and all her muscles tensed up. Her mind raced with incoherent thoughts and she didn't know what to do with herself. A ticklish sensation filled her throat and she gagged slightly and coughed. Riley jerked her head away.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have— I don't know what I was thinking!"

"No, you're fine! I just... wasn't expecting that." Katie felt all warm and her insides were swimming around, making her a little nauseous. Riley buried her face in her hands. Katie wasn't sure what to say to her for a moment. Riley wasn't like any girl she had ever met before. She didn't even realize there were other girls that felt the same way she did. Katie felt... guilty. Conflicted. It felt wrong but... exciting somehow. "Now I feel a little sick." She finally admitted.

"Me too..." Riley mumbled out, not looking up from her palms.

"I kinda liked it though. I've never kissed another girl before." Katie started running her fingers through her hair reflexively. Riley didn't respond. "I'm gonna... get us somethin' to drink,” Katie slid out of her seat and grabbed two cans from her super old fridge. She sat them down on the table and slid one in front of Riley. Riley finally pulled her hands away and picked it up, inspecting it.

“Uh, how do I—”

“Heh, just pull the tab at the top,” Katie chuckled.

“Right, yeah, of course that makes sense…”

Katie gave her a warm smile, Riley's confusion at simple everyday things was so adorable to her.

Riley popped the can with a crack and gulped it down, then paused and coughed a bit of the bubbling liquid back up. Katie rolled her eyes and took a small bite of her food. Riley set her drink down and did the same, smearing jelly onto the corners of her mouth. "I feel a little better." She spoke up, mouth still full of food.

"Yeah? You mentioned feeling bad."

"Yeah my head's been throbbing like... like a fever since I woke up and I've been so hungry and thirsty... but this has helped a little bit though. Oh... um... and I still feel a little bad about... what just... happened."

"It was... sudden," Katie admitted. "But... nice. If that's not wrong of me to say."

"I... guess. You've just been so kind, and I got a little caught in the moment..." Riley rubbed at the back of her neck.

Katie gave her a soft smile. "Well, I'm glad to hear getting some food in your system has helped. I wonder what could have made you just... forget everything though. Could you have... hit your head really hard? Thought that was just a movie thing."

Riley shrugged and sighed before taking another large bite of her sandwich. The front door suddenly cracked open, and Ash came in, a halo of cigarette smoke following her. Katie felt a twinge of guilt looking at her. She used to have... certain kinds of feelings towards Ash too, but she didn't think Ash felt exactly the same way back. She sighed, her mind awash with such confusing emotions and just tried to force a small smile.

“Hey, I made some sandwiches for everyone.”

Ash just glared at her, then at Riley.

“You gonna leave soon?” She spoke flatly to the dark-haired girl.

“I hope not. At least if Katie doesn’t want me to.”

“I think it would be best if you did.”

“Well, this is kinda my house, Ash. So it’s not your decision,” Katie piped up.

“No, it's your //mom’s// house. I wonder how she’ll feel seeing a strange, dirty homeless girl in it,” Ash growled.

“But, I’m not dirty, I just showered?” Riley mumbled.

“Look, how about you let me worry about that for once, huh, Ash?!” Katie raised her voice.

Ash gave her one final glare before storming off down the hall, grumbling to herself, “This is so fucking stupid…”

Riley turned to Katie, her eyebrows raised.

“It’ll be fine, I’ll hide you from my mom if I have to, promise,” Katie said, setting a hand on her shoulder.

Riley just wrinkled her nose, "I hate the smell of cigarettes."

"Yeah, yeah me too."

Riley finished off the last bite of her sandwich and licked her fingers and lips clean. A thought came to Katie, “Hey, come on, lemme show you my room!” Katie dropped her sandwich and hopped out of her seat to hurry towards the stairs. Riley grabbed her drink and followed.

Katie’s room was pretty tiny, her bed took up most of the space. Random knick-knacks filled her shelves, comic books, bird feathers, action figures... cool stuff Katie liked to collect. Well, she thought they were cool anyway.

“Wasn’t expecting it to be so messy,” Riley mumbled.

“Heh, yeah, I've been meaning to like organize and stuff but... yeah.” Katie rubbed the back of her head, a slight smile on her face.

Several large movie posters were hung up covering the walls. Riley peered at one in particular; Two figures were standing on some rings. One of them looked up at the other who had his arms outstretched to a beam of light coming from behind him. “Wait, that… looks familiar.” Riley moved over to it, setting her drink down on the bedside table.

“Oh, Tron? Yeah, it was pretty cool, those effects were //so// rad. Didn’t really understand the plot much though, but I got the poster for free from a friend at the movies.”

Riley reached out a hand and tilted her head at the image.

“I think I saw this one. With somebody, my… mom, I think.” She smiled. "Hey, I think I can remember my mom!” Her smile suddenly dropped off. “Why does that make me sad?”

“Maybe you miss her. D'you think you might want to go back home? It’s okay if you don’t, I mean…”

Riley turned back around slowly, arms crossed, “No… I left for a reason. A very good reason. I can’t remember why, but home didn’t feel like home anymore.”

“Do you regret leaving? With everything that’s happened 'n all…” Katie rubbed at her arm.

“I don’t regret meeting you.”

Katie felt a smile force its way across her face, and she suddenly couldn’t keep eye contact. Riley smiled back, looking just as flustered.

The sound of a car pulling up came from outside, and a door downstairs creaked open, then banged closed.

“Oh no,” Katie breathed and moved to look out her window, pulling the blinds open. “Oh fuck no…”

“What? What’s going on?”

“Just… stay here. I’ll be right back, I promise!” Katie rushed to leave the room.

“Wait! Katie!” Riley yelled from behind her, but she didn’t stop, storming down the stairs.
Throwing the door open, she saw Ash standing on the front steps in mid-conversation with a dark-skinned deputy with a thick mustache.

“—didn’t get a last name, no… ah shit.” She dropped a cigarette and stamped it out with her foot as she turned around. “Katie, hold on now—”

“What did you do?!” Katie shouted.

“I did the right thing, Kate. That girl was reported missing in Minneapolis a week ago. Deputy here just told me they got her picture at the station.”

“That’s not—” Katie huffed. “Ash, you don’t understand!”

Ash held out her hand like it was some kind of magic gesture that would miraculously make everything okay. “Kate, calm down and just bring her out here.”

As it happened, there was no need for that as Riley poked her head out from behind Katie. “What’s happening?” she asked. The deputy came forward, taking his hat off.

“You Riley Dunne, kid?”

“Um… maybe,” Riley mumbled out. The deputy's eyebrows raised from behind his shaded aviators.

“Huh, well, you should come to the station with me. Your father’s been lookin' for you,” he didn’t say it like she had a choice.

Something lit up behind Riley’s eyes, “Wait, my father?”

“He’s been askin’ all over about you.”

Riley seemed to shrink down even smaller.

“Kate, get your shoes. We all gotta go, come on,” Ash ordered.

Katie’s fists balled once again, but she didn’t see a way out of this. She didn’t know how to run from the cops. Much to the dismay of every bone in her body, she went back inside to grab shoes for herself and Riley. Just the way the girl shrank and shivered at the mention of her dad made Katie scared, too. She was putting some pieces together in her head, and she didn’t like the picture they were forming.

The drive to the sheriff’s station back downtown had so much tension Katie could cut it with a knife. Riley squirmed around, knees curled up into her chest as she held her legs up on the seat. She was shaking, and Katie didn’t know how she could help her. Ash just leaned against the door, face in her hand. She didn’t look at either of them the whole ride. Katie wanted to push her out of the car.

Three or four long, uncomfortable hours passed at the station. The place felt boiling and the air was stuffy. The creaking old fans meandered in circles overhead and didn’t help one bit. Katie tapped her fingers against the bench the whole time, never taking her eyes off Riley. She was sat at a desk a short distance away from Katie and Ash. Katie watched her trying to flick a long strand of hair out of her face, but it always fell right back down against her nose. The officers talked with Riley occasionally, trying to get her to say what she had been doing for the past week. They weren’t very nice about it. She could feel the condescending disgust in their voices. They did not like Riley. Riley didn’t like them. But she couldn't tell them anything they wanted to hear, so they eventually gave up. Katie thought cops were supposed to be kind and comforting to missing kids.

Then //he// finally arrived.

He had short black hair and unshaven stubble and a bit of a beer gut, too. He wasn’t in uniform, just wearing a worn windbreaker that half hung off his shoulders, but Katie caught a glimpse of a badge on his belt. He was a cop too, great. Something flashed across his face when he saw his daughter but it wasn’t joy, not exactly.

“Here we go,” Ash finally spoke up. “See? Now she goes home with her dad, and everything goes back to normal for us.”

“Ash, you don’t— You don’t get it. I was talking to Riley, and she—" Katie sighed. "Well, this... doesn't feel right,” Katie spoke in a hushed voice. “We can’t let him take her, we have to get her out of here somehow.”

“What the fuck for, Kate? This is it. The happy end to the story. We did what we were supposed to, let's just go back to the arcade after this, please?”

Katie just grumbled and leaned her arms against her knees. She tried thinking up some crazy scheme to get them out of there somehow, but nothing sprang to mind. This wasn’t an action movie. She couldn’t fight three grown adults. Maybe Ash could, but she didn’t seem interested. Katie didn’t get it. Ash had no love for the rule of law, so why was she so stubborn about getting Riley gone?

The father walked over to the local officers and spoke with them out of earshot. The station was pretty empty at the moment, there seemed to be only the two deputies there. One of them pointed out Katie and Ash sitting on a bench across the room, and he looked their way. Katie squirmed under his gaze. He turned his attention back to his daughter, who looked just as tense as Katie felt. He spoke a little louder with her, and Katie could catch his words better over the humming of the ceiling fans.

“You are so selfish, you know that?” His voice came out like sandpaper. Riley just scowled at him. “I know after… after your mother—” Riley tilted her head to the side at that, her frown softening.

“Wait, Mom? What happened to Mom?”

He snorted, “You know exactly what happened! God, this just so fucking typical. I try to give you everything I can, and you just spit in my face. It’s not easy for me either, you know?!”

“I’m… sorry?” Riley whimpered out.

“You ungrateful little shit. You know, I was half hoping they would never find you,” he growled out under his breath.

Katie barely caught his words, they formed a pit in her stomach. She couldn’t watch Riley leave with this man.

“We’re going home, and you are never pulling a stunt like this again, you understand?”

“No…” Riley whispered. The deputies didn’t seem to even be paying attention, they were sipping at coffee and mumbling to each other. Ash was watching, though. Her eyes were wide, and she covered her mouth with her hands.

“Riley, get up. We’re leaving now,” he ordered.

“No… no... no... no... no…” she pleaded louder, panicking. She tried to hide her face in her hands. He leaned over the desk and grabbed her wrist, twisting it away from her. She yelped in pain.

“Get //up//!”

“NO!” Riley screamed, and the air around his arm shimmered. In a moment a loud crack reverberated through the room, and now he was the one screaming. His skin shifted with the air, bubbling like boiling water before it ripped and crimson gushed out in every direction. The arm fell to the floor in several pieces, burning the wooden floors around it. He held his bleeding stump; his screams made Katie cover her ears.

The air shimmered for a second, a terrible ripping sound rang out, and then Riley’s father was gone. He was just a mess of flesh and bone slumping over onto the metal desk now, a red mist shifting and bubbling sickly in the air above him. Riley just stared at the gore, her eyes wide open. Then a hissing sound came from her throat as a smile broke out across her face, a wide unnatural smile forcing her mouth open into a toothy grin. Her teeth opened and the hiss turned into a shrill laugh. Laughing. She was //laughing//. The deputies were frozen in shock and horror for a moment before one quickly drew his sidearm. Katie squeezed her eyes shut and fell into a ball on the floor. She heard three loud bangs and more screams, and cracks, and above it all, Riley's sharp hissing laughter cutting through the air.

When it finally went quiet, she blinked her eyes open and somehow found the strength to stand on her shaking legs. Her heart was threatening to rip itself out of her chest. The sight before her almost made her vomit. One body was missing his head, his gun still gripped tightly in his lifeless hand as he lay limp against a desk. The other was split down the middle, part of him on the floor, and part of him had stained the far wall in a streak of scarlet. Shards of bone were stuck within the walls and floor all over the place, jutting out like broken teeth. All the desks surrounding the viscera had been melted too, and the wooden floors simmered, adding to the thick mist in the air. In the middle of it all stood Riley, the sharp grin still on her face. Her t-shirt was coated in steaming blood. Her head turned slowly to look at Katie. She still let out a few giggles.

Katie couldn’t move. She couldn’t understand what she was looking at. Riley’s eyes were black, blank, inhuman. This... //thing// wasn’t human. She felt a whimper of pure fear escape her throat. Riley cocked her head, then something came back to her eyes. Some undefinable spark of consciousness. Her eyes flicked between the various piles of steaming flesh around her. The sick smile finally fell away from her face. She looked down at her hands. They were covered in boiling blood, her skin sizzling from the heat. Her breathing picked up, her chest rising and falling quicker and quicker. She let out another giggle. Then it turned into loud hiccups. "What did I— " She whimpered out. Her hiccups turned into a heavy cry. She screamed and collapsed to the floor, clawing at her eyes with shaking fingers. “D-Dad?” she choked out. “Dad, I’m s-sorry… don’t… d-don’t leave me alone… I don’t want to be alone anymore… I want to go h-home…”

A hand fell on her shoulder and nearly made Katie jump; Ash was looking at her with wide eyes. She wanted to leave, Katie could tell. It would be the smart thing to do. Run and run and run back home. But Katie found herself moving forward, towards the sobs and the screams.

“Kate… don’t...” Ash’s whimper came from behind. But Katie didn’t listen. She stopped just in front of Riley and kneeled down slowly. Her Atari shirt wasn’t just soaked in blood, it had three little holes in it, one on the left shoulder, the upper chest, and in the gut.

“You’re hurt—you've been shot,” Katie mumbled out. She reached out without thinking.

“N-no… no don’t touch me!” Riley fell back suddenly and tried crawling away backwards from her, leaving a steaming streak of blood across the floor.

“Please… let me help you… I just wanted to help… I… I just…” Katie found that now she was crying too, the reality of the situation sinking in. Once again, she tried crawling towards Riley on all fours.

“No! I-I don’t want to hurt you too!”

“Riley, please, I—”

“JUST GET AWAY!” Riley shrieked, and a swirling heat engulfed Katie. She was flung backwards into a half-melted desk. Her head smacked against the metal, and her skin lit up with pain, all across her sides and back. Somebody started screaming.

It took her brain a moment to realize it was her own voice.

Katie's vision turned dark and blurry, but she could see Riley’s face still, peeking out from under her cowl of dark hair. Blood streamed from her eyes and nose. She seemed to be hyperventilating. “N-No K-Katie, I’m sorry I— Please get up, I didn’t— Please, I’m sorry!” she sobbed. Suddenly, she gagged, vomiting scarlet onto the floor. With one final heavy gasp, her bloodshot eyes rolled back into her skull, and she dropped to the floor, twitching for a few final moments before going still. Her skin was so white it looked almost translucent. [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-8786 She seemed dead], and Katie feared she was going to die next. Slowly, she was pulled away into an enveloping darkness as, mercifully, all feeling finally left her body.

----

Katie ran into the cool air of the arcade and let out a sigh of relief. This summer’s heatwave was starting to get too much to bear.

“Hey, you beat me for once!” Katie spun around to see Ash’s grinning face. Her expression softened as Katie started clutching her sides. “Hey, how're you doin'?”

Katie took in some deep breaths as she once again felt a sharp stabbing pain rush up her back. “I-I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“I always worry about you, Kate,” Ash mused. Katie just let out a groan at that. Ash scratched at the back of her head. "Yeah, uh... come to think of it, maybe you really shouldn't be runnin' around after just getting out of the hospital."

"I'm okay, just a little hungry maybe," That was an understatement. Katie was starving all the time. Ever since she woke up at the hospital, she felt like she had a throbbing fever, and nothing ever satisfied her hunger.

"M'kay, we could get some pizza, I guess?"

"Yeah, pizza sounds good."

Katie slid into an empty booth while Ash went to get them both some slices. Katie started absentmindedly picking at the burn scars on her arms. As Ash came back with some plates, she let out a chastising tsk.

"Kate..."

Katie moved her arm under the table. "Right... sorry." Ash set the food down and sat across from her.

"Hey, um... weird question. How much d'you remember about what happened last week?"

Katie nibbled at her steaming slice. "Hm? I don't know... not really anything. The doctor said I hit my head pretty hard."

"Yeah, said the same to me, but... I wasn't hurt //nearly// as much as you. I just... I don't know, some things aren't lining up in my head, what were we doin' at the station at all?"

"We walk by it every day on the way to here, so I probably just ran in trying to save people from the fire, and you ran in after me."

"I... guess... I just figured I would at least remember //some// of it, but that whole day is just—" She rubbed at her eyes. "Never mind."

"I would rather put all of this behind us anyway..." Katie mumbled as she started to pick at her arm again. "I just know schools gonna suck when I show up with these scars."

"Well, I think they look pretty metal," Ash grinned. "You should really stop picking at them, though." Katie huffed and took her hand away, returning to her pizza.

"I'm just dreading this school year 'cause Cynthia and her friends can be so mean..." She could picture their sneering, haughty faces and imagined ripping their heads off and cutting them to pieces. She blinked, shocked by the sudden violent thoughts. She knew she shouldn't allow these thoughts into her mind, just like her mom said. She took another bite of her pizza and tried to think of happy things. But the sauce just made her think of blood and gore and she didn't know why.

"They should be leaving you alone outta fear of me," Ash huffed, her voice interrupting Katie's thoughts.

"Yeah, I don't think that's how that works Ash," Katie smirked.

"No seriously, if anybody's giving you trouble just tell me so I can kick the shit outta them, then they'll leave you be." Ash leaned forward onto the table.

"No, Ash... you really don't—"

"Come on, I'll just scare 'em a little and they'll see it's not worth it, promise not to break any bones."

"Ash, //no//. I really, //really// don't want you getting into stupid fights for me. I don't like seeing you get hurt."

Ash took a deep breath and leaned back into her seat.

"Yeah... sure of course. You're right..." Ash tapped her fingers against the table for a moment. "Hey, Kate, y'know... you mean a lot to me too."

"Huh?"

"I just mean— ‘cause you said—" She sighed. "Forget it."

Katie finished off her slice, stuffing the last few bites into her mouth. "Mhm... Cool... Hey, are you gonna eat that?" Katie gestured to Ash's still untouched slice. She slid it across the table.

"All yours."

Katie dug in as Ash picked at the skin around her nails, staring off into the distance. Katie scarfed down the slice in half a minute and pulled a napkin out of the holder on the table to wipe her mouth. The pain had subsided but still she was hungry. She hated that. She already felt fat enough as is. She glanced back up at Ash and felt a little bad about blowing her off.

"Hey, Ash, let's go play Tron, huh? I'll help you out with the Light Cycles game."

Ash glanced back at her friend and smiled softly. "Thanks, Kate." She slowly slid out her seat and stood up.

Katie scooted out and joined her, the both of them walking off and disappearing into the crowd of kids.

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