3/01/2015

Red

Linda was a young teacher, just out of college. She had struggled to find a job, and when she finally was offered one, she accepted without hesitation. It wasn't her dream job, the school was a private one where all the problematic children of the rich and famous ended. Linda's dream had always been to help disfavoured children reach their maximum potential, help them out of poverty. Yet, the children in her class had problems too, even if they were of a different kind. She was in charge of the younger children, those that were only six years old. All of them had behavioral problems, some didn't even know how to interact with other people in a way that didn't involve shouting orders, others were basically pathologically shy, none of them felt loved at home. 

One of the activities that Linda would encourage was drawing. She would tell the children to draw whatever they wanted, and that opened a window to their souls. Sometimes the pictures were extraordinarily naive, as young-children paintings tend to be, other times they were disturbing. However, one of them stood out. Margo was a small girl, one of the shy ones, she would barely speak, or look anyone in the eye. One day Margo drew something that made Linda's skin crawl, it wouldn't for any other children, but Margo's drawings tended to be realistic, and pools are not usually red. Linda took the little girl aside as soon as she saw the painting. She sat on the chair, her little legs dangling in the air, as it was a grown-up chair, her dark eyes staring at her feet. 

-Margo, I really liked your picture. 

She lifted her head shyly to look at her teacher's face before blushing and retreating to her previous position. Linda decided to continue speaking. 

-However, I'm almost sure that swimming pools are not red. 

Margo mumbled something. 

-Margo, sweetie, I can't hear you. 

-Our pool is. The pool in my house. 

-Is it? 

-Yes.- her eyes widened.- My dad won't let me talk about this. 

Despite Linda's best efforts, Margo didn't say anything else, in fact she became unreachable. Linda decided to meet her parents, after Margo had spent three days without interacting with anyone. That same week she had an appointment with Margo's father, he was a rich businessman who wore tailored suits and seemed to own half of the county. When they met he looked at her with a gleam of disgust on his stare, that told her she would have trouble. He spoke before she had time to introduce herself. 

-What's all this about?- he asked bluntly, making clear he didn't have time to lose. Linda didn't either, so she decided to keep it short. She showed him the drawing. 

-It's a nice picture. What's so special about it? 

-Pools aren't red. Your daughter told me yours was, and then she told me that she wasn't supposed to tell anyone because you had told her so. And then she has just hidden inside herself. Can you explain this?

-This is nonsene. Our pool is not red, and of course I haven't told my daughter not to tell anyone. Also, she does that, Margo. Kids will be kids. If you excuse me, I have to go. 

He left without even shacking hands, and Linda stood in place feeling deeply unsettled. It would only get worse when Margo stopped going to school altogether, and Linda couldn't contact her family. She talked to the director, but he was nonchalant about it, rich people tended to do weird things. Linda decided to go visit Margo's family, she needed to talk to them into taking the girl to school again. Margo's family lived in a large mannor in the forests, Linda drove there and was surprised to find the gates to the terrains wide open, as well as the main door. She entered cautiously, calling for someone. When no one arrived to recieve her she made her way inside. The house was clean, but it felt lifeless, she passed through an indoor garden with a pool, the normal blue all the pools are.  She continued her way, until she found the main bedroom. 

There was no one in that room, that opened into a smaller indoor garden. One that had another pool, although one would call it pond rather than pool. There was a strong metallic smell she could not identify. Also, the pool was red. Linda got closer and felt that the stench came from the pool. Horrified, she realized that it was full of blood. As she recoiled, a hand grabbed her arm. 

-What are you doing here?  

Margo's father towered over her. She could see that he had aged visibly in the span of a few days. Yet, he was still strong as she couldn't set herself free. 

-I was worried about Margo. 

-Margo is okay. 

-I want to see her. I can't trust you, you have a blood pond in your house. 

He tightened his grip on her arm. 

-I do, and you know? Blood is something that's hard to come by. You could be useful in that matter. 

He hit Linda in the head, leaving her unconscious. She would indeed be a good addition to his blood farm. Setting her on a bed next to he daughter, he hooked her into the drugs that would keep her asleep while keeping her blood good enough for his purpouses. When Linda was already sleeping in the place she would spent the last of her days, he looked proudly at his collection. His wife and daughter had been his latest additions, but some of them had been there for almost a decade, and he was still able to obtain blood from them. It was an expensive hobby, but being able to bathe in blood every now and then was worth it. 

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