bird feedher

Max hardly remembered actually being led into the rest stop bathroom. One moment she was outside, then the next she was washing away blood as Chloe washed it off her face next to her.

The blood ran dark off her fingers. It swirled in the bathroom sink, almost black as it twisted into the drain. Something tugged at her heart as she watched it disappear. It felt like she was losing something she was meant to keep. Even though it wasn't real yet, it was still evidence that Safi had touched her. Or that she will. In two years, give or take. 

“Oh shit, Safi,” Max said.

“Yeah, I know. I'll deal with her later. Are you alright?”

“No. I mean yes. I don't know. Safi, she-”

Was it so wrong that her first thought was that the red looked good on Chloe? 

Chloe had washed away most of the blood from her face, but it still lingered on her neck. Whenever she moved, droplets of it that had fallen on her shoulder caught the light. Max felt nearly transfixed by the splash of crimson on Chloe's skin, same as she had with her future Safi. 

Everything she saw flashed in her mind again. It was as real as any memory, but it hadn't happened yet. No matter how many times she'd seen a future and taken the memory of it back into the past, she could never get used to the feeling. Thinking of it was such a gruesome task. Every step of the way her brain fought to forget it, like it was a contagion. 

All the color was drained from Chloe's face. Recognition and realization collided for her. It looked like it pained her just to ask, as if the asking would make it real. 

“What did you see?”