— 𝐋𝐈𝐄.

Slow chatter and the smell of soup were how every Tuesdays and Fridays were spent. Hug her friends goodbye, pull out of the parking lot at Riverdale High, drive to Greendale, and clock in at least three hours worth at the soup kitchen. That was Blake’s routine and it would be until she graduated high school. From there, she’d find bigger ways to help and devote her life to a greater meaning. That was the plan - it always had been. It was redemption for the Carrington's wrongdoings, the seventeen year old frantically seeking ways to fix the ginormous mess of problems her family had caused.

Picking up the soup ladle, Blake fills the bowl of a middle aged woman, offering a warm smile and soft ‘enjoy’. In the brief moments of time she had before the next bowl arrived, she would lean over to the right or left, asking how the other volunteers were, if their day had been alright and if there was anything she could do.

Her eyes part from the woman that she had been speaking to, glancing up to see a man storming through the tan double doors of the entrance. Brows furrowing, she watches the man grow closer, the anger seeping off of him by the second. He makes his way to some small female who had been eating, his words piercing through the calm air. Setting down the ladle, she unties her apron, setting it on the counter behind her. The girl’s pace is slow, just incase the two would work it out before she would have to get involved. The man’s hand reaches into his patched up jacket, wrapping around a dark metal object.

She places herself between the two, lips parting to offer some words of serenity, but the sound of sharp popping replaces her attempts. Time seemed to stop, as if reality had been thrown into a bowl of jello. All anyone could do was watch. A surge of pain washes through her body, her eyes glancing down to catch sight of the growing red stain on her pink shirt. Then, time restarts and the sound of screaming is present as the young girl falls to the ground, her hand clutching onto the right side of her stomach. The woman who had stood behind her catches her, bringing Blake into her lap as she holds her head.

“We’re going to get you help, sweetheart, you’ll be alright. You’re gonna be okay, don’t worry.” Her words are fast, stringing them out in a rushed manner as if it would help her death slow.

Blake sucks in air, chest heaving as she did her best to make herself sound like she was okay, as if she wasn’t bleeding out on the floor of a soup kitchen. “I’ll be fine. I’m sorry you couldn’t...enjoy your..food.” She looks up at the woman, her blue eyes stain with tears, the mascara on her lashes beginning to drip.

“Don’t you apologize. Why did you do that?” She scans the girl’s face, shaking her head lightly. “Why did you jump in front of me like that?”

A sad attempt of a smile and laugh crosses Blake’s face, her body trembling lightly from the pain. “Wasn’t for myself.” She takes in a breath, the laboredness increasing as she struggles with her next set of words. “It was for redemption.” She clutches onto the woman’s jacket, bottom lip trembling as she stares at her.