I sat next to the elderly homeless man, waiting for him to say what he ought to say, because he'd managed to get me to sit beside him—whereas before, I wouldn't even have considered talking to him. "You're just like everyone else," he said before tossing his apple core into the bin.
"What do you mean?" I asked straight away, but he didn't even glance at me.
"You're only approaching me because you want information about that poor girl, even though you used to prevent her from coming to me," he said, immediately making me feel humiliated. I'd already set aside my pride to sit beside him, yet he went and insulted me like that.
"Give me the information you've got straight away if you still value your life," I threatened. Too many people had already annoyed me this morning, and I swore that if he mocked me once more, I'd finish him off.
"What a pity—I don't care if I die," he said casually before turning to face me. "The same goes for you, doesn't it? You've killed so many people that if you gathered all their blood together, it would fill a swimming pool."
Without wasting a moment, I stood up and gathered my groceries—this was all bullocks. He'd made up the story about having information on Red just to get me interested and make me sit next to him so he could humiliate me.
But… what if he really does have information? And all this is just a test? If I leave here, I might lose valuable information about Red; the distance between us might just grow even wider.
These mixed feelings are really tormenting me; I don't know what to do, or what Red will do right now… What will Red do right now? In that very moment, my eyes returned to Admetus; he was the mad homeless man whom Red admired. He'd told me that the reason she admired him was because she felt at rest when chatting with him; she'd said that Admetus was the father figure she'd always dreamed of.
I paused for a moment before clenching my fist, then reached into my shopping bag, grabbed an apple and hurled it as hard as I could at Admetus. The apple hit the wall and got slightly bruised; what's more, it had rolled along the pavement, so it was now covered in germs. Yet Admetus nonchalantly picked up the apple and took a bite—I was stunned before finally giving in too.
I took out both my earplugs and threw them onto the road; I sat back down next to Admetus and placed the paper bag beside me before taking another apple and eating it. People looked at me oddly, but I didn't care now; I didn't mind being labelled "weird" because, from the start, I'd always been a bit odd.
I'm the sort of crazy person who takes on dangerous missions and ends up losing my friends, even though I could easily have worked as a restaurant waiter or done some other normal job—but I didn't choose that path and instead put myself and my friends in danger.
I really am weird.
The apple in my hand fell as I lost my appetite for it; I hugged my knees, my head bowed. I can't… I try to be like Red, who doesn't think about others… but every time a word belittles me, I immediately feel as though my heart is being pierced by a needle. I miss Red so much that I try to imitate her, but I'm not her… that's why I need her now.
"Red has a twin."
Those words instantly snapped my head round and made me look towards Admetus, whose lips had uttered them. The words echoed in my head for quite a while; when I finally managed to pull myself together and close my gaping mouth, I asked straight away. "What do you mean?"
Admetus leaned against the wall before explaining, "A week ago I met a girl who looked exactly like her, but when I asked her about it, she said that Red was her twin sister." Hearing that, I was completely taken aback because, up until now, Red had never mentioned having a twin.
"Her personality is actually very different from Red's; she's more cheerful, almost always smiling—basically the complete opposite of the Red we know," Admetus said, tossing the apple core in his hand into the bin before continuing, "She said the relationship between Red and their father wasn't good. When Red returned to her family home, she chatted briefly with her sister before their father saw them and sent her away."
"I didn't get the chance to ask the girl's name because I'd already been thrown out by the authorities, but one thing's for sure—Red is still alive and out there." After he'd finished his story, I was at a loss as to how to process all this information in such a short space of time.
The world seemed to stop and then regain its colour as before—too colourful, in fact; I even saw colours I'd never seen before—this was probably the effect of my madness and happiness mingling.
I only took one paper bag lying on the sidewalk and stood up straight away. "Just take that one," I said, and that took Admetus a little by surprise; a smile returned to my face as my heart raced with happiness.
"I hope we can have a chat again sometime," I never imagined that one day I'd exchange smiles with Admetus, but perhaps it's only natural for two mad people to understand one another.
I turned around and ran as fast as I could; I found a red telephone box, stepped inside, inserted a coin, and began dialling the number I wanted to call. Once the call went through, I said straight away, "Robin, it's me, Alice. How are you?"
A voice came through the speaker: "As good as new. How about you?" He's the only person I trust enough right now; even though he used to be our enemy, he proved himself by saving Red, and that's enough to make me trust him.
"Better than before," I replied. I couldn't say I was good because my mind wasn't quite that sound yet. "Can you come round to my house? There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
"Say less," he said, and I hung up. I stepped out of the phone box and ran home. When I opened the door, my eyes widened in shock at the sight of my house in such a mess; I'd been too out of it to realise my room was in such a state.
"I've got to clean up before he arrives."
"Yes, you really must clean it up," said a voice that sounded familiar to me. When I turned round, I saw a man with ginger hair, and his dark eyes met my blue ones—I should have remembered that he was as fast as Red.