Maddi had abruptly left the cafe leaving the silver haired girl alone and confused. From their previous interactions all she had learned was a name, but what good was knowing her name if she was unable to shout out after her? She didn’t even know what she would say if she could, and so she could only watch her leave.

A name. 

Bee.

Thinking back to earlier, Maddi had called her Bee. Did this mean that Bee was her name? Could it be a nickname? There was no sense of familiarity with it, and it didn’t trigger anything in her memory to help with the sudden amnesia.

But it was all she had now, so she acquiesced to it. With this she at least had a name, but in gaining one thing she lost the only person who could help her with her memory loss.

Bee decided that she needed to get her potential savior back.

Rushing out of the cafe Bee tried to recall which direction Maddi had run off to. Uncertain, she decided to simply run to her left, towards the setting sun. She began chasing after her sun, hoping to find her.

Golden locks turned the corner ahead, she had chosen correctly! Without thinking she opened her mouth to shout out to Maddi, only to again be met with the inability to speak.

The only sound that could be heard was the ‘click-clack’ of her heels on the pavement as she rushed to cross the street, desperately trying to catch up to the other girl.

Before she knew it she had lost her again. Standing at the street corner, Bee circled around herself wondering which way Maddi could have gone.

Why was this city so big?! The slowly setting sun was reflected on the building windows surrounding her, a sharp glare assaulted her golden eyes causing her to squint. As she raised her hand to block the light she glanced upwards and saw her.

She caught sight of Maddi again. 

Just like the sun she was raised above her at this moment, her body perched on the outer edge of the pedestrian bridge railing. Her hands were tightly gripping the rails behind her, and her soft smile was instantly directed downwards towards Bee. 

The golden halo of the setting sun was behind her, a beautiful warm ray of light in this somber scene.

Seeing the sad smile on the sun, Bee didn’t hesitate to rush up the stairs. Cold sweat ran down her back as she rushed towards Maddi, desperate to bring her back safely.

She was too late.

Bee reached the final step and turned to rush towards Maddi. But she was too far, the bridge was too long, it was as though everything was keeping them apart at this moment.

She never even had a chance to reach her. The moment she reached the top of the stairs Maddi had calmly let go of her grip on the thin bars. Her legs kept propelling her forward, running to the center of the bridge. Maybe, she thought, maybe she could still reach her. Maybe she could still save her and undo all this.

She collapsed at the place where her sun had fallen. Her shoes were barely holding on, the thin black ankle straps the only thing keeping them attached to her body as they slipped off during her run. One of the heels had even broken off at some point, lost to the pavement. Previously pristine white socks were now torn, leaving her feet to be scattered with small cuts.

Bee didn’t even realize that she had been crying. Tears were streaming down her now blotchy red face. Her long wavy hair was tangled in knots, with pieces stuck to her sweaty and tear filled cheeks.

She looked a complete mess. 

None of that mattered to her though. All she cared about was reaching Maddi. Bee couldn’t accept this ugly ending where this seemingly sweet girl would just become food for the flies. 

A part of her also knew that she was being selfish. She didn’t want to admit it, but she knew that she needed Maddi. Her memory was gone. There was no knowledge of herself, this city, or anything. Bee needed the other girl to help her. 

Her arms reached through the metal bars, extending her hands downwards towards the girl she had already lost. It was all in vain though.

As she finally looked down past her extended fingers all she saw was red.

It wasn’t the red she had expected to see though. She wasn’t looking upon the stain on the street below that would forever be embedded into the asphalt. No, it was another window prompt.

A bright red SELECTION was looming in front of her fingers, nearly brushing the tips of her nails. The ‘ding’ of the pop-up when it had appeared had been missed as it overlapped with the ‘pang’ of her knees scraping the metal bridge when she roughly collapsed. 

Seeing how close her hands were to the ominous box she yanked them back to her body, her wrists painfully slamming into the metal bars in her haste. She didn’t even notice the pain or the red swelling of her small wrist bone, she was too afraid of selecting the wrong choice again.

She couldn’t be near this window or its glowing fuchsia butterflies.

Backing up, she began to shift her body further away from the floating box. She silently winced in pain as her body reminded her of its various injuries. Her shoulder was likely sprained from overstretching it, her wrists both now bruised, her feet littered with small bloody cuts, and her lungs ready to give out from the overexertion.

Bee’s heart was beating quickly, and the metallic taste of blood was lingering in her mouth as she hunched away from the window that was now floating upward and getting closer to her yet again. 

Butterfly-like lights flickered about violently, seeming to be urging her to quickly make a choice. 

Wide eyes stared at the SELECTION.

No, that can’t be right. She was sure of it. How could this be a SELECTION? There weren’t any options! 

Unlike the previous box that had two clear choices, there was only a single option for her in this window.

[FOLLOW HER]

The angry pop-up continued to radiate in front of her face like lava ready to burst. Wings fluttered around the box, leading her eyes to focus on the single option presented, urging her to act.

Follow her? Follow who? Maddi? But Maddi had…

She froze. Could this mean the selection was telling her to literally follow Maddi? Was this single option truly giving her no choice in the matter? Did the red screen want to send her to her death?

Bee continued to scoot away from the hovering box. ‘Pang!’ Cold bars hit her shoulder blades as she ran out of space to run. Turning and clasping the railing behind her she decided she would simply ignore the window. It hadn’t done anything yet, it seemed like it needed her to make a choice before it could act. 

If I don’t select anything then nothing will happen! Out of sight, out of mind. 

She hoped that it would get sick of following her and just disappear again. 

Using the railing to help herself up, she slowly rose to her feet. Her ankles were now so swollen that she needed to remove what was left of her shoes. She undid the clasp on her heeled sandals and tossed them to the side, her tattered, thin socks now the only thing left to protect her poor soles. 

The scrapes on her feet and knees had stopped bleeding, but the vibrant colors of the bruises now formed were a harsh contrast on her colorless legs. 

No longer fueled by adrenaline, she was exhausted and ready to crash at any moment. She felt like a walking corpse as she dragged her sorry-self to the opposite stairway, not daring to look back at the glowing screen she left behind.

It’s not real. This isn’t real. This can’t be real. She kept repeating the words over and over in her head as though she was praying to some unknown deity to make it all go away. Bee slowly made her way through the unfamiliar streets. Her silver hair was swaying behind her, now dyed red at the tips from the fluttering wings that quietly kept pace with her messy figure.

They continued to follow.

Stepping down from the sidewalk, her ankle sprained and she stumbled down onto the street. All her strength had given out, she had no more left to give at this moment. Bee’s legs refused to rise again, her muscles all twitching in severe exhaustion as she was sprawled on the ground in pain.

The selection screen radiated in front of her face and she could sense it mocking her pointless struggle.

It all happened so quickly. 

‘HONK! HONK!’ The deep goose honk of oncoming traffic came in repetition. Rather than stopping, the truck simply continued to announce its arrival as it sped up the road towards her. The butterfly-like creatures couldn’t wait any longer and pulled her weightless hand up, raising it towards their goal.

She couldn’t fight them. Her energy was completely depleted and her spirit was crushed as she watched them force this upon her. All she could do was watch in silence.

It all happened so quickly. The impact came as expected. It had made her selection for her, and she would FOLLOW HER as it so desired. 

This was the end. For her, and for Maddi.