text: Celeste She was sleeping, sleeping in her mind. She was alone. No one loved her, no one knew she existed. All she had were the stars. Celeste sat on the cliff, overlooking the ocean. The waves were pounding against the rocks, frothing up like spittle. She pretended the cliff was hers, that it was hidden by the scraggly trees. But it wasn’t her own. Sometimes she saw the grass matted down by footsteps. Or saw a glimpse of russet hair. Celeste wanted to see who the fascinating russet hair belonged to. She had pale blonde hair the precise color of cream, and she wore it long. Celeste glanced up and inhaled the smell of salt. The smell reminded her of the way her mother smelled. Celeste was young, in her teens, but she was alone. Her family was gone. And the only memory she had of the way her mother was was the vague smell of salt, and a smiling face. She was safe here. They wouldn’t find her here. Like they found the rest of her loved ones. Celeste couldn’t stop seeing the red rain, the way it splattered on the tiles of her home. Celeste lost herself in the stars, her only escape. Her crimson dress flowed out around her, thick and velvety. Leonardo Nobody notices him. They all think he’s ugly. He wishes he had someone to talk to. Leonardo hovered at the treeline, staring at the ethereal figure on the cliff. He’d seen glimpses of her every now and then. She was so beautiful, and she’d never notice him. Leonardo took off his sneakers and crept over to her, the soft grass not making a single noise. She almost looked like a dream, but she was real. Her sloping nose and high cheekbones. Leonardo worked up the nerve to say “Hello.” Celeste Is it them? Are they here for me? Will I become the red rain? Celeste turned to look, and it was a short, russet-haired boy. He looked around her age. “Who are you?” she said, words spilling out of her mouth faster then she could fathom. “Leonardo.” the boy whispered. Celeste sat up, poised to run. The boy was cute, but she knew enough not to trust appearances. “Who are you?” Leonardo’s voice startled her. “My name is Celeste.” she said, running a hand in the grass. Without another sound, she ran away. Leonardo Of course. She ran away. He was ugly, with his ugly hair and all that. Why would such a beautiful girl look at him? Celeste was beautiful, with that thick blonde hair and elfish features. One thing stumped him. It was 2018, who wore those types of clothes and talked like that? He wondered if she had been born in the wrong time period. It was amazing how fast Celeste ran, one second she was there in the inky blackness, and the next she was disappearing into the woods. Leonardo fell asleep there, as he often did, and woke up just before dawn. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, looking at the translucent blue horizon that signaled the sun was waiting to come up. A shift in the sand. Leonardo felt a presence behind him. He turned around, expecting to see Celeste and instead seeing a hooded black figure. Multiple hooded black figures. There were about six. One of them held out a long, curved knife. “Hello there sir.” he said coldly, taking a step towards Leonardo. Leonardo wanted to scream, but he was afraid. Suddenly a white blur in the treeline caught his eye. Celeste. Celeste They are here. Those who stilled her loved one’s hands. Made their eyes unseeing. Splattered the floors with bright red rain. The Mafia. Celeste didn’t know how she escaped. She remembered her lover telling her to run. Celeste closed her eyes briefly. She remembered her pushing Celeste towards the window. Her round green eyes were terrified. Celeste knew she didn’t know why they were being targeted. The girl with the green eyes wasn’t her first love, but her first kiss, her first girlfriend. Celeste opened her eyes. She saw Leonardo on the grass, his hair ruffled. She couldn’t tell anyone how she feeled. It wasn’t safe. But they already knew. They already knew she watched him. She had to run. “No.” Celeste whispered. She had to save him. She stepped out silently, walking towards them. She knew underneath they wore bright red lipstick, the precise color of blood. Red rain. Regardless of their gender. In an instant, one of them grabbed Leonardo. “NO!” she yelled, grabbing the one who held him. “Let him go, I beg! Please, he is as innocent as the stars!” Another grabbed her around the waist. Leonardo turned to stare and struggled harder. The one holding Celeste said “Ah, but the stars are not so innocent, are they? They see everything, even when we can’t see them, when the sun clouds them from view.” He held a knife to her throat and pulled off his mask. Leonardo He can’t let them hurt her. They could’ve been friends, if they’d had more time. The man was ugly, with a gold tooth and a broad face. He had stubble on his chin. And his lips were a striking red, the color of a rose. He talked in the same way Celeste did. Suddenly, he heard a soft patter-patter . A horse made entirely of clouds erupted from the north of the sky and cantered towards them. It was beautiful, the most beautiful thing Leonardo had ever seen. Besides Celeste. The thought surprised him. But he knew it to be true. The horse, who Celeste called out to as “Utara!” Utara whinnied and rushed towards the attackers. They dispersed and ran, dropping them both to the ground. The horse merged back with the sky. Celeste lay motionless in the grass, and Leonardo hurried over to her. Her face was pale, motionless. Her lips were cracked, and she stared up at Leonardo. “Those were the ones who killed everyone I loved. I’ve traveled through time to reach here, to where I thought was safe.” she explained, pulling a canteen from her thick dress. It was gold today, and yesterday it had been a deep crimson. She drank from it and sat up. “Energy draught.” she explained. “Can I help you? Bring them down?” Leonardo asked, sitting next to her. She smiled, kissing his cheek. “Yes. I think you can, friend.”