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Alex was scared the tattoos would hurt. He knew that artificial tattoos were painful, his mom told him how artificial tattoos work when he has asked about the tiny winged heart on her hip. He was scared to ask if the other tattoos hurt.
Starting around the age of fifteen, tattoos would appear on people's bodies, ones that would hold significance towards their passions and their future. Some people got their tattoos as early as ten. Some only got one or two markings while others tattoos all over.
Alex got his first tattoo when he was fifteen, a video camera with the red "recording" light on. It felt like a bug bite on his wrist, just a small sharp pain, but when he looked down to check, all that was there was his new tattoo. He excitedly showed his parents and his friends, and reveled in the congratulations and attention that he received. He'd already loved filmmaking, he'd recorded skits with his cousins when they were younger, so maybe this meant he'd go on and be successful in filmmaking. He could make the action movies he loved to watch with his friends. Alex was excited about what the future held, he was ready for his name to be on the silver screen now.
His second tattoo came at eighteen. He kept it to himself, knowing better than to flaunt this one around. It was his secret, until the night of a party with the cast of his newest film, Marble Hornets.
Everyone from the film was at his house, including his cameraman Seth and his script supervisor, Jay. The three main actors, Tim, Sarah, and Brian, were in the kitchen and laughing about something Brian was saying. Alex lived in a duplex and was good friends with his neighbor Jessica, so she had been invited too. She showed up a little late with another girl, one with blonde hair and a round nose and pretty lips that always seemed to be curved in a smile. She joined the conversation in the kitchen, recognizing Brian from a class they had together, while Jessica chatted with Alex and explained that her friend was Amy Walters, and they had known each other since middle school. Alex nodded and looked to Amy, still smiling. Before he caught her attention, though, Seth and Brian both brought out a few cases of beer from the fridge and announced that it was time to really start the party.
Sometime in the earlier morning hours, when most of them were too drunk to drive home so they'd stayed at Alex's, the group was crashed around the living room, discussing their tattoos. Brian showed off a string of numbers across his wrist, and said that he didn't know what they were for and that they had only appeared a few weeks ago. Sarah displayed intricately woven vines, seemingly growing between her shoulders. Tim had a bluejay in flight on his hip. Alex showed off the camera on his wrist ("that's why I'm directing the project", he joked) and, in a moment of bravery, peeled his shirt off to show the gun on his shoulder blade. "I don't really show it off. I mean, it's generally not good when guns are apparently a big part of your future," he said. "Maybe it has to do with a movie?" Jessica suggested. "Maybe," Alex said. "I guess we'll find out someday. Hey Amy, can you hand me my drink?"
"Sure thing," she grinned, passing him an almost-empty bottle.
Whatever was left in the bottle spilled to the floor when Amy's fingers brushed against Alex's, and red erupted across both of their hands. They recoiled a little in shock and stared at each other as the color wove across their fingers and took shape. The room was dead silent as the tattoo finally settled into place, becoming a detailed red yarn, appearing to drape across their hand and tie around their ring fingers. They stared at each other in a stunned silence, before Brian leaned in and picked up the bottle that they had dropped, and decided to break the silence.
"You two are lucky as hell," he said. "I always thought that sort of thing was just a rumor." Tim nodded in agreement beside him.
"Wh.... What are you talking about?" Alex asked. Amy looked as confused as he was.
"The red string of fate? That old myth or whatever?"
Apparently, Tim and Brian were the only ones who had heard of it, because everyone else seemed confused. "There's a legend that if two people are soulmates, a red string appears and connects them together. And I think that's what your new tattoo's supposed to be. The red string of fate."
Alex examined his hand, and then took Amy's and looked at hers. She was blushing, and Alex could feel that he was too.
"Soulmates, huh?" Amy said quietly. Alex nodded. He looked up and caught Amy's eyes. They stared at each other, grinning, as if their drunk friend's weren't seated around them.
"Soooo," Seth slurred, the alcohol in his tone obvious, "do we, like, stick 'em in a closet for seven minutes in heaven now?"
Sarah jokingly punched his arm. "C'mon Seth, they're soulmates. They need at least ten."