Frank Longbottom is going to kill the doctor. (perfectlyfrank) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-09-25 23:59:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | - 1980/09 september, frank longbottom |
Who: Frank Longbottom.
When: 25 September 1980; evening.
Where: Longbottom Cottage.
What: Frank is done listening.
Rating: VS for VERY SAD.
Status: Completed narrative.
For the past seven days, Frank Longbottom had a very strict schedule. Wake up after sleeping a handful of hours, check the receiver, make breakfast, go to work, come home, read transcripts, listen to the receiver, and then go to bed so he could start the process over again. Frank had heard awful things over the course of his days but nothing could compare to what he was forcing himself to listen to that night. Dorcas had given over all the Orders secrets, given up her friends, and said things so out of character for her, all at the spearhead of Yaxley's mindfuckery. He'd stolen her memories and broken her, the strongest young woman that Frank had ever known. It broke his heart to hear her say the things she'd said, knowing that Yaxley was winning. He sat in the darkness of the farmer's shed and the green light on the receiver threw off a sick green hue. Frank's face was cradled in his hands as he listened to every word that passed into the small stone building. Her screams, her pleas, even her one sided conversations with Fabian. It had all led up to an end that Frank had not prepared himself for. There had been a noise that he compared to a ripping sound and then seconds passed and Dorcas's screams stopped. There had been one indescribable noise that Frank had no trouble identifying and it had turned his stomach. His own retching echoed in the new found silence and then they turned to sobs as he slouched out of his chair and onto the floor of the shed. How could he have failed her when she had needed him the most. Seven days. Seven fucking days. He wasn't a vigilante or some brave leader. He was just a man who couldn't save a girl. She'd asked him to be her guiding light and he'd let her down. He'd let everyone down. He shoved his chair away from him with yell and it crashed into the wall with an unsatisfying thud. Frank stared at all the objects in the room, trying to focus his eyesight in the room with the electric green tint. His eyes fell on his beater's bat from Hogwarts and he clambered to his feet with a pathetic whimper. The bat felt good in his hands, familiar even, and he remembered his days on the pitch. Quidditch had always made him forget. It was like being in a completely different universe. He tightened his fingers around the handle and his gaze turned to the radio on his work bench. Frank gave a guttural cry and swung his arm with as much force as he could manage. The blunt object connected with the radio and bits and pieces of the electronic device flew in every direction. One swing hadn't been enough and he gave another, and then a third. The green light had gone with the first swing and now there was no light, just Frank and the darkness. It seemed fitting, he thought. He sank back into the chair that he'd thrown away moments earlier and he slouched over, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his arms. He felt pathetic for crying because men weren't supposed to cry. He was supposed to be stronger than this. Frank reached out and plucked up the speaker piece of the listening device and he flipped it over. He stared at it for a moment as his shoulders shook with a combination of a breath and a sob and then he pulled it closer to his chest. "I love you. I love you so much and I'm sorry. Fuck, I am so, so sorry. I should have been there. I should have rescued you from that place but I was too scared. I let him murder you because I was so scared that he might hurt you more if I tried to find you." His voice cracked and he clutched the speaker. "Deep down I know you don't believe all those things you said and I know the sort of person you are, Dorcas Meadowes. You are good and warm and kind. You are brave and passionate and selfless. You are everything that a person should be and I will miss you more than I can even begin to tell you. I'll keep an eye on things for you, I promise. Be good, kiddo." He brought the small speaker to his lips and then placed it back on the desk. After a long moment he rose to his feet, aware of what came next. He would handle things at home, no matter how difficult. Then he would get revenge. |