WHO: Francis Taylor WHEN: After this WHERE: Her room then where the others are WHAT: Scotty's death reaches her via Sandy's psychic link. WARNINGS: Pain and emotions STATUS: Narrative, complete
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Everyone went through life with that, “Oh that would never happen to me,” sort of thinking. Most of the time it was unconscious, sticking around somewhere in the back of your mind, deep below the surface. You would never think anything too traumatic or too permanent could ever happen to your and yours. Bad things happened, yeah, but you climbed over that obstacle. The bad things were never too bad.
That’s where everyone was wrong. Anything could happen to anyone at any given time. No one was safe from the cruelty of life and the Outsiders were never the exception.
No one knew what today was going to be like. Everyone woke up like they usually did and went about their typical routine being none the wiser. Frankie was among the everyone. Her routine had shifted a little ever since she was given her therapy pup that she had the responsibility of taking care of. A little cocker spaniel by the name of Lady. It seemed a little cliche for her tastes but grew to like the name as the hours were spent with the puppy. It filled her time and it made her focus on something else.
Frankie was in her room, rolling a ball and watched Lady happily run after it. “Okay, bring it back,” she encouraged. Frankie’s voice had been light and soft.
That’s when it seeped in, trickling through broken cracks of her mind. It had her frozen in place, unmoving, and uncertain as to why she suddenly felt the heavy weight of dread sit on her heart.
Seconds were quick, but this was quicker.
A searing pain speared through her head, the pain was immense and Frankie didn’t have the air to scream. Her vision blurred before she became blinded by the pain that kept crashing through her head in waves. Frankie clutched her head unknowingly, her bones were shifting, ripping through her skin at an alarming rate. That pain, those growing pains, were overshadowed by inexplicable pain that exploded in her head.
Lady was still there, whining and crying. Her little paws swatting at Frankie’s leg had gone unnoticed.
Time passed, but Frankie didn’t know just how much time had gone by. She lay on the floor, curled up in a nice and tight ball and waited for the pain to go away. Frankie was crying, crying so loud and ugly. Openly weeping, body trembling with each hitched breath.
Scotty was gone.
Frankie didn’t want to believe it.
But Sandy’s psychic link told no lies, no matter how much she wanted it to be. Through flared nostrils, she sucked in a breath and willed herself to sit up. Lady was there, sitting in front of her now, her big puppy eyes watching her. Frankie’s lip trembled and leaned over to scoop up the puppy. That’s when she noticed herself, noticed the ivory sitting jagged and lumpy all over her.
“I got this,” Frankie managed to choke out, her throat felt crushed.
She carefully wrapped Lady up in blanket before pulling the puppy close to her chest. “Shhh. Shhh.” Frankie didn’t know if she was trying to calm the dog, who was already calm, or herself. A hammer was still pounding away at her skull, but not enough to keep her on the ground. Not enough to keep her from seeking out the ones she held close to her heart.