Chapter Thirteen
Carla Persephone-White had been in her long, pregnancy personalized and custom gown in order to break it in for the party they would be hosting the next night. It was long and pastel pink with little sequined stars all around. While on any other individual it would have looked like overkill, especially for something as minor as an anniversary party, on Carla, anything looked as if it belonged there.
In addition, most women could glow like the fire of a thousand torches when pregnant but none like Carla. Her hair was planned to be down and curled for the party, she liked to grow it out when her prenatal vitamins provided her the long grace of such locks, but on this night it was up in a loose bun falling gracefully over her perfect peach skin and green eyes. She didn’t need to wear much makeup to look like an angel, only a little mascara and lip gloss most days and her fresh manicure was only an emphasis on her already long, tidy nails.
To any onlooker Carla was the embodiment of a goddess; a living angel. Men of old times would have written plays about her beauty, songs dedicated to her voice and worlds traveled, battles won and hearts broken in her name. Nothing could have compared to her grace and elegance. She was much like a crystal champagne glass or chandelier; delicate, untouchable and perfect.
She pointed out the area in which the band’s instruments could be placed and where they would be performing to a crew working overtime to make sure things were as perfect as Carla was. While most had been asleep by this time of night, Carla’s pregnancy had brought on insomnia and she would not be sleeping for quite some time. This meant no one else would be either.
From the kitchen sliding door, a very nervous native Chinese nanny was emerging with very deep bags under her eyes and baby vomit all down the front of her blouse. She had been taking care of the two White children for the entire day with little to no contact from their actual mother despite having been in the same house. Considering she was there on a student visa, Ming Lin did not need the job for residency but with the rising cost of living she could not afford a job that would pay minimum wage. She also knew that putting the White’s on a resume would have gotten her any job in any hospital in the city.
However, the benefits of that reference were starting to look minuscule in comparison to the nonexistent days off, 4-5 hours of sleep maximum a night and constant character bashing from not only the children but the mother of the house.
“Dear god, Lin. If you are here to complain about something else while I am concentrating on the party I will kill you.” She didn’t turn to face the girl but the sounds she made as walked were a dead giveaway. Her sandals would drag slightly with each step, “Are the kids in bed.”
“Not yet ma’am, but I was wondering if I could possibly…”
“What?” Carla shouted grabbing her head and turning to Lin now. She was the only person on the grounds who was shorter than Carla and smaller in size. It was intimidating despite her goddess-like attraction, “What else could you possibly want from me? You are the most demanding nanny we have ever had! First it’s a day off, then it is a night. Here, you want my keys? Why not move in and start running the place?”
Tears formed in the girl’s eyes as she was shouted at. Carla looked around and had seen many of the movers and decorators were now staring. She grabbed onto Lin’s hand tightly and began to drag her across the lawn from the pool into the pool house. It was a building being renovated and covered in plastic smelling of paint and sawdust. She shut the door once inside and turned on the light. She then turned back to Lin to slap her.
“How dare you make me look like such a monster in front of those people? Do you know that I could have your visa taken from you like that?” She snapped in the girl’s face causing her to flinch. When Carla had gotten the reaction and fear she sought out for she smiled and her aura changed entirely, “Lin, sweetie, I understand that you have been under a lot of pressure. Trust me, we all have. I know it’s hard being in a new country and on top of caring for two, perfect and beautiful children you are studying to someday become a doctor. But listen, if you want what we have to offer you will do as I say. Ok?”
Lin quickly forgot why it was she had been out and raised courage to speak with the monster of the house. She went days, sometimes weeks, without speaking to Carla and it always took her that long to forget why. Bowing her head and running off quickly she pledged that someday she would be making enough money to overcome the White household. When that day came it would have been more rewarding than her graduation from med school.
Very rarely did Carla force herself to become a monster in front of others, including simple minded movers and decorators, but she knew sometimes as a pregnant woman, it was necessary. Anytime she did something morally questionable, including the belittling of a sweet nanny from China, she could easily push it onto something else. Her favorite excuse recently had become pregnancy and outside of that it was her sister.
She walked out from the pool house casually and over to her little Coach purse. Inside was an early release of the newest Apple iPhone with a little light blinking. She’d been waiting hours for Duke to reply back to her advances. It was entirely too satisfactory that the man who had devoted himself to a life with her disgusting Amazon of a sister would turn to her luscious ways despite bearing the child of another man. It was in moments like these that Carla Persephone-White knew there was nothing she could not have.
To enjoy the moment even more, Carla read over the entire conversation first before the exciting new text that had just come in.
Carla – I am so glad you gave me your number! You just seem like such a sweet guy <3
Duke – No problem babe! It’s always a pleasure to text such a fine lady as yourself ;)
Carla - *Blush*
Carla - U R just sayin’ that!
Duke – Why would I lie to you?
Carla – Sorry, I am just so used to being lied to.
Carla – Crap, I said too much. Forget all that.
Duke – What?! Who would like to u?
Carla – Maybe I am jealous someone like Francesca could get a genuine man.
Duke – Aren’t you married?
Carla – I guess you could say that.
Carla – Sigh…
Duke – It’s a shame we didn’t meet first. Fate is cruel.
Carla – Well, we know each other now… ;)
This was where the new text had come in. Excitement over her next win sent a surge of electricity throughout her body. Her sister would lose the second man she had loved. Nothing and no one would have ratted on her for her naughty behavior. Even if her little schemes were to be leaked her number could change and tears could sway any judge and jury.
Duke – Maybe we should party sometime…?
With a smile she shut the phone off. Never would she actually meet up with someone like Duke. She would toy with him for a while. Make promises, play coy at some lunch dates or at a public museum on a “date” however she wouldn’t actually do anything with a man that could feel for Frankie like Duke did. The difference between him and Aiden was that Aiden had chosen her before they were able to physically devote themselves to one another. The idea of Frankie and anyone actually becoming intimate made her sick.
The idea of her sister made Carla sick.
She sauntered into her house and up to her room where Aiden had been in the connecting bathroom brushing his teeth. While the two had shared a bed still they very rarely spoke. Carla began to change into her silk pajamas when she looked over at her greatest victory over Frankie yet. He was indeed a very handsome man, still catching the eye of nearly every woman he came in contact with, but he did little for her. Carla had always been more attracted to the chase than the kill.
As she got into bed and lay her head down onto her Egyptian cotton pillow cases, Aiden tried to cut across the room to the hall to watch television in his study until the beast was asleep. Carla had different plans.
“What did you ever see in her?” She asked with a large smile sitting up so that she could see his face over her belly; his child.
Aiden tried his best to avoid personal conversations with his wife. Nothing got under his skin more than her voice. When her eyes scanned him up and down it made him sick. He’d tried gaining too much weight. He tried losing too much weight. Nothing worked, she always had her claws in him and she always would. Had he been any other man, Carla would have dumped him off long ago. But he was Frankie’s man. He had the powerful family, the money, the reputation. But most of all, he was Frankie’s once.
“I don’t want to have this conversation again.”
Carla began to rub lotion over her arms slowly. It smelled overwhelmingly like perfume, a fashion that Aiden hated. She was always artificially improving herself and never had a day of gruff, messiness. Not even during birth would she allow herself the privilege of a disheveled appearance.
“You will have this conversation with me as many times as I like!” Carla laughed and moved the lotion to her legs, “Was it her girly mustache? Was it her manly arms? Do you enjoy the physical traits of a man, Aiden White?”
This same scene had played out before. There were times he would yell and there were times he would scream and hit or break things. The best defense was to do as Aiden did best and walk away. Instead of his usual late night watching bad television and pretending his life was different he went out to the pool and looked around at the party he would be smiling at for hours on end at while Carla told cute stories of their lives she had altered in her favor.
His heart hurt and he felt the rush of failure all over again. He couldn’t even connect to his children. They were clones of their mother and the next would have been just the same.
“Hey,” a tap on his shoulder and Aiden turned around rapidly to find Frankie standing next to him near their pool.
“What are you doing here?” He asked her out of breath and confused by her appearance. Frankie seemed very put together but quite rushed.
“I don’t have a lot of time but I needed to tell you something.”
“You don’t have a lot of time? Where are you going?” The tone in his voice indicated to Frankie he was worried. It only hurt her more to be next to him knowing something she would say could further damage his fragile emotional state. All the years of denying he was miserable had to stop and it was time to accept he still loved her as much as he always had.
“I’m not engaged. I told Carla that to distract her.” She looked over her shoulder at Charlie who had been standing next to the pool house with her arms crossed. Aiden did not recognize her but he could have also cared less.
“Duke isn’t your…”
“No, I haven’t been that close to someone since… since…” She looked down at her feet and then cleared her throat, “That’s not why I am here. There are people who are going to be looking for me. I want you to pretend you don’t know me anymore. I need you to be like Carla and hate me. I’m hoping that if they know I am gone…”
“What is going on, Fran-Fran?”
“Forget me!” She shouted.
Without thinking, Frankie touched his shoulder and pulled from him every memory he’d kept of her. Anything that the pack could touch was sucked from him and the emotion of their time together, all of it tucked away deeply into a place she was sure no one could find it, not even Aiden himself.
How she was able to touch him on the deepest level of his consciousness she had not been sure. The wild instinct inside of her seemed to have reached the gift, to this day, she had found so mysterious. Frankie watched as the man lost his balance and fell to the chair closest to him.
Once he seemed to have gone completely blank, she ran towards her friend and then together to her vehicle. Charlie drove back onto the highway. There had only been one other stop to make which was to the Devereaux house. It was going to be dangerous, that was obvious. Frankie knew her scent was soon to be found if it had not been already and Charlie was such a skilled soldier that she thought of each scenario before moving forward.
“Frankie, what is happening? I have been calling you for hours! You had me worried…”
“You and Hunter need to hide. Maybe go to your parents or…” She was cut off by Rider who was thrown into a state of shock instantly by her statement.
“Wait, what happened?”
Frankie had not yet briefed Charlie on the current events. Having been military, she simply told the ex-solider that they were a bad group of psychopaths out to harm anyone who stood in the way of recruiting her. It had gone over surprisingly well and Frankie didn’t have to explain much further.
“Just trust me.” Frankie cleared her throat, “They know about you and Hunter.”
“Come here. We can protect you.”
“No!” She shouted, “I can’t keep putting you both in danger like this.”
“Just trust me, Frankie. Hunter can help you.”
Everything inside of her wanted to run far away but she knew he was right. When she was near the boy it seemed his mind was able to protect hers. By now, the pack traced her to his parent’s home in the mountains and Rider’s home. Rider informed Charlie and Frankie that his parents had another cabin in town an hour in the other direction they could stay at to regroup.
His family was notified and mobilized themselves. Hunter and Rider managed to get to the cabin before the girls to prepare their things for the arrival.
Charlie parked the car and watched as Rider and Hunter stepped from the cabin to greet them. Her headlights blared onto them for only a moment as she shut the vehicle down.
“Ok, so these guys are sane?” She asked watching them cautiously. Frankie nodded her head causing relief to spread over Charlie, “Good, he is sexy as hell.”
Frankie blushed a little as she got out and headed over to the cabin. It should have thrilled her to be around Hunter as his mind seemed to block the ability of the pack to track them and yet realizing how much Aiden still loved her was causing a great deal of conflicting emotion inside of her. Again, she was going to be holding up somewhere she’d never been before, forced into this new world when her old one was still haunting her and conflicted.
“Who might this be?” Rider asked as he smiled to Charlie and then drew his attention back to Frankie.
“This is Charlie. Charlie this is Rider and his son Hunter.”
Charlie nodded her head to them both and shoved her way into the cabin to begin checking for possible threats. She was the only person in the group who had yet to be exposed to the mythological mess Frankie had been forced into. Instead of freaking her out and risking her life, the other three knew Charlie would just have to stay in the dark for the time being.
“So what is the plan of action here? We obviously can’t let these freaks think they can just take Frankie against her will.”
Rider shrugged. Hunter had been watching them all closely with fairly messy hair and a rather morbid look.
“Well, they won’t be able to find us here. Our scent, I mean trail, was completely masked. This cabin isn’t registered under my family’s name so it will be more than ok to stay for a while as we figure things out.”
Frankie moved herself into the common area and sat herself before a fireplace. The logs looked fresh and the cabin seemed very well kept. As they spoke she began to make a fire.
“If you need me to arrange safe stay for you at your home I can…” Charlie cut Rider off.
“I am not afraid of anything. I am sure there are things I have seen that would make you crawl under your bed in fear, lumberjack.” Charlie jumped up and sat herself on the edge of a counter and overlooked the room. Hunter had already been falling asleep on one of the recliners.
“That is just fine,” he laughed looking back at Frankie.
She had been very quiet and somewhat dizzy from everything she’d heard and learned while trapped with the X family. Their pack was ready to devour her alive. She had images in her head of what they wanted to do when she disrespected the alpha and how strongly they needed her to be the bride all at the same time.
Suddenly, Frankie was living a life that was entirely unfamiliar to her. She feared that without a solution to this illness she would forever be under the will and command of another. The feeling was awful, a small dose given to her all these years but she was at least able to think and feel as she wanted. Now, even her mind was a playground.
Smells filled the room of the burning wood mixture. Frankie watched the base of it closely, unsure of why she didn’t just crawl in and allow herself a certain death. It wasn’t until Charlie sat next to her and threw a few stray twigs in that she sat back and allowed her thoughts to drift back down to Earth.
“I didn’t mean to make you a part of this.” Frankie was guilty and furious with herself.
“Civilian life really isn’t for me. I would rather be on the front lines any day than shuffling by as a nobody.” She rolled her eyes, “I’m one of the good guys. It’s a curse.”
It didn’t take long before Charlie needed to sleep as did the rest of the house. Rider showed everyone their rooms and then went down himself. Frankie assumed she would not get much rest but despite her norm she ended up sleeping like a baby. Her body was completely relaxed and her mind had been clear. She knew she had Hunter to thank for that.
“Frankie, I need you to follow me.” The voice was not urgent and it was that of little Anna Banks once again. Frankie’s eyes fluttered open to find she was in the beautiful jungle surroundings of her mind. She was in a long, flowing green and yellow dress, very earthy much like you would find on a hippie or even a witch.
Frankie sat up and felt around on her head to find there was a ring of flowers around her hair which was loose and down flowing over her shoulders. It was long and soft and nearly reached the ground. Anna was speaking with her but her body was nowhere to be found. Only her voice was with her.
“Where are you?” Frankie asked as she stood and looked around. Beautiful flowers, of all colors and shapes, were at her feet growing wild from the rich, black Earth underneath. Her exposed feet were digging into the soft soil and sending in a relaxing sensation throughout her.
“I am here. I can’t show myself or He will only come faster. The others are all gone. I am the only one left.”
Her heart ached at the idea of these people having left her forever. Her friends, the minds of those who were so brilliant. It was harder to wonder where they were trapped now.
Frankie walked into the jungle brush a few steps before an inner directional sense told her to turn around and head the opposing way. She wasn’t sure what north or south was as there were three different sized suns heading in different directions at incredible speeds. Everything around her was so fresh and so pure and yet completely foreign.
Unlike the instinct that came from her werewolf bite, Frankie’s body was now pulling her in the direction of her destination like a magnetic pull. She had control of herself but she knew where she was needed and she must get there in a rush. Anna was with her and only for a short time.
On and on, leaves patting at her body and rocks moving from her path as a clear trail was formed, Frankie surged through the forest. Her heart was beating at the pace of her feet hitting the foliage. Her speed was not amplified or supernatural. It was passionate.
It wasn’t until her heart skipped a beat did she stop and turn to the vast mountain that stood before her, toes at cliffs edge with a rushing waterfall to her right. The sound was loud and demanding but tamed at her will as she searched the area for any indication that this was where she needed to be. At first there was nothing. Her world was beautiful and at peace. There were few clouds in the sky, a light wind and untainted jungle for days and days off in the horizon.
Something was coming near her. She wasn’t sure of what it was or why it was there inside of her mind but it was not Anna. Anna had been far away by now. She brought Frankie here but did not tell her why. Now she was fending for herself in a strange and yet beautiful world with nothing but her trust leading her.
Twigs breaking behind her caused her body to turn swiftly as she was confronted by a dark entity. It was neutral in feeling and dark. The face was pale but she couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. The hair was long and dark forming into the black fog surrounding it. Its nose was also long and pointed, thin lips and an aged look about its paper white face created the haunting face.
Around them, trees and plants were beginning to wilt and die. It didn’t take long for this thing to make its presence known.
“Who are you?”
“I think you know that.” He retorted quickly. Frankie stepped back several feet until the ends of her heels were at the cliff’s edge. Easily, it could have attacked her and had the advantage but nothing about him had given off the impression he wanted to. While he was frightening in appearance, something seemed to have been less than intimidating about his presence there. He just… was.
“Why have you taken all of them?” She wanted to curse at him, maybe even attack but it was most definitely too powerful for her. The ability for it to consume souls hidden safely in her mind was enough to put a leash on her outbursts of rage and defiance.
Before speaking, He stepped back and exposed a bushel of flowers which had yet to have passed. They were bright white and pink in color with a thorned purple stem and leaves. At the base, a small animal resembling a mix of a thin dragon and a cat had been quivering, trying to escape the death now surrounding it.
Frankie wanted to jump for the animal and protect it. After all, it was her mind which made this her world. She had a sense of urgency to protect it and still his neutral nature and lack of intimidation was cause for her to retreat.
“Why? is not the proper question, my dear. I do believe you should be asking Who?” The entity appeared behind Frankie in a flash. She turned, careful not to fall, to find it had been hovering on a black cloud of smoke over the air with nearly a hundred feet of rock and cold water below, “Who I am makes up why I am here. It’s just a matter of knowing.”
His riddles caused a surge of agitation. He was making the waters black as the skies started to cloud ahead of her. No longer was there a cool breeze in a hot and humid jumbled but a cold, stale air all around her. Frankie crossed her arms over her chest and stood firm on her ground.
“Who are you, then?”
As she suspected, he didn’t answer. He smiled but didn’t spout a word. Sounds of thunder and a rapid rolling wind in the distance distracted Frankie only for a moment, enough for the entity to appear directly next to her. Fright surged through her body and she swallowed hard. In here, she wasn’t a wolf and had none of the instincts of one. In here, she was just Frankie, in control of her own world.
She said that over a few times and then mouthed it with her lips.
“In control of my own world…”
“I need you to come with me. I need you to want it.”
“Why would I do that?” She snapped looking directly into the blackness of his being. She was sure he could not tell that the ground below them was beginning to spider web like broken glass.
“All these mere minds have taken advantage of what has been placed before them. Soon you will see that you are meant for greater things.”
“And because of that you are killing off my friends?”
He laughed slightly stepping away from the web cracks below him. Easily he did see her ploy to consume him into the ground below. The ground dipped in and a black, fiery pit was waiting below. He looked down, impressed by the trap and snapped to quickly rid himself of the nuisance.
“You think these… things are your friends? You must really have no idea.”
No idea. Frankie hadn’t had an idea about anything in a long time. She was learning and taking things in. A thought of something that truly dealt with her and the secrets and friends she kept locked tightly away was by far the most baffling question left.
She was shocked to find that as he moved again, Charlie was sitting in a chair, taped up and knocked out. Her skin was as gray as ash fell and clothing was torn. Blood was pouring down her ears and onto her neck and shoulders as well. Frankie tried to charge the entity which only forced her back with his will and smiled down at his little prize.
“Let her go!” Frankie shouted standing and attempting again to reach her. This time, the push threw her off the cliff and her body began to plunge to the rocky, cold water below the falls.
This is my world. This is my world!
Opening her eyes, she was standing before him again. He was impressed and not surprised. Charlie looked as if she was having the life sucked from her. This thing didn’t have any care for her or her soul. How she even got there, Frankie couldn’t possibly know. It wasn’t until her silence took over that He spoke again.
“Just because someone claims they are normal or sane, even gives off that impression, it does not mean they are not a prisoner of their own mind. These… mortals. These things! They are nothing. They trap themselves inside of their own torment and live day to day with it.”
“What do you mean? That she did this to herself?” Frankie was appalled at the accusation
This time, as she charged towards Charlie, Frankie realized each step took her into the unconscious mind of her friend Charlie. This mysterious girl seemed to have been holding a great darkness inside of her. The world around her faded to a deep midnight. From the smells of sweet tropics came burnt flesh and blood that caused Frankie’s exposed feet to sink into her ankles.
She turned to run away but somehow He had transformed her world into Charlie’s. Frankie rushed to her friend and ripped the tape from her dry, cracked lips. Her eyes were so black and swollen she couldn’t see into the brown of them.
Frankie knew He would be coming close. She also knew this was part of his game. She’d never been in such a dark work, not since the final visit to Anna Banks before her passing. The minds of those crazy or lost, confused and alone, they were normally a reality based on the way the world should have been, at least in their eyes. They hallucinated and might not have let go of the innocence of imagination despite their troubles or disabilities. It was the same for children.
But this was different. Charlie was a normal functioning person in society. She’d had a past and rational thought. In her life, the things which had occurred were dark and she had secrets. She did not store wishes and dreams away like the others to create a jolly world. She hid away darkness, despair and bad, horrible memories. Her world was a perfect reflection of that. In the dark, over a series of hills, explosions were going off. There were screams and gun shots yards away.
“Charlie, you need to stand. You need to come with me!”
“What are you doing here?” Charlie snapped as she pulled away from Frankie’s grasp, “You don’t belong here. Why are you here?”
It was a long story she was unwilling to go into. Against her will, she took Charlie’s arm and threw it over her shoulder hoisting her torso up and from the chair. As she stood it melted into blood like the river of it blow them. While this was Charlie’s world, somehow they were also inside of hers. She headed back to where her steps had been originally as the sounds of birds caught her ear.
The girls continued to walk as they were at the grassy steps before the cliff at her waterfall. He was no longer there. It was a test of her weakness to people unlike her, whatever that was. He was playing games and she was giving in. But Frankie also didn’t care. Charlie needed her help and she was going to give it.
“What is this? I don’t remember this?”
Frankie sat Charlie down in a soft, leafy area and supported her head. Her arms and torso were much thinner than they were in the real world. She looked like she had been starved for days. It seemed this Charlie was more aware of their surroundings than she thought.
“What do you remember last?”
“I was at the cabin!” Charlie shouted and then continued to cough, blood coming down her lip. Frankie wiped it away and provided her a small cup with water. She instructed her to drink slowly but Charlie didn’t listen and chugged it down, “I remember Rider and… and that kid. Why am I in the damn rainforest?”
Frankie looked around and then took in a deep breath. It didn’t seem this was a perfect setting for exposing herself, yet again, and so in her delusion she would take advantage of ignorance.
“Just relax, I will explain everything later. Was everyone ok when you saw them last, Rider and Hunter I mean?”
Charlie continued to drink from the endless cup of water until she had to come up for breath. She seemed to gain color again as her body reformed into its normal self. From her lip her piercing came back and her tattoos even reformed. She was moving forward from the past memory she was trapped in.
“I think so. I mean, I don’t know. My head hurts. I think someone knocked me out.”
Frankie wanted to move forward with asking about why her world was so dark but stopped herself. She scanned the surrounding areas as the plants and dead area had come back to life. The peace was back, even if only for a short time.
“It might have been one of the men who were after me.”
“From that cult?” Charlie asked trying to stand. She realized it would not work and she only tumbled over further. Frankie did not try and stop her as Charlie was a force even in this condition.
“You could say that.”
Her friend was not amused. She watched Frankie closely and did her best to stand again. With the help of a boulder behind her fluff of leaves she managed to sit up and look around at the exotic terrain only needed explanation more desperately.
“Baby steps,” Frankie said to herself, “Baby steps.”
“Excuse me?”
“Those things are a pack.” Frankie forced it out and looked away. There was a silence followed by Charlie coughing up a small bit of blood from her throat.
“A pack? What the hell are you talking about? Seriously, where are we?”
Before she could continue on, the screams of a child began to echo through the beautiful valley in Frankie’s mind. The women both looked forward past the river and fountains in the thick and colorful brush of jungle.
“Anna!” Frankie shouted as she changed herself from a long, elegant dress into her white scrubs once more. It seemed these were the best representation of her responsible and protective side.
“Come on, we have to help her. I would say the sound came from about two miles…” Charlie looked into the sky and realized she had been thrown off by multiple suns. Instead of asking questions she turned to Frankie and tilted her head, “I may have a concussion.”
“Maybe, come on. Follow me!”
Everything around them seemed to blur as they ran past animals and trees. Frankie lead the way to the sounds of distress as Charlie followed closely behind. Frankie found it fascinating, despite the odd situation, her friend found herself in that the instinct to help another person came first above all else.
The sound seemed to get louder and louder the closer they came until it had finally stopped. Both women continued on in hopes she would still be at the source of the cries and yet when they reached an opening in the trees, a circular opening with nothing in the center but black dirt was all that had been left for them to find.
“Damn it! Where did she go?” Frankie screamed running to the center. There were two little feet marks in the ground, still fresh where she had obviously been standing accompanied by only the messed dirty surrounding them.
“Where could she have gone?”
“He took her.”
Charlie gazed at Frankie strangely for a moment before crossing her arms over her chest. A cool wind blew over the scene and it wasn’t long before the dirt was just another spot on the large exposed ground.
“What’s going on? Am I dreaming?” Charlie asked.
Frankie shrugged and laughed. It had been ironic the question but she knew of only one way to answer. And that was with the truth.
“Yes, this is all a dream.