Fablehaven Oneshots

legally dead

┏━━━━━ ❁ ━━━━━┓
Set after
Keys to the Demon Prison
(No Dragonwatch)
⟢ Kendra & Seth ⟣
⟢ minor Bracken/Kendra ⟣
┗━━━━━ ❁ ━━━━━┛

The Sorenson siblings return to Rochester to pack up their old house to move. This proves to be too much for the legally dead teen and the one who watched her die.

━━━━━ ❁ ━━━━━

Trigger Warnings:
Injury, Death, Cemeteries, Derealization

━━━━━ ❁ ━━━━━

PART 1/2

It didn't bother Kendra.

It didn't.

Not the welcome to Rochester sign, not driving past the old daycare, not even her untouched room. It didn't.

No nausea welled in her stomach, her muscles didn't clench. Her hearing didn't become so muddled at her bedroom door that she couldn't hear Bracken as her breath shortened and her heart sped up—

"Here are some boxes." He dropped them at her doorway. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just didn't sleep much on the way here. You know, with the coffee." She turned around to face him and flash a smile. Hopefully his years of isolation made him bad at picking up on undertones. Her shaking hands were hidden behind her.

"Okay. Do you need help with packing up your room?"

"No," she laughed. "I'm not helpless. Seth might need some assistance though."

He smiled at her demeanor and left the hallway.

Her smile dropped and she tugged the boxes into her room before shutting the door.

Tangles caught her fingers as she ran them through her hair, sat on her bed before getting up to start emptying drawers and filling boxes. "I'm okay. I got this."

━━━━━ ❁ ━━━━━

"We need more tape? I could swing by the store and get it." Kendra patted the side of the doorway she entered.

"Kendra," Warren hesitated. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

Seth barely looked up from sorting the cutlery.

"Why not? I'll be quick," she pasted on a bright smile and dared him to break it. Anything to get out of this godforsaken house with its pink bulletin decorated with pictures of a past life, with people who think she's... who think she's—

"You're already going to go out tonight. I could send Seth."

"Seth can't drive. I'm 16."

"Right. Well, quickly."

━━━━━ ❁ ━━━━━

Minuscule cracks ran along the bathroom mirror.

"Hey! I wouldn't run your fingers around that mirror, dear, it could give you a glass splinter."

Kendra glanced over to the woman throwing her paper towels in the trash. "Thanks."

The heavy door swung shut and Kendra was left in the bathroom alone again. Warren had been overreacting. Not a single person recognized her. Why would they, anyway?