When Feral Kids meet Runaways

Chapter Six = Scars And Sleepover

Trigger/Content Warning: mentions of blood, pain, scars.

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Brianne had decided that she was going back to Natali's – with or without Katy and her friend. So, the older girls found themselves back at Natali's against their wishes. They couldn't just leave Brianne. Natali, Oki and Brianne were sitting in the downstairs bathroom. Natali was in shock. This poor girl had been through too much. 

"We're going to have to clean this, okay?" she told Brianne. 

The wounds were already becoming infected, the skin around them was red and with yellow scabs weeping a cloudy yellow junk. She could tell and this would be painful. The chances of it healing on its own were very slim. 

"O-okay," Brianne whispered. She too knew it was going to hurt. 

Natali grabbed a bowl of hot water and added disinfectant. She dipped a cotton cloth into the water and wrung it out. 

The cloth barely touched her back before Brianne cried out. Her back arched trying to escape the new burn. She scratched her nails against the linoleum flooring. 

"Hey… Hey," Oki tried to sooth her, and gently took her hands. "It's okay….  It's gonna be okay."

Brianne whimpered, closing her eyes and biting her lip. 

Tears pricked in the corner of Natali's eyes too. When she thought about the immense pain that Brianne was surely feeling all she felt was rage. That was an emotion she didn't feel very often.

The skin on the young girls back,, was marred by old scars, suggesting this wasn't the first time it had happened. Worse perhaps, was the new wounds that had begun to scab over. Many had split and were bleeding. Natali found it unnerving how much they looked like lacerations. 

Natali cleaned away the blood as gently as she could while Brianne held tightly to Oki's hands. Natali's breath caught in her throat, beneath the blood and dried pus, a series of pale pink circular scars were splattered across her lower back. "B-Brianne?" She whispered, "how did this happen?" 

"I- I'd rather not say…"

"It's part of why you were running away, isn't it?" Milli piped from the doorway. 

"Yeah. Cause and effect I guess…" Brianne murmured. 

"What were you running away from?" 

"That's… kind of the same answer…" Brianne then added. "I'm sorry, but… I can't say anything Katy wouldn't like it." 

"Is it Katy who did this?" Natali gasped, she didn't know any of the trio but Katy hadn't seemed like she would ever hurt them. 

"No! No, she…  She would never."

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Brianne had allowed Natali's to carefully use a bandage to protect the weeping wounds. Milli had given her a top to wear since the rest of her stuff was still at the cave. 

Kitty admitted that out of the three girls she was the only one in any condition to be traveling. At this Natali had asked Katy if everything was okay with her. Katy had confirmed that her back too got sore sometimes. 

Only hers was different. 

Natali knew because she had offered to help clean Katy's as well.

"That won't be necessary," Katy had told her. "Mine doesn't require cleaning…" 

But she relented enough to let Natali check.

She was battered and bruised, but the only sign of injuries like Brianne's were the old scars underneath 

It appeared Katy had been beaten black and blue. 

They were now trying to put their minds at ease. They were setting up a sleep over in the living room. Oki and Mark brought the blankets from upstairs down, while Milli brought hers out and Natali pulled spares from the closet.

Kitty, Katy and Brianne sat on the couch huddled together. 

Milli insisted that Brianne sleep on the couch and Oki offered the chair to Katy. 

The plush carpet on the floors was only a thin layer between the sisters' damaged backs and the hard floorboards.

The girls were hesitant to accept but did so with little argue men 

While Kitty claimed a spot on the floor in front of Katy. Oki stretched out in front of the couch, Mark her other side. While Milli lay on the floor beside Katy. 

Natali turned the living room lamps on and turned the light off, casting a warm a range glow around everyone. She said goodnight after echoed it. Natali smiled and headed to her room. 

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"Wanna play 20 questions?" Milli asked. 

"Sure," Katy answered for the sisters. 

"I'll start," Milli declared. "Kitty where were you all headed?" 

Kitty thought about it and decided there couldn't be any harm in them knowing that. 

"There's supposedly a hut… cottage around here-ish. I was hoping to find that." She followed the answer with her question. "Oki, how did you know about mine and Brianne's conversation?" 

"Part wolf…  I could hear you, without trying… sorry." Oki shrugged. "Katy, why were you so insistent on getting back to the cave?" 

"Right… Jump straight to the hard questions," She tried to joke. "Umm, to get away from you guys. We didn't want anyone to find out. Noone was supposed to know where we were." 

Oki nodded in understanding. "But even after Brianne's back started to bleed, you didn't think to ask for help?" 

"That's more than one question. But no. It wasn't supposed to be an option." Katy added, "Milli, what's it like having siblings that aren't your siblings, but are?" 

"Umm. They're… They're just part of my life. I'd always wanted a sister so when me and Mom found Oki it was like a dream come true. And then we found Mark and… yeah. Brianne?" Milli asked. "What do you enjoy doing?" 

"I love painting. I read a little, but that's more of my sister's thing. So, Mark, how long have you been living with Natali for?" 

"About a year," Mark answered. 

They continued to play for a while, but one by one began to fall asleep.

Kitty was the first she was laying with her back against the wall, so she was facing Milli.

After that, the others stopped playing the game. It was easier to just talk quietly until everyone was asleep. 

Katy and Mark fell asleep, around the same time. Katy was lying with her knees hooked over one of the chairs arm and her head resting on the other. While Mark had snuggled close to Oki's back. 

After them was Brianne, who passed out from a mixture of pain and exhaustion. Milli followed closely behind. 

Leaving Oki as the only one awake. Despite trying to fall into the land of dreams, Oki couldn't get to sleep

Her mind kept playing a reel of the conversations they'd had with the girls. Something kept bothering her but she couldn't put a finger in what it was. 

Just as she was drifting off, Brianne started crying. 

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There we have it! You finally get to find out why Brianne has been in so much pain. And what is Brianne crying about?

The image up top from left to right, Brianne, what Wolf_Girl thinks Milli and Oki would look like, followed by Adrianna; Brianne's twin.
This one the twins hair style is more correct except they don't really have fringes because they've grown out and their hair is longer.
This image by Wolf_Girl.