"You don't hate me?" Mabel asked. There was no way George didn't look at her differently. Not when everyone else would.
George shook his head. "I don't. Even if I tried, I can't. I mean, the whole time I've known you, you've taught me how to love b...
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*~~~~~~~~~~*
George eyed Mabel cautiously. She swayed, and her eyes refused to focus on one thing. Her jaw clenched. Her chest raced, and tears flooded down her face, leaving marks.
Mabel didn't notice this as her mind was filled with the overwhelming information around her. The sounds of screaming, the smell of smoke, the pain behind her eyes. It was all drowning her, suffocating her.
"Let's sit down, yeah?" George placed his hands on her upper arms. Mabel's eyes were unfocused, and she didn't even acknowledge him. George eyed Fred worriedly. Fred shrugged. "Mabel?" George spoke softly. He looked at her eyes to see if they signalled that she heard him, but they didn't. "Mabel? Can you hear me?"
Her face paled. She began to panic more.
George lightly grabbed the sides of her head.
"Hey. Hey," George whispered. "Look at me."
Mabel felt as though she was going to pass out at any minute. Her clammy hands held onto George's wrists. She looked at him.
"Good. Good," He smiled. "Can you hear me?"
She couldn't hear him clearly. His voice sounded like he was underwater. Nonetheless, she nodded.
George brightened. "Can you repeat what I say?"
"Hannah," She breathed.
"Hannah?" He asked.
"Hannah." The rest of Mabel's demand was stuck in her throat. She couldn't say anything other than Hannah.
"Who's Hannah?" Fred asked.
"She's with...w-with me," Mabel choked out.
"Mabel. You were alone."
Mabel scrunched her eyebrows and whipped her head over her shoulder, and that's when she realised. Hannah was never with her. Her scent was in the shirt she was wearing. She was smelling Hannah's shirt, not Hannah. She frantically looked around for her sister's blonde hair, but all she could see were trees in the darkness.
Mabel turned towards the opening of the woods and ran. George was caught off guard, allowing her to slip through his fingers. However, Fred reacted quickly and chased after her.
Because of Fred's long lanky legs, he caught up to her relatively fast. He wrapped his arms around her waist, stopping her. Mabel struggled against him.
"Let go," Mabel said. She tried to pry his arms off of her.
"You need to stay here—"
"Let. Go."
"Mabel—"
"Hannah!!"
Fred put his hand over her mouth. "Shh! We don't want them to find us," Fred scolded. "Argh!" Fred let go of Mabel, making George grab her. Once George had her, he looked at his twin brother. "She licked me. She bloody licked me." Fred wiped his hand on his trousers.
