"What are we supposed to do with her?" Mia stood with her arms crossed in front of Siobhan on the sofa. Charlotte was sat on the floor next to the sofa, her hand rested on Siobhan's frail arm.
"How did it get so bad in four days..?" Charlotte whispered, her eyes traveling over Siobhan's body. "Look at her hair, Mia. They didn't even bother to brush it.." Charlotte brushed through Siobhan's bangs with her fingers.
"I doubt they bothered to do anything, Char..." Mia squatted down next to her girlfriend, taking account of the burns on Siobhan's temples and the bruises around her wrists.
"We should get her cleaned up." Charlotte glanced over to Mia. "Will you help me get her into the bathroom?" Mia's face contorted into a worried twist.
"Char she can't even speak, she can't wash her hair." Charlotte's eyes moved back over to Siobhan sadly.
"You helped me. We will help her." Mia bit her lip, but nodded. She helped Charlotte lift Siobhan off the sofa, placing both of their arms around her waist to help her walk. It was a sight that neither would were sure how to handle. Siobhan had always been the strongest willed woman to grace the Knight Nursery's doors. Whoever this woman was they were walking towards the shower was wiped completely clean of all emotions or thoughts. She was empty.
"Here. We need to get these god awful sweats off of her." Mia scowled, looking at what Siobhan would have normally seen as a fashion disaster. Slowly, Charlotte helped get Siobhan's Sanitarium clothing off, leaving her standing completely vulnerable in Charlotte's bathroom.
"Come here, Siobhan. Oh honey." Charlotte took Siobhan's hand, looking at her vacant stare. She had no idea what was happening or where she even was. Charlotte turned on the water, letting Mia test the temperature with her wrist as she prepared Siobhan to step under its warmth. Mia nodded, signaling to Charlotte to get Siobhan in. Almost as soon as the water hit her skin, Siobhan looked around frantically, her eyes landing on Charlotte. She began to cry- no words leaving her mouth to explain. She covered her body quickly, dropping down to the floor. Charlotte didn't even stop to think that she was fully clothed. She stepped foot into the shower dropping down next to Siobhan. She held her hand up to Mia, silently asking for some shampoo. Mia's eyes were wide, she was confused yet incredibly proud that her girlfriend had taken the initiative to take care of someone who never cared a single bit about her.
"Mia." Charlotte pulled at Mia's attention again.
"Oh." Mia shook her head, grabbing the shampoo bottle. She squeezed a bit into her hand and watched as Charlotte sat behind Siobhan on the tile floor of the shower, massaging shampoo into her scalp. Siobhan's lips were moving, barely any sound to the words she kept repeating. Mia raised an eyebrow, crouching down to the floor again. "What?"
"Tightrope..." Siobhan mumbled.
"Tightrope..."
**
"Marjorie please for the love of God drive faster!" Vivian tapped her foot impatiently against the floorboard of the car. Autumn looked back at the backseat with a glare. She brought her eyes from the tapping of Vivian's toes back up to her impatient scowl.
"If you want to live long enough to get back to Siobhan, I suggest you respect the fact that Marjorie is driving safely for MY sake." Vivian's face shifted, she had honestly forgotten that Marjorie and Autumn had been in such a bad crash not long ago. Her mind was occupied constantly by the fear that she had gotten Siobhan just to lose her.
"I-..." She groaned and sat back. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so callous. I'm just-"
"Afraid." Marjorie interjected. "Afraid that everything you've wanted and just barely grasped will be gone forever." She glanced in the rear view at Vivian.
"I don't know what I'll do if she really is gone." Vivian felt tears forming in her eyes for the first time since they'd taken her away. She hadn't let herself cry. Reece glanced over from his spot next to Vivian, setting a hand on her knee sympathetically.
"We've all been there. But we've got a lot of things here- hopefully one of them will bring her back." Reece smiled a hopeful grin, but it faded as quickly as it appeared. "Viv.. you need to know, Siobhan isn't.. she isn't there." Vivian bit her lip anxiously.
"I know. But she's still in there. Somewhere.. I just have to find her." Vivian looked out the window, catching sight of Charlotte and Mia's up the road. Her heart flipped, thinking about the fact that Siobhan was mere feet away.
"Vivian, shaking the car won't make it go any faster. You may dig a hole through my floorboards but even flinstone-ing this car won't get you there fast either!" Marjorie looked into the rear view again with a raised eyebrow. Vivian gripped her shirt between her fingers in an attempt to regulate. Marjorie pulled into the driveway, no more getting the car in park before Vivian threw herself out of the backseat.
"See. Good thing I made you take the child lock off. You wouldn't have a door anymore." Reece said flatly, pointing at the door Vivian had just jumped from. Mia was standing at the door waiting for them, she held out a hand to Vivian when she came to the door.
"Viv. You have to stay calm. Siobhan just had a meltdown, she is calm and safe now but you need to just stay quiet and calm." Marjorie, Autumn and Reece slowly approached behind Vivian- listening to Mia's words. Autumn squeezed Marjorie's hand, trying to not let her emotions show.
"I can handle it, Mia." Vivian nodded, gathering all her emotions and shoving them deep into her chest. She could feel them later. What mattered now was Siobhan. Mia nodded nervously, opening the door for the 4 outside. They entered slowly, looking around the living room for any trace of the blonde. In the silence, they heard a small "psst". Vivian looked over to see Charlotte sat on the sofa, Siobhan's head in her lap. Vivian's chest ached, her heart dropping into her stomach as she took in the state of the woman she so desperately loved. "Oh, Bon-Bon.." Vivian squeaked out, slowly making her way over to Charlotte and Siobhan. Charlotte held her breath, entirely unsure what reaction Vivian's face would bring. She braced herself for impact as Vivian gently reached across to run her hand along Siobhan's face.
"Be careful, Viv." Reece said softly from behind the sofa.
"Bon-bon..?" Viv gently ran a finger down Siobhan's cheek bones. Charlotte felt Siobhan's body stiffen, before her eyes jolted towards Vivian. She pulled her hand back quickly, fear coursing through her veins at the thought of triggering something for Siobhan. She didn't move, though. She just stared. Mia and Charlotte had seen her crying earlier, but as tears gathered in the corner of Siobhan's eyes- it didn't look the same to them. Siobhan's lip quivered as her eyes settled to see Vivian's face. Her hand twitched, just a bit, pulling Vivian's attention to it. "W-what do-" Siobhan blinked forcefully, the tears now falling from her eyes freely.
"Take her hand, Viv." Charlotte encouraged. Vivian glanced up at the group behind the couch. Autumn held Marjorie tightly in her arms, her lips pressed together so tight there was hardly any color in them. Marjorie had tears rolling down her face as she watched. Vivian's eyes traveled over to Reece and Mia. Mia was facing away from the sofa with her head buried in Reece's chest. The redhead hated showing emotions to anyone who wasn't Reece or Charlotte, and now was no exception. Reece's face was blank, but his hands were balled into fists, gripping Mia's cardigan for support. She looked back to Charlotte, silently looking for the approval she needed to do what she'd said. "It's okay." Vivian brought her attention back to Siobhan, who now was silently sobbing. Her eyes seemed to beg for something, but Vivian couldn't decipher the code. She carefully brought her hand up to the sofa, setting it into the shaking palm of the crying blonde. In an instant the tears had sound, Siobhan crumbled into a sobbing mess, reaching as desperately as she could towards Vivian. She quickly obliged pulling Siobhan's weight down onto her lap, pulling her as close as she could get her. Siobhan wailed into her shirt, clutching the fabric like she would never touch it again. Vivian looked up quickly, unsure whether to panic or be relieved- but she was met with not a single dry eye in the room. Each and every person in that house that evening ran through every possible emotion, but for some it lingered.
For some... it wouldn't pass.
**
“They're sending me away, Siobhan. I don't have a choice. I snuck out my bedroom window to get to you- they think I'm packing." Claire paced back and forth in the backyard of Siobhan's house. Siobhan was sat on a tire swing, her hands wrung together like knots in her lap.
"How do you know that it-"
"Because your dad told them about us!" Claire cried out, throwing her hand towards the direction of the house. Siobhan panickedly watched the door waiting for her father to overhear them.
"Claire! Shh-" Siobhan rose to her feet, running to cover Claire's mouth with her hand. "I don't know what he told them, but I'm sure it isn't that bad." A tear fell from Claire's cheek onto Siobhan's hand. She recoiled quickly, backing up into the swing. "Oh my god I'm so sorry-" She tripped over a tree root falling back into the swing. Claire bolted forward to grab her arm- keeping her from falling past it.
"He paid for my treatment, Shibs.." Claire pulled her body back up, bringing them chest to chest. Siobhan searched Claire's face for a sign that she could be fibbing, that it wasn't this bad- that she didn't have to go away.
"T-treatment? What- what does that even mean?" Siobhan shook her head, digging her fingers into the fabric of Claire's dress. Claire bit her lip, trying to conceal the trembling.
"He wants to fix me, and by association-.....fix you." Claire inhaled a shaky breath. Siobhan's eyes grew wide with anger.
"By taking you away?! No! I won't-.. I won't let him!" Siobhan brought a hand up to the back of Claire's neck, bringing their foreheads together. "You're all I have..." Siobhan felt her throat constricting, the only thing she'd ever felt in her soul was being ripped away- there was no need for air.
"Mark will be back at my house soon to take me... I have to go, Siobhan. But please- please if there is nothing of me you ever remember..." Claire pulled her head back slowly to look into her eyes. "They can take away everything. They can take away our spirit, our souls, hell- even our memories. But what they can't take-" Claire tilted Siobhan's chin up, placing a small kiss to her lips. "-is who you are in here." She poked at finger into Siobhan's chest with a small smile.
"Don't leave..." Siobhan's lips trembled as she fought her tears.
"I'm always right in that pretty little blonde head of yours." Claire took one last deep breath before backing away. "Goodbye, Siobhan."
**
After Siobhan had calmed down quite a bit, Vivian had settled her into the sofa with a blanket. The rest of the group was gathered in the kitchen, sorting through the things they had stolen from Daniel's house. Vivian ensured Siobhan was safe to be on her own, she was semi aware of her surroundings but she still couldn't form a sentence. Vivian was thankful she even could find emotion to spill. She made her way towards the kitchen to assist the group in their search for answers.
"Anything?" Vivian asked as she entered the room. Autumn shook her head, fumbling through papers that had been water damaged or what looked to be set on fire.
"Whatever it was that she had in here, she didn't want someone to know." Vivian walked around behind Autumn, reaching forward to grab one of the charred notes.
"I'm willing to bet it was her father. She was hiding so much from him." Reece set three crumpled up papers on the counter with a tilt of his head.
"There is something that seems to run in a common theme though." He said as he placed his finger along a part of the note that was undamaged.
"What did you find?" Charlotte asked from her seat at the end of the bar.
"There's a name on almost all of these notes. I can't tell but, I'm almost certain they were love letters." Mia scoffed at Reece's sentence.
"Can you imagine- a tiny Shibby in love?" Marjorie grinned at the thought.
"I think I could guess who it is." Marjorie said as she reached in the bag. She grabbed the frame and held it up in the air.
"Claire." Reece said as everyone's eyes landed on the frame. "Siobhan was in love with... Claire."
(OPE! WHO SAW THAT COMIN? So. This chapter was big for me. Mother has seen my writing and I may or may not be throwing up at the idea. But irregardless the pressure to write these characters correctly is HIGH, so please be honest if someone seems out of character. I love how this story is playing out- but I will tell you.... we aren't almost to the end of it. Oooooops. Stay tuned!)
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It's Code For You (Parallel NurseryVerse Series)
Fiksi Penggemar"Roger has been at Siobhan's throat for years now, every day another chance at a tipping point. When tensions hit the fan- the Knight family at each other's throats, where do we find our quiet blonde? Where will Siobhan find solace? Will she ever es...
