Doe (#Wattys2016)

Chapter Four

Doe and Francis' life became one made of two distinct halves, which they dipped in and out of everyday. The Lab was the place where they could be unrestrained. Their bond with the Scientists grew out of the dirt and blood that tied them together. As they got older their adventures became wilder and more intense, their pretend wars were absorbed into their bodies until they became real. Francis and her best friend Harrison Christiansen rose to the admired leaders of the pack. Francis, for her wit and cunning, Harrison, because he was an all round good leader with a rational mind that Francis could lack at times. Doe was doted on, as everyone's silent daughter. She was something to protect and The Lab did its best to cradle her from its darkness. The girls lived a charmed life for lab rats; no one begrudged them their special treatment as they proved themselves valuable and loving members of The Lab's society.

Over the years Harrison became almost another addition to the Bullire's family. He was in their home as often as they were, at first Lucia was disconcerted by his watchful presence but soon found it comforting to have another friend who loved her family as much as she did. And he brought with him his own extensive family. Lucia soon found a life long friend in his mother Martha. Martha when she was not carrying a child also worked at the bar. Lucia hadn't had a friendship as close as theirs since she was a teenager. Lucia eventually saw The Lab as home as much as her daughters.

Unlike Lucia however, the girls had a second home. Though life at the Luries' manor was in many ways difficult, time made it familiar and in that time a deep fondness developed. Doe took on more responsibly as Kitty's personal maid; getting her dressed and running her errands.  Kitty was as close as a sister to her and the only Lurie who seemed genuinely happy most of the time. The joy she felt she strived to share with the people she loved; through Kitty, Doe's own confidence grew and she found herself feeling surer of herself.

Francis and Draco's friendship went from strength to strength. They were inseparable and everyone accepted they came as an unlikely pair. Dragging each other into mischief their camaraderie sometimes upset others but no one could get close to them. Francis saw Draco as closer than a brother even as the years made him more mysterious and gloomy, she accepted him as her strange best friend. Life at the Lurie mansion was sometimes more than she could bear, though she tried her uttermost to imitate a well bred girl the society of the elite were not fooled. Draco's friends would barely disguise their snide insults and though Draco stood up for her it only made her feel more inferior. She was happiest when they were together in the afternoons, reading or drawing almost in complete silence. As she matured she found herself treasuring these small moments at the manor, as every party or formal engagement only reiterated her failure to integrate herself. In the first few years this had little affect on her, she was quite ready to return to The Lab permanently; but as she got older the fear that Lord Lurie would see and drop her crept into the back of her mind.

The older they became the more their two lives threatened to end coexisting with each other. They continued to juggle both the lab rat and upper class as best they could for six years.

On Francis' fifteenth birthday, Lucia allowed them to ditch the Meeting. This was one of the best birthday presents Francis had ever received in her eyes. She had spent nearly five years being ignored by the elite only contented to let Draco do all the talking, which was painful because he did not. He purposely tried to avoid socialising but try as he might he couldn't escape his adorers. Even though he graffiti the pamphlets in their secret code that he called Latin and made up rude alternatives to the hymns that they sang so only they could hear. The elite loved to praise him and his family.