Played For A Fool

Missing

Silence hung through the air, only cut by Scarlet's broken sobs. Neither Thorne, nor Cinder knew what to do to help their friend. They were in complete shock.

After a few moments, Cinder decided to take charge. She grabbed Scarlet by the shoulders, and pulled her onto the stool that Cinder normally occupied. She dragged Scarlet's hands away from her face, and let out a low, calming hum.

Cinder couldn't decide whether or not it would be best to ask Scarlet what was going on, or to just let her cry it out until she was ready to talk. She decided with the first.

"Scarlet," Cinder whispered in a soothing voice, "What happened?" Scarlet wrapped her arms around her midsection, taking in deeper breaths, but still crying. It was clear that whatever had happened, it was bad. I mean, obviously something was bad, because her grandmother was 'gone', but what did that mean?

Letting out a sigh, Thorne came over to stand besides Cinder. It was clear that he was just as clueless as Cinder on what to do, but it was still good of him to come and help.

"Scarlet," Thorne said in a low, authoritative voice, "we can't help you it you don't tell us what's going on, so you can either cooperate, or sit there and cry."

Scarlet looked up to glare at Thorne, but it had none of her usual fire. She looked broken, vulnerable. It was so odd to see Scarlet this way, and even weirder that she hadn't hit Thorne.

Taking in a deep breath, Scarlet closed her eyes. "I was in third period, when I was called down to the front office. When I walked in, there were police officers, asking me to come with them. I asked them what happened, and they just told me to come with them." Scarlet put her face back in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees.

"I had a bad feeling, so I went with them. They asked me questions about my Grandmere, they asked all kinds of things. I was so confused, you know? They wouldn't tell me a thing, and yet they felt they could ask all about my Grandma." Scarlet let out a half sob, half sigh. It was becoming hard to understand her through her french accent, and sobbing.

"When we got to the house, there was tape everywhere, like it was a crime scene, and it was. The house was a mess, almost like someone had been looking for something. And, oh," Scarlet let out of moan of agony that cut straight through Cinder. "There was blood. Her blood. It was all over, like she had fought for her life." Scarlet whispered, her tears streaming silently down her face.

"She's dead." Scarlet breathed out. "I know it."

One hundred thoughts raced through Cinder's head, none of them happy. If what Scarlet said was true, and Cinder believed her completely, then that meant that Scarlet had nobody. No family at least.

Cinder remembered the day when Scarlet had told her that she lived with her Grandmother. It wasn't an odd thing to Cinder, dysfunctional families were not a new concept to her, but the story was still a tragic one.

Scarlet had relied the story of how her parents had been young and stupid, run away, gotten married, and had her. Her mother had left when she was young, and social services had taken Scarlet away from her mean drunk of a father when she was six.

She had lived with her Grandmother ever since, never looking back. Never seeing her parents again, and not wanting to.

That's the thing about a broken family: they're nearly impossible to fix, and sometimes it's just not worth it.

Cinder wasn't normally the give-you-a-hug type, but in that moment that's exactly what she did, knowing that it's what Scarlet needed. Turning, Cinder embraced Scarlet as tight as she could, and Scarlet continued sobbing. Throughout her sobbing, Cinder could hear Scarlet whispering the words, "She's gone." over and over again.

They stayed like that for a while, Scarlet sobbing, and Cinder hugging her, until Thorne cleared his throat. Cinder let go of Scarlet, who brushed the tears off of her face, and looked up. "So..." Thorne trailed off, looking awkward. "What are the police saying? What are you supposed to do? What do you need us to do?"

Scarlet looked so lost, but had complete confidence in what she said next. "They know who it is already. Have you heard of the letumosis disease mutation? The big Wolf creatures? It's them. They're the one's who kidnapped my Grandmother. They're just impossible to track."

"Wait," Cinder started, "I thought they said that it actually wasn't a mutation to the disease. They said that-"

Scarlet scoffed, cutting her off. "Well, Cinder, that's just what they want you to think. You see, when the disease first came into existence, doctors and scientists searched through Dr. Blackburn's notes and files and everything, until they found something labeled as an antibody to fight the disease. They gathered volunteers, one thousand men, boys really, and injected it into them."

A sad look came into Scarlet's eyes as she continued, "I don't know why they had so many volunteers. If it were me, I would have picked one and been done with it, but no. One thousand boy's lives were ruined because they wanted to help find a cure. The families were compensated well for it, but the monsters were locked away, never to come out. Until now."

Cinder felt horror grip her. One thousand men, boys, whose families had volunteered them for money, only to have their children taken away from them.

"My Grandmother was in charge of relocating the monsters. Most of them were even let go, with heavy supervision, and live in the community." Scarlet was shaking now, but had stopped crying.

"Wow," Thorne whistled, "how come I've never heard that story before?"

Scarlet laughed, but it was filled with no humor. "Thorne, my grandmother was in charge of relocation. She is one of the few who actually know the entire story. I was sworn not to tell it, but I don't really care now."

They all sat in stunned silence. Cinder was exhausted from her first day back at school, and her head was beginning to ache again. She wanted nothing more than to just go into her garage and take a nap, but knew that was not a possibility. At least not until they found Scarlet's Grandmother.

Cinder exhaled, "So, what do we do first?"

Thorne looked at her as though she had gone nuts, and Scarlet's expression wasn't much different.

"What?" Cinder asked, scrunching up her eyebrows, "Of course we're gonna go look. What the stars Scarlet, you think we're just gonna sit here and wait for the police?"

Both Thorne and Scarlet had awe on their face as Cinder pulled Scarlet off of the stool. "Well, I'm not gonna sit here, at least, not unless you want me to Scarlet."

Cinder looked down at the ground, unsure of herself. Maybe Scarlet just wanted to stay put and wait until the police found her Grandmother, dead or alive. But knowing Scarlet, she would want to be out there, helping. Not sitting here, helpless and of no use.

Scarlet smiled sadly. "I wouldn't have it any other way," She whispered, and then an old gleam of feisty lit her eyes and she brushed herself off. "Let's go find Grandmere." She said.

Thorne shook his head but walked with them, turning off the 'OPEN' sign at the front of the Rampion. He had a cocky smile on his face as he linked his arms between both Scarlet and Cinder's arms. "Let's go kick some wolf butt."