After her father died, Clare Price fell into a deep hole, while her sister Chloe did the exact opposite. While Chloe chose the rebellious path of grief, Clare locked herself off from the world. But all seems to change when Rachel Amber appears in th...
"What are you doing here Clare?" Frank asked, while I was still sitting in there. "I don't know Frank, all I know is that I can't shut you out of my life anymore! You are the only reason I am still alive!" I told him. "Clare, that isn't true" He replied and I let out a laugh "Then how come that as soon as you disappear from it, everything goes downhill again? Can you explain that to me?" I asked him. "Clare, what are you talking about?" "That through you I have gotten better, but without you I'm getting worse again!" I yelled, pushing past him. "I'm so damn hungry, but I refuse to eat. It won't stay down anyways" I said, tears storming down my cheeks.
"Clare, calm down!" Frank said, but I couldn't. I couldn't calm down, no matter what I tried. It was like I had another panic attack, but this one was different. I stormed towards the fridge, got the wrist thing out that I could find and ate it. It didn't take long until my body rejected my food. "Clare!" Frank yelled, obviously scared of me or about me. I immediately ran to the bathroom and threw up. Frank stormed after me, but stayed in the door frame. He watched as I threw up, crying my eyes out. Suddenly he did move and held my hair back, waiting until I was done.
Once I moved away from the toilet, Frank handed me a towel and let me clean myself off. I put it down on the floor and Frank helped me up, then wrapped his arms around me. "We'll fix you!" He said. "You can't fix me! No one can!" I said, crying into his chest, while he was stroking the back of my head. Everything was forgotten, the stupid fight, the threat of Mister Scary Guy, everything.
Frank lifted me up and carried me into his bed room, lied me down on his bed. He lied down beside me, continuing to stroke my hair, keeping the body contact. That was what calmed me down. He calmed me down.
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"Who was that guy?" I asked after a while, after I had calmed down. Frank didn't want to tell me, but I didn't let go until he told me. "Damon Merrick" He replied "He's a friend of mine and the previous owner of Pompidou" He told me. "What? He didn't seem much like a friend to me" I said. "Because he's angry and needs money. The fire, it destroyed the Old Mill. It lost him a lot of money and now he's collecting" Frank said, worry in his eyes "And now I dragged you into this, I'm so sorry Clare" "Hey, I dragged myself into this! I was the one that showed up in the middle of the night in front of your RV. This isn't your fault!" I said, hoping he would believe me, believe the words I was saying.
"I'm not a good influence on you Clare, if you stick around me, you will die" He said. "Frank, I will die either way! Either by the hand of someone else or by my own. Not eating kills you over time, I'm not scared of the progress being sped up" I told him, but he didn't want to hear that. "God, shut up Clare! You are not going to die! I won't let you!!" He said. "You might have been able to handle a Clare that wouldn't eat, how are you going to handle a Clare that eats and throws up afterwards?! Bulimia is way worse than that!" I told him. "I know I'm not a psychologist, but we can at least try to get you away from that edge" He said and I nod, being scared of everything that I might be able to do. I was scared of myself and I never had that before.
"Then what are you suggesting?" I asked him. "I don't know, a hobby maybe" He said. "You mean like selling drugs, no thank you" I said. "No, like a real hobby! What do you like to do? What did you do when you were in your room?" He asked. "I used to love photography, but that love is gone since my father passed" I told him. "What else?" He asked. "Well, I did draw a lot when I was a kid and when I was stuck in my room. "Drawing? You could pick that up again" He suggested. "Yeah right, because depression pictures are exactly what I need" I said to him. "Not just the depressing pictures! Expressing your mind in general" He said and I sighed. Maybe he was right, even if I didn't want to accept that. "I'll guess I can start my drawing again" I said. "That's what I wanted to hear, but I think for now you should get some sleep. Otherwise you will fall asleep in school tomorrow" He said. "I wouldn't mind that. Falling asleep in class sounds great" I told him.
"Bed now" He said like it was a commando. "Got it Mr. Bowers" I said and got underneath the blanket. "Is that why Sera is trouble?" I asked Frank and he groaned. I know, he didn't want to talk about that anymore, but I just couldn't let it go. There must be a reason why she was trouble and I do remember seeing her photo on a file in the Amber's household. Wait a second! Wasn't Frank's photo on that file too? "Why are you in this trouble?" I asked, turning towards Frank. "Clare, this is so much bigger than you think! I don't want to drag you into this!" "Open your eyes Frank, I'm already in the middle of this. Damon put me in there! Tell me what is going on Frank!" I warned him.
"I want to protect you!" He said. "Frank, I can protect myself! The best way to protect me is to tell me everything! You know it's dangerous if you don't know everything" I told him. "Fine, Damon is something you could call my business partner and he is no one to joke or mess with" He started "So you get your drugs from him?" I asked and he nod. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but I saw a file in the Amber house. It was about Damon. Sera was on it, a few of Damon's people and... you..." I said to him. "I kinda expected to be in the middle of the investigation" He said.
"And when were you planning on tell me that Frank is a nickname?" I asked him teasing. "I'm guessing that was in the files as well" "Well, what can I say? There was a photo with you and your last name, but the first name was different" I teased. "Don't you dare say it!" He said. "Why not? Embarrassed?" I kept teasing. "Don't you dare say it!" He repeated, but by now I was laughing and he seemed a little upset, but not in the angry kind of way, but in the... the way a guy is in all those movies when he likes you. "Francis" I said. "Oh that's it!" He said and tried to grab me, but I got away in time and by now he was chasing me through the RV. Yeah, I'm not getting much sleep tonight!
After a while my back was against the wall and he blocked my way. "Okay okay, I'm sorry" I said laughing. "Are you?" He asked. "Okay, I'll tell you a secret of mine in return" I told him. "What is there that I don't already know?" He asked. "My middle name" I said and he looked me in the eyes. "Okay, tell me and I might consider letting you go" He said. "It's Veronica" I said. "Wow, badass. Better rougher than Clare any day" "Might be, but no one ever mentions that name anymore" I said and looked down "My dad chose that name for me" "Um.. you should get some sleep" He said and let go of me and went back to the bedroom, followed by me.
