Innerworks

28. Down

Y'all please thank my friend BluZ0rua, he was the only reason this chapter even came out tonight lol.

Some very important info is at the AN'S so please read at the end of the chap ;)

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Valerie muttered a curse as she mopped.
Leo had gone upstairs to get some spare clothes for Thomas, leaving her with the last of the cleaning.

They had taken turns scrubbing and removing the blood from the tile, and subsequently, the carpet it had soaked into. All that was left was this final bout of mopping to ensure that it was clean.

Val had gladly volunteered to clean this last round alone. Easily offering up the idea to the other that Thomas would need some clean clothes when they visited him.

Leo, thankfully, didn't comment on it. He simply gave her a small smile and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder before heading up towards Thomas' room.

This, of course, left her with time to think and the actress' mind held no qualms in replaying the day's events over in vivid clarity.
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The entire scene at school had been harrowing, and the take-off from there, even more so.

It's not like she had actually known what to do.

Her instinct, worry and faith, probably, is all that kept her going. That and the fact that a part of her dearest friend was in the back seat.

She was driving far faster than she really should, but at this point she didn't care. All that mattered was getting Logan to Thomas and making sure the manifestor was alright.

The occasional pothole would appear and while the actress tried her best to avoid them, the few times she couldn't, the car would bounce causing Logan to groan and her to wince.

And now stuck motionless in a long line of traffic-bumper to bumper with other vehicles-that expression turned into a grimace and then morphed into abject terror.

The Teacher's from was flickering and his aura was destabilizing. If he didn't get back to his host soon...the Actress didn't want to imagine what that would mean for Thomas. After all, how long does one live when a piece of them is missing? Or worse, no longer in existence?

When Talyn called, Valerie all but blurted out a relay of all her thoughts to the shorter Veiwer, verging on-and just barely managing to not have- a panic attack in doing so.

The rest of the day in Val's memory could only be described as being played in fast forward.

The drive to Thomas' house.

Talyn confusing a cop.

The others lifting Logan out of the car.

Them placing the Secondary Personality near his host...only for him to disappear a second later.

Then to her, scanning the manifestor and thankfully finding auras of the other personalities within him.

And then...

The ambulance.

The blood.

Thomas' body and his blood.

The manifestor's crumpled form.

His blood.

His blood.

It was everywhere.

It was soaking the floor.

And the stairs. And the carpet.