The Skeletons In The Closet

Chapter Nine

Congrats to Vaher953 for guessing the correct POV! Good job!

Reyna's POV

"I can smell the maple syrup from here! We're in Canada!" Leo yelled.

"You can see the flag, dumbass," Frank mumbled.

"So this is you?" I asked. "I guess so," he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned in a circle, orienting himself with his surroundings.

"Grandmother's house is that way," he said, pointing to where we could see the top of a house peeking up over the trees. Hazel moved closer and clutched his arm. She whispered something to him and he nodded.

It occurred to me then that Hazel and Percy and Frank came to this house on their quest. They watched it burn. And now here it was. Still standing. In the past.

I wonder who we'll find in that house?

We trekked through the woods to Frank's Grandmother's house. He were almost to the front door when we heard a woman calling to someone in the back yard.

We ran around the house to find a beautiful Asian woman leaning out of a window. "Frank, get back inside the house!" She yelled.

I turned and saw a young Frank, maybe six years old, standing in the shadow of a bear. Someone screamed(just between you and me, I think it was Leo).

Frank was too shocked to move and his mother was beside him in seconds. I did a double take. How the hell did she get there so fast? I looked back at the window. There's no way she could've gotten there so fast.

She turned Frank away from the the bear and sent him on his way back to the house. She disappeared into the woods with the bear on her heels.

When Frank reached the house, he looked behind him and his mother was already making her way toward him. "What happened to the bear?" He asked.

The woman smiled and ruffled his hair. "Mama Bear just needed some directions."

The scene shifted and I still felt the warmth of her smile. I longed for a maternal relationship. My own mother didn't really offer that. I new it was stupid, but I started to feel jealous of Frank. I told myself that was stupid as well, remembering the fact that his mother was dead.

Frank was fourteen, standing awkwardly in front of the house, his mother, older but still beautiful, had on a military uniform for the Canadian forces. They both had tears in their eyes.

She went in for one last hug, holding Frank tightly, like she never wanted to let him go. Frank hugged her back just as fiercely.

The scene changed again. A fifteen year old Frank was sitting in the living room when there was a knock on the door. Frank's grandmother walked stiffly to the door and opened it. I sucked in a breath. Standing in the doorway were two soldiers dressed formally. One carried a folded Canadian flag, the other a medal.

Frank's grandmother's hand fell slack from the door. Frank's head whirled around and he leaned over to see who was at the door. When he saw the soldiers, I could tell by the look on his face that he knew exactly what their arrival meant.

His jaw slackened and his eyes welled with tears. He ran up the stairs to what I assumed was his bedroom and slammed the door. I couldn't tune out the soldier with the flag.

"Emily Zhang fought bravely in Afghanistan. She gave her life to save her comrades. She was a true hero and has been awarded the Sacrifice Metal and a Silver across. She served our country well," he said somberly with a nod.

Frank's grandmother accepted the medals and the flag silently and then shut the door.

And with the door, the scenes melted. We stood in the darkness, waiting for the next vision to form, lit only by the light of Leo's flames and Percy's sword.

Tears glistened on Frank's face as he stared off into the distance, watching the spot in the blackness where the soldiers stood seconds ago. Hazel was already hugging him but Percy came over and pulled him into the 'bro hug'.

Light started to seep in from the side and I knew we'd arrived at our next location.

Who's next?