[✔︎] 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 ✫ POST-DESCENDANTS TWO ⁶

✘ FIFTEEN: Half Dead ✘

Heather shifted in her sleep, tossing and turning and unable to stay asleep for long periods of time. She'd wake up every hour, curse at herself for waking up and went back to sleep again just to have the cycle repeat over and over.

She finally fell into sleep at six in the morning, finding herself waking up at noon. She laid down for a minute, taking a look around the place before getting up and getting ready for the day. She splashed her face with water, trying to wake herself up but it didn't work. She combed through her hair, placing her pirate hat over her head and brushing her teeth.

She stared at the reflection that showed in the mirror, not recognizing it. This wasn't her. Something was missing.

She shook her head, rubbing at her eyes and exited the bathroom, slipping on her boots and jacket as she headed into the kitchen.

She waited for the familiar sounds of HJ being in the room next door before realizing he was gone and he would be for a while now.

She sighed opening the cupboards finding nothing of interest in there as they were all empty, before deciding to just leave.

She made her way out the door, shutting it and making her way to the closest place where she could get food.

The Slop Shop was run by goblins, who didn't speak English and none of the customers spoke goblin so it didn't really matter that they spelled names wrong, since none of the customers could read it.

Heather entered the shop, walking up to the counter. The goblin made grunting sounds, not bothering to ask what she wanted. He handed her an expired scone and a cup of darker than your soul coffee.

Heather stared blankly out the window deep in her thoughts as she heard two people sit across from her. She didn't bother looking, continuing staring out the window.

"I remember just a few months ago I was sitting here with Sam across from me." Harriet said. "Now you're here."

"Hi Harriet." Heather whispered.

"Hi Heather." Harriet mockingly whispered back. "Oh you poor thing. You look half dead."

"You could put it that way." Heather said, shrugging her shoulders. "It just feels......different."

"I see." Yzla, the daughter of Yzma said. "Different how?"

"Like something's missing." Heather said, scrunching up Her nose. "I don't know how to describe it. But somethings missing here and I don't know what."

"I can help with that." Yzla said as Harriet elbowed her in the side.

"Don't corrupt the girl." Harriet said. "She doesn't need your witchy help. She just needs time. Then she'll deal with it like a normal person. We all need time."

"Who's we?" Heather asked.

"Me, Sammy, the Twins...Harry." Harriet spat his name like it was poison. "Sam has barely been gone a minute and he's been bothering me."

"Yes." Yzla said. "He's standing outside as we speak. Would you mind taking him from us?"

"I don't think that's a question." Heather commented.

"It's not." Harriet agreed, taking the whole of Heather's scone. Heather shrugged, finishing her coffee before Harriet could get to it.

Harriet smiled for no particular reason, pulling out a book from her pocket and skimming through it. It was an old scrapbook of sorts that she'd collected pictures with an old camera for years.

She turned the pages skimming through them before she found the picture she'd been looking for. Harriet turned the book to face Heather, showing the picture that she'd meant to show her.

It was from a few years ago when she'd been eleven years old. It showed a twelve year old Sam with her arms draped over both HJ and Heather's shoulders as they grinned at the camera for Harriet.

Heather smiled at the picture, picking it up gently.

"You can keep it." Harriet said, as Heather looked up at her with her eyebrow raised.

"Really?" Heather asked. Harriet nodded.

"It's as much yours as it is mine." Harriet said. "Keep it."

"Thank you." Heather said, smiling at her, placing the picture in her jacket pocket as Harriet packed away her scrapbook.

"No problem Heath." Harriet said, propping her feet on the table. "No problem at all."

Then they'd fallen into a silence, neither knowing what to say to the other. Finally Heather asked what she'd wanted to ask Harriet since she'd mentioned her brother and her friend.

"Do you miss them?" Heather asked, her question needing no explanation.

Harriet pursed her lips together, nodding her head.

"I do." Harriet said, placing her hat over her eyes. "I do miss them Heather. I watched them grow up, I helped raise them when their parents didn't want to. I always knew they'd leave. They weren't meant to be here."

"You aren't either." Heather countered, though it only made Harriet shake her head.

"I do deserve to be here." Harriet said. "I was one of the first Isle born kids. I know what it was like when our parents didn't grovel over how far they'd fallen. When they'd almost killed each other in the process. I'm just as terrible as they are."

"You've done nothing wrong that nobody else here hasn't done." Yzla said. "None of us deserve to be here. We weren't here to decide what our parents did."

"Very well then." Harriet said. "I've got places to go. I'll see you around Heather."

"Bye Heather." Yzla said, tossing the coffee cup into the trash can for her.

"Bye." Heather said as she stared out the window. Harriet pushes Harry into the shop, before her and Yzla sprinted away, disappearing down and alley way.

Harry rolled his eyes, sitting across from Heather in the seat his sister had just vacated. He still hadn't bothered to put on a new jacket, tapping his hook on the table to catch Heather's attention.

"You ready to go Heather?" Harry asked.

"Sure." Heather said as the two of them walked out of the shop and headed through the streets of the Isle, neither knowing where they were going.