Knife's Edge - The Legion (Frank Morrison)

Chapter 12 I Hate You

The woods were cold and dark as the group of adolescents walked through it. Joey lead his friends through the trees, Suzie skipping right next to him as she went on and on about everything that was on her mind. Frank and Snow followed them suit while Julie was trailing behind them, keeping a good distance from them.

Frank was lost in his thoughts, the scene of the day before still in his mind. It was as if someone was pressing the replay button whenever he was about to push the thought of it away. Anger was boiling inside his stomach, he was so furious about his own inability to get over shit from the past. He wasn't a weak boy anymore. He wasn't weak. Frank glared at the road ahead of them, he looked right through his friends, back into a time when he was far away from the 'jock'  - as some would call him - today. Frank saw a little boy that didn't quite know what was wrong with him. He got picked up by a new family almost every month, just so they could bring him back to the orphanage he knew for his whole childhood. At first he tried his best to make them like him, but he was never enough. Not cute enough, not well behaved enough, not silent enough, not invisible enough. He remembered every son of a bitch that forced him to do things no child should ever have to do. He remembered their stench of cheap booze and old cigarette smoke, the stinging of their slaps and how edges of tables found their way between his ribs. The abusive bitch that tried to get from him what her husband didn't want to give to her. Every dirty word that was ever thrown at Frank clung to him, weighted him down and wrapped around his chest until he struggled to breath.

Snow noticed Frank's clutched fists and how white his knuckles had turned. She turned towards him and tried to call his name, to no avail. "Frank please...", she said as she reached out to place her hand on his upper arm but Frank seemed to have snapped out of his daze and harshly slapped her hand away "DON'T TOUCH ME!", he screamed and Snow jumped back, his brown eyes black from anger and the darkness. The rest of the group came to a halt, their eyes glued on the fighting couple. "I di - I didn't do anything! I just wanted to help you!", the girl screamed back, her eyes equally dark but her expression was clearly confused. "YOU ALWAYS 'JUST WANT TO HELP'. YOU'RE NOT HELPING ANYONE, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE!", he raised his fists "YOU'RE SO FUCKING ANNOYING WITH YOUR 'I AM SUCH A SWEETHEART I WANT TO HELP EVERYONE'. HERE'S SOME NEWS FOR YOU I DONT' NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP YOU WORTHLESS BITCH!" Snow looked into Frank's eyes and if heartbreak had a face it would've been hers in this moment. She opened her mouth in an attempt to say something but decided against it. If that was how Frank trutly thought of her then there were no more words left to say. She reached into her pocket and threw the knife he had given to her infront of his feet before turning around and taking off deeper into the woods.  "SNOW WAIT!", she heard Joey and Suzie scream after her but she couldn't stand anyone near her at the moment. Suzie's steps crunched in the snow behind her but the younger girl wasn't quick enough and soon lost her friend's trail in the darkness. Snow didn't give a single fuck about where she was running right now, but she managed to avoid tripping over loose roots or dead branches on the ground, she just wanted to run and so she ran, faster than in every sports class, faster than when she had overslept and was late for class, she ran as if her life depended on running.

Snow came to  a halt infront of a large black house in the woods. This must've been the house Joey and Suzie had mentioned back then. As her anger subsided she felt how wet and cold her feet were, she couldn't feel her face or fingers anymore and she shivered as if she'd never warm up again, so she decided that it was best to seek shelter in the rundown house and maybe light a fire to help against the threat of frostbites.

"KEEP WALKING, SHITHEAD.", Frank demanded as Suzie and Snow ran off into the woods. Joey didn't dare to say something, but turned around once more to check if Suzie had found them again. Luckily she did, so he marched further into the forest, silently hoping for Snow to be safe. He would go and search for her once they arrived at the villa. The boy knew how dangerous it was to disobey Frank when he had a blowup like that.