Verisimilitude-something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth.
(Late morning of April 3rd, 2014)
“There are ways to wake up a person, Lacië Meridan, and screaming is not one of them.” Andy muttered under her breath, groggily rolling out of Delael’s arm and off the couch. She landed face first on the hardwood floors and got to her feet to reluctantly waddle to Lacië’s room.
She pushed lightly on the door, letting it stand ajar and walked herself into Lacië’s room. Her friend’s body was stretched across the entire width of her body, and her face was drenched in a mixture of salty sweat and bitter tears. She whimpered and shook, rolling to try and hide from something. Every once and a while, she would scream and cry out incoherent words. Andy didn’t understand what her friend was saying, and that scared her. Lacië’s fear and terror affected hers.
Andy sprang across the room, huddled next to her friend. The werewolf ran her calloused fingers through Lacië’s soft lilac hair in hopes of trying to calm her. She shook her gently, desperately trying to wake her from her nightmares. But Lacië continued to cry and shake, lakes of tears pouring into a puddle on the sheets beside her. Andy continued to shake her. She shook her and shook her, raising in intensity by the second. She begged and pleaded. She didn’t want to see Lacië in despair
Her sobbing slowed and she grew still in Andy’s strong arms. Her fearful gray eyes peered into Andy’s golden ones, her tears falling in quantities. She reached forward and clung to Andy, wrapping her body around hers.
“Shh Lacië,” Andy cooed in her ear, brushing through her hair gently with her fingers and trailing them down her back. “No more tears please. Whatever is scaring you isn’t going to scare you anymore.”
“I don’t want to lose anyone else, Andy.” Lacië whispered, clinging onto Andy’s black shirt for dear life. “I never got to know my mother. I barely knew my father, and now Ryuko has been threatening Xavier. You guys are the closest things to a family I’ve ever really had.” Lacië looked endearingly up into Andy’s eyes with a ghost of a smile, a single silver tear sliding down her soaked cheeks. “I don’t want to lose any of you.”
“You won’t have to, Lacië King.” Delael chirped from the door, standing with Xavier. The two gave Lacië and Andy sheepish smiles.
Xavier held a hand out to help Lacië off her bed, sending her a bright smile. “They’ll have to take me kicking and screaming. We’re not going anywhere anytime soon!” He promised. “Wipe those tears and let’s go get you something to eat. Colin left some money behind when he went to work, just incase we had to persuade you to leave the house.”
“How much?” Lacië curiously asked with the beginning of a smile, grabbing Xavier’s hand and got to her feet. “How much is my cooperation worth?” She distanced herself from her friends, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him skeptically.
Delael winked at Lacië, swinging an arm around her feminine shoulders. “Enough.”
“Okay, okay,” Lacië said with a goofy smile, reaching up to flick Delael in the ear. “Then where are we going, friends of mine?” She asked, getting a grin out of each one of her friends.
“I’m afraid it’s a secret, m’dear!” Xavier exclaimed, dragging her out of the door and into an idle taxi cab. “And it wouldn’t be a secret if we told you!”
Even if they had told her, Lacië wouldn’t of known of the place they were treating her too. She had heard of the waterfront café, Lockside, nor had she ever even seen it. She hadn’t ever really been near this part of Bristol, although she had lived here for just under 19 years.
