Knife's Edge - The Legion (Frank Morrison)

Chapter 18 A new life?

After their reunion, Frank had decided that they needed to get out of that area. "We'll get back to the truck and see how far we get. We need some food and a new place to stay.", what he didn't mention was his worries about their future. He wasn't sure if someone had already found out about their murders, he didn't know how much time had passed since they dissapeared and he didn't know what the families of his friends did when they found out that their children went missing.

"Fuck this!", Frank yelled and kicked the rusty truck, it was in a really bad shape, as if it had stood where they'd parked it for decades. "Didn't that old guy had a car?", Suzie dared to speak up "When Joey and I were walking around back then, we had discovered a garage, maybe there could be something useful." Julie smiled at Suzie while Frank just gave her a quick glance. "We'll go back there and see what we can make of the shit that's left in that house.", his voice leaving no room for objections and the Legion made their way back to the old mansion once more.

"Frank, what will we do next?", Snow asked, while biting on the skin around her nails, she was clearly nervous. "I don't know... we could settle down somewhere and start all over again.", Frank answered honestly. "I want to see Dad.", she whispered but before Frank could answer she added "I - I know I shouldn't I know that!" Frank looked at her with uncertainty in his eyes, an emotion he rarely showed. The dark circles around his eyes seemed to get darker with every passing moment and he voiced his commandos more sternly than ever.

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A week had passed and the group went back to Ormond. To their shock the little town and the whole world with it had changed while they were gone. People now carried slim mobile phones they called 'smartphone' and the Internet had advanced into directions nobody could've ever imagined back then. It seemed as if they were gone for over 20 years and it took a lot of time and effort to adapt to their new situation. Joey was the first one to find a job and a flat. He worked at a new local shop and helped Suzie and Julie to find a job and a place to live at as well.

The small town seemed to have forgotten this group of teenagers, the old people were now long gone and the younger generation was not really remembering what had happened all those years ago.

"Frank? I'm home!", Snow exlaimed as she entered their home. She was able to pick up her last highschool year and worked part time to be able to pay for her college. The two of them were somehow able to buy Clive's old house for an affordable price and it took them a lot of time and effort to make it over until it held no resemblance to the hell, Frank used to live in. "I'm here.", she heard his voice from the kitchen. Snow walked into the kitchen, her usual smile dropping when her eyes met his. He looked horrible. "What's wrong, love?", she asked him. Frank hadn't found a job, or a plan for his future yet, he just tried his best to support Snow with occasional work but his mental health was deteriorating ever since they moved back to Ormond. "Just another fucking nightmare...", he whispered. He had them almost every night, dreams about the Entity, about him hunting and killing those innocent people. "Do you want to talk about it?", she asked but Frank just shook his head "I need to get out of here... I should've never left that hell..." with those words he jumped up and to the door. "Frank, wait!", she tried to grab his arm but he was quicker, sprinting out of the door. Snow just stood in the door frame, watching him go. A deep sigh escaped her and she slowly closed the door. In those last few days Frank had almost gone back to the person he'd been when they first met. His moods would change from one moment to another, he'd scream at her before either apologizing or just dissapearing for a few hours. He'd often come back looking even worse, bloody knuckles, split lips and covered in dirt. It was as if she'd have to navigate a powderkeg through a vulcano. So she sat down at the kitchen table and cried silently. She cried because she was angry, so angry and frustrated and sad. It was a small thing that had went wrong all those years ago and it just changed their lives forever. A new found anger crept into her mind, she was angry that Joey had lost his job back then, she was angry at Frank, who decided to break into that place, she was angry at herself for falling for Frank so easily in the first place. It was almost irrational how fast she'd forgiven him all that emotional abuse from their first few days knowing each other. But she knew that those thoughts wouldn't change a thing, it wouldn't make things any better, there was no way of going back in time to change how things went.

This night though, Frank hadn't returned. And he didn't in the following days. Snow was at a point beyond worry. She was sick of all of this. She went to the shop Joey worked in and bought herself a pack of red hair dye. She needed a change and she needed it now.

Back in her bathroom she went to the mirror and mixed the dye. Her phone was buzzing with worried texts from Joey, Julie and Suzie asking about herself and Frank, she quickly left a message in their group chat to inform them that Frank had left without another word, before muting the chat and opening her music app to play some Bring Me The Horizon. She just needed something to fit the mood she was in right now and this band she'd discovered was just a perfect fit.
After an hour, her work was done. She looked back up into her mirror, her dark brown hair was now permanently stained a deep red and she smirked. This was exactly what she'd needed. It might seem cliché but it really helped her in this moment. Fuck Frank, she thought. He would've just told her that he didn't like dyed hair or something along those lines.