debut | in the forest of the night

[sugarandbite]

Everything hurt.

Her skin felt like it was on fire. It was no use to try to wipe her face off on her jacket. The vervain was still on her clothes, making even the smallest attempts to clean herself off absolute agony.

Everything hurt.

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[lexiepedia]

She's on her way into the clinic when she hears it, the faint but unmistakable sound of someone crying. While Lexie has been here long enough to be used to any number of strange things that happen, this is new, this is unusual, and it's quiet enough around that she can't just ignore it. Someone could be hurt or in trouble, and if nobody else is going to do anything about it, then it's her responsibility to. It's as simple as that

[sugarandbite]

Another whimper escaped her. It was soft, mixed in with the tears that slid hotly down her cheeks. She had heard a door open and recoiled slightly against the noise. He was coming back. He was going to hurt her, but everything hurt so much already.Couldn't he just leave her alone? She just wanted to be left alone.

Her knuckles tightened momentarily on the bars, her body unable or unwilling to let them go just yet. They were something tangible that she could hold onto through the pain.

The sound of the woman's voice raised hackles of momentary alarm. Opening her eyes, her vision was blurry as she turned to look in the direction of the woman. "Please. Just let me out. I didn't do anything."

[lexiepedia]

"No, I know, I know you didn't," Lexie says as reassuringly as possible, though she can't help the edge of urgency creeping into her tone. Opening the door will be easy enough - thank God she's the clinic's Council rep, really, and doesn't have to run and try to find someone else - but it's clear that there's so much more to this than just the bars the girl is behind, and she has no way of knowing yet how bad it will be. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out, okay?"

Straightening, she presses her hand to the touchpad so it can read her fingerprints, the lock of the door clicking open a moment later. Not wanting to dislodge the girl's grip on the bars before she's ready, she doesn't pull the door open yet, instead just asking, "Do you need me to help you up?"

[sugarandbite]

"Okay."

Her voice was soft, tears and pain cracking through her voice. Everything felt raw, aching and burning despite the fact that her captor had gone. With more effort than she cared to admit to, Caroline managed to force her fingers to let go of the bars. They screamed in pain at the sudden relaxation, a gasp escaping her as she pushed herself upright.

"I'm..." she trailed off, pulling her knees to her chest. Her movement caused the bullets to roll away from her, leaving little trails of blood in their wake. She wasn't fine at all. Lifting her chin, she stared up at the woman. "Could you?"