// ⬣ ＦＲＡＭＥ ＯＦ ＭＩＮＤ [ completed ]

[Asherwy]

bumpy - chapter five's still in progress ;3

[Asherwy]

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Fynn looked away from the disfigured face of the sleeping boy, swallowing back vomit that threatened to escape from her mouth. Luke. This is your brother. Did you not recognise him? Yet you recognise me and Derek. Why?

Mr. and Mrs. Crescent were sobbing on the other side of the bed, Mr. Crescent grasping the boy's hand as if the world was ending. She had never seen Luke's parents like this. Mrs. Crescent had tissues pressed against her sticky face, her pitiful murmurs barely audible as she continued to wipe her eyes. "Ricky...oh Ricky..."

Fynn felt a tear roll down her left cheek. I used to play with him everyday. She had taught him how to swim, remembering how happy he looked when he could finally raise his head to take a breath without sinking. She remembered how she yelled at him whenever he would insist on watching T.V. while eating dinner. She remembered how warm he felt against her side when she slept over at Luke's house while Luke and his parents were at a family party. At that time Ricky was too young to attend and Fynn had volunteered to babysit him for the night. Now she almost puked at the sight of his face.

A warm, sweaty hand then covered her eyes, its pinkie stopping a second tear that had found its way out of her left eye. "It's weird when you cry." The voice said.

Fynn felt the corner of her mouth twitch into a small smile. "Same."

Removing the hand from her eyes, she wiped away the salty water that had blurred her vision and sniffed. She looked up to see Derek staring at Ricky, his eyes were also watery. Standing up from her chair, she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and slapped it against his face. "It's disgusting when you cry."

Derek raised his hand up to take the tissue that was plastered to his cheeks while sighing quietly, shoving the tissue in his own pocket. He glanced at the two crying adults before leaning in, lowering his voice. "Let's go to Luke's room. There aren't any people in there anymore, and we need to talk."

Fynn nodded and started to follow him out of the room. She was about to close the door when Mr. Crescent's raspy voice stopped her. "Fynn," He croaked, "Thank you and Derek for always staying by our family."

She smiled gently, replying with a firm voice. "We'll always be here."

He managed a weak smile in return, wrapping an arm around his wife as soon as Fynn shut the door.


- - -

Warm night air drifted through the broken window, its jagged edges glinting in the fading moonlight. She recalled how Luke had crashed through the glass after butchering his brother, remembering the lake of blood surrounding the door. Men with sedatives had rushed in shortly after Luke attacked his brother, but he was long gone by then. Greg Patterson had gotten a mouthful from Ricky's parents while he was in the ICU; Fynn overheard them. How could you let this happen?! Did you think it was safe?! And now Luke is missing too! What if something happens to him?!

Trudging towards the shattered window, she gazed at the city lights in the distance, across the gentle glow of their hometown. Fynn trailed her fingers across the serrated frame as Derek plodded up next to her, yawning. "What are you doing."

Fynn lifted her hand and turned it over. There was a trickle of red pulsing steadily from her forefinger, dripping onto the glass and seeping into its cracks. "Bleeding." She answered dully, watching as the lines transformed from clear to crimson before licking the blood and sticking the finger in her mouth.

"Nice job." He said sarcastically, pulling a bandaid out of his pocket and handing it over.

"Thanks." She said, letting it sit there in her hand.

They stared out the window for a while, Fynn sucking on her finger and checking on it now and then to see if it stopped bleeding.

Derek then broke the silence, leaning over a little to stare at a cluster of trees on one side of the town. "What do you think Luke's doing right now?"

"Who knows, sleeping?" Fynn suggested, wrapping the bandaid around the cut.

Derek scratched the back of his head. "Meh. You think people'll notice something wrong with him?"

"Well he looks pretty normal, except for that huge scar on his forehead. Girls'll probably run screaming." Fynn chuckled, scrunching up the bandaid packaging, shoving it into her pocket. "But our entire school except for Alison have never seen Luke this way. I bet they'll get freaked out if they see."

"No kidding. Especially that girl, what's her name? Tiffany Pot. She screams when the classroom door opens."
"Yeah definitely. And that other guy, Wei Xi, he's kinda jumpy too."

Derek nodded in emphasis. "That's an understatement. Once I was late for class right, and Wei Xi was going to the toilet and I was running behind him," He began to smile and giggle, taking in quick breaths of air as he spoke, "but then as soon as he heard my footsteps he yelled something in Hokkien and started sprinting down the hallway. So paranoid."

Fynn laughed. "I remember that, I heard him yell while I was in class."

"Yeah..." Derek poked his head out the window frame and inhaled deeply.

"Memories huh?" Fynn commented, playing with the bandaid.

Derek sighed. "Seems so long ago."

"Well the Wei Xi thing was almost two years ago." She pointed out.

"I guess so."

The sky started to grow lighter, turning to a very pale blue as the sun rose from the east side of the hospital.

"Let's go find Luke." Fynn blurted out unconsciously.

"I thought we decided that already."

Fynn smiled and raised an eyebrow at him. "Hopefully he doesn't break any laws until we do."

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← chp. 4

chp. 6 →

Note- This one's kinda boring..?
im sorry

intro post

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

Ooh, I like this!
I'm curious to see what happens!
I'm sitting here expecting there to be something significant about eyes lol
I do have one suggestion though
In the beginning, instead of describing his family, I think you should write out the dinner.
Kinda like that show don't tell thing
I'd very much like to see how he interacts with his family before the accident compared to after
A visit from them would be interesting to see
Also, it was unclear at first that he got amnesia
I was like lol ok why has he been in the hospital for a month
Also, maybe the last thing he sees before he's pushed is Derek and Fynn and that's why he only remembers them?
Also, a little physical description couldn't hurt ^-^
I was imagining Fynn short and blonde until it said her hair was auburn lol
Anyway you don't have to listen to those if you don't want to, I just thought I'd share my thoughts x]

[Asherwy]

omg nonononnonon
thank you so much
i was feeling kinda off about the beginning too
thank you
thank you
i'm so honoured to have you and rosie comment on this
eep
your critique makes me happy
I WILL IMPROVE THE STORY
I WILL MAKE THINGS MORE CLEAR YET NOT TELL THE READER EVERYTHING
GOT IT
but seriously share your thoughts
you and rosie's thoughts are very precious to me x3
-starts incorporating stuff into chapter 6-

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

Of course! ^-^
I've been meaning to read this for a long time but I kept getting distracted by challenges and stories ugh
Having this many things on a mental to-do list while having severe ADHD is not smart xD
But yeah I'm excited to see what happens when they go look for him :o

[Asherwy]

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Luke stumbled over a rock, stopping him in his tracks. He turned around and stared at the object. It was like a gap in the ground, a dark hole that led to nowhere. Without hesitation, he raised his bare foot and slammed it down onto the rock, a dull thud echoing throughout the forest. It did not work.

Stars glimmered in the night sky, moonlight revealing the boy's scuffed hair and bloodied face. A soft breeze whistled past the tree trunks as their branches danced along with the air. There was faint rustling in the bushes; the sound grew until a small mouse scurried out from under the leaves. It padded on top of his foot and stood on its hind legs, cocking its head. The mouse then bent over and sniffed his bloody toe. Luke could feel its small tongue brush over his toenail before it squeaked in disgust and scurried away.

He hadn't removed his foot from the rock, nor was he moving at all; it was almost as if he had turned to stone himself. Slowly, without taking his foot off the rock, he squatted and touched a finger at a the spot where the mouse had licked him. Luke didn't seen the creature clearly, but he was sure that the mouse's pelt was grey. He then lifted the finger up and placed it on his cracked lips.

"I love you."

Rising to his feet again, he took his foot off the rock and picked it up, cradling the stone in his hands.

"You're grey too."

He pressed the rock against his cheek and closed his eyes.

"I miss Fynn."

He put back the rock and gazed up at the brightening sky. It was tinged with blue.

"I miss Derek."

Luke began to walk forward, glancing at the sky every now and then as it became an even more brighter, deeper blue. Several clouds wandered across the blue sky. It reminded him of the ceaseless shine in Derek's eyes. The boy then emerged from the trees, climbing over a decayed wooden fence and stepped onto a concrete sidewalk. Rows of buildings greeted his brown eyes as he kept walking forward. To his right, just a little bit lower than the sidewalk, there was a darker concrete with white lines in the middle. Road. He thought.

A moving object sped along the road, its rumbling breaking the silence of the empty street. Car. He thought. Then he pointed to himself. "Luke." He laughed and skipped along the pavement, his gaze locked onto the sky as he thought of Derek's shiny blue eyes. There was a tinkle coming from the shop door on his left, the small entrance bell of a bakery swinging back and forth as a woman emerged from the building. Luke stopped skipping and stared at her, the woman freezing in her tracks as soon as she saw him. Her eyes dilated is shock as the morning sun shed light on his blood covered body. She gulped, her adam's apple bouncing in her throat as she cautiously crept forward. "Excuse me," She began, voice trembling, "Are you alright?"

Luke blinked once, then twice, before turning and walking up to her. She let out a small yelp but didn't move, instead she held her breath as the boy examined her face. Green. He thought. Her eyes are green. Fynn didn't have green eyes. Derek didn't have green eyes. The boy then switched his gaze to her golden hair that was beginning to glow in the sun's rays. Luke smiled, his white teeth contrasting to his filthy appearance. "You're alright?" It came out more as a question than a statement, as if he wasn't sure of what he was saying.

The woman's eyes grew wider, like she had just realised something extremely important. She put a hand to her head and gasped, taking in the boy's gleaming smile that left her mouth hanging open. "Luke?!"

"That's me!" He yelled, jumping up and down.

"What happened to you?! Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?" She exclaimed, both hands on her mouth now. It was apparent that the boy took no notice of her, completely ignoring every question she asked him as he continued to bounce on the sidewalk, repeating the words 'that's me!' over and over again.

The bell from the door tinkled again, a small boy in pyjamas stumbling outside and stopped beside the blonde woman, grasping her pants as soon as he saw Luke. "Mommy who's dat?" He also had green eyes.

Not knowing how to respond, she took hold of his tiny fingers and closed her mouth. "Someone we used to know. I think you should go inside now, is your sister awake?" Luke was still jumping up and down.

Just then, an even smaller girl hobbled through the bakery door, rubbing her eyes as she trudged her way towards the woman and the boy. "I wokup. Noisy." She pointed at Luke.

Luke stopped jumping immediately, the smile vanishing from his face as he stared at the girl with a blank expression. "Blue." He said. "Who are you?"

The girl looked up at him with terrified little turquoise irises. "I'm Marilyn." She squeaked.

Luke's eyes narrowed into slits. "You are not Derek. Not Derek not Derek not Derek not derek...." His expression darkened as he muttered words under his breath. The woman backed away, taking the boy with her and motioning frantically for the girl to follow. He jerked his head up and glared at the girl. "Why... do you HAVE HIS EYES?!" He screamed, his right hand shooting out like lightning, striking the side of her face as she shrieked in terror.

The woman began to scream as well, raw screams mixed with horrified sobs as she rushed forward and tried to tear Luke away from her daughter but constantly failed, being forced to watch her daughter get ripped apart by the boy's hands, blow after blow until the girl's screams had melted away all together. The smaller boy was paralysed to the spot, his eyes glued to the trail of his sister's blood as it trickled down into the drain.

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← chp. 5

chp. 7 →

Note- THERE. SOMETHING EXCITING. been a bit since i last posted a chapter...
hope you enjoy ;3

intro post

[Asherwy]

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Doctor Greg Patterson glided through the bleached hallways of the hospital, passing by the lobby full of clamouring voices and frantic footsteps. Slowing down behind a pillar, the doctor closed his eyes and stood still for a moment, listening to the words that were echoing from the reception.

"That crazy boy murdered Lydia's daughter!"

"Get that doctor fired!"

"The girl was three years old!"

"This isn't the first time it's happened!"

"Unbelievable."

"Didn't you hear what happened this morning?!"

"I'll get you sued for this!"

"Why would you employ such a foolish man?!"

With a deep sigh, Doctor Greg Patterson continued on his way, his steps a little heavier than before. He wasn't sure what to think. Nurses and other doctors he passed in the hallway grunted in disgust, mostly calling out sarcastic praise and words of fake encouragement that grated his eardrums. There was one particular sentence that caught his attention, causing him to stop abruptly and stare at the person who delivered it.

"This was your last chance Greg, and you blew it! Just like all the other times!"

Doctor Greg Patterson met the man's eyes, only to be greeted by cynical laughter.

"That's right! He doesn't care about his patients, he only cares about himself!"

Grey eyes slowly emptied as the doctor stumbled and kept moving towards his office, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. The pitter-patter of bare feet sounded from around the corner, the boy and girl who always hung around Luke appeared, running without shoes. The girl sprinted past the doctor and the boy followed, but then stopped a few metres away from him. He turned his head, but didn't look at him. "I searched about you."

Doctor Greg Patterson didn't say anything.

"Apparently all of the patients you've taken care of have had a successful rehabilitation."

The doctor turned around.

"Your methods aren't very popular?"

He stared at the floor.

"We're going to find Luke, 'cause it looks like you've had enough." And with that, he ran after the girl that was calling his name.

Running a hand through his brown-grey hair, the doctor gazed after the boy before yawning and entering the door to his right. It had a panel beside it reading: Dr. Greg Patterson. Feeling his eyes drying up, he shut them for a few seconds until water welled up around his eyelids. Pushing the door open, he stopped mid-step to see an even older man sitting on one of the guest chairs in his office.

The man turned to look at him. "Ah, Greg."

He dipped his head. "Mr. Turner."

"Please, just call me by my first name, we're friends aren't we? Since you do it out of work, just do it during work too." The man insisted, waving a hand in the air.

"Alright Blake, what is it?" Doctor Greg Patterson asked, giving in to his request.

Blake was silent for a moment, rubbing the palm of his hand under his jaw. "Well," He started, glancing up at the ceiling, and then to the door. "The government is threatening to shut down the hospital."

Doctor Greg Patterson said nothing in reply, settling down into his own chair and rearranging some papers.

"But," He sighed, "If you leave, they told me that they'll give us another chance. In other words, they won't shut down the place."

The doctor paused for a split-second before filing the papers into some drawers and meeting Blake's amber gaze. "I see."

Ruffling his blonde hair, Blake exhaled once more. "As your boss and the manager of this hospital, I would ask you to abide by the conditions and leave." He proceeded to scratch the back of his head, looking as if he was dealing with a jealous female who had misunderstood her boyfriend. "But I know that you have your own ways of handling the patients, even though they aren't that admirable."

Doctor Greg Patterson placed his hands on the table and laced his fingers together, listening quietly.

"So I'm going to ask for a week to sort everything out. If it's all good by then, I'll tell them that we won't lay you off and that this kind of thing will not ever happen again, alright?"

He simply nodded and stared at a family photo with Victoria Freyer, one of his previous patients. She nearly killed her fiancé once, but her father stopped her. Her father along with her fiancé had stayed by her side for five days straight, the nurses bringing in food for them to eat. Victoria was unconscious for those 120 hours, and when she woke up she was okay.

"Alright then, today's Tuesday right? If it's not solved and happy by next Tuesday then I've got no choice but to have you leave." Blake smoothened his white coat and stood up from the chair, reaching for the door handle. "I'll see you around, Gregory."

"Bye Blake."

He nodded and exited out of the room, the door closing with a soft click as his footsteps grew fainter down the empty hallway. Doctor Greg Patterson sighed, releasing his fingers from each other and leaned back in the chair, folding his arms. He let his head fall back and faced the ceiling, recalling the two teenagers' names that spent their days with Luke. Derek Hoots and.... Fynn Shredder. What an interesting name. With a grunt, he heaved himself back upright and switched his computer on, typing the name Derek Hoots into the search bar.

Doctor Greg clicked on the link that said: The Most Interesting Blog of Derek. Knitting his brows together, he went back a page. It wasn't him. Tapping a different link titled: Hootzer Boy and Paper Shredder, he scrolled down the posts to confirm that these were indeed the kids he was looking for. The doctor began to read each post since the blog was created, his smoky eyes scanning through each little life scene they had put up there. The post dated around the time of Luke's accident caught his attention. With narrowed eyes, he tried to read the sentences on the screen, but he couldn't get past the first three words.

It happened again.

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← chp. 6

chp. 8 →

Note- I'm so sorry, I know this chapter isn't as good as the others but please bear with me
sorry

intro post

[Asherwy]

seriously?
gosh i'm so touched
so happy right now
geez
i need to start the next chapter
i can't do anything yet though
no idea what I'll do

[Asherwy]

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"You throw that at me, you die."

Derek froze in his steps, his hand wielding a leaf full of deer droppings. He wore a nervous smile.

"It's just berries."

He lied pathetically, cowering impishly as Fynn turned to shoot him a look that said: 'seriously?' The corners of her mouth quivered and an affectionate grin broke out on her face; she could never hold a serious expression for long. Especially at someone like him.

Derek threw an exaggerated grin of his own right back at her, kicking a small pebble on the ground as they continued their trek through the forest.

"I wonder why we're creeping through a forest instead of the town."

Fynn jumped over a rotting log gave him sideways glance. "Well, since he just killed someone and most of the town's after him, I don't think he'd be stupid enough to be marching around the streets now would he?" She said as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

He broke off a twig from an overhanging brach. "His brain's messed up though."

"All the more reason why he'd be walking through the forest." She leaped over the trunk of a fallen tree, swatting off an ant that was crawling up her leg.

"Good point." He began breaking the twig into smaller pieces.

They reached a dried up stream with pebbles and boulders scattered along the banks and the riverbed. Fynn hopped from boulder to stone to boulder to pebble, the forest's birds twittering softly in the background. Derek kicked the rocks around, watching them roll down the gentle slope of the bed. He broke off yet another branch, a bigger one, and began whacking it around arbitrarily. Suddenly, he interrupted the peaceful silence with a low voice.

"Uh, yeah, his name's Luke..." His head bobbed. Fynn stopped to observe him strangely.

"He's a Duke...who puked..." Derek's face scrunched up in concentration. "In my loot, uhuh, yeah..."

Fynn laughed condescendingly. "That was horrible."

He didn't stop. "Yeah, he killed a guy...but didn't bother to buy my.....thigh..."

She burst out laughing, nearly tripping over a stone. "Your thigh?!" She began staggering in exaggeration, her eyes squinted in pain. "Hurk..ugh...my ears....they're diseased from hearing your voice..."

Pushing the corners of his mouth into his cheeks, he stared at her disapprovingly. "Now Mrs. Shredder, if you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all." He scolded in his overemphasised teacher voice.

"Sorry Mr. Hoots." She said in a sing-song tone, skipping along the bank of the dried stream.

He just shook his head and returned to whacking the branch around the rocks. "Uhuh, her name's Fynn..."

"Oh no."

"She's got an inn..."

"A inn?"

"And commits sins..."

She gave him a suspicious look.

"In the bin...yeah...."

Bringing her gaze upwards, she raised her thumb and index finger and rested them on her chin thoughtfully. "Such artistic drive, simply incredible."

He bowed. "Thank you, thank you."

Fynn applauded, clapping her hands in a circular motion.

Derek started whacking the branch with more force and raised his voice to a shout. "HIS NAME'S LUKE!"

Fynn glared at him, putting a finger to her lips. "Dude, shhhh!"

"HE PLAYS THE FLUTE!"

She rolled her eyes.

"FOR THE...uh....SOUP!"

A car alarm went off in the distance, followed straight after by police sirens.

The pair exchanged grim glances. They both were thinking of the same thing.

Luke.

There was a deafening crash, and with that, they raced off towards the sound.

I tried drawing....

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← chp. 7

chp. 9 →

Note- well. It's been a while. have a short chapter :D

intro post

[raey]

and again a masterpiece my friend
Really love it <3