Chapter 7 – Frankystein's Grace

Grace adjusted her eyes to the darkened room she was in. Just yesterday she had imagined Harry Potter as she sat in that cupboard under the stairs and now she really was in a cupboard. She sat up and held onto the side of her head as her dizziness suddenly hit. She pushed on the door, secretly praying it would be open but it was locked. The room was pitch black and all she had was a flashlight, which she was so kindly given. No windows and there was so little space that even though she had never worried about claustrophobia before, she did now. And she was alone. She knew where Franky was – at community service stealing her identity.


"Thank fuck it's the weekend tomorrow." Liv muttered while trying to light up her cigarette. Mini excitedly pulled on Liv's arm to bring her closer.

"Wow I completely forgot! We should do something, right?" Mini pulled the cigarette from Liv's lips so she could 'have a turn'.

"Yeah… Just not another shitty sappy movie, okay?" Liv said while Mini let out a laugh at the memory of the terrible movie they watched the night before.

"Okay… I have to get out of the house anyway because my Mum is stuck to the couch with a box of tissues." Mini complained. Her Mum was distraught after finding out Dylan had left her. Mini wondered what her Mum would say if she found out the real reason Dylan had suddenly left without a word.

"Ouch… Did she believe that you just cut your arm when cooking?" Liv asked, while gesturing to Mini's bandaged arm. Mini let out a snort at this question.

"She didn't even ask about it." They turned the corner of the community center and could now see the entrance clearly.

"Mini!" A male voice called out which made both girls stop in their tracks and turn around. Mini widened her eyes as she saw Nick jogging towards her.

"Nick, right?" Mini asked with what she hoped was one of her more attractive smiles. He nodded and seemed to be slightly out of breath.

"Why are you all sweaty?" Liv asked with a crinkle of her nose. Nick checked himself over before replying.

"I run every morning around this area." Mini chewed on her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling. Being fit was number one on her list of male requirements.

"Well we've got to go inside…" Mini said slowly to show that she didn't really want to leave him but she had to.

"Uhm… Can I ask you something?" Nick asked just as Liv and Mini were turning around to leave. Mini simply nodded in response and her mind was whirring with possible questions he might have to ask her.

"Do you want to go out tonight? Like a date or something… Nothing serious." Mini nearly widened her eyes at Nick's apparent nervousness and the fact that he was even asking this. She opened her mouth to say she would love to, but closed it when she remembered about her power. She instead sighed heavily and shook her head.

"I-I can't. I really do want to but my Mum's been a grump and grounded me for getting caught shoplifting." She tried to make it sound as badass as possible, but getting caught nearly reduced her to tears at the time when she had imagined what she'd look like in an orange jumpsuit.

"Oh… Okay. Maybe some other time then." Mini nodded eagerly just before Nick jogged off. She frowned and continued to walk towards the entrance. Liv furrowed her eyebrows as she followed Mini.

"Why didn't you say yes?" Mini jutted out her chin in annoyance because she thought it was clearly obvious why she said no. She waved one hand in Liv's face as a reminder.

"Hello? If he even tries to touch me he'll start looking like he belongs in Trafalger Square."

"Okay calm down." Liv said while backing away from her slightly as she headed into the locker room. She immediately noticed a stranger by Grace's locker with short hair, but when she blinked she saw Grace. She shook her head before ignoring what she had just seen.

"Hi!" Grace called with a wave. Her smile didn't seem to quite reach her eyes as if there was something playing on her mind. "You missed a great time last night?"

"Are you okay, Gracie?" Liv asked slowly, walking to her own locker so she could get her horrendous orange jumpsuit out. Grace let out a small laugh to show she was absolutely fine.

"Me? I'm fine and dandy!" Now Mini seemed to be taken back by her response and her and Liv shared a puzzled look. "Oh, there's Rich!"

Grace skipped off to talk to Rich who had just entered the locker room with Alo.

"Fine and dandy?" Mini asked before snorting at the ridiculous phrase Grace had started using. Liv smiled but she felt uneasy about what she had seen.

"Hey guys," Grace began with a small wave. She had clearly been in the locker room a while as she was the only one in her jumpsuit.

"Hey…" Rich replied, returning the wave a little awkwardly. Alo gave him one pat on the shoulder before walking off. Rich stared at his feet and mumbled some unintelligible words before looking back up at Grace. I practiced this with Alo… It's easy… Just say it… Now…

"So… Do you want to uhh -"

"Yes?" Grace asked patiently with big innocent eyes peering up at him. Her eyes made him uneasy and he considered reading her thoughts to know where he stood with her but then he stopped himself because he had kind of promised her he wouldn't.

"Err… It doesn't matter." He nodded and started to go in the direction of his own locker.

"Do you want to go out for dinner with me tonight?" She asked, making him stop in his tracks. He started to grin which made her small smile brighten to spread across her face.

"Uhm… Yeah, I do." He was about to walk off when he realized he had no idea what time he was supposed to be meeting her. "What time?"

"How about half seven? Meet at the pub first?" She said, still smiling at him. He nodded and then walked to his locker.

Alo gave him a thumbs up with a questioning look on his face, but when he saw Rich grinning he knew the date had been sorted.

"Guys, I've got a date with Rich tonight!" Grace said in an excited whisper to her two friends. Mini raised her eyebrows in surprise and distaste even though she tried to hide her distaste. Liv raised one eyebrow pointedly as well.

"Didn't know you two had a thing going on." Liv stated before Mini could say anything. Grace looked confused by Liv's sentence and took a while to say anything back.

"Well... We do now." She gave an awkward smile as Mini muttered, "Whatever" but with a smile to show she wasn't trying to be mean.

"Give us all the juicy details afterwards!... Actually not all of them." She crinkled her nose and shuddered as she thought about Rich in any sexual activity.

Grace gave a semi-forced laugh, which Liv noticed. Her eyes seemed to grow darker all of a sudden and Liv could no longer ignore it.

"What's up with your eyes, Gracie?" Grace's face paled over, but her eyes stayed black as night. She tried to look away from Liv's piercing stare, as she backed away.

"Nothing! I just need the bathroom." And she ran off in the direction of the nearest one. Liv turned around to Mini who was looking at her orange jumpsuit with a frown.

"Did you just see that?" Mini looked up in confusion.

"No... What?" Liv shook her head in reply. Maybe it was all in her head.


"Liv? What are you doing here?" Mini asked as she scraped her hair back into a ponytail. She had only just said bye to Liv two hours ago. She glanced up at the wall clock in the living room as Liv led the way to the sofa – it was now seven PM.

"I was going to convince you to go out for a drink with Nick." Liv rushed her words as she could tell Mini was about to argue with her. "Just because you can't… touch him doesn't mean you can't have a good time!"

"Oh, how did you come to that conclusion?" She asked with a small laugh of bafflement as she crossed her arms. Liv rummaged in her small shoulder bag for something, which certainly made Mini a little bit curious.

"Ta da! Borrowed them from my Mum… Well, temporarily stole them, but who cares?" Liv threw a pair of long gloves at Mini and she caught them with a scowl.

"This may have been popular in the 80s, but not anymore." She held them at arms' length as a sign for Liv to take them back. She saw Liv's smile fade and Mini tried to look a little happier. "Look thanks Liv," Mini started while pulling Liv in for a brief hug. "But I really don't want to go. I do like him and if I didn't have this stupid curse you know I would be totally after him. Now though… I would just be torturing myself if I went out with him. Sorry."

"Hey, I understand…" Liv pulled Mini in for another hug and Mini relaxed instantly. Liv had other things still on her mind though and her motives for coming over here weren't just about Mini and her date. She sighed.

"Do you want tea?" Liv shook her head, but Mini still headed into the kitchen to make a cup for herself.

"Do you think…. Have you noticed anything weird about Grace today?" Liv started while Mini filled the kettle with water. She looked back over her shoulder to see Liv and started to laugh.

"You mean apart from 'I'm fine and dandy!'? Nope." Mini was still smiling until she noticed Liv's gloomy expression. "Shit… What did you notice?"

Mini was frowning at Liv and she considered telling Mini about what she had noticed. She had first seen a complete stranger standing by Grace's locker before she turned into Grace and then her eyes were turning blacker by the second in the locker room.

Eventually Liv shook her head.

"Nothing. I must just be imagining things." Mini continued frowning for a second before beginning to smile again.

"Hey, she's got that big date with Richina tonight! She's probably nervous about it." Liv slowly began to nod.

"Yeah… Wait Richina?" Mini raised an eyebrow in disappointment that Liv didn't get her joke.

"His naff hair? It makes him look like a girl, so Richina…" She said slowly, hoping Liv would eventually laugh.

"Oh, right." Mini was starting to get concerned for Liv, because normally Mini was the one moping around about her power but Liv was the strong one who went with whatever.

"How about we go out tonight? Oceana?" Mini asked, hoping Liv would be up for it.

"Yeah, sure." Liv said, trying to sound excited but she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Or something bad was already happening to Grace.


I'm finally back! (And let's ignore the fact that I'm back with a really boring chapter)

I've finished the official (and confidential) plan for the rest of this story and it's going to have 12 chapters… AND there's going to be a sequel!

Okay so for every review I get from now I will reveal a teaser for what's to happen in the rest of the story. HOPEFULLY this will motivate more of you to review and it'll be nice to give you all little teasers. :)

SO 5 chapters left and still so much is left to happen!

Thanks,

TheCheeryCherry