Like I said, Eva let me have one more day with her laptop because I asked nicely. :D …actually, I just "conveniently forgot it at home." Lol.
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Right up until those finally moments, she had been feeling nothing but pain. Pain like there was something in her that was trying to claw its way out. The burning of the electricity that she could not control continued to flow through her unwaveringly. She felt herself start to slip. Not literally, like slip on an ice cube. But more like slip away. Slip out of her very body. Like the fibers holding her together had snapped from the inside. With all her will and remaining strength, she had fought against the thing. Rather than slipping, she realized she was being forced out. That thing was trying to push her out, and she was not about to surrender control just like that. No way was she just going to lie down and die, and let that thing take her body without a fight. As unbearable as the pain was, she held on. She felt the thing probe her mind, looking for some weakness to use against her. Something that it could take and manipulate for it's own benefit. Something that would make her let go. She refused to be probed.
The thing grew angry at her unwillingness to cooperate. The pain grew worse as it continued to try and pry her loose of her control. It sent more energy into her with which it hoped to shock her out. As the pain in her reached a critical level, she realized there was no room inside her for both of them. One of them had to go. And it was not going to be her.
She gathered as much energy as she could, taking it from wherever she could find it. Places were scarce. All the energy from her powers was at the mercy of that thing. And all her strength was long since gone. But she refused to lose. With no other option, she took the energy she need from a place that the thing could not touch, and would not, for it was energy they both needed. When the thing realized what she was doing, it panicked and became enraged. With all its own power, it tried as hard as it could pry her loss before she could do what she intended on doing.
But it was to late.
With her own life energy, Frida silenced the thing. Silencing herself in the process.
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Manny couldn't sleep that night. It was pitch black in the cabin, so he couldn't see a thing. Yet, he continued to stare at Frida (or at least in her general direction), who was laying completely still next to him. She hadn't move or said anything since her and Rida had gotten to Miguel's house. Manny had talked to her for a while, knowing perfectly well she wouldn't answer him. He wondered what she could be thinking about that would cause her to be so silent and still. Usually when she had a lot on her mind, she would never shut up. She would talk about so much to the point where everyone around her was ready to stuff a sock in her mouth. Everyone, except Manny. He always listened to what she had to say. This stunned silence was very unusually for her.
But then again, technically, she was…dying.
Knowing that you might die probably put a lot on your mind that you didn't want to share. Still, he wondered what she was thinking about. Then his mind wandered off to other things, such as Rida and Miguel. They were finally reunited after over 200 years apart. He wondered what they were doing now. He wondered why they didn't just find each other when Miguel died. Now that was a question he'd never find an answer to. He wondered what would happen if Frida did end up dying…
Again, he forced the though out of his mind. He refused to think about it.
Diego and Sergio had bombarded them with a whole rainbow of questions when they got back to the cabin. Django had to re-tell the story. Manny immediately put Frida to bed and didn't let anyone bother her.
He sighed. Deciding that worrying wasn't going to do any good, he rolled over on his stomach to get more comfortable, absentmindedly putting his hand of Frida's stomach as he did so.
He instantly sat up. "Django! Wake up!" He yelled and reached over Frida to turn the light on. He hadn't felt the bare stomach that he had expected to feel. There was cotton covering it. Which meant she was in her regular clothes. But, how…?
Django shot up in his bed. "I'm up, I'm up!" He said, though still dazed. "What's…?" He looked at Frida. She was in her regular clothes. No Gatita anything. Her ears and tail were completely gone. Her face was pale and her expression hadn't even twitched. Closer look saw that her eyes were dilated.
"Django, what's wrong with her?!" Manny demanded. He was perfectly aware of the most likely reason, but he still refused to accept it.
Django looked her over. While he did this, Sergio and Diego also woke up and saw her.
"Good lord! What happened?" Diego asked.
Django knelt down next to her and looked into her eyes, a look of pure terror on his face. "Her ears and tail are gone…" he said, stating the obvious. "Which means her powers are…gone…. Which…means…"
"DON'T SAY IT!!" Manny shouted. "Django, don't you dare say it! That can't be it, she's not dead!" He didn't mean to say it. It just spilled out.
Django's expression didn't change. "Manny… I think… she…"
"Django, I'm warning you, don't you say it!" Manny knew he had no right to be yelling at Django. He just couldn't even begin to accept it. That's couldn't possibly be it. It had to be something else. What else, though, he had no idea.
Django pressed his ear against her chest, searching for any sigh of a heartbeat. Manny watched and waited anxiously. Django stayed there for an unnecessarily long time. Finally, he raised his head, his face plastered with a look of defeat. "If I had tear glands, I'd be crying right now." He said quietly.
Manny literally felt his heart break in his chest. His own tear glands kicked in and he started bawling uncontrollably, scooping Frida up in his arms and cradling her against his chest. Django didn't have to say it.
They all knew she was dead.
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Lemme tell ya, I wrote Manny's scene first, then I went back and added Frida's scene. I'm quite proud of it, if I do say so myself.