I couldn't wait any longer to put this chapter up. For those who read the first version, this will seem quite similar, but slightly different.
I do not own The Outsiders.
Andromeda sighed, it was a Saturday and all of her friends were busy. On normal days, that wouldn't be a problem. Today, however, was not a normal day. It was one of the few days when her past became inescapable. She curled up tighter on her bed as she was sucked back into her memory.
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Andromeda waited patiently on the platform for the train. She had never been on a train before, so she was rather frightened at that point. She turned to Nanny Grace and whispered, "Why is it so loud?" Her Nanny smiled fondly down as her as she patted her head and said warmly, "It's a train station dear, they're always loud."
Andromeda shivered nervously as she shrank against Nanny Grace and muttered, "But I don't like loud places, they're scary." Andromeda saw her sister's face appear from the other side of Nanny Grace as she smiled and said, "But it's exiting, Andy! We've never seen a train before! I bet it's gonna be really cool!" Andromeda peeked out a bit further from where she was hiding as she asked her sister, "Are you really, really sure?" Persephone nodded vigorously, and Andromeda slipped around Nanny Grace to hold her sisters hand.
She smiled at her sister, Persephone was wearing her favorite sparkly pink hello Kitty T-shirt, a grey skirt, and bright pink leggings with silver ballet flats. Andromeda herself had on a peach and white patterned blouse which matched perfectly with her frilly white skirt, lacy white shawl, and shiny white boots. Their parents had made certain that they had dressed nicely for their visit to their Aunt Marge.
Both sisters grinned at each other, they were both wearing the half-heart necklaces that their Aunt Marge had bought them. Both girls insisted on wearing the necklaces at any point in the day, unless they were forced to remove them.
Just as Andromeda began to calm down, she heard a rumbling sound and the ground seemed to shake. Andromeda dove for the safety of Nanny Grace as she wrapped her arms around her and cried out in a muffled voice, "Nanny Grace, the monster from under my bed got free, and is here in the train station with us!"
Nanny Grace chuckled softly as she knelt down and looked Andromeda in the eyes as she said, "But that's not possible dear. That nasty monster is too afraid of Andrew to ever try to get you here." Persephone nodded in agreement as she said, "It kinda sounds like Daddy without his coffee." Andromeda cocked her head to the side before she smiled. Seffy was right, it did sound like her daddy.
At that moment a big object came moving down the tracks and Nanny Grace pointed at it as she said, "Look girls, there's the train." Andromeda felt her sister grasp her hand and turned to look at her. Persephone's eyes shone as she said, "It's so shiny. Like Grandpa Martin's Head!" Both girls giggled as they said together, "Like a lightbulb!"
Nanny Grace grasped both girls hands and said, "It's time to get on now girls." Both girls held tightly to Nanny Grace until they got to their compartment. Once she sat down, Andromeda shivered. For some reason she felt nervous and whispered to her sister, "I think something bad is going to happen." Persephone smiled and squeezed her hand as she said, "It's okay, Nanny Grace is here. She'll protect us." Nanny Grace smiled as she said, "Bow about a game?" Both girls nodded, and Nanny Grace promptly set up a game of Candyland, their favorite.
Both girls took the game seriously until Seffy grinned that naughty grin and yelled, "Eathquake!", as she shook the board. Andromeda giggled, it was funny since Seffy was the one who was winning.
Just as they finished putting the game away and were about to read a story, a strange man came into the compartment. He had long sandy blond hair, and a short beard. His face was wide, tan, and his eyes were green. For some reason, he had a broom in his hand. Nanny Grace smiled oddly as she said, "Can we help you?" The man looked at the three. Andromeda shivered, his eyes looked like the one the wolves on TV had. A moment latter he said, "No, not really."
A moment later, he jabbed Nanny Grace with a knife. Nanny Grace whimpered, then fell and lay motionlessly. The man turned toward Andromeda next, and dragged his knife down her face like he was stroking her. Andromeda squeaked as she rushed past the man. She tried to grab Seffy on her way, but the man grabbed her and Andromeda kept running in her fear until she reached the bathroom where she hid in the cabinet and sat very quietly. For a while she heard screams and loud sounds until there was silence and the man called out coaxingly, "Come out, come out little girl. I going to find if you don't. And you don't want that to happen."
Andromeda curled up tighter as she shivered until she heard him mutter, "Dammit, maybe this way." She heard footsteps growing softer, and slipped out of the bathroom. She held back a whimper as the sound her shoes made on the red stained floor.
Andromeda slipped back into her compartment and found her sister lying in a pool of red. Her Hello Kitty shirt was cut so the hello kitty looked like it was trying to drink her sisters blood. Andromeda stooped next to her and held her hand as she whispered, "We have to run Seffy. Come on!" She tugged her sisters hand but Seffy just shook her tear stained face as she said, "I can't Andy, I just can't."
Andromeda tried to lift her as she said eagerly, "I'll help you." But Seffy just shook her head as tears dripped down her face, "You can't. He'll catch you! Go!" Andromeda shook her head as tears ran down her own cheeks, "But I'm scared." Seffy smiled as she said, "But the train was scary and you still got on." Andromeda shook her head, "But you came with me." Seffy shrugged, That's 'cause Nanny Grace came with us."
Andromeda hesitated and Seffy whispered, "Go, Andy!" Andromeda sniffled and whispered, "I'll see you soon.", before she crept away and left the train.
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Andromeda sighed as she opened her eyes. The police had found her a while later and taken her to the hospital. The next few weeks had been a blur of activity which Andromeda didn't want to think about. What she remembered was that her family had been disappointed that Andromeda had lived when Seffy had died.
One night in particular, Andromeda had waken up due to a nightmare and gone to her parents seeking comfort. Instead, she heard hear mother wishing that Andromeda had died in her sisters place. Thankfully, Andrew had founder out of bed and let her have a snack of cookies and milk while she sat in his lap. afterwards he tucked her back into bed again.
A tear trickled out of Andromeda's eye. Not only did she never see her sister after that, but they had never found her body either. As a result, Andromeda's last words had turned into a painful irony.
A moment later, her cellphone rang and Andromeda hurried to answer it. She smiled whens he recognized the voice of the person who greeter her as being that of her Aunt Marge. A small laugh slipped from her lips as she said, "Hello Aunt Marge, How are you?" Aunt Marge sounded as sunny as ever when she said, "I'm well, dear. I was just thinking that it would be nice to visit you in Tulsa soon." Andromeda's smile brightened as she said, "I'd love for you to visit. Then I could introduce you to my friends." A chuckle came from the other side, "I would love to be introduced to your friends. I'm not sure when I can come, but I'll make it as soon as I can."
The conversation continued for a while as they talked about Andromeda's school, Aunt Marge's coworkers, and several other topics before it was dinner time.
After sitting through a normally tense dinner, Andromeda hurried back up to her room and began to read a book. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, to be exact. She was about two-thirds of the way through when her phone rang and she reluctantly set it down and answered, "Hello?"
For a moment, there was no response until, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Andromeda blinked in surprise at the stuttering voice, and shut the book swiftly, "No Johnny, You're not interrupting anything? Is something wrong?" There was another pause, "Well ... my old man beat me a bit harder than usual, and I called thinking I'd talk to you for a bit. It's pretty late though. Sorry" Andromeda looked at the clock, it was five past midnight.
"That's fine, "Andromeda said, "I told you to call if you needed to talk to somebody. Anyway, are you alright You aren't hurt to badly are you?" Johnny promptly replied, "A bit bruised, bleeding some." Andromeda flinched the said, "Have you taken care of that yet?" There was a pause, "No, dad kicked me out and locked the door before I could."
Andromeda flinched before she said, "I'll help you then." Johnny stuttered before he replied, "It's okay, I'll just go to the Curtis'. Andromeda shook her head as she gathered up first aid supplies and said, "No, I insist. I really want to help you Johnny." After a minute, Johnny said, "Alright I guess. I'll see you at the playground."
Andromeda confirmed what he said before she hurried out of the house and to the playground. She winced as Johnny grinned weakly and said, "Hey." Andromeda looked at him as she whispered, "What did he do!?" She hadn't ever seen someone that beaten up before in her life. She shook her head a moment latter and set to cleaning his injuries.
Johnny wriggled uncomfortably as he muttered, "Sorry. I didn't want you to see this."
Andromeda sniffed lightly as she nodded and kept taking care of one of the several areas where his skin had burst. Johnny leaned forward as he said incredulously, "You aren't crying are you?" Andromeda wiped her eyes as she muttered, "Sorry, I was just thinking of how silly it seems for me to be complaining about my parent when yours physically injure you."
Andromeda pursed her lips. While it was true that her parents weren't fantastic people, they weren't beating her. They might treat her coldly, but they never screamed at her.
"I don't care." Andromeda glanced up as Johnny continued, "They might not be as bad, but they're still not good." He looked at her a little awkwardly as he muttered, "So you don't have to cry." Andromeda smiled lightly as she responded, "But you can't cry, right? So I'll cry for you. Nobody will bother me if I cry a little."
Johnny grinned weakly as he let her finish up before he walked to the Curtis house having thanked her.
Andromeda hurried home and was about to get in bed when she stopped by her jewelry box. She opened it up and pulled out the half heart necklace. She had stopped wearing it since she learned that her sister had died. At that point the necklace had only been a reminder of her own failure. After a minute, she set it by her bed and decided to start wearing it again starting tomorrow.
I felt that I made the nanny to harsh in the first version, and I realized while writing this that the hear necklaces could be more symbolic and , well ... I do have another reason. Next chapter will be another redone one. (I really hope this version will be a lot better)
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