Roulette

The blinding lights and sounds of police lights turned a street into a cesspool of panic and fear. The body bathed in splashes of blood was gazed upon by hundreds of shocked citizens, their eyes recoiling in tear soaked horror. The dark, whispering voices the medics uttered words of fear and doubt.

Doesn't look good……

She's really messed up……

Critical condition repeat, critical condition……

Frankie had been struck by a speeding car, originally going to strike Mac. The young woman barely showed signs of life as her blood splattered hands nervously twitched under the wires and tubes circulating in her. Machines and plastic masks were smothered all over the once cheery red head; it disgusted so many to see the sweet girl reduced to such a state.

"This is all my fault"

Mac's face was lost in a wave of emotional chaos, madness enveloped his soul as reality, right, wrong, love, lust, and fantasy, had dissolved into a sea of insanity. Everything he knew or cared about was now gone, gone because his heart was as blind as he was.

A police officer blinked and called to the boy "Hey kid, you there with the brown hair, did you see what happened?".

The young child gasped in horror and simply turned around, Mac frantically dove into the teaming mass of people, vanishing without a trace. The cop growled in frustration as he swatted people to the side, trying to find the boy that fled. Mac gasped for air as he pumped his young legs into a feverish jog, his young arms and legs weakly pushing harder and faster to escape.

Meanwhile back at Foster's……

"HELLLLLO Frankie, where are you, I made a mess and I need you to clean it up already" Bloo shouted.

The hyperactive blue blob pouted with obvious disappointment. Bloo was to terribly bored and depressed without Mac, but now not even Frankie was around to scold him when he did something bad or clean up his messes.

Bloo groaned "Hey guys, have you seen Frankie anywhere, there's this nasty worm's nest growing on this week old bag of potato chips I have in my room and I".

But none of the imaginary creatures, or little old Madame Foster seemed aware of the small blue blob's existence. Everyone seemed totally stunned and glued at the TV screen. Bloo growled and waved his fingerless hands into the air, screaming at his friends to snap out of it.

Bloo shouted "HEY, what's with you guys?".

Wilt sobbingly whimpered "It's just too awful for words".

Eduardo cried "BWAHHH I want my senorita back".

Coco chirped "Coco".

Bloo blinked strangely at what everyone was staring and crying at, Madame Foster stifled a sniffle and glared at Bloo, her glasses fogged up with tears. Bloo has never seen the old gal like this.

"Bloo, are you totally blind, haven't you been watching?" Madame Foster said.

The blue creature returned a most bewildering gaze at the daffy old woman, Bloo had no idea what was going on. He turned his gaze to the TV screen as a news break suddenly appeared.

"This is Daniel Sweeney reporting LIVE with an update on our latest hit and run incident, right here in our sleepy little home town……or so we thought.

It seems Francis Foster, better known as Frankie, was struck by an unidentified vehicle going at least 65 miles an hour in a 45 hour zone……

Now despite the fact the car was stolen and the speed limit differences, it seems Ms. Foster dove in front of the speeding car on PURPOSE……

Eye witnesses are sketchy but reports indicate she was trying to push something or someone out of the way of the speeding car……

There is no word on who she was trying to save at this time, Ms. Foster is now in critical condition and is currently resting at Memorial Hall Hospital.

Her injuries include severe cranial fractures, broken ribs, and a powerful trauma to the head. Doctors say it is doubtful she will survive the night……

Reporting live for WTD Channel 6 news, I'm Daniel Sweeney"


Panted gasps of exhausted cold air emptied from Mac's hollowed lungs, his young body racked with emotional and mental pain. Hours seemed to have flown by like minutes. Mac rubbed his face clean of his drenching sweat, though shocked to discover it felt as cold as ice. The young boy was in no state of mind to talk to the cops, he feared it would only make things worse for both him and Frankie. Frankie's body flashed vividly in Mac's mind.

"Oh good God……WHAT HAVE I DONE?" Mac shrieked to the heavens.

A series of footsteps jittered Mac from his deluded state of sadness and pain, the boy gasped and tightly hugged the curve of the alleyway wall. Mac curiously looked to the people walking past the alleyway, he gasped, it was his friends from Foster's. Wilt, Coco, Eduardo, Madame Foster, and Bloo, they were all heading towards the hospital.

Mac whispered "If they knew the truth, they'd never speak to me again".

Bloo blinked as the faint sound of his creator's voice lightly ringed in his ears, the blue blob turned his curious eyes to the alleyway. Mac gasped and vanished into the darkness. Bloo frowned a bit at this confusion; he could have sworn he just heard Mac a second ago.

Wilt called out to Bloo "Hey Bloo, come on, we've gotta get going".

Bloo nodded "Y-y-yeah, okay, I'm coming".

The Imaginary friends entered the hospital and quickly asked to see how Frankie was doing. Mac secretly watched his friends at the front desk, noticing some kind of argument starting with one of the hospital staff.

"They must have some kind of rule with having imaginary friends in the hospital" Mac thought to himself.

Madame Foster scowled at the hospital nurse and angrily struck the man in the shin bones with the cane. The nurse cried out in pain and reluctantly allowed them to go in, Mac quickly ran to the far side of the hospital wall, hoping to find some kind of window he could look through. The boy's dark brown hair slowly crawled up the ledge of the window as he stood up tall.

"Crap" Mac gasped.

The boy quickly ducked down as he spotted Eduardo and the others already in the room, he bit his lip nervously. Mac slowly reached up one of his white sleeved arms and gently pushed the window open a crack. The young boy then leaned in close, and tried to hear what his friends were talking about.

Eduardo sobbed "Oh Senorita Frankie, don't leave poor Eduardo all alone".

Wilt nodded and gently patted the purple monster, rubbing his shaggy, hairy back.

Madame Foster shook her head "The doctors say her noggin is banged up pretty good, they don't know if she's ever going to wake up and even if she does……she might not be the same girl we all know and love".

Wilt protested "But the doctor said coma patients have a 50/50 chance of getting better, so she's got a good chance of waking up right…….right?".

Bloo sighed "I always thought she'd be around to take of us……always".

The airplane, bird creature known as Coco simply cried and buried her red colored beak into Frankie's bed. The bird creature's tears splashed around Frankie's blankets softly. Madame Foster took Coco by the wing and gently guided her outside of the room, Eduardo and the others soon followed. As soon as the others left, Mac yanked his tiny body up and off the ground and onto the ledge. Mac opened up the window all the way and quietly snuck in.

The sight of the once beautiful, cheery, and feisty red head that had filled Foster's with such cheer and love was almost sickening to Mac now. The young boy couldn't believe what had happened to his friend. Frankie's eyes remain closed shut, her snow white lips encased in a plastic mask, attached to a compressor pumping air into her lungs. Bruises and small cuts shaped Frankie's once adorable and attractive face, her voice, shrill and weak.

The faint sounds of her breathing offered little comfort to the disturbing story her body had endured. Red and blue wires attached to small, white wrist like devices were strapped around Frankie's smooth skinned hands. The loud beep of Frankie's fading heartbeat rang eerily loud in Mac's mind. Mac's eyes stared down at his hands, tear drops splashed upon his trembling digits as he shuddered in horror. The boy couldn't believe he had done this.

"Frankie……Bloo……God……please forgive me"

I have a problem that I cannot explain,
I have no reason why it should have been so plain,
Have no questions but I sure have excuse,
I lack the reason why I should be so confused,

I know, how I feel when I'm around you,
I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you,
Around you,

Left a message but it ain't a bit of use,
I have some pictures, the wild might be the deuce,
Today you saw, you saw me, you explained,
Playing the show and running down the plane,

I know, how I feel when I'm around you,
I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you,
I, I know, how I feel when I'm around you,
I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you,
Around you, around you, around you

I, I know, how I feel when I'm around you,
I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you,
I, I know, how I feel when I'm around you,
I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you,
Around you, around you, around you, around you……

("Roulette" lyrics by System of a down)

To be continued……