All That I've Got

Later That Morning: Frank's P.O.V.

I yawned and stretched out my arms as I woke up, eyes slowly opening as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

A faint beeping caught my attention and I realized that it was the sound of Carys' laptop, signaling that she had a new email even when the thing was supposed to be charging. The bottoms of my black and gray checkered pajama pants nearly tripped me as I got out of bed, and I was sure to pull them up again before leaving my room. I knocked lightly on Carys' door twice, and when there was no shuffling evident from the other side, I figured that she was still asleep, it was five in the morning during the middle of summer. The door opened quietly and I poked my head in, smiling when I saw Carys' sleeping form, eyes closed and blanket pulled over her, not to sound stalkerish, but she looked plain adorable like that.

I crossed the room, finding her laptop on her dresser, the annoying beeping still continuing. I took it gently in my hands, sitting down beside Carys as I opened it. The message popped up in the corner of the screen as it loaded, and upon clicking on it, I saw that the new email was from Jake's address, hopefully Emily had some good news....

Before I'd finished reading the first sentence I heard movement beside me and looking down, Carys' blue eyes meeting mine.

"Morning sleepy head," I smiled. "New message from Jake's email, up to it?" I asked.

She nodded, lifting up her head so that it was on my leg, looking at the screen as she read to herself. Really, you'd think that I'd feel uncomfortable with her that close, but I thought nothing of it at all, and plus, it'd taken awhile for us to build that trust. I read at about the same pace as her, eyes widening when I realized this wasn't only sent from Jake's email, it was sent from Jake himself. The last we'd heard, Jake was drugged and roomed down in the basement of the asylum, and Alec had gotten him out! The real tear jerker is when I scrolled down, a part of the email written to Carys. Her tired expression changed into one of pain and confusion. Jake's message to me made me blink back tears, he'd never told me anything like that and knowing that all those memories I had of him as I grew up, always looking up to him like an older brother, might soon be the only thing I had left of him.

"Shh," I soothed Carys as I felt tears drip onto my leg. I pulled her up so that she was sitting, sitting against the wall as I held her, trying to comfort her. "They'll figure something out Car, calm down," I whispered into her ear.

She shook her head, burying her face into my chest, only crying more.

"What's wrong Car?" I asked softly, hand rubbing her back mindlessly.

Without lifting her head, she reached out and brought the laptop closer, slowly typing something onto a new email.

I know what they have to find, and they won't get to it and make it out alive. I made a friend there, and she tried to get to the back of the file room, I stood by the door and watched Andrews sneak up behind her and slit her throat. The same thing's gonna happen to one of them, I know it Frank.

I slowly rocked her back and forth in my arms, trying to stop the newly shed tears. Carys was our only hope now, and after what I'd just read, this was even more dangerous than we thought. What if Jake and Alec tried to get down there tonight? We'd never know if they died or not, and the asylum would simply act like they never existed. Carys lifted her head, attention focused on the laptop's screen as she kept her head against my chest, eyes still brimming with tears as she typed and I read over her shoulder.

Jake,

I can't tell you how dangerous the rest of your plan is. You're dead on when you say that you need to get to the file room, but you're missing a huge part of the puzzle. In the back of the file room they keep their medical records, birth certificates, estimated death totals, countless lawsuits, the name of the lab where they get the medicine and everything. It's all there. But don't you dare go down there without reading the rest of this.

The first month that I was there, I met a girl named Natalie. I don't know how but she found out about the file room and would make me go into the basement with her, we searched that whole room in a week and found nothing. All those files that you see when you walk in, they're just blank papers. In the very back of the room you'll see a black door, it's going to be locked. Jake, this is going to sound like a piece of cake to you, which is why I need to tell you what went down when Natalie found the door.

Just like any night, we skipped past all the guards and nurses and got into the room, she was looking while I kept watch and after a few minutes I could see her stop. She was turning around to tell me something when I saw Andrews come up behind her, Jake, he slit her throat. He left through some other door and I watched as Nat died right in front of me, the door cracked open. She died that night Jake. I sat by her and when her heart just stopped, I got up and went into the room behind the door.

Andrews may be dead but that makes it even harder, they have an alarm on the door now, if it goes off you're not making it out alive. You need to get the key, it's a dull gold one with the number 69618 engraved on it. Search Andrews' office, he was the last one with it. The key will disconnect the alarm but you have five minutes to get what you need and get out, then the alarm will set again. I suggest you don't go alone, grab as many files as you can, but make sure that you grab only what won't be noticed. Your friends are in danger if you do this Jake, if you're going through with this I can only beg you that they're all willing to risk this. Jake, you are the best brother I could ever ask for, and if anything ever happened to you I'd die inside. Please be careful and think about this. If you need any help, just reply.

Love and tons of luck,
Carys.

She looked over it again, sniffing as she sent the message. She curled up again in my arms, tears taking over as she cried again. It had hurt her so much to write that, because she wasn't the only one that knew Jake would be more than willing to go through with this. A bad feeling was forming in the pit of both our stomachs, there'd be no way that this could work.

Carys' crying stopped soon after, it was almost like she ran out of tears.

"I don't know what's going to happen Car, but they'll make this work somehow, I know it," I whispered in her ear. Her body relaxed as I continued to rock her, and my hand running through her hair gently seemed to calm her. "I'm so sorry this is hurting you like it is Car, I really am."

Noon

I'd managed to get Carys to eat three bites of cereal, but I wasn't arguing when she pushed the bowl away and rested her head in her arms this morning.

She was currently sitting beside me, looking down at her sketch book as I worked on a summer reading project that my Dad suggested I do since I was back in school this year. Just as I'd finished a chapter, the doorbell rang.

"How are we this fine afternoon?" Gerard asked with a smile as I opened the door. Beside him was Mikey, Ray and Bob on the porch behind them.

"I would be careful with Carys right now if you get my hint," I whispered, Gerard giving a nod of understanding.

The four of them stepped in, making Carys look up as they took their regular seats.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Ray asked as I sat down again, Carys resting her head on my shoulder as she continued to draw.

"This basically," I said nodding down to my summer reading.

"Well we can't let our friends rot in boredom all day, so we feel the need to step in, what's the plan Gee?" Mikey asked smiling at his brother.

"We're dragging you both to the park and staying there probably all day, we teenagers need our exercise anyway," Gerard nodded.

Carys looked up with a smile and meeting my eyes for a second, I'd figured out what she'd planned. She was going to test Gerard's patience in a minute.

She hid her smile, shaking her head at Gerard. He rose an eyebrow in confusion before catching on to what she meant.

"Emphasis on the dragging part," he said poking her, smiling when she shook her head again. "Well then Carys, I'll just have to convince you that you need to get out of the house.

She looked up at him with a confused expression and in the blink of an eye, Gerard had pulled her down to the floor and while holding her down, started tickling her.

"Help me out here Frank!" he chuckled as Carys screamed with laughter, trying to get him off. I shook my head as I got off the couch, and pretty soon, everyone was tickling Carys until her face went red from lack of oxygen. She'd laughed so hard that I'd forgotten how sad that email she'd sent to Jake had made her. For that few minutes, she just looked...happy.

Maybe this day at the park would be good for us both after all.