Arden Finch

Arden drifted on a sea of pain, weaving in and out of consciousness. She was vaguely aware of voices, of people. They were speaking, but their voices were muffled, their words strung together. It was almost like listening to the chorus of Professor Beaker's meeps. It was too much to try to listen or understand, so she didn't. She just drifted in that place of pain. She was getting colder and every time she tried to drift back towards her friends, it got harder and harder. Every attempt exhausted her further. Maybe she should just stop trying. Maybe it would be easier to just let the pain bring her wherever it was trying to get to. Maybe she should--

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The noise seemed to echo and reverberate through the room. Arden startled herself awake, a sharp cry dragged from her at the pain of her body's abrupt twisting. For a second, she longed for the peace in the drifting pain sea, but pushed that thought away.

( Give me your hand/So I can tell you/Things will be alright )
( In a small pocket of time )
( Back in the present )

[Warning for trauma, extreme injury, depiction of abuse to a minor, and blood. Please know that in Cal's telemetry thread ("In a Small Pocket of Time"), there are descriptions of on-screen physical abuse. This whole but can be avoided by clicking the link at the end of the section, or clicking on the "Back in the Present" cut tag.

Once again, preplayed with the terrific hasaknightjob, moreofaponchoguy, pocketpretzels, and slothbabyproductions and not_montalban! Radio is free to mention some kind of disturbance, but all details NFB please.]