Chapter Text
It was all pretty bizarre if you were to ask him.
Everything was relatively normal that day…
For him, anyways.
It was approaching midnight, and Franklin Nelson snuck out of his bed and through the window to go for a stroll around the neighborhood. He wasn't able to sleep in the unfamiliar place, and the night air had always helped when his comfort foods couldn't.
A lot has happened this year, and he idly wonders if he’ll get to make any friends when he eventually moves into The Hermitage. You think he'd be upset about losing his father, and he is... but the man has not been himself for over a year now; the illness taking his mind along with his body. They were able to stay under the radar for a while, but Child Services finally took him away when his dad flipped out and threw a vase at his head, forgetting who he was, and that he had a son. Well... that's not exactly right.
He might have gotten a black eye and some nasty bruises from trying to stupidly stop his dad's flailing (Eddie Nelson was a big guy, and Frankie was short and chubby). The vase had made a pretty nasty gash that he couldn't take care of with the first aid kit, and his father had started to seize...
That weekend Frankie got stitches, an ice pack, and a nurse with a member from Child Services telling him his father was dying, and that he can no longer take care of Franklin.
He thinks they expected him to cry, or maybe throw a tantrum. But honestly? Frankie has seen it coming, has known it was coming since Eddie Nelson was diagnosed with a brain tumor two years ago.
So he stayed with a nice lady until their neighbor, Señora Cardenas, showed up to take Franklin home and stuffed him with flan and coffee until he passed out. Now... it was another mess to convince them to let him stay the last few weeks of summer with his neighbor and his friends (ha. he had no friends... unless you count Brett Mahoney who is tolerant of Frankie at best).
And that brings him here. Unable to sleep because in one week everything's going to change again. He'll be starting the school year at a new high school, losing the few 'friends' he did have, after moving into the orphanage, and... it's just his life right now - but honestly? He's kinda looking forward to not being alone. At The Hermitage, there will be other kids like him, and he'll be sharing a room with other boys and there'll be more opportunities to make friends or at least to not be lonely.
Anyways.
All of this is running through the blonde's mind when a chill gust of air billows through his jacket and he draws in a sharp breath, hissing at the sudden cold when it had been a relatively warm, summer night.
A terrified scream tore through the quiet evening, sending a creeping chill down his spine.
Personal problems forgotten, the sixteen-year-old dashes towards the source of the sound.
“No… stop… please… STOP!!!” The terrified female yells louder. There are odd sounds and lights coming from up ahead, so Franklin picks up his pace and he tries not to wheeze when he can tell he’s close – his heart feels like it's making a valiant effort to escape ribcage as he approaches the alley.
What he sees is like a scene right out of some cheesy, fantasy-horror flick.
There’s a lady with blood-red smudges on her cheek and crinkled clothes who’s bracing herself against the filthy brick wall and in front of her can only be described as a creature. Its’ features were gruesome, and under the hood and ornamental pendant on its’ chest, reminded him of the crotchety old witch from Snow White.
He seemed to be unnoticed for the moment, so he looks to his side and sees a dented, aluminum baseball bat. Gingerly picking it up, his quick plan of a sneak attack goes out the window because just then, the ugly thing mutters under its breath and conjures some sort of spell. Franklin's breath hitches loudly, and the girl against the wall stares at him in shock. The creature growls, turning to look at him, too - the face of the twisted thing startles him out of his panic. He shakes his head and shouts at the girl to run before he senselessly charges forwards takes a careless swing at the spell-casting creature's face.
Franklin isn’t quite sure what happens next, but there’s light and screaming and then the ugly creature (witch?) shouts at him – that she’ll have her revenge (or something) and then the air is still and poor little Frankie is at a loss.
Did that thing just step through a portal?
He really, really hopes he's dreaming, right now. If this is real life... he never thought he could be so stupid as to run towards danger like he's a member of the Teen Titans from that TV show he used to watch on Saturday afternoons.
He's shaken from his spiraling thoughts when a gentle hand rests on his shoulder and he is met with the face of the girl he had saved. She straightens up and he can see now the slight frown lines and the beginnings of crow’s feet by her unnaturally golden eyes (admittedly both awesome and terrifying with the... definite-blood streaking her face) and then he sees she's not a girl but a woman. Probably about thirty-something?
Young but old, like his mum was.
“Thank you for saving me, young man. Though I’m afraid that will not be the last we see of her.”
Franklin frowns, and feels extremely dumbstruck. He probably looks it, too, because the lady smiles sadly.
“You are… uh… a witch too? Or something? Cuz your eyes are really glow-y…” he shakes his head, “But... whatever. You are okay? There's... uh... blood? On your face...?”
The lady huffs a laugh at him (rude. he's trying to be a gentleman, here) and nods, but leans down to set a delicate hand on his shoulder and it's... glowing? He looks down at the appendage and, yea... it's definitely glowing. The glow is a soft, purple-ish color that he has to admit, is rather pretty... but it makes him feel a little unsettled. Suddenly, lithe fingers that feel like warm sunshine against his skin turn his chin up to force him to look her in the eyes.
“I am sorry. But this spell will protect you until my partner and I can capture the Kilagre – should she look for you before we get to her, she will not be able to recognize you.”
Fear pounds in his chest and dread settles heavily on his shoulders as his entire body tingles, and he feels sparks under his skin that are light at first but then as they increase they start to become incredibly painful.
“B-b-but! No! I'll be fine, promise! I'm really a nobody but –“
She shushes him and pain lances through his chest, causing him to fall to his knees.
He tries and fails not to scream as his wide, cornflower eyes start to water with pain and fear.
“Thank you for saving me, and I am so sorry – but this is the only way I can repay your kindness and bravery, by ensuring that you live.” Her voice starts to fade, and his vision is blurred with tears and nausea.
"Your destiny will find you, soon -"
He squeezes his eyes shut and shivers, pulse pounding so loudly in his ears, he misses the rest of what she says until hands push his body flat on the ground.
“I will return to change you back as soon as I know you will be safe. This will not be for long, and you can explain to your loved ones so you will not be alone, but you will be safe from her and her partner's detection." Her voice is finite, and her brow is set in grim determination. Franklin tries to speak. To ask what she's doing to him that he'll have to explain himself. But his breath is gone and he can't seem to catch it back.
"I will not have a child die because of me. Though should I not return, this spell will–“
Franklin cannot hear anything more, because suddenly he has his breath back and nothing can be heard over his own screaming and howling as he feels like every bone in his body is breaking and the sound scares him as much as everything else.
The world starts to go black as he feels his skin stretch and bones shift.
Just when the sun rises, he finds himself covered in a silky fur coat and shakily rising to stand on four legs.