She flinched at his hands but shifted when she heard his voice. It took her a moment to pull her hands away from her face, but when she did, he would see there was a long scratch along the side of her forearm. She looked at him, her eyes full of despair as if she couldn't quite believe it was him. "Francis," she said, and his name sounded like a prayer in her mouth. "Oh my God."
He looked at the scratch, his eyebrows furrowing. He brushed her cheek, his expression full of worry. "Poppy? Are you okay? Oh, God. I'm sorry."
She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder. Her whole body was shaking like a leaf, and her voice jumped when she spoke. "Please don't be sorry," she said. "You didn't do anything wrong." Miss Burgendy, who had been scribbling notes, cleared her throat. "It's your turn, Mr. Craw. Please sit down." Poppy pulled away slightly, and turned to look at Miss Burgendy, a horrified look on her face. "Oh God. Please. Please don't put him through that. Please." "Sit down, Mr. Craw," she said, impatience staining her voice. Poppy looked up at him with wide eyes.
"It's okay. I'll be okay," he said, trying to sound reassuring. He sat down, attempting to not look as scared as he felt.
She gripped his hand tightly before the guard reached over and pulled her away from him, locking the handcuffs around her wrists. "It's not real, Francis," she said desperately. "None of it is real."
She watched him, her brow furrowed, as Miss Burgendy slipped the headband over his head. "I love you," Poppy said quietly, forgetting for a moment that they were surrounded by people.
She frowned, and looked up at Miss Burgendy. "Please," she said. "This is unnecessary." Miss Burgendy looked at her with an annoyed glance. "Quiet, Miss Abernathy." "Please," she begged. "He doesn't deserve this. Just let us go." "I said, be quiet!" "But we didn't do anything," she pushed. "Please." Miss Burgendy's eye twitched, and in a flash, she took the gun from the guard next to her, aimed, and shot Poppy in the chest. Poppy gasped and looked down at herself before staggering and falling to the ground.
He didn't say anything, just cried out in horrified sort of manner. "What the *squee!* have you done?!" Tears immediately started streaking down his face, like they had always been waiting. He kept repeating his words, kneeling down next the vision of Poppy, holding her.
Her body was lifeless and limp, her eyes staring into nothing. Never again would her fingers trace his features. Never again would she laugh deeply at one of his jokes. Never again would she kiss him to wake him up. He would gradually become aware of a slight pressure on his arms.
He sat there, feeling broken. He looked up at the feeling of pressure, expecting someone there to bother him. The tears burned his eyes, and he felt hopeless.
The walls had closed in on him, leaving him in a very tight space. Poppy's body gradually began to dissolve under his fingertips, and the walls pressed in again, leaving him in a space that was barely 2 feet by 2 feet.
He tensed at the situation, his breaths quickening into hyperventilating. He kicked fiercely at the walls, driven by panic.
The ceiling began to fall down, forcing him into a curled up position. Poppy's body had completely disappeared by then, and after a moment of him being stuck, he would feel a crawling on the back of his neck.
He swiped at whatever was on the back of his neck, breathing heavily as he covered his eyes, not wanting to see what he had hit.
Spiders began to appear from cracks in the walls, streaming in and crawling over his feet, up his legs. They surrounded his torso and continued up his chest.
He flailed, trying to wipe away the spiders, hitting his head on the ceiling in the process. "*squee!* off! Get away!"
The spiders were crawling closer to his face, and the walls were getting tighter and tighter until... There was a flash of light, and Francis was returned to the experimentation room. Poppy was off to the side, struggling against her bonds, and Miss Burgendy was watching him curiously, holding the headband in her hands.
Francis took deep breaths, looking at his hands, which were wet due to the tears that were still on his face. He wiped them away, more shocked than anything. "Huh... What.."
