alices-husbandâ:
Fill the Silence
â
Frank had never been so desperate to see proof that someone had been murdered; more often than not he had taken his other colleaguesâ word for it. He had seen families process their loss and grieveâbut there was no bringing them back. Some had hoped they remained ghosts.
Over time he would realize that they were no longer at the office anymore; there were moments where he would turn to look for them, passing their unoccupied cubicle and wondering if it was hope that led him to look. There was a part of him that denied the simple fact that they would be no one there. It was hardly his place to tell her that there was no hopeâeven if he himself hadnât seen Julian die.
âI donâtâI donât know where he is,â he repeated. âBut we couldâ" He wanted to offer to look, but it seemed like he was the last person she wanted to talk toâbut would there be anyone else in the Order who would tell her what she wanted to hear?
He blinked, unsure if he could believe her when she asserted that she didnât know, immediately saying that she did; she had talked of her other family members so casually that it almost felt as if sheâd probably tell on them if pressed a little. âI canât say if there was. I wasnât there to make that decision.â
But he wasnât going to say that if he could decide, he would have agreed with what Regulus had done with him regardless of the circumstances.
Isla had never felt so alone. So isolated. She knew in her heart that it had to be true. That Julian was gone. He wouldnât come knocking on her door for a random day out at the shops. He wouldnât come to her defense during the insufferable family dinners. Though he had sided with her less and less in recent months. He had seen her less and less. The daily letters had been a surprise and she had thought of their connection. Their longstanding friendship in a family that had never felt like home.Â
He had been changing and she hadnât seen it. He had grown distant and colder and exactly like the other Selwyn men but she had only seen him as the sweet boy that she had loved. That she had grown up with and gone on adventures with and simply enjoyed being with. He had been her closest family member and the loss of him was only made worse by the realization that she had been losing him for so long now. She had always thought there would be time to come back together. That she would answer him when she was ready.Â
âWe could what Frank? We could find out where he is? We could see him? No. What would it accomplish? Heâs gone.â She knew the pain she felt wouldnât be shared by any of those around her. The Order would view it as nothing but a good thing and the knowledge of that hurt too. She wanted to grieve. To cry and scream and rage and she couldnât do any of that. In that moment she knew that just like with her family her walls had to come up with the members of the Order too. They could never understand.Â
âI appreciate you telling me. Though it wasnât with much tact the information was something I needed to know so thank you.â She ran her hands though her hair and rand the backs of her hands down her cheeks ridding her face of the few tears that had slipped out. âAre you sure youâre alright? You donât seem well. I think perhaps I should go find Benjy for you. Though Emmeline would be better I havenât seen her today.â












