Franklin had said that they were going to take her to the town doctor, a man named Dr. Vaneer. Or well, Kelly was assuming it was a man, otherwise there was a shocking lack of males in this town. So far everyone she had met was female.

It wasn't that she was hoping for a male doctor, seeing as her injuries meant she was going to have to take off her shirt. No she was hoping for a female, but she had a feeling that it would be just her luck if Dr. Vaneer was a man, and when she got to his office she was right.

He was very much male.

And a skeleton.

Not in the sense that he was simply too skinny. He was an honest to god skeleton. All bones, no skin, no sinew, or muscles, no internal organs. Nothing. Absolutely nothing except bones.

Not even pins to keep the bones together. Though he did have an aura white sparkles around him. If that was magic like Sylvia said, then that was probably what was keeping him standing up right.

Franklin had lead her into the small doctor's office, which was sandwiched between Tinker's and Veera's café and then he just pushed her into the back office where Dr. Vaneer was supposed to be.

At first Kelly hadn't known where to look or who she was supposed to be talking to, but then the Skeleton said: "Well what do we have here?"

And then she was yelping and jumping into Franklin's side. Though Franklin stiffened he didn't push her off and Kelly found herself staring at the skeleton rather rudely while he just laughed.

"So this is the new girl huh?" the Skeleton said as he stood up. "And she survived the harpy. Fascinating."

"What does that mean?"

The skeleton smiled at her and said: "No one's ever survived the harpy before."

Kelly turned to Franklin who was sighing to himself, clearly frustrated.

"So are you here to get that cheek of yours patched up?" the Skeleton asked. "Or are you just introducing the new girl to me?"

Franklin ripped the jacket he had put around her shoulders off of her and then turned her around. Right away the Skeleton gasped.

"Franklin! You brought an injured person here and it wasn't the first thing you thought to tell me about?" he chided. His bony hands landed on Kelly's shoulders and then he was pushing her out of the back office, down the hall and to a small examination room.

"You stay right there while I collect my things," the Skeleton said and then rushed away.

Franklin came into the examination room, sat himself down in the one of the chairs while she went to sit on the doctor's table.

The Skeleton was back seconds later in a white doctor's coat with a stethoscope around his neck. In one had he had a tool box no doubt filled with first aid supplies, and in the other he had what looked to be a handful of flesh.

He stopped only to slap the handful of flesh into Franklin's face.

"Keep that there," the Skeleton ordered and Kelly had to bite back her giggles. She couldn't believe the Skeleton had slapped Franklin. It was almost like no one in this town was scared of him. It really did seem to only be her.

The Skeleton then turned to her. It's empty sockets pointed in her direction so she had to guess that he was looking at her.

"So I'm Dr. Vaneer," he said and she smiled. Right, the doctor was a skeleton. Clearly Lydia was all about that irony. "Would you mind turning around so I can see what we're working with?"

Kelly turned around to show him where her shoulders were cut he looked her over for a moment. She couldn't see it but she felt it when he turned back around to face Franklin.

"It's time for you to leave Franklin," he said but Franklin shook his head.

She shot a glance over her shoulder to where he was sitting, leg draped dapperly over his knee, one hand to his cheek to keep the flesh there and in the other hand he had a magazine he was reading.

"No," he said. "Don't worry, I'm not looking."

Vaneer turned to him, his hands going to his hips. "Honestly Franklin. Don't be ridiculous. If I didn't know you, I'd say you were obsessed!"

Franklin turned angry eyes onto Vaneer. "I am not obsessed!" he shouted. "She's a flight risk. So I'm staying."

For a moment they glared at one another and then Franklin reached out, pulled something away from the wall and a screen appeared between them and him. She couldn't see him at all anymore. All she could see was his shoes.

"There, better?"

"No," Kelly snapped.

"Yeah, well... deal with it."

Vaneer tsked and then turned back to her. "I'm afraid it's the best you'll get my dear," he said and then gestured for her to take her shirt off.

She unbuttoned the shirt and with his help she managed to peel it away from her. When his fingers probed the edges of her wounds she found that, for bones, they were oddly warm.

"Well, the good news is they're not deep enough to require stitches."

"And what's the bad news."

"This antiseptic is going to hurt."

And then he was wiping her down and yes, that stung like a mother...

She let him clean her wounds trying very hard not to cry out, trying to seem braver and stronger than she actually was in front of Dr. Vaneer and Franklin.

They were quiet a moment before he said: "So has your curse manifested yet?"

"Yes. It's Franklin. Everything bad that's happened to me, started with him."

From behind the barrier she heard Franklin scoff, she even heard Dr. Vaneer's breathy chuckles.

"Franklin's curse is why none of us can leave Anathime. I'm asking what your specific curse is," he clarified and Kelly found herself straightening.

She turned to him confused, because she had not gotten that information before. So the barrier around the town that was stopping her from leaving... that was part of his curse?

"Wait... I can't leave because of Franklin's curse?"

Dr. Vaneer's bony emotionless face took in her confused one. "Did you not know that?" He then turned to the barrier that Franklin was sitting behind. "Honestly Franklin what have you been doing with her?"

"I just haven't had the time!" he cried from behind the screen. "Between her attempt to run, and attempting to destroy my totem and the Harpy's sudden frequent attacks aimed directly at her I haven't had a chance to explain."

Dr. Vaneer shook his head and Franklin added: "Though if we're being honest, I'm starting to believe that her curse is to frustrate me into an early death. Death by aneurism."

Kelly rolled her eyes. Like he had no idea why she was giving him such difficulty.

"Okay, well, we have time now. Explain it to me now," she ordered as primly as she could as Vaneer moved on to bandaging her wounds.

Franklin swept the screen away causing Kelly to help and cover herself, despite only her back being visible. If he noticed her discomfort he didn't say anything.

"You want an explanation? Fine? When Lydia sends people here they get a curse and totem. As far as I can tell you have neither."

Who was Lydia? The woman in white, Sylvia had said that was her sister, but Kelly had never met her.

"Each totem has a missing piece, that missing piece is the key to breaking our curses. If you find the missing piece, put it onto your totem, then the curse will be broken. No one can leave because I have two curses. The first one turned me into this, the second one is that no one can leave here until both my curses are broken. It was meant to trap just me in here, but now all the inhabitants are stuck until further notice."

He finally focused in on her. Noted that she was half huddled into herself, her arms across her chest while staring at him over her shoulder. He seemed to realize what he had done.

He quickly swept that screen back between them with a hurried: "Sorry."

With the screen between them again she felt a bit more comfortable.

"So that necklace, the one I tried to smash, that was your missing totem piece?"

"Yes."

"So... if you found your missing piece... if it's on the totem why is your curse still on you?"

Franklin was quiet for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the curse is that you're a zombie, and the secondary curse is the shield that keeps us all here. You found your missing totem, so one of them should have broken. The shield is still here, and you're still a zombie, so... are you sure it's the right piece?"

"I... uh... of course I am. It fits..."

"Then why aren't any of your curses broken?"

"I don't know," he eventually snapped. "I guess because my curse isn't fully broken, I suppose."

Kelly thought about it. That didn't really make sense. But if he didn't have the answers, she'd have to find them somewhere else.

"So... if Lydia sent me here, I'd have a curse and a totem?"

"That's how it works. I don't know why you don't have one."

"Well... what does Lydia look like?"

"Uh... well... her appearance changes. But she prefers black hair and black outfits..."

"Okay, well I met someone with white hair and in an all-white outfit who called herself Sylvia." At that the screen between them jerked open again and Franklin was staring at her. "Her and I had a chat after you left Sammy and I at the barrier. Apparently she sent me here to help you guys break your curses."

Franklin just stared at her, he clearly had a bunch of theories about why Kelly was different from everyone else that had come to this town, but that wasn't one of them.

"What... but... how?"

"Easy. I can see magic. It's all over you, it's all over the town. Everyone I've met so far has a specific color, I just have to the sparklie pieces in town with the right colors and then match em to a totem," she said. "Though... I don't really know how to go about that yet..."

Behind her Dr. Vaneer let out a sudden joyous whoop. "This is amazing! Do you hear that? I could have skin again!"

Oh boy, she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, especially since, in reality, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

"Well... I can't guarantee immediately results... I'd have to do more research of course..." she stammered. "Am I... is my back..."

"Oh yes, you're done," Dr. Vaneer said handing her back her ruined shirt so she could put it on. And then right after, she had Franklin's jacket back in her hands so she could be warmer.

She turned to Franklin. "I'm sorry... I'm just so tired... can I..."

"Or course," he said offering her a hand, she put her hand in his and he had her tugged to him in a heartbeat. "Thank you for the late-night service, but uh... if you could keep this new development to yourself... just until I figure out what this means in the long run... that would be appreciated."

"My lips are sealed," Dr. Vaneer said.

"You don't have lips," Franklin snarled. "Just keep this to yourself."

"Of course," he said. "Have a nice night you two."

Kelly managed to whisper a thank you to him before Franklin had tugged her out of that office. She let out a sigh of relief, she just wanted to find Sammy and sleep forever.