All of these rights belong to Vivian Vande Velde. I am just using this part of the story. I do not own any of the characters, even if I wanted to. I hope you like October Chill. I may still be doing some editing on the names and everything. Enjoy. please R&R
"Don't you see him?" Emily asked them, looking directly at Thomas. "See why I called you?" she heard David say. "She's been like this all weekend - talking to
herself, leaving fires unattended, popping pills." "Emily, it's all right," her father said. He took her by the shoulders and turned her around. "It's probably just the
medicine. We'll get your medications balanced properly -" Emily craned around and saw that Thomas was gone. "Thomas!" she called. "Come back!"
Her father was struggling out of his coat, and he got it around her shoulders. "It's her medication." He explained to David. "She's under a doctor's care, but there
must be something wrong with the mix she's taking…" He was trying to rub warmth into Emily's hands. "Here" - he got her to her feet - "all right now?" "Yes," she
said. Then pushed her father into David and she fled, her father's coat falling to the floor behind her. "Emily!" she heard her father yell. She ran across the commons,
past the Tiluke Spa Tavern, into the woods behind - the woods slated for great things by the board of trustees, things she would never see. The trees into the
woods were thick enough to hide her, even with most of the leaves already on the ground. Emily fought through the underbrush, slid down a slope of rocks and tree
stumps, and followed a frozen stream ever deeper into the woods.
'I'll cross the steam,' she thought, but of course the ice was just a thin crust in October, and she went right through, so that she slipped and landed sitting in the icy
water. She picked herself up and fled farther into the woods until she lost all sense of time and direction. Her wet skirt stiffened frostily, chafing against her legs.
"Emily!" She heard off and on. Her father. David. Strangers and bullhorns. But they were faint, distant. Still, she kept running, to put more distance between them.
Her plan was to wait until night, then return to the tavern, hoping they'd give up before she would.
Once she got warm, once she rested, she'd be able to think what to do next. She tripped and fell to her knees and stayed there, her teeth chattering. She'd get up
as soon as she got enough energy. But she was too tired, and she put her head down on a pile of dry leaves. She hadn't smelled leaves - since she'd been seven
or eight. She'd forgotten how wonderful they smelled. She closed her eyes, just for a minute, just to get her strength back. Even though her eye lids were closed,
she could still see the bright cinnamon and amber colored leaves. She loved that color, it was like something else. An image of a pair of intense amber eyes looked
at her lovingly. "Emily," she heard, gentle but insistent whisper near her ear, and she groaned. "Emily, you have to go back, before it's too late." "It's too late
already," she whispered back. "I can't move. I'm frozen to the ground." Hands grasped her shoulders, strong, solid hands that forced her to sit up, that held her
close and shot electricity over her body and running endlessly through her heart. She knew who it was, the man she had been dreaming about. The man's arms she
had been longing and yearning to hold her. The arms that rocked her until finally, finally, she was warm again.
His face loomed over hers. "Emily," he whispered. "Emily, its time to wake up…" She opened her eyes. The lids of her eyes were heavy and the image was blurry.
"Thomas.." she muttered. She saw his face swim before her, then he was gone. Replaced with that of an elderly man. "Emily, its time to get up," he repeated. She
groaned. Every part of her body felt sore and achy. What happened? Was it all a dream?
"Emily your all better!" The elderly man had a white doctor outfit on. She looked down at herself and found herself wearing a plastic dress that only doctors made
you wear. The kind that came down too short so almost everything was viewable. But she was too tired to move to even try to cover herself. It appeared that she
was in some kind of medical room. There were tons of machines. Some in which she wasn't even sure where they went. Although she probably didn't want to know.
"Emily, your cured! Our operation was a complete success!" The man stated. She wasn't sure what this meant. Was she still able to see Thomas?
All of these rights belong to Vivian Vande Velde. I am just using this part of the story. I do not own any of the characters, even if I wanted to. I hope you like October Chill.