Chapter 1: Trains and Memories
Inside a train tunnel on 14 April 2011
A young female girl, about the age of seven sat in a train car with her parents. They were travelling from Chicago, Illinois, to Yonkers, New York, for her father's convention, and this was the only available transportation to get all three of them there. The girl wondered what the convention looked like as she opened a book to read, I wonder what this convention is? Father said that I'd meet some of his old friends there. I wonder if there's any- her train of thought was cut off as the train suddenly screeched to a halt in the middle of the dark tunnel. Only the train's head light lit the tunnel, that is, until another light at the other end of the tunnel came into view.
"Why'd they stop, Father?" she cried to the young man sitting across from her.
"There's another train up ahead, but that's no reason to stop, this is a double track." he turned to the nearest lad who worked on that train car, "This is a double track, isn't it?"
"I don't believe so." he glanced out the left window, then the right, "There's only one! We're going to crash!"
"Come here, Sweetie." the child's father stood up and sat on the opposite seat next to his daughter, hugging her, "It's alright" he cooed to the little girl, "there's nothing to be—"
"Attention passengers: do not be alarmed-we have a Code Red emergency. Please return to your assigned cars immediately, and remain there until further notice."
"Please, return to your seat Sir, it's too dangerous to-" the young man, as well as the passengers, were all thrown back into the wall as the train collided with the oncoming train. The train car they were in, immediately collapsed on the trio as well as the rest of the passengers around them, injuring few, but killing many.
"Shelby!" the emerald-eyed male pulled the little one towards him when another part of the roof caved in on them. He looked over to his right, where the young lad was once standing—he was now buried underneath all the rubble.
"Daddy, what's happening?" the little girl leaned against her father, "Daddy?"
"I…don't know, Sweetheart." he answered back weakly. He knew what would become of him…
A flash of green light interrupted the atmosphere. Another young man stood before him. He wore dark blue jeans, and a dress shirt with a leather jacket over it. He scanned the rubble until his eyes landed on his friend and his friend's daughter, "Nicholas?" he knelt down next to his friend, then grabbed the roof and pulled as hard as he could, that is, until Nicholas refused his help.
"No, don't. Save Shelby first."
The other nodded, "Come on, Shell, we need to get you out of there."
Shelby opened her eyes, but shut them once again as her head began to throb once again. The very last thing the girl saw, was a dark figure, with crimson eyes looming above her. He held her against his chest to support her. Glancing around, he beheld the other passengers, the lad, and her father.
"Nick?" he knelt next to the other again, "Nicholas?" he shook the other's shoulder. No reply. He grasped his wrist, but felt…nothing, "S-soni…?"
"Daddy?" Shelby's hand grasped his shirt, trying to look up.
Immediately, the crimson-eyed male clutched the girl's head to his chest so she couldn't move, "Honey, don't."
"Wha—? Why? Where's my Daddy?!"
"Your Daddy's…" he grimaced, he couldn't tell her that her father had just died—no! "Your Daddy…had to leave, and he said that he doesn't know when he'll be back, so he asked me to take care of you for him."
"But—I want to see my Daddy!" tears began flowing down her cheeks as her breathing became more forced, "Where is he?"
"I don't know." the flooring shifted precariously below them, "I think we'd better leave, Honey."
As the child's new father stepped away from the unstable part of the floor, he noticed that she blew a kiss into the air into no particular direction, just as long as it reached her Daddy—wherever he was.
"I love you Daddy." she whispered softly, and rested her head on the stranger's shoulder.
The crimson-eyed male looked around at the room: red liquid stained the couches of the tiny room they had called home for the past several days, the carpets among other things. Once again, he pressed the girl securely into his arms, then reached behind his head to fish out a green gem of some sort, then shouted, "CHAOS CONTROL!" and disappeared from the area.
XXX
The stranger reappeared next to a brick building, where he carried the human girl inside, and laid her on the only wooden bench in the foyer. Kneeling down, he stuffed a letter into her pocket before dropping another letter on the desk, and ringing the bell. Returned to the girl's side, he whispered, "I will return, just stay here, and be good for them-and for your father."
The girl couldn't respond to him, but she never forgot those words as the headmistress rushed into the room, then the stranger disappeared once again, leaving the woman to run up to the girl, attending to her wounds and other things such as the like.
The stranger watched from the window as the girl was taken into a back room, and as the mistress addressed the letter on the desk, reading it, but threw it aside, leaving an elderly maid to pick it up and read it, before keeping it herself, following the mistress into the back room.
The stranger drew away from the window before taking off in a golden blur, dust stirring into the air behind him. When the dust eventually settled, it revealed a sign that read, "Muirwood Orphanage."
XXX
Seven and a half years later. Muirwood Orphanage.
"Shelby!" shouted an angry voice, "Shelby, come out immediately!"
"Yes, Mrs. Muirwood?" a young Japanese girl, about the age of fifteen, with dark gold hair stopped in front of Mrs. Muirwood.
"Shelby, I've told you time and time again, be careful! You heard what the doctor said. Now, Ms. Maurice, please, go get on your clothes and wash up for dinner." she sighed, "After that, I will have a talk with you and Brandon about this situation."
"Yes, Mrs. Muirwood, I will." Shelby stood absolutely still until the mistress dismissed her, then walked to the bathrooms of the orphanage, which, led past the older boy's hall of residence.
She cautiously entered the bathrooms-no one here. Shelby let out a sigh of relief as she entered. Not long ago, Bruce, along with some of the older boys, invaded the girl's bathrooms. They began to hit on some of the girls there, where, Shelby among several of the other girls, got pregnant by the boys.
She glanced down to her belly. She was almost one month pregnant. She smiled a mother's warm smile, despite the unpleasant experience back then.
"Hiya, Shelby!"
"Oh, hi, Mami!" Shelby greeted her Japanese friend. Mami, also, was pregnant, but unfortunately, the boy whom she got pregnant by, is not known.
"What are you doing this evening?"
"Mrs. Muirwood wanted to speak with Brandon and I."
"Brandon? Didn't he…violate you?"
"Yes, he's the one."
"Oh, yeah." she huffed, "Oh, I've got to go Shelby; I'll see you later!"
"Okay, I'll see you Mami." Shelby watched as her friend left the room, and returned to the dorms, then proceeded to wash up for dinner.
XXX
"Now, considering the incident just a month ago, we must do something about it. Now Shelby, you are pregnant by Brandon, correct?"
"That's correct, Mrs. Muirwood."
"Now, Brandon, you know our moral standards, and you disobeyed them deliberately. I don't know what to do with you, except that you will help Shelby raise your children together."
"But, Mrs. Muirwood-"
"They are your children, Brandon, and you must take responsibility of them as well as of Shelby, who will become your wife after the children are born—"
"No! No! N-not-not with him!" protested the girl, pointing an accusing finger at the older boy beside her.
"Ms. Maurice, you know as well that the husband must support his wife, and since you are pregnant by him, you two shall be married after the babies are born—possibly a few months after they are born, or when you turn eighteen-which is some years off. And Brandon shall support you and your children beginning now and lasting until long after you are both married."
"Mrs. Muirwood-"
"Mrs. Muirwood-"
"No. That is final. Now both of you are dismissed." she laid her glasses on the desk, heaving a heavy sigh as the two started to bicker again, "and starting immediately, both of you must learn to get along with each other. Both of you will come to my office every afternoon and learn how to manage a house, cook, and other things that you will need to know if you are to live together."
"Yes, Mrs. Muirwood."
Shelby sighed as Brandon crossed his arms with an attitude, "Yes, Mrs. Muirwood."
"Or would you like to be married immediately?"
"N-no!"
"Forget it."
"Then get along." she pointed to the wooden door not far from them, "You are dismissed."
The two teenagers walked out of the room, neither of them bothering to look at the other. They returned to their usual rooms, not ever to even come near the other for as long as possible.
About a week later…
Shelby walked along the hallway to the courtyard of the orphanage. She loved to go out there during the Springtime, and Summer to admire the flowers and to tend to the garden they had every year. She had a smile plastered on her face, that is, until she saw Brandon sitting on the bench under the sakura, or cherry blossom, tree. She gave a disgusted look at the boy, then turned away from him, going in the opposite direction toward the water garden.
"Now, what's that for?" Brandon asked, throwing a disgusted look back to Shelby.
"I'm not the one who barged into the girl's bathroom and did what they damn well pleased."
"Well, I'm not the one who wanted to be married-"
"I don't want to be either-"
"Besides, I didn't know girls could get…pregnant…so easily…"
"What do you mean by that?" now it was Shelby's turn to glare at the other, "One has to be a fool to not know that!"
"Well, I thought that girls matured a lot later, like at about sixteen, or so…"
"Wrong, Brandon. As soon as girls start their period, we can get pregnant at any time-" she noted the searching expression on the male's face before continuing to clear what she had said, "-it can start as early as eight years on some girls, but most of the time, it's about when a girl is twelve or thirteen."
"Oh, I didn't know that."
"Well, now you know." now, the boy blushed, but he glanced back at her, and to her tummy, "Now, what are you looking at me like that for?"
"Well-I…"
"What?"
"Ah, no offense, but I was just wondering what our children look like is all."
"Oh…" now it was the girl's turn to blush, "I don't know…I guess we won't know until they're born."
"You're…having twins, aren't you?"
"Well, I don't know yet – that's what the old wives tales say about my current symptoms. I don't know what sex they are either…but I'd like to know so badly!" she added happily.
Brandon smiled, "I would like to know too, y'know?"
She shrugged, "Yeah, I know." she sat down, thinking for a moment or so, "I wonder what to name him…? Perhaps for a boy I'll name him "Shane." "
"Shane?"
"Why, yes. Shane is the name of the one who saved me when my father and I were in a train accident when I was seven." the smile on her face disappeared as she looked down a her skirt, "He said that he'd return for me…but he hasn't come yet."
"That's what they all say. They never return."
"But I believe him. I believe that he's going to return…soon."
"Okay, whatever Shelby." Brandon paused, "Hey, Shelby, I've been thinking about what Mrs. Muirwood said, and…I kinda regret saying some things that I shouldn't have said."
Shelby glanced up, partially surprised and suspicious, "Like what?"
"Well, I do want to support you and my children, and I'd also like to at least try to get along with you so our child won't grow up in a torn home or such…y'know?"
"Yeah." she thought for a moment, "All right, we can try to get along, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to marry you just yet. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
"Good."
"Shell?"
She rolled her eyes at the nickname, "Yes?"
"What name were you thinking for a girl?"
"Oh, I don't know…probably Amelia, or Genevieve."
"Genevieve?" Brandon smiled, "I kinda like that name too."
Shelby smiled. Maybe they would get along?
XXX
A couple of weeks, then months, passed, and Shelby and Brandon got along, quickly becoming friends to their surprise, but that didn't mean that Shelby could get along with Brandon's friends. This led to Shelby sometimes getting seriously hurt by the other boys trying to rid Brandon of Shelby, but Brandon would have nothing of it. If Shelby was going to carry his children, then he would not let anyone near her for fear of their children getting hurt. He even asked if he could be moved closer to Shelby when some of the boys started to target her. This, fortunately, was granted, and he was moved to the dorm on the border of the girl's and the boy's dorm, and Shelby was moved to the room next door to Brandon's room so he could easily keep an eye out for her at all times.
"Hiya, Shell!" Brandon ran up to his friend, and the mother of his child.
"Hi, Brandon." she smiled at the brown eyed boy, "Want to get something to eat?"
"Sure! I hope they have ice cream and French fries today!" she smiled.
"Ice cream and French fries?" Brandon smiled, trying to hold back a disgusted look on his face as the young, pregnant woman examined the chalk board menu, "You getting another of those weird cravings again?"
"Heh, yeah. I am." she grinned, closing her eyes in contentment.
"I think they're having fried chicken in the cafeteria today…or was it pizza?"
"Pizza is always on Fridays, Brandon." she leaned toward his arm as they entered the cafeteria, then the pungent scent of garlic hit their noses, making them scrunch up in disgust.
"I never have, and I never will like that smell."
"Me neither. Garlic's always given me headaches."
"Really? It has me too."
"I guess it affects a lot of people, huh?"
"Yup. It does." he grabbed a tray for Shelby and himself, "Here you go, Shelly."
"Thanks, Brandy." she smirked mischievously.
"Hey!" he retorted at his new nickname, "Shelby!"
She piled mashed potatoes on her tray, "Ah, I'm just messing with you, Brandon." she smiled, "Now c'mon! Let's go eat under the sakura tree!"
"All right, I'm coming!" he grabbed a biscuit from a tray, then followed Shelby out to the sakura tree.
Shelby stifled a laugh when Brandon tried to shoot milk out through his nose, "You're disgusting!"
"I know, but it's fun to be disgusting." he simply grinned back at the girl, causing her to burst out laughing.
"Stop it! Stop it, Brandon!" she scooted away from his "fountain of milk" as he called it, but failed miserably when he accidentally knocked over his cup of milk, spilling it all over Shelby's clothes, "Brandon!"
"Heh, oops. Sorry, Shell." he grabbed a napkin, wiping her shirt off. He paused when his hand went across her bulging stomach. He felt the baby kick his hand, "Sorry, lil' one." he chuckled as the babe squirmed under his hand.
"I don't blame you, Baby. I'm soaked too." she laid her hand beside Brandon's, "I'd better go change into something dry and lie down. I'm not feeling too well again."
"Oh, okay. Let me help the lovely lady, then." he helped her back to her room, where she rested for most of the rest of the day.
Shelby was now three months pregnant and she and Brandon, as well as a caregiver from the orphanage, were on their way to a clinical appointment for Shelby's monthly checkup.
"Shelby, look out your window!" the boy pointed to his left, where Shelby was to look out her window with her, "There's a festival–" in that same moment their car crossed the intersection, a second car came speeding from their right, colliding with the right side of the vehicle with a gruesome crunching noise as the glass shattered on the side the car had hit them.
"Shelby! Brandon!" the elderly woman slammed on her brakes in an attempt to stop the car from crashing into any other vehicles ahead of them.
When the caregiver looked behind her to check on the children, she saw that the entire right side of their vehicle had been crushed, sandwiching everything on that side of the car, including the boy, whom she assumed was killed instantly. The Japanese girl, Shelby, appeared to be unscathed, save from her leg and hand which was caught in the sandwich of metal.
The sounds of multiple sirens filled the intersection as six injured people were carried away in ambulances to the nearest hospitals. There they learned that because of the impact of the accident, the baby Shelby was carrying would not survive. She was given the choice of inducing birth, or waiting for the miscarriage to happen once she was released from the hospital. She choose the later.