Her Dreams Give Her Wings
Chapter 2-Don't Leave Me
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them." -Louisa May Alcott
Renesmee's POV
The next few days were a comfortable blur. I went back to school thanks to the homeless lady, who's name I learned is Bonnie, and it wasn't that hard to agree with her. I didn't have many friends, but I am a good student and I really like school-it was like a second home to me.
I didn't like the way people were looking at me though.
Of course, I have no idea what I look like since I have no mirror or anything.
I forgot my hairbrush and toothbrush back home, and I have no access to a shower or anyway to get clean. So obviously, I can't look too great now.
The cut on my forehead can't be doing well because my teacher made a comment today.
She sent me to the nurse to get it looked at, and she put a clean bandage on it and said to clean it twice a day and that it was probably infected.
Well, it's going to have to stay that way because I can't get to those things anymore.
And surprisingly, I wasn't worried about it. But not just that, I wasn't worried about anything anymore. I just let what happens, happen.
For once in my life, I felt happy.
That was, until I saw the look on Bonnie's face as I came up the hill.
Bonnie had become a guardian angel to me. I still stayed in the slide at night, but I felt better knowing she was right there as I slept.
She ran right up to me with a frantic look in her eyes.
"Ness, you have to run and hide. Now." She whispered furiously.
"What? Why?" I murmured nervously.
I never spoke louder than a whisper out of habit so when I was supposed to whisper, it was barely audible.
Bonnie grabbed the tops of my arms tightly and looked straight at me, eyes wide open, burning into me.
"Your father is here looking for you." She whispered in a rush.
My eyes grew wider and I froze under her hands.
"You need to go. Now. He's searching the woods for you now, but I don't know how long that will take. You have to get out of here. I'll come get you when it's safe. Where can you go that you'll be safe?" She asked throwing glances over her shoulder every few seconds.
"The beach." I forced my frozen mouth to frame the words.
"Perfect. He won't go looking for you in public places. Find a safe spot there and I'll get you when I can. See if you can find a group of people to stay close by. Now go!"
She pushed me toward the street and I almost fell, I was so stiff. I looked back at Bonnie, suddenly feeling like this was the last time I would ever see her.
I forced the muscles in my legs to walk and, as I heard Bonnie start talking again, to run.
The beach was only about a mile away and if I kept this pace I could make it in about 30 minutes.
To keep myself calm as I ran from the man I loved and hated, I thought about the man and the woman.
They came back at the same time everyday and I always fell asleep to his quiet music each night.
They always spoke of "trying again" though, of what I had no idea.
Then they would start to kiss and I'd feel like a peeping Tom and have to look away.
The woman would get up and pull the man behind her, and then he would chase her around like a five year old. She would shriek and giggle and yell "Stop!" even though she didn't want him to.
It was a very happy picture.
Sort-of story book happy.
They were exactly the type of people I'd want my parents to be if I ever got the chance to have parents again.
I don't know how long it took, but I knew I was almost there when I could see the crisp blue water touch the clean white-blue sky on the horizon.
The last thing I had to do to get there was cross the busy intersection.
There is no crosswalk, so I just had to take a deep breath and run for it.
I got a lot of horns and a few words that a nine year old should never hear.
I did make it though. Scared to death and breathless, but I made it.
I walked down the narrow, wooden steps and smelled everything all around me that was the beach. (A/N: I've never been to the beach, so…yeah my description will be very vague. Sorry =/)
The beach had always been my escape; my go-to place.
It was where I ran away to when the words didn't mean quite the same thing.
As soon as I stepped onto the sand I pulled my shoes off and let the warm sand run between my toes.
It was the perfect day for the beach; clear skies, warm and sunny.
It seemed like everyone was here considering it was the middle of the day and school had just let out.
It also seemed like everyone was in a bathing suit.
I shrugged the thought off and walked over to a shady region and dumped all my stuff.
I decided that I should take advantage of the fact that I had water-for now.
I walked to the water's edge and let it wash over my toes.
I rolled up the hem on my jeans and waded into the shallow waters, where it came up to my knees.
The water felt amazing and gentle.
As the waves got higher and higher, and the water reached up the beach, I walked back to my spot, spread out my sweatshirt and sat.
I watched everyone playing, and running, and swimming.
It seemed surreal; like I wasn't really here and I was just watching on TV. It seemed to perfect-too good to be true.
I sighed and laid back, my head resting on my backpack.
I wondered about Bonnie and when she would come for me. At the moment I simply didn't care. I could stay here forever.
I wondered about my father. Where he is and what he's doing.
But mostly I wondered about the man and the woman. Would I get to see them tonight? That was enough to make me want to go back even if my dad was still there.
I turned my head and watched the waves roll in and back out again.
It seemed like they were reaching out to me, inviting me into the deeper water.
I didn't really see much else besides the waves, and I started to drift off to sleep, so it startled me when suddenly someone was standing right in front of my face.
"Hey. Are you dead?" A high-pitched, baby voice asked.
I looked up to their face, but couldn't see anything-the sun was directly over me.
They dropped onto their knees, and then I could see them.
It was a girl, maybe five or six, with blonde pig-tails and bright blue eyes wearing a pink polka-dot one piece and star glasses resting on her head.
"Hey you. I asked you a question." She said, annoyed.
"No. I'm not dead." I muttered.
She flashed a smile and said "Well then come play with me!"
"Play? Play what?" I asked, confused.
"Treasure hunter silly!" She looked disappointed, like I was supposed to know what that was.
I just stared up at her in confusion.
She got to her feet and put her hands on her hips showing that little toddler attitude. "Well are you coming or not?" She demanded.
Treasure hunter seemed like the last thing I wanted to do, but I agreed anyway; it was better than lying around here waiting for Bonnie.
Treasure hunter really wasn't that bad. It was actually fun.
All I had to do was walk around and pick up cool stuff that I found.
I learned that her name is Destiny and she is six.
When her parents called her over for dinner, she shared half of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich with me.
I didn't notice how late it was getting and a wave of quiet sadness washed over me when Destiny left.
"Don't worry. I'll be back. But I had lots of fun with you today. Thanks for playing with me Ness." She said as she was leaving.
Destiny had no problem picking up my nickname because she couldn't pronounce my full name.
"Okay. Maybe I'll see you next time." I said with no hope in my broken whisper.
She waved and turned, but stopped and ran back to where I stood, her hand in her pocked.
Destiny pulled something out, her tiny fist clenched around it and said "Here. I want you to have this. It means we're officially friends." She smiled.
She opened her palm and held it out to me.
It was a small purple pebble that she found and declared her favorite when we played treasure hunter.
I looked at her, shocked. "A-Are you sure?" I stammered.
She nodded her head quickly, her pig-tails bouncing wildly. "Yes. I am 100% sure. I want us to be friends forever." She held it just a little closer to me.
I smiled sheepishly and reached out shyly to grab it.
I picked it up gently and marveled over it's smooth, shiny surface. It was beautiful.
"Thank you." I whispered, touched.
She smiled wider, waved, and skipped back to her parents, taking her mother's hand.
I looked at the pebble and turned it over and over in my hand.
I knew it was silly to be so happy to get a rock, but it was the first time I'd gotten a gift from someone other than my father, and it actually meant something to me, so I didn't really care what it was.
Friend. I have a friend.
I smiled, still looking at the pebble, at walked back to my spot.
It was getting darker and harder to see.
I decided that I was going back to the park, I didn't care anymore.
I gathered my things and walked back up the wooden steps.
Crossing the intersection was easy this time because there were no cars, and then I continued walking back to my tunnel slide home.
It was hard to see and the sounds of night were scary with no one and nothing around me.
I walked the whole way home so, naturally, it took longer.
Everything was completely silent.
Bonnie was always quiet. The man and the woman weren't, though. They had either already come and gone, or had yet to come.
I hoped it was the second of the two.
Being quiet, I stashed my bag in the slide and crept into the part of the woods where Bonnie stayed.
It was pitch black in the confines of the trees; the moon couldn't get through and I couldn't see anything.
I kept walking blindly and almost tripped over a tree root.
Then I realized, when I looked down, that it wasn't a tree root-it was Bonnie.
She must have fallen asleep.
I reached down for her hand to tell her I was back, but she didn't respond.
And she was ice cold!
I grabbed the blanket off the top of her grocery cart full of stuff that she kept and carefully draped it over her and whispered my good night.
I stumbled my way out of the woods and saw the man and the woman at the top of the hill, headed here.
I tried to run back to the slide, but I tripped over the edge of the raised platform the playground sat on.
It wasn't the quietest fall.
Wood chips went flying into the air and fell back down, hitting the plastic of the slide and the metal of everything else.
They grew quiet and I tried again to get to the slide before they caught me.
I couldn't get up over the bottom of the slide like I normally do, so I had to run to the top-my shoes thumping up the metal stairs-to get inside the slide.
But it was a vain effort trying not to be seen now; they had already spotted me and were watching me as they went to the swings.
I decided to play it cool; I played.
I swung across the monkey bars a few times and slid down the slide.
They watched my whole performance silently, though they had looks of shock on there faces.
I was getting tired, and instead of in the slide, I laid down under it.
They started to whisper and they sounded upset, maybe even angry.
I couldn't sleep with all the tense noise so I sat up, knees to my chest, and wrapped my arms around my knees and watched them curiously.
The man threw his hands in the air, then sighed and looked very pointedly in my direction. I froze under his stare.
He sighed again and got up off of the swing and walked in my direction.
He kneeled down to my level and cleared his throat.
"Hello." He said in his beautiful, musical voice.
He seemed to be waiting for me to say something; I couldn't. He looked over his shoulder, to the woman and ran a hand through his hair.
He shrugged to her and she came over and copied his position.
"Hi sweetheart." She smiled warmly.
Was I dreaming this?
They both stared at me expectantly so I swallowed hard and breathed "Hi" barely mouthing the word.
They both seemed to relax a little.
"Where are your parents, honey?" The woman asked, reaching out to rest her hand on my arm.
I locked down, as if for impact.
My eyes squinted and I shrank even smaller into myself, clenching my hands into fists.
She seemed to understand that I didn't want that and drew her hand back.
I opened my eyes back up and unclenched my fists
They exchanged a meaningful glance and looked back to me.
"Do you have parents?" She asked softly.
I wasn't sure what to say because it was a lie either way so I just shrugged.
I glanced up at the man and immediately shrank back from his scrutiny.
He was staring intently at the cut on my forehead.
"I don't like the way this looks." He murmured.
He reached out, ignoring my response, and lightly traced the cut.
I closed my eyes tightly and whimpered. It didn't hurt, it actually felt nice, but it was the only reaction I knew to physical contact.
His eyes opened wider and the woman gasped. I could feel the cut bleeding again.
They exchanged one more long glance and then they were on their feet.
"Bella, get the car." He ordered. Bella nodded and took off back the way they came.
What an unusual name. It made us closer than I would have thought, but in a weird way.
The man held his hand out to me, like he was going to slap me, and I sat there and stared at him, waiting for it.
The woman was no where to be seen, so she must be getting the car still.
The man stared at me and said "Come on. I won't hurt you, I promise. I'll help you."
When I wouldn't take his hand he drew it back and stood there seeming lost in thought.
He got down on my level again and reached a hand out and grabbed my wrist.
I locked down again, for impact, but it never came.
He pulled me up into his arms and that was when I started to cry. But not just cry, screaming too.
He walked me to the car that appeared in the darkness whispering to me that It's okay and that he can help me. That only made the tears come harder and faster because the messed up truth was that no one could help me, and it's not okay.
He opened the door to the backseat on the passenger side and gently set me in.
He buckled the seatbelt around me and I clawed at it uselessly, trying to get it off and make a run for it.
He got in the driver side and hit the gas, making the tires squeal.
We drove away with me in the back still screaming.
Screaming "Don't leave me!"
A/N: Oh snap! Second chapter guys :) Third will be up soon. Review, review, review! Please :)
Thanks guys!
Loves you XO
Kelly