I am so proud of myself! *happy claps* I managed to finish this weeks' chapter in two days! And post it with... two days to spare! Yay! I'm back on the punctuality train!

*GASP* And posting two days in a row! Awesome! (Probably won't ever happen again.)

Chapter 7:

Shadow looked up from the couch as the front door opened that Sunday afternoon.

"Shadow!" Helen rolled into the room wearing a fancy green dress. She was happy and relieved to see that Shadow hadn't left while they were away that morning. "Are you ok? Did you eat the food we left you? Have you been resting?"

Shadow just sat there with a blank look on his face in response to Helen's waterfall of questions. "Uhh..."

"Oh, sorry!" Helen finally stopped herself. "Good afternoon, Shadow."

"Good afternoon...?" Shadow blinked slowly. "Your dress is... really pretty..."

Helen blushed and smiled. "Thank you!"

Shadow was more comfortable around the house, helping the family prepare a big Sunday dinner and enjoying it amiably with them. Helen's father had to rush off to work the pm shift at his job so Helen and her mother washed up. Helen noted with some concern that Shadow disappeared after he finished clearing the table.

"Honey," her mother asked as she set Helen back in her wheelchair when they were through. "Is Shadow feeling alright? He was rather quiet today."

"I'm not sure," Helen answered. He'd seem to be in a thoughtful mood ever since their talk yesterday evening in the yard. "I hope he's not thinking about leaving."

"You can't force him to stay, Helen," Her mom reminded her gently.

"I know, I know," Helen said. "But it seems like whenever he's alone he gets hurt. And it's even worse since he doesn't fight back. It isn't fair."

Helen's mother frowned with understanding. "You have to wait until Shadow is ready to talk, sweetheart. It's something he has to deal with for himself before he hears anyone else out on it. Just give him time. You never know when he may just decide to open up to you."

...a while later...

Shadow sat on Helen's bed hugging his knees. When Helen rolled in, he let out a big sigh. "Stay there," he said. "I want to talk."

Helen did as she was told. "Go ahead."

"I have to go back to the beginning." Shadow kept his back to the door. "Not everyone is nice like you and your mother are. Before I met you I didn't think anyone would be nice to me. After I met you, I was afraid to think I deserved it. I don't think I deserve it. The day after that I got what I really deserved."

"You mean when you were hurt the first time?"

Shadow nodded slightly. "There were three of them who came early in the morning and surprised me. I... Instinct told me to fight back but I didn't want to hurt anyone anymore so I just took it. It didn't hurt that much, but it was really tiring being caught off guard like that and I think I just lost it. It was kind of hard to move around that day."

Helen just let out an affirmative "mmm..." sound as Shadow spoke. Cowards! She thought. Shadow could destroy them all in a heartbeat if he wanted to. Can't people see he's changed? If you want to punish him, put him in jail or make him do community service. Don't beat him up! That's not going to help anyone.

"That time when I told you I fell in the lake wasn't a total lie," he continued. "I was actually chased there. Don't ask me why I didn't just use my speed to get away - I don't really understand myself anymore. I have no desire to use any of my abilities because all they do is harm things."

"But Shadow-"

Shadow shook his head. "It's all I've ever used them for, Helen. I don't know any different. I keep thinking back to what that boy said to me that day when it rained and you couldn't come see me." He paused and took a breath. "He said that I hurt things without even trying. That I can't... not destroy stuff because it's my whole purpose for existing."

"That's not true anymore, Shadow." Helen was trying really hard not to talk loudly. It was just so upsetting to hear Shadow talking like this.

Shadow didn't respond to her for a moment. "The last time was the worst..."

"And you still refused to fight back?"

He looked up for the first time since he'd started the conversation. "I couldn't."

"Why not?"

Shadow's voice was low and detached at first. "It was raining but they acted like it didn't matter to them. At first, there was only the one boy. He made it seem like it was a game. He said nice things but in a threatening voice. But then... there was another boy... and another boy... and then a girl. She was actually worse than the boys." He stared absently out the window, blinking slowly. "She said something about me ruining her home. That she was going to make me hurt just like she had. She said there was no way I would ever understand what I'd done. How could I? A lifeform meant for destruction." Shadow paused as his voice cracked a bit against his will. He waited a moment before continuing is as clear voice as he could manage, "There were more attacks after that, through the whole night and even in the morning when I thought it was over and they would leave me because I wasn't even trying to defend myself anymore... Different groups of four or five..." Shadow hugged himself tighter, burying his nose in his knees. "The boy who started it all stayed there the entire time. He didn't go home until he'd started to sneeze while the last group was having at me."

"He got sick from being in the rain all that time...?" Helen mused out loud, connections forming in her mind.

"I suppose so," Shadow said with a tiny, unconcerned shrug. "I was relieved that they all left when he did. I think I passed out after that, finally being able to just relax and rest." He let out a breath like it was all ok now and nothing he said before mattered.

"And you were there the whole time until my mom and I found you that afternoon?!" Helen asked in surprise, not being able to stop herself from inching closer to the bed.

Shadow nodded. "Seems so."

"Shadow," Helen said gently. "You have to say who did these things to you. It wasn't right. No matter what you did you DO NOT deserve to be treated that way!"

"Even after everything I did?" Shadow asked in a glum tone, eyes glued to bedspread. "They're just doing what I did to them."

"Don't try to justify their actions! You've done nothing wrong!"

"Helen-"

"No, Shadow. I won't listen to another word of it." Helen rolled up beside him and spoke with a firm voice full of conviction. "The people who hurt you are cowards. If they want you to pay for what you've done in the past, that's fine, but this is not the way to do it. The way for you to pay would be to make things right and fix what you broke. The city's already been rebuilt but you can do other things like volunteering with city improvement projects. Use your powers for good and show that you're not a threat anymore. I mean, those people who keep beating you up clearly know you're not a threat or they wouldn't dare attack you knowing the power you have, right?"

Shadow could say nothing in the face of Helen's righteous fury.

"I want those people to apologize to you right away!" Helen fumed to herself. "You can't keep protecting those... those... those BULLIES!"

"Bullies?" Shadow tilted his head at this angry Helen before him.

"Yes, that's just what they are. Hurting someone who's done nothing to them! It's plain, old-fashioned, bullying!" Suddenly, her face burst out into a huge smile. "You're coming with me tomorrow!"

"... Where?" Shadow asked, startled by her abrupt mood change.

"You're going to be my 'Show and Tell' for school tomorrow!"

"Show and Tell?" Shadow was utterly clueless. He scrunched up his brow in thought. Whatever it was, it included him going to school with Helen and that was out of the question.

"HUH?!" Shadow jumped so hard he fell out of the bed. "I can't go to school with you!"

"Yes, you can!" Helen insisted. "It's perfect! Solves all kinds of problems at once! You get to show that you're not a threat, I get a super cool presentation to give tomorrow, and everyone learns a valuable lesson about forgive and forgetting." Helen nodded approvingly.

Shadow just blinked his wide eyes with his mouth agape from his place on the floor. Helen had officially lost it. He thought. There's no way her mother would agree to carry him to school with her. No way her teacher would allow it. No way anyone who knew anything about him would just sit back and listen to Helen talk about how he'd changed and not make a fuss.

"You have to Shadow," Helen's voice had gone to pleading. "Pleaseeeeeeeeeee?" She blinked watery puppy eyes down at him. "I really just want to help. You can't just hide out in the meadow for the rest of your life..."

Shadow blinked slowly and thought. But there was no way...

Hopefully this explained shed some light on the situation with Shadow. If I missed anything, PLEASE let me know. Next chapter is Show and Tell in Helen's class so ideas for any fiascos to ensue would be well appreciated! The biggest should will be answered in that chapter as well (I'm not too good at hiding things so you lovelies have probably figured out what's going on by now so next chapter will just confirm everything! ...hopefully.) Hehe. Review, review, REVIEW please and thank you. Happy reading! :)