26
Wow, thanks for the reviews guys...IamtheIinteam, NightmareBeforeChristmasFreak, Xany-Insanity-Xenia-o-Awesome, and special thanks to Savvie, and my bestest pal Musically.
If I get more chappies with reviews like that, I'll update alot faster! Thanks a bunch guys! Savvie, I thought you died!
Cedric's sockets flicked, then opened. He groaned, his neck aching from sleeping at an angle on his desk.
He sat up, then cracked his bony neck one way, then the other. Yawning, he looked around his room, and was surprised to find a lump in his bed!
He frowned, then realized it must be Vannesa...he had almost forgotten all about that incident last night. He glanced at the old grandfather clock in the corner of the room.
"Jesus...eleven o'clock...Mom's gonna kill me." he mumbled. He decided to wake up Vannesa, so he stumbled over to her bed, and carefully pulled back the covers.
She wasn't there.
Vannesa trudged along in the Hinterlands. She had done some thinking last night, and she had made up her mind, as painful as it was.
She couldn't stay here...it was for Cedric's sake.
He had already disgraced his family by bringing a human to HalloweenTown...imagine the shame when they found out he was a teenage father.
No, this would be best for everyone. She was going back to the Human World...get a full time job with Uncle Tony, she could live in the back room until she saved enough money for a place of her own. After that, she had no idea. She would be okay, she always managed.
It would be better for Cedric too...he would be sad for a while, but he would forget her. He would forget her...and his family would be better off as well. Everyone wins.
Vannesa knew she wouldn't ever get over Cedric...her heart ached at the very thought of leaving him...but this was the only way.
She trudged on to the doctor's lab, so he could send her home.
"She must be downstairs, don't freak Cedric..." he told himself, rushing down the stairs three at a time. He dashed into the kitchen, where his mother and father were eating breakfast.
"Have you seen Vannesa?" he asked. They looked at him strangely.
Jack shook his head. "No, we thought she was still sleeping.."
"She's not there." Cedric said quickly.
Jack frowned, then shrugged. "She must be around here somewhere..."
Cedric dashed out the door.
Where would she be? The graveyard, the Hinterlands? Then it struck Cedric.
"Of course! She must have went to feed Chester...I'll bet she's at the doctors!"
Vannesa closed the heavy iron door behind her as quietly as she could. She heard the sound of something dying coming from the lab. When she peeked inside, it was only the doctor snoring at his counter.
She shrugged. At least it gave her time to check up on Chester. She could wake him up when she needed him to send her back.
She knew she was stalling...she had been all morning. When she woke up at five, Cedric still sleeping, she had given him one last kiss, and said goodbye, before she climbed out the window. She had trudged in the Hinterlands, wasting time for no reason, before heading to the doctor's. She could grab Chester, wake him up, and go home within five minutes if she wanted to.
If this was the right thing to do, why did it feel so wrong?
She headed to her cell, and opened the door. "Chester?" she called softly.
Chester yawned, then looked up. He was curled up on the cot. He stretched before giving her an answer. "Yes yes, what's all this then? Why didn't you come home last night? I was worried sick."
Vannesa almost laughed at the sheer irony of her cat staying up worried about her. Then she remembered the circumstances.
"They found out...we're leaving." she said. He frowned. "What? We just got here! So what if they found out? What are they gonna do?"
Vannesa glared at him. "Burn me at the stake. Now, pick yourself up, we're leaving, NOW." she directed.
Chester looked at her warily, not moving. "What about Cedric? You're not even going to say goodbye?"
Vannesa choked back tears. "I don't want to talk about him. He deserves a better girl than me...I'm just a troubled street kid. He's a prince."
Chester frowned. "But he doesn't want another girl. You're going to hurt him."
"Its complicated."
"So indulge me."
Vannesa sighed. He wasn't going to let this drop.
"Well...I'm...pregnant."
Chester's eyes widened to almost three times their normal size. "Wh..what?!"
"Halloween night...when I first met Cedric? Well, we were by the river, and in the moonlight...I can't believe that it happened, that I was such a slut...but it did. And now, I don't want to shame him and his family anymore than I already have. So, if I leave, he'll be fine. I can manage."
"You don't truly believe that, do you?" Chester sniffed.
How she wished she believed it herself. "Its better this way. Now, come on..."
Cedric burst into the labratory, knocking over piles of books and his tiny feet slamming againest the stone floor.
The doctor started up. "Wha-?!" he said.
"Is Vannesa here?!" Cedric panted, he had run all the way across town. His gut said something just wasn't quite right...
"Oh, the human? You just missed her." The doctor said placidly.
"WHAT?!" Cedric thundered. He shook the doctor by his shoulders. "Where is she?!"
"She asked to go home to the Human World, so I opened the emergency portal for her..." the doctor said, concerned about Cedric's state of mind.
Cedric let the doctor go. He looked as if in a daze. "She...went home? Why would she do that..." he murmered.
"Are you alright son?" the doctor asked. Much as he hated to admit it, Cedric was in a way his grandson...not to mention, he prefered Cedric to the majority of the noisy, irritating citizens here. Although he would never say it, he had a soft spot in his heart for Cedric...he always did like rooting for the underdog.
Cedric shook his head back to reality. "Open the portal, please...I've got to go after her! She wouldn't do this unless there was a reason...I knew something was wrong.." he muttered.
The doctor regarded him warily, but then did open the portal by throwing the switch.
Cedric leapt through.
Vannesa and Chester stood on a corner of the street, with no direction where to go.
"I guess I should head to Uncle Tony's..." Vannesa murmered, her eyes teary.
"I suppose so...he'll be worried how he hasn't heard from you for a while." Chester agreed.
Vannesa sighed. She had sworn she would never come back to this cruel, unforgiving city...but promises are easily broken.
"Are you going to tell your step dad?" Chester asked.
She shook her head furiously. "Never! I may live on the streets all my life, but I'm never going to go back to that bastard! Not after...that."
"Have you ever told anyone about...that?"
Vannesa hung her head as they walked along the alley. "Not even Cedric...he'd have wanted to get even with him..." she said as she ran a finger along the deep scar on her arm.
"Perhaps, if you told the cops.." Chester suggested.
She glared at him. "Yeah, just go up and say what? Hey nice policemen, my step daddie abuses me? Sometimes he punches me so hard againest the ground that I can't get up? And maybe if I'm lucky, he'll simply kick me in the stomach and go off to his armchair and drink some more? Yeah, they'll be all over that."
Chester sighed. "Just a suggestion."
Vannesa scuffed the toe of her shoe againest the wall of the alley. "I'm never going back there. Never. I'd rather starve to death than put up with that sad excuse for a human being."
"Vannesa?" Cedric called. He was in some strange part of the city he hadn't been to before. He rushed around the throngs of humans on the sidewalk, most of them staring at him.
He realized that he still looked like a citizen of HalloweenTown. He had to fix that, and quick.
He ducked into a side alley. He needed some time to think...he could pull this off. What the hell? He was probably banished as soon as he got home anyway, what did a few more rules matter? He needed to find Vannesa.
"Vannesa?!" he called, a bit more urgently. He scanned the crowd, but no luck. She wasn't on this busy street. A guy knocked into him.
"Hey, Halloween was last week punk!" the stranger said crossly in front of Cedric.
Cedric glared. "I was about to say the same to you...isn't it about time to take off that hideous mask?" he retorted before moving on.
"I think we're lost." Chester said.
"We are not lost...I know exactly where we're headed. I just don't know how to get there from here." Vannesa snapped.
"Vannesa?!" They heard called.
Vannesa frowned. "It can't be...Cedric? How did he get here?"
"I'm assuming he talked to the old guy with the funny lips." Chester smarted. They saw Cedric's skull peer around the corner.
"Vannesa?" He asked, unsure. Then he realized it was, indeed her. He sprinted towards her, and enveloped her in an embrace.
When he broke away, he was angry. "What the hell are you doing? Why didn't you tell me? What the hell is the matter Vanessa...you've been acting strangely all week." he roared.
Vannesa couldn't help it. His face, contorted with worry...he deserved to know.
"There is something wrong with me Cedric...I'm pregnant." She confessed, tears streaming down her face.
Cedric was certain he'd misunderstood. "What did you just say? It sounded like you said you're..."
"Pregnant." Vannesa said.
Cedric's heart fell in his ribcage like a stone. He could hear it echoing in his skull.
"Are...are you sure?" he asked, hoping for a negative.
"Yes. Positive." Vannesa answered. The tears were really flowing now. "Oh Cedric, I'm so ashamed!" she lamented.
Cedric held her in his arms, still not quite understanding. "I'm...I'm going to be a father?"
Vannesa shook her head yes. "You probably hate me now, don't you?" she said darkly.
"No! I could never hate you...its just...oh Christ Vannesa, we're fucking sixteen and we're going to be parents!" Cedric gasped for air, feeling as if he couldn't breathe.
Vannesa cried even harder now. "You're going to leave me, aren't you? You're going to leave while you can...I don't blame you. You won't be the one stuck with the responsibility for the end of your life...I will. Stuck working minimum wage, living in a shitty apartment, not being able to afford rent...I'm so fucking screwed Cedric!"
Cedric felt his heart ripped in two. "Listen to me. Listen.." he said, lifting her head up. "I will take care of you...and the baby. I will, Vannesa. I'm not going to abandon you, or my child. Sure, did I want this to happen? No. But we're in this together." he said, taking her hand in his, and looking in her eyes.
End.
NOOOOOOoooo...you guys aren't going to get rid of me that easy. But isn't reading my work fun? (force feeds it down your throats) no, I'm jk everybody. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease...please review...!!!!!
