Sorry about the delay in this chapter.. I haven't been feeling well, and I wanted to be sure I devoted my full attention to it. Now its ready, and I know you've been waiting.. but quality comes before quantity, you know! :) - LB
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The trees were torn from their peaceful array as Monica dashed through them with the force and speed of a frightened deer, chasing after David as fast as she could. In her tremulous and nearly hysterical state, she barely even noticed as the nettles strewn across the forest floor sunk their poisionous teeth into her ankles as she made her way deeper and deeper into the brush towards the echoing laughter of David and Teddy, still far from her sight. She cried and shouted after them with a severely desperate tone as she continued to run, despite the retaliation of her own body's resources. Just as she thought her heart and mind would simply burst from her skin, she finally caught sight of them both - several yards deep into a forest clearing. Stopping momentarily to collapse against the gnarled stump of an oak tree, she called out to them, out of breath and her voice falling short.
"DAVID!"
She watched as David gently yet eagerly placed Teddy down into the cozy nook of a large, upturned tree root, then pulled the plaid blanket from off of his shoulder in preparation to spread it across the ground. In his childish delight, he had somehow managed to get stuck beneath it, as young and playful children often do, and he uncontrollably giggled in a way that seemed to infect Teddy shortly after. The two laughed at each other as David mock-wrestled with the blanket, spinning around in helpless circles and trying to pull it off. 'This is absolutely ridiculous!' Monica's demons plagued her as she watched them mournfully. How much pain had Fate expected her to bear for the selfishness of her family? It might have been easier to fulfill her wicked assignment if David had been something with much less sentience.. like a toaster oven or a robotic pooch. But the loving innocence and heavenly grace of his love and actions simply made the weight of her atrocious decision to abandon him practically inconceivable. 'Maybe he knows,' the wicked demon upon her shoulder whispered disdainfully into her ear. 'Maybe he's trying to make you love him.' She could prolong the agony no more - either hers, or David's. All of her emotions suddenly fell through a trap door, disappearing from sight, as she donned her emotionless cloak once again, just when she needed it most. Her face grew cold and hard as ancient marble, and the tears instantly fizzled from her cheeks. Marching out into the clearing, Monica firmly gripped David by the shoulder, who was still trapped beneath his tent of a blanket, and still giggling. Her anger traded places with her despair as she spun him around and viciously yanked the blanket from off of him, each of her words growing more biting and violently ill as she spoke them.
"David.. David.. DAVID... LISTEN TO ME!!"
She shook him until the eternal smile of his face faded slightly (although never quite disappearing for good) as the darkness of the blanket receeded, and he stared right into her stormy eyes. Trouble entered his own expressions as he noted her distress.
"Mommy? What's wrong?"
Just then, Monica's voice gave out. She couldn't find the words, or the conviction, to explain, and she stuttered incoherently as she fumbled across her emotions. No longer able to look at him, she hung her head shamefully, her stony facade failing fast.
"David... L.. listen.. to me..."
She glanced up at him, to be sure he was still in fact paying attention to her. The dead stare of his devotion to her shot right through her heart, and for a moment, she was sure she felt it was bleeding.
"David, I... I... I have to... leave you here, David."
As she finished the words, she instantly reached her hand up to his shoulder, and placed it there reassuringly - yet, it remained questionable as to whether it was really David she was looking to reassure. He just continued to stare right at her, still completely oblivious to what she was saying. His smile returned a little more as he misconstrued her words, and he joined her by placing his own hand upon her shoulder.
"For how long? Is this a game, Mommy?"
The shard of betrayal twisted itself deeper into Monica's aching heart at his words, and she shook her head with an anhedonic slowness. She could feel the tears welling beneath the bloodless surface of her skin.
"No, David... This.. is not a game."
Still, the childish candor of his thought process prevented little David from understanding. Why did his Mommy worry herself so, especially when there was so much love to be had? He just stood and stared at her, the endless toil of his tiny processors providing little insight into Monica's pain.
"When are you coming back for me?"
"I'm not coming back, David. You have to stay here."
Monica felt her Soul fall right out of her body, through the ground and bury itself beneath the earth's surface. David's blue eyes widened at her words - they had finally begun to take their toll upon both his conscience and her own. Now, she knew, there was no turning back. She had passed that point long ago. David's next words were spoken with the first hint of pure terror and fright she had ever heard come from him.
"Stay here... alone?"
She bit into her lip, anything to draw the pain and torment away from the situation at hand. A tear fell down her cheek, having finally broken its way through her emotional barrier. It's momentum brought more to her eyes, despite her voracious efforts to halt them, and her voice quavered, along with her false smile.
".. With Teddy."
The conviction of her comfort fell completely hollowed, and David had sensed it instantly. His eyes seemed to narrow into specks of obscurity just as they had while he had retorted his dream to her in the vehicle, and he fell silent for a long moment as the words and realization claimed him. At first, Monica leaned forward worriedly, and speculated as to whether her words had literally broken him somehow, he lay so still. But she was horrifyingly proved wrong as David's expression completely changed; his eternal smile descended, his eyes widened, and his skin almost seemed to flush even paler than it already was. Every last ounce of artificiality within him dissolved into irrelevance, as the sadness Monica felt now became of his own. The desperation in his eyes screamed silently at her with all the hurt and mortification that only a real boy could feel, and in that moment, he was no longer mecha. His voice was pleading at first, each word snowballed further and further into maniacal desperation, and every muscle of his face quivered with the unbearable sadness and frustration, leaving Monica awed through her tears at the genuineness of his expression.
"No... No, no no no NO! Please!.. I love you, Mommy! I love you.."
His hands instantly clamped onto the sleeves of her blouse as if by instinct, and he fell to his knees, trying to pull her down alongside him. Monica wrestled against his grip, but came to no avail as she severely underestimated his strength. His growing hysteria only elevated her own, and she fell beside him, her shell collapsing violently about her as she gave into her disconcertion. Tears now welled down her face, and her voice grew hoarse against her will.
"David.. Please, don't do this to me! Please.. I have to.."
But her urgency to depart only made him clench onto her tighter, and the two of them fueled each other's fury and despair. As she finally managed to pull herself up to leave, she charged after her, wrapping his arms around her as lovingly as he could. Monica couldn't bring herself to see the tears that streamed down David's face - despite the fact that they were artificially produced didn't aid to comfort her. She was abandoning her own son, and nothing would quell its sting.
"Oh, please, Mommy.. Please don't leave me here! I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry for everything I've done to displease you! I'm so sorry for hurting you, for hurting Martin.. PLEASE!"
Monica screamed at him in emotional upheaval, not knowing what to do. She wished herself far away from this place, from David, from his pleading... from her own betrayal. Yet, he held her fast, and as if having been strapped to a chair and unable to move or breathe, she became insane with the inability to accept what she had done.
"DAVID..STOP IT...STOP IT...STOP IT..."
"PLEASE, Mommy... if you let me, I'll be so real for you! I promise..."
He had been as real for him as he could ever be, moreso than she would have liked to know. She loved him... but she could no longer. Monica tried to fight through his wave of pleas, and as much as she just wanted to run off and never look at him again, but she gripped his little shoulders and shook him to gain his attention, then forced herself to give him the only motherly advice she had ever bothered to - she felt she owed him that much.
"David, look at me.. Wherever you go, don't go THAT way!"
Her trembling finger was pointed in the direction of the Cybertronics Factory that lay just beyond the outskirts of the forest.
"Whatever you do, stay away from them.. don't let them catch you! .. Stay away them, stay away from all humans, from flesh fairs.. Only stick with others like you, only mecha.. ONLY MECHA... Do you understand??"
David was petrified, unmoving in her arms. He couldn't even begin to comprehend Monica's warning, his whole world had just completely shattered around him, with no way of piecing it back together. His forlorn and lost eyes scraped across her scarlet flushed face, searching for any sign, regardless of how meager, of telling his tale otherwise. Monica had had enough. Gripping his hands firmly, she tore them from her sleeves and knocked him down to the ground with a shout.
"GO!"
She took a hesitant step backwards, then another, as she finally faced her concluding thought: 'Walk away'. No longer able to see David clearly through the tears that clouded her vision, she stumbled backwards with the abhoration of having just accidentially stabbed someone, and put a hand to her face in endless shame. Her voice failed her as she tried to beg for one last final forgiveness.
"I'm so sorry, David! I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the world.."
Poor David just lay on his back in the grass, both him and a stupefied Teddy staring after Monica as she ran for the ditchbound vehicle, away from them.. forever.
**************
The trees were torn from their peaceful array as Monica dashed through them with the force and speed of a frightened deer, chasing after David as fast as she could. In her tremulous and nearly hysterical state, she barely even noticed as the nettles strewn across the forest floor sunk their poisionous teeth into her ankles as she made her way deeper and deeper into the brush towards the echoing laughter of David and Teddy, still far from her sight. She cried and shouted after them with a severely desperate tone as she continued to run, despite the retaliation of her own body's resources. Just as she thought her heart and mind would simply burst from her skin, she finally caught sight of them both - several yards deep into a forest clearing. Stopping momentarily to collapse against the gnarled stump of an oak tree, she called out to them, out of breath and her voice falling short.
"DAVID!"
She watched as David gently yet eagerly placed Teddy down into the cozy nook of a large, upturned tree root, then pulled the plaid blanket from off of his shoulder in preparation to spread it across the ground. In his childish delight, he had somehow managed to get stuck beneath it, as young and playful children often do, and he uncontrollably giggled in a way that seemed to infect Teddy shortly after. The two laughed at each other as David mock-wrestled with the blanket, spinning around in helpless circles and trying to pull it off. 'This is absolutely ridiculous!' Monica's demons plagued her as she watched them mournfully. How much pain had Fate expected her to bear for the selfishness of her family? It might have been easier to fulfill her wicked assignment if David had been something with much less sentience.. like a toaster oven or a robotic pooch. But the loving innocence and heavenly grace of his love and actions simply made the weight of her atrocious decision to abandon him practically inconceivable. 'Maybe he knows,' the wicked demon upon her shoulder whispered disdainfully into her ear. 'Maybe he's trying to make you love him.' She could prolong the agony no more - either hers, or David's. All of her emotions suddenly fell through a trap door, disappearing from sight, as she donned her emotionless cloak once again, just when she needed it most. Her face grew cold and hard as ancient marble, and the tears instantly fizzled from her cheeks. Marching out into the clearing, Monica firmly gripped David by the shoulder, who was still trapped beneath his tent of a blanket, and still giggling. Her anger traded places with her despair as she spun him around and viciously yanked the blanket from off of him, each of her words growing more biting and violently ill as she spoke them.
"David.. David.. DAVID... LISTEN TO ME!!"
She shook him until the eternal smile of his face faded slightly (although never quite disappearing for good) as the darkness of the blanket receeded, and he stared right into her stormy eyes. Trouble entered his own expressions as he noted her distress.
"Mommy? What's wrong?"
Just then, Monica's voice gave out. She couldn't find the words, or the conviction, to explain, and she stuttered incoherently as she fumbled across her emotions. No longer able to look at him, she hung her head shamefully, her stony facade failing fast.
"David... L.. listen.. to me..."
She glanced up at him, to be sure he was still in fact paying attention to her. The dead stare of his devotion to her shot right through her heart, and for a moment, she was sure she felt it was bleeding.
"David, I... I... I have to... leave you here, David."
As she finished the words, she instantly reached her hand up to his shoulder, and placed it there reassuringly - yet, it remained questionable as to whether it was really David she was looking to reassure. He just continued to stare right at her, still completely oblivious to what she was saying. His smile returned a little more as he misconstrued her words, and he joined her by placing his own hand upon her shoulder.
"For how long? Is this a game, Mommy?"
The shard of betrayal twisted itself deeper into Monica's aching heart at his words, and she shook her head with an anhedonic slowness. She could feel the tears welling beneath the bloodless surface of her skin.
"No, David... This.. is not a game."
Still, the childish candor of his thought process prevented little David from understanding. Why did his Mommy worry herself so, especially when there was so much love to be had? He just stood and stared at her, the endless toil of his tiny processors providing little insight into Monica's pain.
"When are you coming back for me?"
"I'm not coming back, David. You have to stay here."
Monica felt her Soul fall right out of her body, through the ground and bury itself beneath the earth's surface. David's blue eyes widened at her words - they had finally begun to take their toll upon both his conscience and her own. Now, she knew, there was no turning back. She had passed that point long ago. David's next words were spoken with the first hint of pure terror and fright she had ever heard come from him.
"Stay here... alone?"
She bit into her lip, anything to draw the pain and torment away from the situation at hand. A tear fell down her cheek, having finally broken its way through her emotional barrier. It's momentum brought more to her eyes, despite her voracious efforts to halt them, and her voice quavered, along with her false smile.
".. With Teddy."
The conviction of her comfort fell completely hollowed, and David had sensed it instantly. His eyes seemed to narrow into specks of obscurity just as they had while he had retorted his dream to her in the vehicle, and he fell silent for a long moment as the words and realization claimed him. At first, Monica leaned forward worriedly, and speculated as to whether her words had literally broken him somehow, he lay so still. But she was horrifyingly proved wrong as David's expression completely changed; his eternal smile descended, his eyes widened, and his skin almost seemed to flush even paler than it already was. Every last ounce of artificiality within him dissolved into irrelevance, as the sadness Monica felt now became of his own. The desperation in his eyes screamed silently at her with all the hurt and mortification that only a real boy could feel, and in that moment, he was no longer mecha. His voice was pleading at first, each word snowballed further and further into maniacal desperation, and every muscle of his face quivered with the unbearable sadness and frustration, leaving Monica awed through her tears at the genuineness of his expression.
"No... No, no no no NO! Please!.. I love you, Mommy! I love you.."
His hands instantly clamped onto the sleeves of her blouse as if by instinct, and he fell to his knees, trying to pull her down alongside him. Monica wrestled against his grip, but came to no avail as she severely underestimated his strength. His growing hysteria only elevated her own, and she fell beside him, her shell collapsing violently about her as she gave into her disconcertion. Tears now welled down her face, and her voice grew hoarse against her will.
"David.. Please, don't do this to me! Please.. I have to.."
But her urgency to depart only made him clench onto her tighter, and the two of them fueled each other's fury and despair. As she finally managed to pull herself up to leave, she charged after her, wrapping his arms around her as lovingly as he could. Monica couldn't bring herself to see the tears that streamed down David's face - despite the fact that they were artificially produced didn't aid to comfort her. She was abandoning her own son, and nothing would quell its sting.
"Oh, please, Mommy.. Please don't leave me here! I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry for everything I've done to displease you! I'm so sorry for hurting you, for hurting Martin.. PLEASE!"
Monica screamed at him in emotional upheaval, not knowing what to do. She wished herself far away from this place, from David, from his pleading... from her own betrayal. Yet, he held her fast, and as if having been strapped to a chair and unable to move or breathe, she became insane with the inability to accept what she had done.
"DAVID..STOP IT...STOP IT...STOP IT..."
"PLEASE, Mommy... if you let me, I'll be so real for you! I promise..."
He had been as real for him as he could ever be, moreso than she would have liked to know. She loved him... but she could no longer. Monica tried to fight through his wave of pleas, and as much as she just wanted to run off and never look at him again, but she gripped his little shoulders and shook him to gain his attention, then forced herself to give him the only motherly advice she had ever bothered to - she felt she owed him that much.
"David, look at me.. Wherever you go, don't go THAT way!"
Her trembling finger was pointed in the direction of the Cybertronics Factory that lay just beyond the outskirts of the forest.
"Whatever you do, stay away from them.. don't let them catch you! .. Stay away them, stay away from all humans, from flesh fairs.. Only stick with others like you, only mecha.. ONLY MECHA... Do you understand??"
David was petrified, unmoving in her arms. He couldn't even begin to comprehend Monica's warning, his whole world had just completely shattered around him, with no way of piecing it back together. His forlorn and lost eyes scraped across her scarlet flushed face, searching for any sign, regardless of how meager, of telling his tale otherwise. Monica had had enough. Gripping his hands firmly, she tore them from her sleeves and knocked him down to the ground with a shout.
"GO!"
She took a hesitant step backwards, then another, as she finally faced her concluding thought: 'Walk away'. No longer able to see David clearly through the tears that clouded her vision, she stumbled backwards with the abhoration of having just accidentially stabbed someone, and put a hand to her face in endless shame. Her voice failed her as she tried to beg for one last final forgiveness.
"I'm so sorry, David! I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the world.."
Poor David just lay on his back in the grass, both him and a stupefied Teddy staring after Monica as she ran for the ditchbound vehicle, away from them.. forever.