Title: Strange Days (Part 6)
Author: ImhotepsGoddess
Summary: Micah and Danny awake one morning to find that all of the adults have died of a mysterious plague (not from the corn). Now that children are in charge of the world, what are the children of the corn's purpose? Add to that He Who's "daughter" and you have one very strange story!
Disclaimer: Well, we all know Stephen King owns the original story. Micah, Danny, etc. and COTC 2 are owned by Paramount, Delilah is owned by me, and Rachael is owned by...well...herself!
Part 6
Ruth was furious. She could not believe that Micah was kissing *that* girl. She didn't care *who* she thought she was. He should be with her and her alone. Perhaps Mordechai could help her with this problem. Unfortunately, he *hated* Micah and would probably think the solution to the problem would be killing him. And she would never let that happen.
Just then there was a knock on the door. Ruth ran to open it, hoping that it would be Micah, perhaps telling her how wrong he had been for pushing her aside. No, it was only Mordechai. "What do you want?" she snapped at him.
"Hey, just wondering how you were doing, considering that Micah *loves* Delilah," he said, a sneer on his face.
"What? He loves her?! How can that be possible?" she practically shouted, her eyes growing wide with disbelief.
Mordechai's smile grew wider and he leaned up against the doorframe. "Maybe you want to let me in and I can tell you about it?" he asked in his most innocent sounding voice.
Ruth hastily stepped aside in order to let Mordechai in. He walked directly into the den and flung himself onto the plaid couch. Ruth nervously sat next to him and began twisting a strand of frizzy blonde hair around her finger. Mordechai just sat there, smiling to himself and not even paying attention to her. Finally, after about a minute, Ruth couldn't take the silence anymore, "So??" she asked.
"Oh, well, here's the deal. I don't like Micah, but even more to the point I *want* Delilah. You don't like Delilah but you want," he saw Ruth's look, coughed, and continued, "...ok, love Micah, right?" he asked, waiting for her to answer. She simply nodded and so he continued.
"Well, I figure that we can separate them and in the meantime take them for ourselves. That way when you two reach the Age of Favor you can leave together and I can be the leader here with Delilah. What do you think?"
"That sounds like a *very* good idea to me. What do you suggest?" she asked, smiling for the first time in two days.
"I'm sure we can figure *something* out," he said, glad that he had chosen Ruth as the pawn in his new game.
-------------------------
Jedediah was sitting on the front step of the house that Micah, Danny, Delilah, and Rachael shared. Rachael. Just thinking about her made Jedediah blush. How he hated that. He was never any good with girls, just ask Micah or Mordechai that. No, wait, don't ask Mordechai. He would probably tell you the story about how he had met this girl, Stella, in junior high. She had been so pretty and so smart and he had tripped all over himself and flung his lunch tray (complete with pizza slice and open carton of milk on it) right onto the front of her new dress. On her *birthday*. Mordechai had never let him forget that day. Or a host of others just like it. Even if he practiced and practiced what to say it never seemed to come out right. Really, though, in the past two days that Rachael had been here she didn't appear to mind when he stumbled over his words or messed up what he wanted to say. But maybe she just tolerated him. He couldn't really tell. He sighed, and ran a hand through his curly brown hair. So deep was he in thought that he didn't notice when Rachael walked out of the house and sat down next to him. "Jedediah?" she said, and lightly pinched his arm.
"Ow! Oh, umm, hi Rachael," he said, wincing as a blush started to creep up his face.
"Hi Jedediah, what are you doing out here all alone?" she asked.
"Just thinking."
"Oh, 'bout what?"
"Things. Our problem with Mordechai. The way he's been sneaking around lately," he said, not really lying, just omitting the parts about her.
"Oh, yeah, what is wrong with him? Why hasn't Micah done anything?"
"Micah doesn't want to make the problem bigger than it is. The best way to fix it would be to discipline him and Micah's not sure that will work. Other than that, the only other options are exile and sacrifice. But Micah doesn't want to spill blood anymore unless absolutely necessary."
"Yeah, I don't think Mordechai would listen to discipline. He doesn't seem to listen to anything Micah has to say, at least from what I've seen," Rachael said cautiously. After all, she had only known these people for two days, how could she judge?
"No, he doesn't. He wants to be the leader and as much as I hate to say it, blood might have to be spilled. He's becoming like Malachai and Isaac didn't stop him before it was too late."
Rachael stared at him in surprise. Jedediah was the last person she'd expect to call for sacrifice. But every person had to have a breaking point, she guessed. "Who are Isaac and Malachai?" she asked.
"Isaac was the first leader. He started it all. Malachai was his most loyal follower, until he got too power-hungry and destroyed Gatlin. I'm just worried that Mordechai will end up doing the same thing to us here," he said, furrowing his brow in apprehension.
"Well, didn't Micah see that happen? You don't think he learned from Isaac's mistakes?"
"Hopefully he has. I just don't know," Jedediah said, putting his head in his hands.
"Of course he has, Jedediah. And if not he has a lot more friends than this Isaac person seemed to have. I have to go now. I promised Delilah I'd help her look after the little ones," Rachael said, lingering on the steps for a moment. As she was about to leave she leaned down and swiftly kissed Jedediah on the cheek, then hurried away.
Jedediah stared after her, speechless. He shook his head and stood up, stretching his legs. Realizing that he had to be in the field in ten minutes, he took off in a light jog.
--------------------------
Mordechai stood watching Delilah in the distance. She was holding a little boy named Ethan in her arms and Jedediah's sister Naomi was holding onto her skirt. They were walking towards the little house were the youngest children stayed during the day. Apparently today was Delilah's day to watch them. He was always amazed by everything she did. She was the Seer, daughter to the Father, and yet she took her share of chores, never complaining. He caught sight of a girl who was walking slightly behind her and sneered. It was Rachael. That girl shouldn't be here. She was an outlander, and once he took his rightful place as leader she would be the first to be sacrificed. He hated the way she was becoming so friendly with Delilah, that would make it so much harder to get rid of her when the time came. The two girls were laughing about something and before he knew it had disappeared into the house. He hated it when that happened!! He smiled when he thought of the future. "Soon, Delilah, soon," he thought.
----------------------------
"You did? Maybe now he'll make a move," said Delilah, giggled over what Rachael had just told her. She couldn't believe that her friend had kissed Jedediah. Even if it was only on the cheek. She would've loved to have seen Jed's face after that.
"Yeah, I did. Maybe I shouldn't have?" Rachael asked, suddenly worried.
"Oh, no, you did the right thing," assured Delilah, shifting Ethan from one hip to the other as they walked to the house, "I think Jed sometimes just needs a push in the right direction."
"Did Micah?"
"Ummm...a little. Not as much as Jedediah would, though. Trust me, what you did was of the good."
"Ok, thanks Delilah. I just needed a little reassurance, I guess."
Rachael held open the door for Delilah, and the two girls, plus two kids, walked into the chaos that was the babies and young children house.
------------------------
"So she kissed you. On the cheek. I think you're going to have to make the next move, Jedediah," said Danny, wiping the sweat from his brow haphazardly with an old rag.
"Are you sure? What if it was just a friendly kiss, not meant to mean anything?"
"Trust me, Jed, she likes you. I'm sure of it.
Jedediah thought about this for a minute. He would just have to put away his doubts and do what he thought was right. Hopefully he wasn't just imagining things.
"Umm, Jedediah? Are you going to be covering those seeds anytime soon? I'd like to be done here before dinner," Danny said, gesturing to the row of seeds that remained uncovered.
"Yeah, sorry Danny. Where's Micah?" asked Jedediah, quickly shifting the soil onto the seeds and patting it down.
"At the church, I think. Praying for an answer to "the Problem" and just generally brooding."
"I hope he figures out an answer soon. Mordechai is planning something, I just have this feeling," Jedediah said, casting a worried glance in the church's direction.
------------------------
At the church Micah kneeled in one of the pews, his eyes closed in deep prayer. He had been there for over an hour, hoping that He Who Walks Behind the Rows would show him what to do. So far, nothing, and Micah feared he knew why. If he was right, then the Lord had only one answer for him and that was sacrifice. Get rid of Mordechai in perhaps the simplest way. In another way it was also the most complicated. He could just see the repercussions now. Would the rest of the children start to fear or hate him? Would they become afraid to speak up, because they thought that was all Mordechai had done? And yet, if he waited, Mordechai might do something incredibly stupid and ruin it all. He acutely remembered what had happened with Malachai, who turned out to be the ultimate betrayer, and Isaac. He did not want to end up like Isaac. So if Mordechai's blood needed to spill, then it would. But still, he prayed.
Ruth wandered into the church and saw Micah immediately. She smiled widely. This would be her chance to tell him how she felt without *Delilah* standing right there. She walked confidently up the aisle and slid into the pew next to him, oblivious to the fact that he was deep he prayer. "Micah," she whispered and nudged him a little.
Micah was startled out of his reverie and looked at Ruth, growing annoyed. "Ruth, what do you want?" he snapped.
"I...I just wanted to talk to you alone, Micah," she said quietly.
"About?" Micah asked impatiently.
"Well, us."
"What *us*, Ruth?" he asked, thoroughly confused.
"That's just it, Micah, there should be an *us* but there isn't."
"Ruth, there is no us and there will never be an us. You know that. I'm with Delilah. You should find someone else," he added as gently as possible.
"I won't accept that Micah! I can't! We need to be together. We *should* be together," she said inching closer to Micah so that her face was very close to his.
"Ruth, we will never be together. If you cannot accept that then you must leave here and not return," he said firmly, sliding out of the pew and heading towards the doors.
"Wait! Micah! Don't leave! I *love* you!" Ruth cried desperately, her voice echoing through the church.
Micah kept going, pulling open one of the doors and walking silently away from the church.
"MICAH!!" Ruth screamed, tears running down her cheeks. This could not be happening to her. He could not have done just dismissed her so. She would have her revenge. She must.
Walking slowly out of the church, Ruth tossed aside her involvement with Mordechai's plan and began one of her own.
Author: ImhotepsGoddess
Summary: Micah and Danny awake one morning to find that all of the adults have died of a mysterious plague (not from the corn). Now that children are in charge of the world, what are the children of the corn's purpose? Add to that He Who's "daughter" and you have one very strange story!
Disclaimer: Well, we all know Stephen King owns the original story. Micah, Danny, etc. and COTC 2 are owned by Paramount, Delilah is owned by me, and Rachael is owned by...well...herself!
Part 6
Ruth was furious. She could not believe that Micah was kissing *that* girl. She didn't care *who* she thought she was. He should be with her and her alone. Perhaps Mordechai could help her with this problem. Unfortunately, he *hated* Micah and would probably think the solution to the problem would be killing him. And she would never let that happen.
Just then there was a knock on the door. Ruth ran to open it, hoping that it would be Micah, perhaps telling her how wrong he had been for pushing her aside. No, it was only Mordechai. "What do you want?" she snapped at him.
"Hey, just wondering how you were doing, considering that Micah *loves* Delilah," he said, a sneer on his face.
"What? He loves her?! How can that be possible?" she practically shouted, her eyes growing wide with disbelief.
Mordechai's smile grew wider and he leaned up against the doorframe. "Maybe you want to let me in and I can tell you about it?" he asked in his most innocent sounding voice.
Ruth hastily stepped aside in order to let Mordechai in. He walked directly into the den and flung himself onto the plaid couch. Ruth nervously sat next to him and began twisting a strand of frizzy blonde hair around her finger. Mordechai just sat there, smiling to himself and not even paying attention to her. Finally, after about a minute, Ruth couldn't take the silence anymore, "So??" she asked.
"Oh, well, here's the deal. I don't like Micah, but even more to the point I *want* Delilah. You don't like Delilah but you want," he saw Ruth's look, coughed, and continued, "...ok, love Micah, right?" he asked, waiting for her to answer. She simply nodded and so he continued.
"Well, I figure that we can separate them and in the meantime take them for ourselves. That way when you two reach the Age of Favor you can leave together and I can be the leader here with Delilah. What do you think?"
"That sounds like a *very* good idea to me. What do you suggest?" she asked, smiling for the first time in two days.
"I'm sure we can figure *something* out," he said, glad that he had chosen Ruth as the pawn in his new game.
-------------------------
Jedediah was sitting on the front step of the house that Micah, Danny, Delilah, and Rachael shared. Rachael. Just thinking about her made Jedediah blush. How he hated that. He was never any good with girls, just ask Micah or Mordechai that. No, wait, don't ask Mordechai. He would probably tell you the story about how he had met this girl, Stella, in junior high. She had been so pretty and so smart and he had tripped all over himself and flung his lunch tray (complete with pizza slice and open carton of milk on it) right onto the front of her new dress. On her *birthday*. Mordechai had never let him forget that day. Or a host of others just like it. Even if he practiced and practiced what to say it never seemed to come out right. Really, though, in the past two days that Rachael had been here she didn't appear to mind when he stumbled over his words or messed up what he wanted to say. But maybe she just tolerated him. He couldn't really tell. He sighed, and ran a hand through his curly brown hair. So deep was he in thought that he didn't notice when Rachael walked out of the house and sat down next to him. "Jedediah?" she said, and lightly pinched his arm.
"Ow! Oh, umm, hi Rachael," he said, wincing as a blush started to creep up his face.
"Hi Jedediah, what are you doing out here all alone?" she asked.
"Just thinking."
"Oh, 'bout what?"
"Things. Our problem with Mordechai. The way he's been sneaking around lately," he said, not really lying, just omitting the parts about her.
"Oh, yeah, what is wrong with him? Why hasn't Micah done anything?"
"Micah doesn't want to make the problem bigger than it is. The best way to fix it would be to discipline him and Micah's not sure that will work. Other than that, the only other options are exile and sacrifice. But Micah doesn't want to spill blood anymore unless absolutely necessary."
"Yeah, I don't think Mordechai would listen to discipline. He doesn't seem to listen to anything Micah has to say, at least from what I've seen," Rachael said cautiously. After all, she had only known these people for two days, how could she judge?
"No, he doesn't. He wants to be the leader and as much as I hate to say it, blood might have to be spilled. He's becoming like Malachai and Isaac didn't stop him before it was too late."
Rachael stared at him in surprise. Jedediah was the last person she'd expect to call for sacrifice. But every person had to have a breaking point, she guessed. "Who are Isaac and Malachai?" she asked.
"Isaac was the first leader. He started it all. Malachai was his most loyal follower, until he got too power-hungry and destroyed Gatlin. I'm just worried that Mordechai will end up doing the same thing to us here," he said, furrowing his brow in apprehension.
"Well, didn't Micah see that happen? You don't think he learned from Isaac's mistakes?"
"Hopefully he has. I just don't know," Jedediah said, putting his head in his hands.
"Of course he has, Jedediah. And if not he has a lot more friends than this Isaac person seemed to have. I have to go now. I promised Delilah I'd help her look after the little ones," Rachael said, lingering on the steps for a moment. As she was about to leave she leaned down and swiftly kissed Jedediah on the cheek, then hurried away.
Jedediah stared after her, speechless. He shook his head and stood up, stretching his legs. Realizing that he had to be in the field in ten minutes, he took off in a light jog.
--------------------------
Mordechai stood watching Delilah in the distance. She was holding a little boy named Ethan in her arms and Jedediah's sister Naomi was holding onto her skirt. They were walking towards the little house were the youngest children stayed during the day. Apparently today was Delilah's day to watch them. He was always amazed by everything she did. She was the Seer, daughter to the Father, and yet she took her share of chores, never complaining. He caught sight of a girl who was walking slightly behind her and sneered. It was Rachael. That girl shouldn't be here. She was an outlander, and once he took his rightful place as leader she would be the first to be sacrificed. He hated the way she was becoming so friendly with Delilah, that would make it so much harder to get rid of her when the time came. The two girls were laughing about something and before he knew it had disappeared into the house. He hated it when that happened!! He smiled when he thought of the future. "Soon, Delilah, soon," he thought.
----------------------------
"You did? Maybe now he'll make a move," said Delilah, giggled over what Rachael had just told her. She couldn't believe that her friend had kissed Jedediah. Even if it was only on the cheek. She would've loved to have seen Jed's face after that.
"Yeah, I did. Maybe I shouldn't have?" Rachael asked, suddenly worried.
"Oh, no, you did the right thing," assured Delilah, shifting Ethan from one hip to the other as they walked to the house, "I think Jed sometimes just needs a push in the right direction."
"Did Micah?"
"Ummm...a little. Not as much as Jedediah would, though. Trust me, what you did was of the good."
"Ok, thanks Delilah. I just needed a little reassurance, I guess."
Rachael held open the door for Delilah, and the two girls, plus two kids, walked into the chaos that was the babies and young children house.
------------------------
"So she kissed you. On the cheek. I think you're going to have to make the next move, Jedediah," said Danny, wiping the sweat from his brow haphazardly with an old rag.
"Are you sure? What if it was just a friendly kiss, not meant to mean anything?"
"Trust me, Jed, she likes you. I'm sure of it.
Jedediah thought about this for a minute. He would just have to put away his doubts and do what he thought was right. Hopefully he wasn't just imagining things.
"Umm, Jedediah? Are you going to be covering those seeds anytime soon? I'd like to be done here before dinner," Danny said, gesturing to the row of seeds that remained uncovered.
"Yeah, sorry Danny. Where's Micah?" asked Jedediah, quickly shifting the soil onto the seeds and patting it down.
"At the church, I think. Praying for an answer to "the Problem" and just generally brooding."
"I hope he figures out an answer soon. Mordechai is planning something, I just have this feeling," Jedediah said, casting a worried glance in the church's direction.
------------------------
At the church Micah kneeled in one of the pews, his eyes closed in deep prayer. He had been there for over an hour, hoping that He Who Walks Behind the Rows would show him what to do. So far, nothing, and Micah feared he knew why. If he was right, then the Lord had only one answer for him and that was sacrifice. Get rid of Mordechai in perhaps the simplest way. In another way it was also the most complicated. He could just see the repercussions now. Would the rest of the children start to fear or hate him? Would they become afraid to speak up, because they thought that was all Mordechai had done? And yet, if he waited, Mordechai might do something incredibly stupid and ruin it all. He acutely remembered what had happened with Malachai, who turned out to be the ultimate betrayer, and Isaac. He did not want to end up like Isaac. So if Mordechai's blood needed to spill, then it would. But still, he prayed.
Ruth wandered into the church and saw Micah immediately. She smiled widely. This would be her chance to tell him how she felt without *Delilah* standing right there. She walked confidently up the aisle and slid into the pew next to him, oblivious to the fact that he was deep he prayer. "Micah," she whispered and nudged him a little.
Micah was startled out of his reverie and looked at Ruth, growing annoyed. "Ruth, what do you want?" he snapped.
"I...I just wanted to talk to you alone, Micah," she said quietly.
"About?" Micah asked impatiently.
"Well, us."
"What *us*, Ruth?" he asked, thoroughly confused.
"That's just it, Micah, there should be an *us* but there isn't."
"Ruth, there is no us and there will never be an us. You know that. I'm with Delilah. You should find someone else," he added as gently as possible.
"I won't accept that Micah! I can't! We need to be together. We *should* be together," she said inching closer to Micah so that her face was very close to his.
"Ruth, we will never be together. If you cannot accept that then you must leave here and not return," he said firmly, sliding out of the pew and heading towards the doors.
"Wait! Micah! Don't leave! I *love* you!" Ruth cried desperately, her voice echoing through the church.
Micah kept going, pulling open one of the doors and walking silently away from the church.
"MICAH!!" Ruth screamed, tears running down her cheeks. This could not be happening to her. He could not have done just dismissed her so. She would have her revenge. She must.
Walking slowly out of the church, Ruth tossed aside her involvement with Mordechai's plan and began one of her own.