Micah's Story Chapter 9: The Way Things Were

**Disclaimer** No, Micah isn't mine, but ummm I'm still hoping and praying, oh, I just noticed that today is MY day, and I'm happy about that. Any, like before, Nothing except Middleburg and it's residents are mine, so I guess I'll leave it at that.


As the weeks went by, I got more friendly with all of the kids except, of course, Dave. He kept trying to make Marie forget about me, and even though she did keep her promise to spend a say with me and me alone, I kept seeing less and less of her. That fact disappointed and saddened me, but I was getting over it. After about three weeks, we (the Morgans, Danny, Lacey, John, and I) were sitting at the table, when Danny stood up.
"I have an announcement to make." No one knew where this was coming from, so we all sat there and waited for him to continue. "Lacey and I have known each other for about four weeks now, and due to an unfortunate accident, I almost lost her." He looked at me and smiled. "From this accident, I realized that I loved her. I lover her as much as words can say, and terrible as this accident was, it made me realize, well find, two things. One, that I care fro her very much, and two, that a little 'brother' type person can be fun to be around as long as he isn't an um, monster. So, right now, under God's eyes, I want to ask a question." Turning toward Lacey, he got down on one knee. "I love you. Will you marry me?"
Stunned. Shocked. Amazed. Surprised. All of those describe Lacey's face when Danny asked her to marry him. Of course she said yes, and the rest of dinner was dedicated to making plans for the wedding, but I wasn't in the mood. After dinner, they all went out to begin shopping, but I didn't feel like going anywhere, and I didn't know why. As I sat there, on the couch, in front of the t.v., I realized why I was upset. I felt left out. these people were all related, and Lacey was soon to be, but I wasn't. I even looked different.
I guess in a way, this was my fault. If I would have pleased He Who Walks Behind the Rows, and made Lacey's sacrifice, we wouldn't be in this situation. I would be in a mental institute somewhere for the rest of my life. in ways, that sounded better then where I was now. I fell asleep on the couch, and dreamed that I was back in the cornfields.
It was the night of the ultimate sacrifice, and Lacey was tied to the bed of stalks. She twisted and spat at me, trying to get away. "You little sinner. He Who Walks Behind the Rows will make you pay for what you have done. you and your foul mouth have defiled the corn, and you will pay. Wait, and get what is coming to you." Then, I walked over to her and used the scythe that I had in my hand to cut her wrists. "lets see if Danny-boy can save you from that, whore," the cuts were not deep, but they were bleeding freely, and I knew that she had maybe an hour to live. "Bye Lacey," i said ten minutes later. "I have to go get Danny now." I walked very slowly away, and knew that it would take me twenty minutes to get back to Angela's house. If I played my cards right, she would be slipping away just as I returned with Danny.
Danny and I walked back to the field a little bit early. I had met him halfway back to the house, and we had walked back to the cornfield, with me trying to stall, but not being very successful. it had been about 45 minutes when we returned, and all of the children were gathered. The fires were lit, and I could see the burning church. It was dark, and Danny and I proceeded to the stalk beds. they were uncovered, and Danny paled a little bit. "Lacey?" she whimpered like a scared dog, because she didn't have the strength to talk. There were pools of blood around the and dripping slowly down her body. He walked over to her, and turned to us.
"How did this happen," he asked angrily "what did you do to her?" Mordechai spoke up, because he knew that MY name, like He Who Walks Behind the Row's name must not be defiled. He told Danny that Lacey planned to sacrifice him later that night, that it was all going to be a trick. A flash of anger crossed Danny's face as he lunged at Lacey, grabbing my knife. Her eyes widened in fear, and her body shuddered as the knife pierced her skin. she spoke once more.
"Danny. I loved you. Why?" Her eyes closed a final time, and Danny realized what he had done. before anyone could move, Danny had removed the sword from Lacey's body, and handed it back to me.
"The law says that all the outlanders must be sacrificed, right? Well, I take back my vow. I am not one with you, and I never wanted to be." Danny said with tears in his eyes. "She never wanted to kill me. you just said that so I would sacrifice her. Kill me now. my blood was for the corn,"
Looking around, everyone nodded, and as I stepped foreword raising the sword above my head I said "Thank you Danny, you have served your purpose. For your willingness to be sacrificed, it will be a quick and painless." I brought the sword down with all of my strength, and He Who Walks Behind the Row's strength as well, and Danny was almost literally sliced in half, dropping to the ground, we let him bleed for a while, before I gave the order to move his and Lacey's bodies into the fire and burn them. That being done, all of us walked back to town to begin our new reign of peace.
I heard a voice telling me to wake up, and opened my eyes into Lacey's face. "No." I said. "You're dead. You aren't real." She looked at me puzzled. I realized what I had said, and ran out of the house. "ill be right outside, but I want to be alone. Please?" I yelled in her direction. she didn't follow me, so I figured that she had heard and understood me.
I ran to the first place that i thought of. there was tree house that Robbie and his dad built when he was younger. It was pretty far back in the yard, and I figured that no one else knew about it. I climbed up the stairs that were nailed to the tree, and was deep in thought about my dream, when i heard what sounded like someone crying. I looked at my watch, it was nearly midnight. who else could, would be here this late. i figured that everyone else would be asleep, but i guess I was wrong.
reaching the last step, I climbed into the tree house where the crying person was balled up in the corner. at first i couldn't tell who it was, but after a few minutes I realized that it was Marie, and she looked mad and sad at the same time. I had to find out what was wrong with her, because that's what a good friend would do. "Marie," I said softly. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" At first she didn't hear me, so I repeated the question. This time she heard me. Standing up, she turned around and looked at me.
"Micah, what are you doing here? Oh wait, this is your property. I'm sorry, Brittany told me that I could come here whenever I wanted. and ... right now I need to be here. And I need to be alone. Wait, you look like you need someone to talk to." I was beginning to regret coming up here. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with someone else's problems as well as mine.
"Well Marie, maybe we can help each other," I said offering her a small smile.