Hi again! Thanks for the reviews, all! I'll keep writing if you keep
reviewing ^_^
This is the end of part one of the story....
The pelting rain had long since soaked her through. Delia pulled her arms tighter
around her, trying to stop the shivering.
Her mind spun madly. Where in the world would she go now that she'd escaped?
She had no money, food, or nothing. Images of herself begging from people like her
mother came into her mind, and quickly she shook it out.
"I will think of something," she promised herself quietly.
The park she'd discovered was several miles away from her house, and now she
sat on the bench, trying to sleep.
But the sleep would not come. Too many imagined pictures came to mind: Her
mother searching her out, and never ever letting her escape again.Aaron waiting and
waiting..and Professor Oak. She would never see him again.
A few more tears leaked out and joined the rain trickling down her cheeks, and
she buried her head on her hands.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Someone help me!" she shrieked,
tearing herself away from its grip and fleeing into the forest.
It's my father, I bet, she thought, terrified.
"Delia!!" he yelled. Wow, he even remembers my name, she thought. And the last
time I saw him was when I was three.
"It's me! Professor Oak!"
She stopped dead in her tracks and reversed her dash direction. "Professor!" she
screamed and halted in front of him.
"Delia? What in the world are you doing here?" She opened her mouth to explain,
but suddenly she was so tired, too tired to explain what had happened, too tired to defend
herself.
Instead she began to cry again. Professor Oak put his hand on her shoulder and
gently guided her to his car, where she sat in the passenger seat until the tears had
stopped.
"I don't know what you're doing here," he said briskly, "But I think I'd better
take you home."
Home was the last place she wanted to be. "No!" she screamed quickly, with
more ferocity that she's intended.
He glanced up quickly. "No?"
"I ran away......." she blurted out, her hands tightening on the fringe of the dress. "I
can't go back there, Professor. I don't know if you understand or not, but she was
controlling me. Treating me like I was three years old. I just can't live with that
anymore...and she won't let me live my own life."
"But Delia, what will I say when they ask me where you are? I can't lie and say I
haven't seen you!"
"Sure you could!" she chirped in spite of her tears. He just shook his head.
"Well, I think I'd better take you to my house, then. Then we can discuss what to
do about you there."
Delia felt a small nugget of hope at going to the professor's house. There, there
were dry clothes, nice people, and she knew she was always welcome.
The drive home was for the most part silent, save the platter of rain on the
windshield. The Professor didn't press for anymore information, partly because he didn't
want to invade on his young friend's privacy, partly because the road was so road was so
slippery.
"The roads are terrible tonight," muttered the professor. "there are gonna be so
many kids driving home in this..."
"I never learned to drive," spoke Delia suddenly. "My mother never saw the need,
because I wouldn't ever be going anywhere anyways. So I'm land bound."
"Somehow, seeing her in action, I'm not surprised," he said grimly. Professor Oak
glanced over at her, and they shared a tentative, shaky smile. Delia felt herself shivering
again-and not only from her soaked dress.
Mrs. Oak had stayed up late waiting for her husband to return. When she finally
heard the key jiggling in the lock, she ran to greet him, and was faced with another
person in the foyer.
"Delia! What are you doing here? Oh, look at you! You're soaked!"
She ran off the fetch a towel and Delia gratefully wrapped it around herself.
Professor Oak repeated Delia's story to his wife, and then the two adults glanced
at her in sympathy.
"I'm sorry, Delia," said Mrs. Oak. "I always felt sorry for you.after being
friends with your mother I've learned what a strict person she was, but I never imagined
this."
The room suddenly was illuminated with lightening, and Delia shrieked.
"I'm worried about all the kids that are driving tonight," said the professor. His
wife nodded.
"Hey, who's here?" asked another voice. A fifteen year old boy poked his head
into the room.
"Hi, David." Said Delia. He grinned and waved. "What are you doing here?" he
asked her.
"I ran away," she repeated.
"Way to go!" he yelled.
"Not so loud! June's asleep!" hissed Mrs. Oak. Professor Oak just rolled his eyes
while Delia smiled a tiny, timid smile.
"Good morning!" exclaimed Delia when Professor Oak stumbled downstairs on
Monday morning.
He rubbed his eyes. "Delia? What are you doing?"
"Making you coffee, Professor. Drink up!" She smiled and set it in front of him,
then joined him at the kitchen table.
While he drank his coffee, she stared at him. After they had invited her to stay the
entire weekend without a sign of her mother, last Friday night seemed like a past
nightmare. Now she was happy just to be with Professor Oak.
After they got to school and each went their separate ways, Delia nearly ran into
Ki on her way to her locker.
"Delia!" she shrieked, "I thought you ran away Friday night! You're back?"
She shook her head, then dropped her voice to an reserved whisper.
"Iwasstayingwithprofessoroak," she said in a rush.
Ki's eyes grew wide. "Delia, I've been meaning to ask you something about him."
"What?" Delia asked, her cheeks growing pink at the mention of his name.
"Do you still like him?"
She didn't need to answer; the shifting of her eyes and the intensifying blush gave
her away.
"I like his son. What a cutie."
"Whatever happened to Rich?"
"Bah to him," she said.
They were sitting in English when it happened. "Will Delia Ketchum please
report to Mr. Wang's office?"
She felt a shock wave rush over her, but she managed to stand up and stumble out
of the room with thirty pairs of eyes boring into her back.
Her mother was probably there, she thought. She'd come to collect her and force
her to come home.
She almost turned around and fled, but the second she came into earshot of the
office suddenly everyone grew silent.
Some of the secretaries smiled at her when she entered the office, but their eyes
held traces of sadness and sympathy.
"Mr. Wang's in there, Delia," said one of them, gesturing towards the door. When
Delia met her eyes to thank her, she glanced away.
Suddenly her legs grew watery. A terrible fate was waiting for her in this office,
she was sure of it.
"Delia. Hello, take a seat," said the vice principal without smiling. She managed
to find her way to something that remotely resembled a chair.
A silence stretched over the room as Mr. Wang appeared to be gathering himself
together. "Delia, something happened this Friday night when the roads were bad.
However, we weren't able to get a hold of you until today."
She tried to ask what had happened, but she found her vocal chords frozen.
"Your mother was crazy with worry over you that night," he continued, "She was
calling everywhere, the school, your friends' houses, in hopes that she would find you.
Finally she took matters into her own hands and started driving around town. There was
an accident."
Her heart was beating so crazily in her throat that she barely heard his last
statement.
"Your mother died."
A scream shrilled in her head, echoing and re-echoing until she thought she would
be sick. She clutched her stomach, which had suddenly gone hollow.
"What..?" she whispered. "She's....dead?"
He nodded gravely. "I'm sorry.."
And then she ran.
Whispers rustled softly all around her and people bustled around. She was acutely
aware of being physically there while her mind was dead somewhere else.
The veil she had on mostly masked her face, and she kept her eyes downcast. Just
a few hours ago the guilt had slammed her in the face, nearly giving her a bloody nose.
Mother. I killed you, she thought, the only conscious thought she'd had since
yesterday. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Someone was telling her to throw a rose into a hole in the ground. She had a rose
in her hand?
Holding up her hand, she saw a single black rose squeezed between a clenched
fist. The hand looked strangely unfamiliar.
Mechanically, she told the hand to move up and throw the rose. It landed in its
destination, and Delia let her hand drop. It, like her soul, felt numb.
Then some men covered the fresh hole up with dirt and she turned away and began
walking into the forest.
She didn't know where she was heading, just wandered around with trees
prickling her cheeks.
"Delia, come here." Said Professor Oak from behind her. Slowly, ever so slowly,
she turned around and saw him standing there, wearing a black suit. A black suit for her
mother's funeral. Her mother's funeral.
Suddenly all the emotion that she had been void of for the past two days rushed
in.
"NO!" she screamed in a voice that didn't sound like hers. "I killed her!
Professor, I killed her! It's all my fault!" she collapsed to the ground and began to sob
violently.
Professor Oak acted immediately. He rushed to the spot where she had fallen and began
to console her.
"Delia, you didn't kill her. Don't ever let me hear you say that. You didn't kill
her, you didn't." he said, rubbing his hand comfortingly up and down her back.
The only response was sobs wrenching straight from her broken, tortured soul, so
severe that he felt a pain in his own chest.
"I killed her, Professor. I killed her..." Her tears soaked through the shirt he
was wearing.
Well, um, I have nothing to say bout this chap. Just please review, chapter seven will be up very soon! X~Aurora chan
This is the end of part one of the story....
The pelting rain had long since soaked her through. Delia pulled her arms tighter
around her, trying to stop the shivering.
Her mind spun madly. Where in the world would she go now that she'd escaped?
She had no money, food, or nothing. Images of herself begging from people like her
mother came into her mind, and quickly she shook it out.
"I will think of something," she promised herself quietly.
The park she'd discovered was several miles away from her house, and now she
sat on the bench, trying to sleep.
But the sleep would not come. Too many imagined pictures came to mind: Her
mother searching her out, and never ever letting her escape again.Aaron waiting and
waiting..and Professor Oak. She would never see him again.
A few more tears leaked out and joined the rain trickling down her cheeks, and
she buried her head on her hands.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Someone help me!" she shrieked,
tearing herself away from its grip and fleeing into the forest.
It's my father, I bet, she thought, terrified.
"Delia!!" he yelled. Wow, he even remembers my name, she thought. And the last
time I saw him was when I was three.
"It's me! Professor Oak!"
She stopped dead in her tracks and reversed her dash direction. "Professor!" she
screamed and halted in front of him.
"Delia? What in the world are you doing here?" She opened her mouth to explain,
but suddenly she was so tired, too tired to explain what had happened, too tired to defend
herself.
Instead she began to cry again. Professor Oak put his hand on her shoulder and
gently guided her to his car, where she sat in the passenger seat until the tears had
stopped.
"I don't know what you're doing here," he said briskly, "But I think I'd better
take you home."
Home was the last place she wanted to be. "No!" she screamed quickly, with
more ferocity that she's intended.
He glanced up quickly. "No?"
"I ran away......." she blurted out, her hands tightening on the fringe of the dress. "I
can't go back there, Professor. I don't know if you understand or not, but she was
controlling me. Treating me like I was three years old. I just can't live with that
anymore...and she won't let me live my own life."
"But Delia, what will I say when they ask me where you are? I can't lie and say I
haven't seen you!"
"Sure you could!" she chirped in spite of her tears. He just shook his head.
"Well, I think I'd better take you to my house, then. Then we can discuss what to
do about you there."
Delia felt a small nugget of hope at going to the professor's house. There, there
were dry clothes, nice people, and she knew she was always welcome.
The drive home was for the most part silent, save the platter of rain on the
windshield. The Professor didn't press for anymore information, partly because he didn't
want to invade on his young friend's privacy, partly because the road was so road was so
slippery.
"The roads are terrible tonight," muttered the professor. "there are gonna be so
many kids driving home in this..."
"I never learned to drive," spoke Delia suddenly. "My mother never saw the need,
because I wouldn't ever be going anywhere anyways. So I'm land bound."
"Somehow, seeing her in action, I'm not surprised," he said grimly. Professor Oak
glanced over at her, and they shared a tentative, shaky smile. Delia felt herself shivering
again-and not only from her soaked dress.
Mrs. Oak had stayed up late waiting for her husband to return. When she finally
heard the key jiggling in the lock, she ran to greet him, and was faced with another
person in the foyer.
"Delia! What are you doing here? Oh, look at you! You're soaked!"
She ran off the fetch a towel and Delia gratefully wrapped it around herself.
Professor Oak repeated Delia's story to his wife, and then the two adults glanced
at her in sympathy.
"I'm sorry, Delia," said Mrs. Oak. "I always felt sorry for you.after being
friends with your mother I've learned what a strict person she was, but I never imagined
this."
The room suddenly was illuminated with lightening, and Delia shrieked.
"I'm worried about all the kids that are driving tonight," said the professor. His
wife nodded.
"Hey, who's here?" asked another voice. A fifteen year old boy poked his head
into the room.
"Hi, David." Said Delia. He grinned and waved. "What are you doing here?" he
asked her.
"I ran away," she repeated.
"Way to go!" he yelled.
"Not so loud! June's asleep!" hissed Mrs. Oak. Professor Oak just rolled his eyes
while Delia smiled a tiny, timid smile.
"Good morning!" exclaimed Delia when Professor Oak stumbled downstairs on
Monday morning.
He rubbed his eyes. "Delia? What are you doing?"
"Making you coffee, Professor. Drink up!" She smiled and set it in front of him,
then joined him at the kitchen table.
While he drank his coffee, she stared at him. After they had invited her to stay the
entire weekend without a sign of her mother, last Friday night seemed like a past
nightmare. Now she was happy just to be with Professor Oak.
After they got to school and each went their separate ways, Delia nearly ran into
Ki on her way to her locker.
"Delia!" she shrieked, "I thought you ran away Friday night! You're back?"
She shook her head, then dropped her voice to an reserved whisper.
"Iwasstayingwithprofessoroak," she said in a rush.
Ki's eyes grew wide. "Delia, I've been meaning to ask you something about him."
"What?" Delia asked, her cheeks growing pink at the mention of his name.
"Do you still like him?"
She didn't need to answer; the shifting of her eyes and the intensifying blush gave
her away.
"I like his son. What a cutie."
"Whatever happened to Rich?"
"Bah to him," she said.
They were sitting in English when it happened. "Will Delia Ketchum please
report to Mr. Wang's office?"
She felt a shock wave rush over her, but she managed to stand up and stumble out
of the room with thirty pairs of eyes boring into her back.
Her mother was probably there, she thought. She'd come to collect her and force
her to come home.
She almost turned around and fled, but the second she came into earshot of the
office suddenly everyone grew silent.
Some of the secretaries smiled at her when she entered the office, but their eyes
held traces of sadness and sympathy.
"Mr. Wang's in there, Delia," said one of them, gesturing towards the door. When
Delia met her eyes to thank her, she glanced away.
Suddenly her legs grew watery. A terrible fate was waiting for her in this office,
she was sure of it.
"Delia. Hello, take a seat," said the vice principal without smiling. She managed
to find her way to something that remotely resembled a chair.
A silence stretched over the room as Mr. Wang appeared to be gathering himself
together. "Delia, something happened this Friday night when the roads were bad.
However, we weren't able to get a hold of you until today."
She tried to ask what had happened, but she found her vocal chords frozen.
"Your mother was crazy with worry over you that night," he continued, "She was
calling everywhere, the school, your friends' houses, in hopes that she would find you.
Finally she took matters into her own hands and started driving around town. There was
an accident."
Her heart was beating so crazily in her throat that she barely heard his last
statement.
"Your mother died."
A scream shrilled in her head, echoing and re-echoing until she thought she would
be sick. She clutched her stomach, which had suddenly gone hollow.
"What..?" she whispered. "She's....dead?"
He nodded gravely. "I'm sorry.."
And then she ran.
Whispers rustled softly all around her and people bustled around. She was acutely
aware of being physically there while her mind was dead somewhere else.
The veil she had on mostly masked her face, and she kept her eyes downcast. Just
a few hours ago the guilt had slammed her in the face, nearly giving her a bloody nose.
Mother. I killed you, she thought, the only conscious thought she'd had since
yesterday. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Someone was telling her to throw a rose into a hole in the ground. She had a rose
in her hand?
Holding up her hand, she saw a single black rose squeezed between a clenched
fist. The hand looked strangely unfamiliar.
Mechanically, she told the hand to move up and throw the rose. It landed in its
destination, and Delia let her hand drop. It, like her soul, felt numb.
Then some men covered the fresh hole up with dirt and she turned away and began
walking into the forest.
She didn't know where she was heading, just wandered around with trees
prickling her cheeks.
"Delia, come here." Said Professor Oak from behind her. Slowly, ever so slowly,
she turned around and saw him standing there, wearing a black suit. A black suit for her
mother's funeral. Her mother's funeral.
Suddenly all the emotion that she had been void of for the past two days rushed
in.
"NO!" she screamed in a voice that didn't sound like hers. "I killed her!
Professor, I killed her! It's all my fault!" she collapsed to the ground and began to sob
violently.
Professor Oak acted immediately. He rushed to the spot where she had fallen and began
to console her.
"Delia, you didn't kill her. Don't ever let me hear you say that. You didn't kill
her, you didn't." he said, rubbing his hand comfortingly up and down her back.
The only response was sobs wrenching straight from her broken, tortured soul, so
severe that he felt a pain in his own chest.
"I killed her, Professor. I killed her..." Her tears soaked through the shirt he
was wearing.
Well, um, I have nothing to say bout this chap. Just please review, chapter seven will be up very soon! X~Aurora chan