Chapter 11- Danger and hurt

May's POV

I had pretended to be asleep until I was sure that the rest of my roommates were fast asleep. I got up and pulled the black rose out of my bag. I had to get rid of it now. I didn't want anyone to worry. They all thought that the threats were gone and I really didn't want them to worry about me. I limped outside, wondering how far away I would have to go. I stopped for a moment, hearing something behind me. I turned quickly; nothing. Calm down May, I told myself, you're overreacting. I continued on. Suddenly I knew I wasn't imagining things. There were footsteps behind me. I walked faster. The person followed me. I ran now, in my panic completely ignoring the pain that was shooting up my leg from my ankle. Why didn't I tell someone? The park was up ahead, surely there'd be someone there tonight. A romantic couple or something. I could hear them catching up. Suddenly I was tackled to the ground. A scream escaped my lips. The person smacked my head against the ground roughly.

"Shut up will you," it growled, "you don't want to call anyone here. If they come, I'll kill them too." I clamped my mouth shut and rolled out of their grip. I swung my leg out and tried to kick them away. I hit my target, but it hurt me more than I thought. I cried out in pain, before hands were clamped over my mouth.

"You don't want to do that princess," it hissed. He rolled back his hood and I gasped. I knew who it was and it hurt me deep inside. In the dim light I could make out his red hair and dark blue eyes. Craig.

"Bet you're wondering what I'm doing?" he smirked. I nodded.

"I'm going to kill you," he growled, punching me in the face, "slowly and painfully." Tears stung my eyes as my cheek throbbed from the blow.

"Why?" I cried. I pressed the record button on my Pokégear. If he was trying to get away with it, the others would need evidence.

"You're so stupid," he spat in my face, "you think you got it so lucky. You're winning the Grand Festival; you have great friends and Pokémon. You think you're so pretty because you have Drew. My sister is hurt. She's so in love with Drew that she's gone into depression over him. She thinks she's lost him for good because of you." He threw more punches at my face. I could feel myself bruising.

"Well, you're not," he hissed again, "you're ugly. You make me want to vomit just looking at you. I hate you." He picked me up off the ground by my hair.

"But you were a fan of me," I spluttered, gritting my teeth against the hurt I felt, "you said I was amazing. What about all the compliments?"

"You're so naïve," he yelled, throwing me to the ground, "I only said that so I could get close to you. It was easier to figure out where you would be, when I could strike if I could be near you. You believed every word I said." He kicked my side. I curled into a ball.

"It was so hard to get my chance. I tried several times, but someone always had to save you, mostly Drew," he snarled, "Now that you've been stupid enough to come out by yourself, I took my chance. Now I'm going to get rid of you for good."

"What will that gain you," I said boldly, "What will it change? Drew will never love your sister."

"I know that idiot," he snapped, "but having Drew single gives her hope. Even if it means that I have to kill every girl Drew takes a fancy in, I'll make sure he stays single for the rest of his life."

"Drew doesn't fancy me," I insisted.

"Please, stop being so dumb," he growled, slapping my face again, "I've seen the way he looks at you. I saw him with the whole 'jealous boyfriend' thing. That wasn't acting honey, he was really jealous." My heart jumped at this, despite everything, before I crushed it. This guy was crazy. It wasn't true; he was just making things up. I didn't bother to correct him again, he wouldn't listen. Unless someone came to find me, I was doomed to die.

He smacked my head against the ground again and pushed my face. This had been going on for a while and I honestly had no idea how much longer I could hold on. I tasted the metallic flavour of blood in my mouth. I would need something else. I needed to stall. Maybe someone would come, but I was losing hope fast.

"You'll get caught," I said, "Drew will come for me."

"Your boyfriend isn't coming," he snarled, twisting my arm behind my back until I heard a sickening crack and felt sharp pain, "you came out here by yourself without telling anyone where you were going. You didn't even leave a note you stupid girl. As for being caught, I'll be long gone before they find you. I'll have won the Grand Festival and disappeared. I'll even leave your boyfriend a little note from me." He stopped and ripped out a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled something on it and signed his name. I didn't tell him how stupid that was. He tied it with a piece of string around the black rose I had dropped.

"How ironic that the very present he gives you, hoping you'll fall for his charms is the exact thing he's going to find with your dead body," he mocked. He kicked my chest and I felt something break. Ribs probably, but it felt like my heart. Hot sticky blood dripped down my face as I was thrown to the ground. I couldn't hold on for much longer.

"Someone help me!" I cried in one last desperate attempt to stay alive.

Drew's POV

I woke with a start. Something didn't feel right. May. It was the first thing that went through my head. I looked in her direction. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized with horror that she wasn't there. I jumped up. I looked around and quickly grabbed a torch before running out. I had a really bad feeling about this. Something was horribly wrong. I switched it on and ran outside. I realized it was raining. I gritted my teeth and ran through the cold water.

"May!" I called, "where are you May!" I didn't know where to head. I was soaked through already. Think Drew, I told myself, if I were May, where would I go on a late night walk? Last time we had walked together late at night we went to the park. The Park! There was one a couple of blocks away. I ran in that direction, calling her name as loud as I could. I turned into the park. This was stupid, how was I supposed to even know if she was in trouble? She could have just gone to the bathroom. No, that terrible feeling was still there. I flashed the torch around the park, realizing I was almost halfway along already. Then I saw her. She was lying in the middle of the path, on her back with her eyes closed. Oh. My. Gosh. No. I ran to her and knelt down beside her. She was soaked with both water and blood. Her face was pale and covered in bruises and cuts. Her body had been laid out flat, but I could see that she had several broken bones. Her arms had neatly been placed on top of one another. She had a black rose enclosed in her hands. Oh. Mew. Please. No. She wasn't moving.

"May," I called softly, feeling tears mix with the rain on my face, "May you have to be alive, you just have to." I brushed her matted, blood-drenched hair out of her face. As my fingers brushed past her lips, I felt her light warm breath. I paused and held my fingers above her mouth. Yes, I hadn't imagined it. She was breathing, but barely. I put two fingers to her neck. There was a weak pulse. I had to get help, but I didn't want to leave her. The attacker might come back. I lifted her broken body carefully in my arms, placing one arms under her knees and the other supporting her back. I ran. As smoothly as I could until I came back into our room. She was shivering horribly. I tucked her into my bed and threw on the extra quilt from her bed.

"Brock," I yelled, roughly pushing the older boy awake, "May's hurt and I need help." He jumped up with a start, so did Ash and Max.

"May's hurt!" he exclaimed, "where? How bad?" I pointed to her.

"Close to death," I mumbled.

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" he asked, already fetching his first aid kit.

"I didn't have time," I growled, "The hospital is too far away. I need you to do something. Keep her alive." He'd already bent down by her. Max had started crying, Ash comforting the younger boy. I turned on the light.

"She needs to change," Brock said, "The wet clothes aren't helping her."

"What!" I exclaimed. I noticed he'd gone extremely red.

"Only we're all guys in here…" he trailed off.

"I'll fetch Solidad," I muttered, running down the hallway. I knocked harshly on the door.

"Solidad!" I called. The door opened and Solidad's sleepy form stood at the door.

"Drew, you better have a good reason for waking me up or I'll-" she started to growl.

"It's May, we need your help," I cut her off. She was instantly awakened.

"What's wrong," she asked, already making her way back.

Soon May was in warm, dry clothes, courtesy to Solidad. In the racket, Harley he woken up and he joined us as Brock tended to the girl. Max was beside her, holding her pale hand in his small ones. I paced he room. I wanted to be by her side too, but I had no right.

"Drew, you look terrible," said Solidad, eyeing me, "go get yourself fixed up." I looked down and realised she was right. I was soaking wet, muddy and was covered in May's blood. I went into the bathroom and changed my clothes, drying myself off.

"May needs the hospital," Brock said when I came back out, "she's got injuries that are beyond my skills. I can keep her alive, but she'll need the hospital to have any chance of recovery." He looked at me and I nodded. I took out my Pokégear and walked into the other room; calling the hospital, describing as much as I could before hanging up.

"Drew!" Solidad called me, "May needs you!" I ran back as fast as I could and knelt by her. She had her eyes opened a slither and I could see the pain in her blue eyes. She was trying to move under the covers, but they were too heavy. I stripped them back to see her still clutching the black rose. She moved her arm slightly and it slid limply from her body towards me. She winced in pain at the effort and I felt my heart go out to her. Her fingers lightly brushed her Pokégear.

"Drew," she whispered, her voice sounding hoarse and pain filled, "I'm sorry." Her eyelids closed again and she was limp again.

"Oh no May," I hissed, "don't you dare die on me." I took the rose and her Pokégear and covered her back up. I leaned up by her face and was comforted that I could feel her faint breath on my cheeks.

"Aww," sniffed Solidad, "that's so sad." She started to cry again. Harley turned to comfort her. Max and Ash turned for a minute and Brock pretended to be interested in his medical kit. I planted a quick kiss on her cold cheek.

"You'll be ok," I whispered in her ear gently, though I thought it was more for me than anyone else.

I got in the ambulance with her when they finally came. Ash had decided that I be the one to go. Max wasn't strong enough to see his sister like this. Ash and Brock stayed behind to look after him and Harley was looking after Solidad, who was an emotional wreck. Out of everyone, it seemed I was the strongest one to be with her, but my heart was slowly being torn in two as I watched the paramedics work on her, attaching all sort of tubes and wires to her body to keep her alive. As soon as they arrived, they'd taken her behind closed doors. I was left to pace again in the waiting room. I sighed and sat down on the chair. I'd just noticed that I still had her stuff in my hands. I realized that there was a note attached to the rose, tied with a piece of string. It must have been protected by May's hands because it was still dry. I picked it up and flipped it over.

Dear Drew,

I shivered. Someone had intended me to read this. I gulped and continued to read the messily scrawled writing.

I suppose by now you've found your precious May. I did this to her and I'm not ashamed. I'll bet you want to know why. You. Yes, I killed her because she's your girlfriend. That was my reason. You despicable human. Don't you realize what you've done. My sister hit depression when May entered the picture. She even attempted suicide she was so depressed. When you're single it gives her hope. I promise by the time you read this, May's long gone. I'm warning you now, if you ever get another girl, the same thing will happen to her. How would you feel with another innocent girl's death on your hands?

From Craig

Reading it made me shiver. That freak! I opened her Pokégear. I looked to see that it was recording still. I stopped it, surprised. I put it back to the start. My fingers hovered above the play button before I hit it. The first thing that came out was Craig's harsh voice telling her she was stupid. He insulted her and I could hear her screams and the sound of slapping and other similar cracking noises. I paused it. Was I strong enough to listen to this? Was I strong enough to listen to May, the one I cared about most, get brutally beaten. May had recorded this, I realized, not to make me suffer, but so I had evidence. Even when she was getting beaten to death, she was smart; thinking of others. I made up my mind and hit the play button again. She was talking, sounding close to crying; asking why? She screamed again and I winced. She gained enough courage to boldly challenge him. He explained exactly what he had written to me. Drew doesn't fancy me she had insisted. I felt heartbroken. She was so wrong. I more than just fancied her. Another slapping sound. You'll get caught, she had challenged again, Drew will come for me. The words echoed in my head until I heard a snap of her bones breaking again. Your boyfriend isn't coming. He had said. I didn't know. By now, tears were freely pouring down my face again. He was repeating the stuff that he had written now. Another crunching sound and I winced. Someone help me she had screamed. There was one last thud. Footsteps faded away and there was silence, only the rain. That must have been when he thought she was dead.

I don't know how long I sat in silence. Then there was sound again from the Pokégear. The sound of frantic footsteps and my own gravelly voice shouting her name. I paused. I didn't need to hear the rest. I knew the rest. It must have been ages that I sat in more silence, clutching the rose and the Pokégear tightly. Finally the doors opened and the doctor came in.

"You here for May Maple?" he asked me.

"Yes," I said, "I'm her friend." I choked out the last word, wondering if that was what we were now; friends. Just friends; nothing more despite how much I wanted it to be.

"She's stable," he sighed, taking his gloves off and throwing them in the nearest bin, "we've done all we could to help her."

"What's the problem?" I questioned, knowing by his tone of voice that everything wasn't as simple as it seemed.

"She's in a coma," he admitted, "we don't know if she'll ever wake up again."

"No," I whispered quietly, so no-one could hear. How was I supposed to tell this to little Max? How was I supposed to ever hear her laugh again? What was I going do? I hung my head. When could I ever say those three special words?

"You can go see her," he said, gesturing to the door to the right, "IC room 236." I winced sightly. IC in a hospital meant intense care. That sounded horrific. I nodded and quickly made my way down the hall. I pushed open the door and looked at her. Tubes and wires were everywhere. Her body was wrapped in several casts. Band aids and bandages covered almost every part of bare skin. Only her face and hands were left somewhat uncovered. The constant beeping of the machine measuring her heart beat filled the small room. I gulped and sat on the chair by her bed. I put her cold hand to my face gently and kissed it softly.

"May," I whispered, "look I'm here. I did come for you. I do care for you, more than you can imagine." She stayed still, not moving at all, the only thing showing she was alive was the steady rise of her chest.

"I'm sorry," I croaked, my voice having given up on me, "I'm sorry May, so, so sorry. May you won't believe how sorry I am. It's my entire fault. I'm sorry." I rested my head in her hair, breathing in deeply. It didn't smell like her usual scent of roses. It smelt like a heavily chemical based shampoo. They had cleaned her and dressed her freshly.

"I promise I'll come back tomorrow," I whispered, thinking I'd better get some sleep, "I'm going to have to tell your brother. He'll be so upset. He cares a lot." She moaned as if she had heard me after all. I smiled weakly as I shut the door.

I blinked sleepily into the mirror. I had gotten up early to see if the competition could be delayed another day. I had dark circles under my eyes. When I had gotten back, I found that everyone was already sleeping. I had crawled into May's bed, not wanting to sleep in my bed where she had lain half dead. Two hours later my alarm went off. I sighed. I looked terrible. I walked into the stadium and asked to talk to Lillian. I had told her most of it. She had said that my match was tomorrow anyway and that she couldn't move it. She said if I still wanted to participate, she would explain to the judges and I could do it by myself. I had nodded my thanks and quickly headed back to my room. The others were awake and staring at me intently as I walked back in.

"How is she?" asked Ash, "Just tell us."

"She's in a coma," I sighed, "her condition is stable and she should physically recover, but the doctors can't guarantee that she'll ever wake up." Max's eyes swelled with tears and Ash patted the young boy on the head comfortingly.

"Lillian says that I can still participate in the contest, but I don't know if I should," I admitted.

"Maybe think about it a bit more before making a decision you'll regret," Brock said, "C'mon, let's go visit her, she'll be lonely."

"I got to stop at the police office first," I said, remembering. They shrugged.

I handed Officer Jenny the Pokégear, the rose and the attached note.

"I can identify him at this evenings contest too," I said. She nodded and agreed that she'd be there and meet up with me before it started. I headed back out. We proceeded to the hospital in silence. I led the way to her room and held the door open for them.

"May!" Max cried, flinging himself over to her bed.

"Drew, there's a note here for you," said Brock, looking at the bedside table. I snatching it up and read it.

Dear Drew,

I'm again really sorry about what happened. I should have told you about the black rose when I first got it. By the time you read this, I'll be asleep again. Even as I'm writing this, I only feel half here. Sleep is calling me back, but I needed to write to you even if it was one last time. I want you to continue with the contest. I know you'll be feeling bad, but you need something to distract yourself with. I've told my Pokémon about the situation and they agreed to what I've decided. Please use them in the contest to help you. I've written out all of the attacks they know and stuck it onto their Pokéballs. They're in my bag under my bed. I'm so sorry Drew. If I don't make it out of here, look after them for me. Please tell Ash that I'm grateful for his help in building me up to be a strong person. Tell him to keep moving forwards. Tell him that he has to grow even stronger and to never give up. Tell Brock that I'm so thankful for his time spent with me, cooking, cleaning, healing and just being a friend. Tell him that someday all his hard work with be rewarded. Tell him to work towards that day. Tell Solidad that she is the most beautiful best friend ever. Tell her she's kind, caring, loving and loyal. Tell her that I'm thankful for her helping me feel beautiful too, if only for a day. Tell her that peach is her best colour and that she should wear it more often. Tell Harley that I'm grateful for all the roses he gave me. Tell him I'm sorry I took them for granted. Tell him to be brave. Tell him that Solidad needs him to be strong for her. Tell Max I'm sorry that I won't be able to make it to his next birthday party. Tell him that I love him for me. Tell him that he needs to be strong for himself and my parents. Tell him that they'll need some help around to overcome this. Tell him that he is the best brother I could ever wish for. Tell them that for me will you? Drew, thank you too. Thank you for your roses, for making me feel special. Thank you for letting me sleep in the mornings. Thank you for letting me feel the magical feeling of flying with Flygon. Thank you for protecting me. Thank you for taking me out to dinner with you, Solidad and Harley. Thank you for finding me and taking me to the hospital. Thank you for caring. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I know this journey has been the most memorable one in my lifetime. Drew, keep on going. Be brave and soldier on. There are people out there who will need you to be their steady hold. Most importantly, forgive yourself. None of what happened is your fault so never take the blame. I hope that I'll get to see you again someday. I could tell you so much more, but I feel my consciousness slipping again. Until we met again.

Love May xo

I squeezed my eyes shut. I was close to tears again, but I wasn't going to cry. May had told me to be strong. I turned to the three people still waiting. I handed them her letter, my voice feeling to scratchy to speak. I felt like I was drowning. Drowning by myself. Ash sniffed and handed it to Brock. Brock nodded with a determined face as he looked at May again. Max snatched it out of his hands, his eyes quickly scanning it before he eyes filled with tears. I carefully slipped it out of his hands and put it in my pocket. I knelt down and reached under her bed. My hands grasped her bag and I tugged it out. I unzipped it and found all of May's Pokéballs, each with their moves scrawled on pieces of paper. We agreed that we should get ready for the contest.

"I'll win it," I promised, whispering in her ear as the others headed out, "for both of us."

I had sworn to myself that I would be calm as I walked into the stadium; that I would handle the situation with a cool head, but as soon as I saw him, it all flew out the window. I growled and before he could even react I had slammed him against the wall with a crack as his spine hit the plaster. I pushed his arms roughly by his side, pinning him completely. Heads turned in my direction, but I just glared at the boy in front of me. He looked at me like a deer would at a hunter. Scared and trapped. I scowled.

"Drew?" Officer Jenny tapped my shoulder. Lucky for him she interrupted or I might have been guilty of committing murder.

"This is the one," I spat, not taking my eyes away from him, "Craig Daniels." His name tasted like a bad flavour on my tongue. Officer Jenny tugged me away and grabbed both of his hands. She clipped handcuffs around his wrists. He bowed his head in defeat.

"You're still never getting May back," he growled hatefully as he was led away. I scowled at him. I hoped that I would never see him again. Whispers floated around the room. I straightened and flicked my hair away from my eyes, looking at everyone who was watching me with astonishment. They quickly went back to doing their own thing.

"Drew, you need to calm down," Solidad sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder, "scaring everyone isn't going to help. You've done all that you can."

"I know," I whimpered quietly, "but I'm just so angry. May didn't do anything wrong."

"No she didn't," agreed Harley, "that guy was out of place." I replayed May's massage to both of them. Solidad's eyes sparkled with tears.

"See," Harley said, "you can't do anything else. You can only do what she asked and be strong. Win the competition for her and show the world you're not broken."

"But I am broken," I sighed.

"We know Drew," Solidad comforted, "but the rest of the world doesn't need to know that. May will fight. She's strong and determined. You need to be there; brave and strong to help her, but this is something that she has to overcome." I bowed my head, my energy rush disappearing, leaving me feeling tired again. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. I did not need this.

I eyed my opponent. I had made it to the final round by myself and I wasn't going to mess up now. It was Robert and his partner Dana. Their combination of his Milotic and her Lapras were a force to be reckoned with. They'd come second in the preliminaries and had knocked out Harley and Solidad really quickly. I chose Flygon and then released May's Blaziken. I squared my shoulders as the clock started and called out the first attack. I saw them counter, neither of our Pokémon getting hit. I would have to be careful.

"Flygon Steel wing!" I yelled as he started to attack the other two Pokémon braced for an attack, "Now Blaziken, fire spin." Blaziken obeyed without a second thought and the attack hit, knocking Milotic over. The Lapras stood its ground. Their points dropped. I barely had time to react before their attack came at my Pokémon. I yelled for it to dodge, but it hit. My points dropped, but not nearly as much as theirs. Keep it together, I told myself as I yelled another attack. The battle continued. It was kept fairly even. They were still only a bit behind me in points, but I knew how quickly it could change. One small slip up now could cost me the match. I smacked my head when I realized I hadn't used Flygon's most useful attack.

"Flygon," I called, "Sand Tomb!" Both of their Pokémon were buried and trapped in the sand. They passed worried glances to each other as they called for them to try to escape.

"Now Blaziken, finish them off with overheat," I commanded. They passed worried glances again. I had them right where I wanted and they knew it. Blaziken charged and released, scattering sand everywhere. Blaziken landed and I saw that he had knocked out the opposing Pokémon. I sighed in relief as they grimly returned their Pokémon. We met halfway across the field. I shook hands and they congratulated me. I took the trophy in my hands and accepted the two ribbons and prize money as the crowd cheered. I wearily held the cup above my head as Lillian closed off the ceremony.

"Hey May," I called quietly, stepping into her room, "I have a surprise for you." I held out the cup. Even though I had been the only one there, it had both our names engraved.

"I won the Grand Festival," I said. She didn't move. I sighed and lowered it.

"Yeah, you're right it's not that great when you're still not awake," I sighed again. I left the ribbon next to the lamp on her bedside table.

"I got your prize money too," I told her sleeping form, "I'll keep it safe for you until you wake up." I brushed my hand over her head.

"Drew," called a soft voice.

"Mm," I mumbled, "what's up Solidad?" I turned and saw that everyone had entered the room. They all looked rather serious and I raised an eyebrow, suspicious.

"I wanted to say congratulations on winning, you did really well," she said.

"What is it guys," I asked, "Just tell me what's going on."

"Drew, we're worried about you," Harley admitted, stepping forwards, "You look terrible. Haven't you seen yourself? You've got dark eyes and you're pale enough to put a ghost to shame."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, defences shooting up.

"You have to spend today away from her," Solidad sighed, gesturing to May. I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off.

"I know you want to be there for her," she continued, "but you're doing no-one any favours by beating yourself up over it. Tonight, we are going out to celebrate and you're coming with us. You will then go back to your room and sleep. Tomorrow afternoon you can come back, after a decent meal and a good rest."

"But I-"

"Drew, don't even bother to protest," She growled, "that's how it's going to work and you're not getting out of it. We're only doing what's best for you." I sighed. I guess she was right.

"Ok," I complied, "I'll leave with you." I leaned and whispered a quick goodbye to May before I followed Solidad out, Harley and Brock escorting me like a jail guard.

A/N: So we finally found out who was threatening May and why. I bet you all thought Craig was just an obsessed filler fan boy character. Oh no, he's the one who's been behind it all. I was originally going to make it Harley, but I changed my mind because I just couldn't bring myself to make him a bad guy. I love Festivalshipping too much! Besides, I don't think Harley is a bad guy.