The elusive Chapter NINE

It's beginning to become a curse word. Chapter NINE! Although none of them are easy; I usually feel as though I'm picking through a hay stack to find words to create the images that are running through my head; but this chapter is the absolute worst! I've rewritten it countless times, and lost the second draft because fanfiction.net is stupid! Three hours of work vanished with a single click of the mouse. I didn't even have it as my browser window, and it was gone. That was, I'm sure, part of the reason why I have struggled so much with this one. It's been months since I've posted and every time I think of editing or tweaking Chapter NINE, I just want to throw up my hands and leave the story at an unfinished eight. But I can't do that. "You only fail if you quit." I learned that from the very intelligent and profound, David Hasslehoff, a couple of weeks ago, by the way. I thought, well, if the Hoff doesn't quit, then neither do I! On with the show! :)

(Seriously, I've read so many beautiful quotes in stories recently, and all I can come up with is the Hoff??)

But, we'll discuss my odd pension for remembering useless trivia and facts later.

Oh, and you know what else is ridiulous? Twenty small notebooks filled with nonsense, and I can't find the one that I need! Ah! Ok, it was hidden beneath some beautiful artwork made by two lovely little princesses.

Chapter NINE

It seemed the nightmares would continue, only this time she was wide awake. The chill of the wind that blew through the trees and into her hair and the cool, damp grass beneath her told her as much.

She looked away from his face and occupied herself with the wet blades of grass beneath her fingertips, desperately beating down the panic she could feel rising within her. Her face was hot and her eyes were all she could feel; the backs of them being pricked mercilessly by unshed tears.

Fairy

It was the most ridiculous... preposterous...

The boy had, obviously, lost his mind; and hers was quickly following. Images of the past few weeks came to the forefront of her thoughts and as much as she wished them to leave her be, she could not ignore them. She could not ignore the strange events that had led to this astonishing revelation: the rose that mysteriously appeared on her pillow from her dream, the odd way Evan seemed to be in tune with her emotions, the vivid nightmare that had haunted her long after she'd woken - the horrifying voice in the storm that constantly called out her name.

She shuddered and Evan reacted immediately, picking up the hands that she had previously removed from his grasp. He looked at her with the saddest of expressions, as if he knew the turmoil that was going on inside of her.

Of course, he does.

She shuddered once more at the memory of his words just moments ago, his odd ability of knowing her feelings. She once again concentrated on the damp earth, and on breathing in and out.

What I wouldn't give for him to be able to take the words back, she thought.

Unless it's just another of his jokes.

With only a infinitesimal shred of hope, she looked into his face, searching for any trace of mirth or laughter. Only weeks before he had taken quite delight in her misfortunes; perhaps it was the same, now. There was no explanation for the odd occurrences as the rose: or the storm, or the haunting dreams; but all rational thought had left her.

That tiny bit of hope died as soon as she looked up and regarded the grim expression on his handsome face . There was no hint of laughter in the sky blue eyes that were still on her face. The sadness in them confused her. It was she who was just told that she was some sort of mythical creature. She laughed curtly, but there was no humor in it.

She turned away from his dismal gaze, no longer able to stand those sky blue eyes. Their color, and the memories of her dreams of him now made his connection to her far too intimate. She wanted nothing to do with him; this boy who had just ruined her imperfect, yet constant world. Yet the thought of leaving him was also distressing.

The anxiety began to build even higher as the thought that she was torn from the only truth she had ever known. It was a given; a constant; something she had never had to question. Of course she hadn't! She was human; just the same as Phillip and Emma and Evan, the baker and Faye, the cook. She had no physical traits that could ever be considered otherworldly: she was plain, the only defining characteristic to her looks being the red in her hair. She walk; she ran. Didn't fairies fly? She tried to recall all the characteristics of them that she had learned from the stories her father used to read to her.

Actually, it had only been one story. The recollection amidst all the confusion suddenly alarmed her. One small memory lodged in the back of her mind seemed to float forward, like a small bubble being blown by the wind.

She couldn't remember many details of the story that her father insisted on telling her every night; only that he had. It was odd, she remembered, that he had been so emphatic in the story's telling. It was only a fairy tale, after all.

She shuddered once again at the thought of the word and focused once more on the memory, forcing herself to not meet the boys' eyes one more time. The book was very big and heavy, though many things are perceived as being large through the eyes of a child. She struggled through the fog that misted around the bubble of her memory, and it was all she could see; the book and the large sturdy hands that held it.

The vision of her fathers' hands finally pushed the tears that had been pricking the backs of her eyes, over the edge and down her cheeks. She was too mournful to even contemplate Evan, or his words, any longer. The most important face was that he was gone, and once again the realization that she was likely the cause of his death sat heavily on her heart. The storm that called her name was after her, even years ago. She was meant to die; not them. And she would cause the death of everyone around her, if she stayed in this place.

She was lost in her own bereavement and self admonition, lost in wracking sobs, as Evan lifted her up in his arms and began walking away from the sodden grass and the arch of trees. She felt as though she had left a large part of who she was in that dreary spot. The human part of her had died. The realization shook her and her entire body shook as she sobbed into Evan's shoulder.

She could faintly hear the murmurs of people near her, and vaguely felt the rain as it began to patter on her head, and legs and feet. Her own cries seemed distant in her ears.

The bubble still hovered over her, a quote began to form in her mind, slowly, until the words were so etched into her consciousness, that she could scarcely believe she hadn't known them her entire life:

"You are a fairy," he said. The young girl heard the words and soon knew what she must do: She would follow the boy wherever he would lead, just as her father had always instructed."


And since fanfiction.net is not loading tonight, I can't finish this post, but a part is better than nothing, so here we are, once again stalled, due to fanfiction.net. Bah!