~~~~
"But Mom... please... don't make me go in there. Being the new kid sucks, and I'm going to get made fun of and left out again." a 9 year old Delphia pleaded with her mother while sitting in the car outside of school that morning, just watching as the other students filed into the building for the first day of a new semester as she clutched her backpack to her chest. To her it just looked like a sea of people.. and sometimes things these didn't seem like people, where she was going to get swept away and swallowed up, never to be seen again. She didn't want to go through this again, always moving and starting a new school everytime Momma got out of a bad relationship. And this time was no different. This last time had been another alcoholic abusive guy who was leaving threatening messages on their answering machine and showing up all hours of the night after Momma left him... so they had to leave again.
" 'Phi... dear, please don't be difficult. I need to go and look for jobs today and you need to get back in school again. You can't miss anymore time or they will hold you back a grade. Besides, Madison will come and meet you after school so there is no need to worry." her mother sighed heavily and turned to look back at Delphia who was hunkered down in her seat and trying not to be seen through the window. She was sitting there twisting the ends of her hair that had been pulled back in a ponytail, feeling scared and so alone. It wasn't just students that she was scared of, though it didn't seem to help that no matter where they went, she'd had troubles making friends. Madison had been the one to fight off the bullies and dry her tears at being left out of the sleep-overs, parties, or scaring away the shadows at night. She was the best big sister anyone could ask for in her mind so anything to make things easier for her was at the top of Delphia's priorities.
"Fine... I'll go, but only for Maddy." she huffed and sat up in her seat. Peering out the window again and still clutching her backpack to her chest as if it was some kind of life preserver. Hand shaking, Delphia opened the car door and climbed out, quickly shutting the door before the temptation to climb back in again over-whelmed her. Another quick goodbye from her mother, and she was left there alone on the sidewalk as a first bell rang to signal that classes would begin soon. Knowing that going back home wasn't an option, she headed on inside to her first class while trying to stay out of the way and out of sight the best she could.
Things went alright until lunch rolled around and the usual dilema came up as to where and with whom to sit. So many people and voices all around her, it was hard to find a place that wasn't taken up with groups of kids already. But after a few minutes of standing there clutching her lunch box, she spotted a table off to her left that had one boy sitting there flipping through cards while eatting. 'Maybe he won't mind if I just sit there... I don't talk much anyways...' she thought while heading over in his general direction. He didn't seem to notice her as she sat down at the other end of the table, quietly setting the lunch box down and beginning to eat. still just flipping through some cards as if looking for a particular one.
"Hey, you. You like Pokemon?"
Delphia almost jumped a bit when the boy suddenly spoke up, somewhat surprised that he was actually talking to her. "Umm... yeah sure. Some of them are kinda cute, those are really the only ones I like." she replied, heart hammering in her chest as her mouth went a bit dry. Socializing hadn't been part of the plan, just get in and get out without being noticed too much. It was better that way.
The boy seemed to perk up a little bit at that and gathered up his cards and then moved down to sit across from her. "Awesome! Hey, you want to taake a look at some of my cards then?" He seemed friendly enough, and that smile was almost contagious.
"Sure. Do you have a favorite one you were looking for earlier?"
"Oh yeah. I really like Abra cause he gets to sleep all the time and still ends up growing into something cool."
Delphia made a little bit of a face at that, shaking her head some. "I like Bellossom... such a cute tiny little dancer with flowers, and they always seem really happy."
"But but... Kadabra and Alakazam are so cool!"
"...They look like they have a funny mustace... and aren't all that cute. Plus I'd rather eat ice cream with their spoons..."
"Ya know, that does sound pretty yummy."
They both broke down and started to laugh a bit, going back and forth for a few more minutes about different ways they could use such a Pokemon for their own ice cream eating purposes. It was the first time in months that Delphia had cracked a smile, much less laughed with someone else. Though before they knew it the bell was ringing to signal the end of lunch.. to which both of them let out a bit of a sigh at having to go so soon.
"Hey! What's your name?"
"Delphia... you can just call me Phi though if you want. Momma and my big sister do, cause it's kinda a weird name."
"Kay then Phi. I'm Thomas. Lets meet up after school sometime and I'll bring some of my cards so you can look more if you want."
"Alright! You can meet my sister too, she is really great and likes pokemon too, if that's ok."
He just gave a nod of his head and flashed her a smile before running off to class again, at which point Delphia was needing to do the same. However this was just the first of many days they would share together over lunch and became close friends in no time.
~~~~
Heh.. I never thought I was going to make any friends that year. Though sometimes I wonder if he would have been better off never meeting me. Why this memory...? It is because this is one of the few good times or the start of something worse, only this time it wasn't just me... someone else I cared for got caught in the middle too. Thomas Foole. The best friend I could have ever asked for then, but I wonder if he ever regretted it.
~~~~
"Hey Thomas! Come on, hurry up or Madison is going to leave without us!" a 12 year old Delphia yelled while knocking on Thomas' front door. Today was one of the new times that Madison had agreed to take them to the mall for some ice cream and the arcade for a little while. Ever since she'd gotten her license and they had actually stayed in town long enough to make friends, Madison hadn't been around as much lately. Momma had decided not to date as much, and the few guys she did go out with were actually somewhat decent compared to who she'd been with before. it was obvious she was trying to make an effort to make different choices so they didn't have to move all the time and leave friends behind. So Delphia was determined to make the most of any day she could get to hang out with her sister and her best friend together.
"Alright, alright. I couldn't find my other shoe, turned out it was under my bed with a bunch of old junk." he sighed while hopping out the door, one shoe on and the other in his hand. Delphia just giggled a little and helped him hop out to the car before climbing into the back seat and getting all buckled in. "Ok, we're all ready to go! Thank you Madison."
"Hey, no problem kiddo. Everyone buckled in? Good, well then lets get headed out." Madison replied, glancing in the rearview mirror to make sure everyone was seated and safe before starting off down the road. Traffic was light for a weekend evening outing, though the mall was bound to be busy. But despite her still lingering fear of crowds, Delphia was as excited as any kid could be about going out for ice cream, chatting away with Thomas in the back seat while Madison listened to the radio and sang along with some of her favorite songs.
What happened next... well... no one really ever knew for sure how it happened, or whos fault it was. But nothing would ever be the same for them again.
Glancing out the front window, Delphia could start to see some shadowy figures lurking here and there along side and in the road. 'No... no, go away. I don't want to see you out here.. your just the monsters that live in my room at night.' she thought to herself, her face turning white as more of them seemed come out from any shadows that were left as the light faded from the sunset. Making their way out and into the road ahead of them, almost as if they were going to attack the car its self.
"NO! Go away! Stop it, don't hurt us, get out of the road!" Delphia cried out, covering her eyes while hunkering down in the back seat in a feeble attempt to hide from them, as if it would make a difference. But in a way it only just made it worse.
"Phi?! What's going on, are you ok?!" Madison asked franticly, taking her eyes off the road for a few moments to turn around and look at her as Thomas tried to comfort her. Though those few moments were all that it took for disaster to strike... as another car rammed into the drivers side of their own. A sickening crunch of metal, screams of fear and pain was the last thing that Delphia heard as the force of the crash knocked her unconcious; images of shadows still lingering in her eyes as the darkness overwhelmed her. She would remember nothing else from that evening, not even the pain from any of her injuries, though when she woke there would be an even worse pain waiting for her then.
'I'm not alone this time, and I wasn't alone then either. Somewhere out there, there are people wanting to support me, and I don't have to go through this again on my own. But, I wasn't alone then either. Thomas was there, and so was Madison even if it was only for a little while. I wonder if she blames me... wish I knew if I was going to see her again or not.'
~~~~
The next thing she knew, Delphia was waking up in a dark hospital room, hooked up to a few different machines that were softly beeping as they monitored her condition 24 hours a day. Slowly she opened her eyes and started to look around the room, her last memories being of the car accident that had happened over 2 years ago by now. Not that she realized that instead of being 12, Delphia had already passed her 14th birthday. No one was there in the room, though she could hear people moving outside. 'Where am I? Where is everyone else...? And why do I feel so weak...?' she thought to herself.
This didn't seem normal. The few fragmented memories she had right now were of shadow creatures gathering together in the road, yelling at them to go away and then just a loud crashing sound before everything went dark. Nothing else... not even if anyone else was safe, though she couldn't help but feel the panic rising in her throat as it became more apparent that something was seriously wrong. If they had been in an accident, why were there no doctors and nurses all around like in those tv shows? Why was she here in bed alone? Mom wasn't there... Thomas and Madison weren't there... were they hurt? So many un-answered questions, and the more Delphia thought about it, the more anxious she got. 'No... No I can't be alone again, where is everyone?! What happened to me?!' Her mind racing as she tried to call out and found that her voice was weak and dry, it almost hurt a bit to try as if the muscles had been out of use for so long she didn't know what to do with them. So she did the next best thing.
Reaching over she flipped a few of the switches on one of the machines, which caused it to start going off somehow. Instantly, there were nurses and such rushing into the room, pausing for a moment to just stare at her clumsy attempts to sit up.
"Sweetie, please, lay back down! Don't push yourself, you're going to be feeling weak so just lay back and relax." One of the nurses just gave her a smile, brushing the hair back away from her face while trying to coax Delphia to lay back down as another went over to fix the machine. They exchanged a few worried looks and hushed whispers while she looked on and tried not to panic. They weren't anyone she knew and all she wanted right now were answers as to why no one was here and why she felt so horrible. "... P-Please... where is.... my mom...?" she managed to get out faintly after a few tries with the raspy voice that somehow belonged to her for the time being.
"Sweetie, just relax. We've just called your mom and she'll be here as soon as she can, alright? What's important is that you just take it easy and don't over do it." was all of the information she got, and with a dejected sigh, laid back down again. It was obvious that they weren't going to tell her anything despite wanting to know what was going on, even if she didn't convey it very well at the time. Something was very wrong, she could feel it. Everything was different but exactly how she wasn't sure and hoped that at least Mom would tell her what was going on when she got there.
Almost a half hour later, her mother came rushing into the hospital room with Thomas close at her heels, both of them looking a bit shocked and relieved. Not to mention different, though it waan't too noticeable until they got closer, Thomas coming over and planting himself at her bedside and holding one of her hands while her mother reached down and took a hold of the other while tearing up. They both looked different... Momma looked so tired and somehow years older while Thomas seemed to have grown somehow, so many things changed, but how? "Oh sweetie, thank goodness your alright. We were so worried since you'd been sleeping for so long, but everything will be alright now, just wait and see."
"W-what happened...?" she managed to get out after a few tries, her throat feeling like sand paper. Looking around, her mother filled a glass with some water and helped her get a drink before continuing on... hands shaking as the tears began to fall down her cheeks. Something was very wrong. Momma never cried like this in front of her and Madison and it set a cold chill down her spine.
" 'Phi... sweetie... you were in a car accident with Madison and Thomas, do you remember any of that?" Her mother pausing for a moment as Delphia thought about it for a moment, giving a small nod of her head. "I know this is going to be hard for you to understand and deal with right now... but you need to know what happened. The car accident was a bad one. The other driver ran a stop sign and hit you all on the drivers side. Thomas had some injuries, and you... you've been in a coma for 2 years sweetie. The doctors weren't sure if you'd make it or not, but we never gave up hope."
Delphia just stared at her mother in disbelief. Two years?! She'd been asleep for two years? No... no that wasn't possible. She'd just gone to sleep and woken up again, it felt like it had been a few seconds at the most, not two years. This... this couldn't be happening... but... Madison would know the truth. Madison was always there, she would tell her what was going on, this had to be some sick joke. "Where is Madison? I want her to tell me. I can't have been asleep for two years Mom... it was just like closed my eyes... it can't have been two years!"
" Phi... Madison... she... she didn't survive the accident sweetie. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. There was nothing more they could do for her..."
"....No... NO! YOUR LYING! Madison would never leave me, she promised! STOP LYING TO ME!"
"Please, I know this is a lot to take in, and I probably shouldn't have told you all this right now, but waiting would only make things worse. I'm not lying to you, though I wish I was for both our sakes."
Delphia's eyes filled with tears as the fear and panic rose up on her throat, threatening to overwhelm her as she clung to Thomas' hand. No, this couldn't be happening. Madison had to be there somewhere, this was just all a huge prank. A sick prank, but a prank nonetheless. Glancing down at Thomas, her eyes franticly searched his face for any sign that this really was a joke. That she hadn't just lost two years of her life and her sister in what essentially was all one day for her. But nothing was found there. No hint of a smile or that small little twitch at the corner of his mouth that he got when he was trying to hide something from her. All that was there was a mixture of happiness and sadness as he continued to hold her hand and said nothing, the same boy she'd known for three years and yet at the same time he was a complete stranger to her now. Just offering his support and letting her know she wasn't alone without even saying a word. It really was all she could take right then as the memories of the crash played over in her head... the shadows filling her mind and a small voice in the back of her head saying: 'This is all your fault... you know it's true. If you had just kept quiet and said nothing about what you'd seen, Madison would still be alive and you wouldn't have slept away two years of your life.' All she could do then was give into the tears, her body shaking as she began to sob... clutching their hands as if they were the only thing keeping her from giving in to the uncontrolable pain she felt in her heart.
~~~~
The next four years just went by in a bit of a blur for her as Delphia struggled with not only the pain of losing her sister but making up for the two years she had lost while being in a coma. For the first year she spent most of her time in physical therapy to work and regain the muscle functions that had declined while she was sleeping... not to mention the intense work load she buried herself in for school work. It was easier that way at first for her to cope with her sisters death, just to be so busy that Delphia didn't have the time to dwell on it or miss her. Not ot mention the voices in her mind that nagged at her, telling her that it wasn't an accident and that if she hadn't made a fuss about the shadows, they could have been a happy family. More and more of the shadows kept gathering around her now, almost as if they were trying to torment her too but she never gave in. Sure, they scared the hell out of her... always wondering who they were going to go after next and how many lives would be taken this time.
Thomas was the one person she confided in about these things, though he never blamed her for what happened. He'd even kept a journal of things that had happened while Delphia was in her coma, which had helped fill in some thing and help relieve the feeling that a whole chunk of her life was missing. Granted, most of it was things he'd done at school or even simple outings with a friend, but it made her feel included and flattered that he had done all of that for her for so long without knowing what might happen. Things didn't feel the same between them now as they did before, granted it was like getting to know a whole new person after two years. Though as they went through highschool, Delphia began to realize that he hid from the pain in his own way... behind jokes and a smile, be it genuine or fake. But that never made her desire to be his friend waiver, if anything it made her even more determined to make sure he knew that he could be himself around her if he chose too.
It was during her last year of highschool that Delphia was first approached by a stranger, one who seemed to know so much more about these shadows than she ever wanted to. It was an overcast afternoon and she'd just finished walking home from the deli where Thomas was working after his graduation. It was a nice enough place and well lit in the evenings, so she often went there to get things for supper or just to hang out if it was a slow day.
"So... have you seen many of them lately...? I know they seem to enjoy flocking around you at times for some reason or another." a cold voice broke through her thoughts while on her way home from the deli. Her head whipped around as a chill shot down her spine when she saw the cloaked figure standing there. Somehow Delphia knew exactly what he was talking about without him having to say another word, and it made her blood run cold. How could he know..? Were there others like her that could see them, maybe even knew what they were?
"No... I keep mostly to the light... but I see a few now and then." she replied softly, never taking her eyes off of him.
"Your not the only one that can see them, and neither am I. Many other humans can, and I'm sure you have plenty of questions you want answers for. But... not today. Another day perhaps." he said with a smile in his voice before turning and walking away, just leaving Delphia there to wonder what was happening now. Who was he, and how did he know about her? Why did he approach her of all people, was there something he wanted from her? At least she assumed it was a he from how low the voice sounded. Those and many more questions were running through her mind as she headed home and helped with dinner that evening, never saying a word to anyone of what happened there that day.
The cloaked man appeared several more times over the next few weeks, always leaving her with more questions than answers. Never staying for very long before they disappeared again, her mind racing and trying to piece together what little information she had been able to gather. This last time though she'd been left with a lot to think about, as they had been more forthcoming with information than before about the shadows. They only saw us humans as prey... things to be fattened up until we were ripe for the picking. It reminded her more of the vampire movies than anything else, depite the fact that she had yet to see anything that resembled a vampire so far... but she wasn't going to count them out completely now. Knowing all of this made her feel so hopeless and wonder if there was anything anyone could do about it. What was the point in telling her, unless the cloaked person was with the shadows and all of this was just part of some massive mind game too...? However, Delphia would soon have her answers... and a solution if she chose.
Next time they appeared, they gave her an option. A option to fight back against the shadows.
"Come with me. Mankind doesn't have to stay like way, thanks to people like you and me who can see them for what they really are. We're special... we can become Hunters. Fighting back against the shadows and protecting humanity from what most can not see."
It was a tempting offer... and one that Delphia couldn't refuse even if she wanted to. Sure, she had school to finish, but what was that compared to helping to save all of mankind from abominations that wanted to treat them like cattle? Maybe Madison would still be alive today if there were more people like them in the world... and Thomas would be safer now too. Maybe he would wonder where she went, but hoped that one day she might be able to come back and at least tell him what kind of struggle was going on and why she had to leave.
"Alright... I'll come with you. I want to be a Hunter."
~~~~
'I'll never get to see him again... to tell him what was going on and is still happening in the world. I just hope he can find it in his heart to forgive me for leaving him, and maybe I'll get to see Madison again and apologize for messing everything up. But I had to try, even if it was a failure in the end, I had to try. And now, all I can hope for is that someone will watch over him, if he is still alive.
