NIGHT CHASER ---- original ---- HIATUS

A Nighttime Walk: Adelyn

Adelyn lay in bed that night, tossing and turning. Her eyes were wide open, and though she tried with every fiber of her being, she couldn't force herself to fall asleep. Memoir thought that she was the only one hurting inside.

She was wrong.

It shattered Adelyn's heart to see Memoir so broken inside. It filled her with guilt that their mother treated Adelyn like a precious treasure, and Memoir like pond scum. It made her want to scream when her father never stood up to her mother, and took charge of Memoir's well-being. What Adelyn didn't know was that without her, Memoir would have been gone. She would have withered like a flower without water until there was nothing left of her to save.

Adelyn knew that this wasn't right, from the moment her mother had started mistreating her sister, when she was a baby. She had done everything she could to help, and it was lucky that Adelyn was on their mother's good side, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to do nearly as much.
Adelyn thought back to the time her mother had it explained everything. It was her most vivid memory. She had only been fourteen at the time, and though she was old enough to understand the story, she hadn't yet built up the confidence to tell her mother that she was wrong.

And Malco had just sat there silently, adding in little snippets here and there. They were both gentle with Adelyn, as they always were, but Adelyn had seen what hid behind Kari's mask.

Fear.

"Adelyn, honey?" Kari quietly tip-toed into Adelyn's large, spacious, personalized bedroom, where Adelyn sat at her desk, doing her Language Arts homework. Adelyn ignored her mom. She had heard screaming earlier that day, and knew it was directed towards Memoir, as always. She was surprised that Memoir had held on to her sanity for this long.
"Adelyn, come into my room. Your father and I have something to tell you."
Adelyn abruptly pushed back her chair, sending it rolling across the room. She threw her pencil down onto the desk, but her mother didn't seem to notice. If she did, she certainly didn't care. Adelyn  reluctantly followed Kari down the hall to hers and Malco's master suite.
Malco smiled in welcome. Adelyn didn't return the favor, instead stomping over to the large armchair in the corner of the magnificent room.
If they wanted to be kind, to her, then she wouldn't have it. Not until Memoir received the same 'special treatment.'
"Honey, we have to tell you something." Malco told her gently. He sat on the edge of the bed next to Kari. He was about a foot taller than her, and of Irish descent. He had bright red hair, just like Adelyn's, and the same green eyes.
"Yeah, I know. Isn't that why I'm here?" Adelyn growled snarkily. She didn't meet her father's eyes, instead staring up at the huge chandelier, glittering like a million stars, that hung just below the black as night ceiling. The bed frame was made of wrought iron and curled majestically into an intricate pattern at the head of the bed.
"Yes, sweetie. We have a little story for you. It all started the day that your sister was born..."

Adelyn's face twisted in anger at the memory as she shifted upon her soft bed, trying to get comfortable. She finally settled, laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling. It was covered with thousands of blinking lights, installed there when Adelyn was just a little one.

Adelyn thought of the future.

How can I go to college next year with Memoir like this? She's only getting worse. Okay, stop it, Adelyn, the whole world does not revolve around Memoir. She's making friends now.

But her friends don't live with her! You do!

You need to go to college, and get your education so that you can run away with Memoir and never come back.

That had always been what Adelyn had intended to do once she finished college. Get an associates degree so that she could make a decent living and run away to the East Coast, far away from Kari. Of course, she had never told Memoir. And it wouldn't be much, since by the time she got an associates degree, a year, because of her consistent grades, Memoir would almost be grown up herself. 

But it was the best that Adelyn could do.

Adelyn sat up quickly, and felt the dizziness come to her head. The world spun. She couldn't stay in this dark, suffocating room any longer. She slowly stepped into her soft pink slippers and matching bathrobe, shivering.

The door creaked open as Adelyn pushed it, and she winced. Her mother was a light sleeper. Maternal instinct.

Adelyn, as quiet as a mouse, padded down the stairs, careful to step over the squeaky one that had never gotten fixed. She carefully slipped on a jacket, a hat, her snowpants, some gloves and her boots, preparing to get away from her worries, away to the outside where her only companion was nature.
She opened the front door, hoping it wouldn't make any noise, and was blown back by the howling wind. She made to shut the door, but the wind had already slammed it for her. She just needed to think for awhile and get back into her room before her mother noticed.

~~~~

Back in the house, an eerie silence rang, so deafening. All lights were out, Kari and Malco were sleeping, but down in the basement, Memoir roamed, hard at work.

~~~~

Adelyn's boots sank down through the soft snow as she made her way to the forested backyard, down a path that only she knew about, covered by dead brambles. She looked around for the large, swan shaped boulder that guided her deeper into the backwoods.

Adelyn found her special log that she had dragged into her secret grove long ago. It was old and worn.
She sighed, tracing the carved initials she had etched there long ago.

A.K.

A soft smile curled over Adelyn's lips. She remembered the day she had found this grove. No one else had ever been here, and behind the trees was an abandoned spot of mountain that was vast and hilly, open to the stars. Adelyn loved the stars. They told tales untold by generations of people, shimmering, permanent, until their time came, untroubled by the world and it's problems, its pain.

It was the place that Adelyn went to escape from all her troubles. It was selfish, she knew, to keep this beautiful place all to herself, especially with Memoir, but as much as she was loved, sometimes Adelyn couldn't stand her life, with its modern style and modern problems. She wanted to live like her ancestors had, years ago, before man-made inventions had taken their course.

Sometimes, Adelyn fantasized about running away to live in the wild. She would, of course, bring Memoir. They would build a house in the woods, and stargaze every night. They would live in peace, in isolation, where they could finally fly. But that couldn't happen. The next best plan was college.

As Adelyn laid down in the powdery white snow, the moonlight shining down upon her face, the stars moved across the sky, until finally, they started disappearing. The sky lightened into a vibrant sunrise, reds and oranges bleeding into each other like a radical artist's work. The black slowly faded to blue, and still, Adelyn watched, not caring that her mother would be up soon enough.

The sun slowly rose over the horizon, and with it, many people rushing off into their modern cars to their modern workplaces. And still, Adelyn watched. Until she realized what she was doing.

Mother is going to blame Memoir! she thought frantically.

Adelyn sat up quickly, and rushed off through the wood, hopping over rocks, stepping on twigs, and overall creating quite a ruckus. She realized this, and as she approached the old mansion, she slowed down and traipsed through the final patch of snow, up the stairs, and into her bedroom, after taking off her boots. She closed her door, took off her coat, gloves, hat, and snowpants.

There was still one problem though.

Her hair was wet from laying in the snow.

Quickly, Adelyn pounded across the hall to the bathroom, and turned on the shower.

No one would know.