CHAPTER 3; HOLLOW
Three Months Ago
Chicago, Illinois
"Del, Del, Del," Someone took Delanie awake as Delanie woke up with a startle.
"Hey, Lil. What's up, you alright?" She asked as she put her hands on her friends shoulders.
Lillian looked at Delanie and she panted with sharp breaths. It was the middle of the night and she sat on Delanie's bed.
"Bad dream?" Delanie played with her hair. Lillian nodded as she looked at the sky.
"Yeah, real bad dream." She said as she sighed deeply. "I, I dreamt that we weren't friends anymore."
"That," Delanie turned Lily around so she was facing her. "That could never happened to us. You understand? Your my lillypad."
"And your my river," She smiled as Delanie returned the grin and they hugged. The moon shined bright that night.
Present Time
Delanie woke up with a startle and she looked out her window. It was the middle of the night and there was no moon. Delanie then sighed and she heard her parents fighting again. She rolled her eyes and pulled out a drawer. She picked up a necklace that her and Lily made when they were little. Hers was a river while Lily's was a lilypad.
"Life ain't fair.." Delanie whispered as she threw the necklace down back in the drawer and closed it. She then begin to cry and she slid to her knees crying up a storm where nobody could hear her. All could be heard was the sound of the pouring rain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Close your eyes, tell me what you see." A voice taunted inside of Aiden's head. Aiden was in a dark room with no windows or doors. There was no perfect temperature in the room so he wasn't hot or cold. He then panted looking for a way out.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Aiden cried out as he kept trying to find a way out.
"Close your eyes! It will be okay, I won't hurt you." The voice assured him.
"No! Get out of my head!" He screamed as he suddenly woke up panting in his own bed. He looked around and he was in his room.
"This is just a dream, it's not real." He said to himself to make him stop shaking. He then closed his eyes and the voice didn't show up again. What did the voice want?
- - - - - - - - - - -
The next day in the afternoon where detention was held, Melody, Cameron and Aiden were all gather around in a circle with their desks facing each other.
"So, I saw something last night in my dream. It was some man talking to me. I don't know if it's just me being a totally doofus or me going crazy." Aiden said making a scene with his hands. Cameron put his hand on Aiden's shoulder which caused Aiden to jump.
"Aiden, I got it too, so did Melody." Cameron said pointing at Melody. Melody then nodded slowly sighing.
"What are we suppose to do?" Aiden said standing up. "He took Leon and Ever. We have to get them back."
"I know," Melody said spinning her pencil in her hand while putting her feet on her desk. "What if we could switch back time?"
"Girl, this ain't "Back To The Future." Cameron said pacing around the room. He suddenly saw a drawer and he opened it. He then looked through all of the stuff until he found a newspaper. It looked old but it was made in 2015 which was four years ago.
"What is that?" Aiden said looking at it. He then read the headline; "Fire At Laboratory, Police Question Finn Rivers."
"Who the heck is Finn Rivers? What fire?" Cameron started asking questions without any hesitation. Melody raised an eyebrow from where she was sitting looking at Cameron.
"Will you just shut up so I can read?" Aiden snapped at Cameron.
"Right, Sorry." Cameron apologized. He then went to sit by Melody. "You look pretty today."
"Um, I'm wearing a t-shirt and shorts. I ain't pretty but thanks. Also, we're still not done from yesterday." She looked at him tilting her head.
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present."
Melody then scoffed and she rolled her eyes, "You are such a nerd."
Aiden then came back to the meeting circle and he put the newspaper on the table. He pointed to it and he looked up.
"Four years ago, there was an accident at a laboratory that is way further then here. It was in the middle of nowhere but the city that happened there is Carmi."
"So, How the heck are we suppose to get there?" Melody asked crossing her arms.
"You heard about the Griff Twins?" Cameron asked completely off topic. Melody and Aiden looked at him annoyed and he shrugged.
"Delanie and Dillan? Yeah, they've been here since forever. Why are you just not noticing them?" Melody asked with her arms crossed.
"Cause," He said expanding it. "Delanie is sort of.. creepy."
Aiden rolled his eyes in annoyance, "She's not. She's just different. Her and this girl used to be best friends but then she moved."
"Who?"
"Some girl named Lily."
Everybody in Chicago High knew about Lillian. She was the most known girl. She was a cheerleader and she was nominated for being the most prettiest girl in the school. She was always smiley and she was just perfect. Delanie used to be well known until the incident happened.
"Wait, so what happen to them?" Cameron asked wanting to dig more into the story.
"Absolutely not, we're not going to explore this. Lily is gone and Del is just fine so get over it." Melody said standing up slamming her hands down on the table. Aiden and Cameron looked with wide eyes and Melody sat back down sighing. She took a breath, "Sorry, I kind of just exploded."
"Yeah, you did." Aiden said figuring it out. "Anyway, we should just go find out the laboratory and see if Ever and Leon are there. When we find them, we can go back to our normal lives and never speak of this."
"I can't keep a secret so I can't do that, sorry buddy." She giggled and she shrugged. Aiden groaned and ruffed his own hair.
"Maybe we should go ask Delanie..." Cameron suggested.
"What is with you and Delanie? You got a crush on her or something?" Aiden interrupted laughing as he spun a pencil in his hand as he finally sat down.
"No! Of course not!" Cameron protested as he began to blush.
"So we got to the laboratory and we find Ever and Leon," Aiden said to Melody and Cameron. "And we bring them home. Who is with me?"
"I'm totally in," Cameron said standing up with his hand on his backpack strap. "I'll grab my Jeep and you guys all pack your bags tonight. Cause we're not coming back for a while."
The group nodded and they all drove back to their houses as they begin to pack their bags for the night.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Delanie walked beside her brother, Dillan as they looked up at the stars. It was getting late and they were walking to their car after hanging out at Dairy Queen.
"You think that Mom and Dad are home?" Dillan asked as he unlocked the car.
"Gosh, I hope not. Did you even hear them last night?" Delanie said as she opened her door but she heard a scream. "Dill.."
"What?" He looked up and he saw a figure choking people.
"We gotta go! Start the car! Now!" She screamed as she shut her door.
"Alright! I'm starting it!" He yelled back as he tried to start his car but it failed. "No, no, come on!"
Delanie then was panting out of fear, she never got scared but this was those times where she couldn't be brave.
"Delanie.. Delanie..." A voice said in her head. Her eyes widened as she opened her car door open and she looked for the mystery figure but couldn't find him. Everything around her started to fade and she looked around being afraid again.
"Oh, the taste of fear. I love it, I love it so much." He laughed in her head. She panted more thinking about the voice and trying to recognize it.
"Who are you? How did you get in my head? What's your name? What do you want?" She had more questions that she said aloud.
The figure laughed in response, "My name is Finn. I want to see how powerful you are."
"No, get out of my head. I don't know what you want, I don't understand. Just leave me alone!" She screamed out in response.
"That is just not the answer that I'm looking for.." He laughed as he begin to transfer himself to her body. She kept trying to fight it when he suddenly stopped. "You wanna see me in person?"
"Who are you?" Her voice shook still with fear. Finn got out of her head as he started to come out of his hiding spot.
Dillan looked at Delanie as he looked at Finn. He gulped trying not to say anything but he got the courage to speak up. "Del.."
"Let him speak," She out her hand up and walked towards him.
"I can help get your friendship back with Lily. If you help me," Finn persuaded her. Delanie looked at Dillan and then she sighed.
"She's gone, how could you possibly help me?" Delanie said spitting at him. Finn then laughed and he wiped his face.
"I'm pretty much a God, you got a hollow heart. You know that it's true, come with me. I can help you." He said when suddenly a sliver Jeep came with its headlights came up.
The car window rolled down on the driver's side which it was Cameron who was smirking. "Try and get us now, sucker! Delanie! Get in quick!"
Delanie and Dillan quickly got in when Finn tried to burn down the sliver Jeep. They quickly sped off when Finn yelled out in anger.
In the car, it was big on the inside. Cameron and Dillan were in the front, Delanie and Melody in the back, and Aiden in the very back.
"Hang on ladies and gentlemen, this is gonna be a long ride. We gotta stay in a hotel so that guy can't find us," Cameron said over his shoulder while trying to drive.
Melody turned around and looked in the backseat. They all had suitcases consisting of clothes, toothbrushes, money and more. Aiden on the other hand was in the very back trying hard not to fall asleep. He had his fist on his cheek looking at the window feeling tired.
"A, you can fall asleep," Melody said looking at Aiden. Aiden yawned and he slowly fell asleep.
"What did that guy say to you?" Melody said facing towards Delanie with her arms crossed.
"That.. that I have this hollow thing inside of me. He doesn't know what he's talking about." Delanie said shaking her head as if it was the most stupid thing ever. She yawned, it was getting very late and she was exhausted.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," Melody said realizing it. "I'm Melody, Aiden is the red haired dude in the very back, Cameron is the one who is driving."
"Cool, I'm Delanie. That's my twin brother up front, his name is Dillan."
"You guys are twins?"
"Yep, born the same day."
"Who's older?"
Dillan and Delanie looked at each other and they started to laugh. Delanie then stopped and turned to Melody.
"We don't talk about that." She said trying to stop her giggling as Melody smiled along with her.
"Alright, get some rest. I'll stay watch," Melody said patting Delanie on the back. Delanie nodded and she closed her eyes and used her purple jacket as her pillow.
"Mel, you can sleep too. I'll let you know when we are at the hotel." Cameron said over his shoulder.
Downtown Chicago looked pretty at night, the lights were sparking and it was just gorgeous. Dillan was in love looking at the tall buildings that were boring in the day that turned beauty into night. Dillan was always into lights whether it was Christmas lights or if it was just a lightbulb. His parents thought it was stupid that he fell in love with lights but Delanie knew that's where he got his smarts.
Melody curled up in her seat. She used her jacket as a blanket and she pulled out a pillow and used it against the window. She looked at Delanie and she realized something about her. She then felt like her eyes were getting heavy as her head collapsed on the pillow.
Cameron kept driving as Dillan fell into the sleeping spell as well. Cameron begin to feel very tired but it was only a few more hours away. He then passed a sign that read; "You are now leaving Chicago, come back soon!"
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That is chapter 3! Thank you so much for reading this! I think that this book is getting better and better! What did you think of the chapter? The group has finally been formed! Question of the chapter; What do you think that Melody realized about Delanie? Discuss in the comments below!