Electric Shadows (Delilah)

[Leann Lacey]

Noon.

The hateful rays of the enigmatic sun, unimpeded by any cloud, raged down upon the grass and clay field, and the shining aluminum bleachers and chain link fence of the football stadium on the high school's grounds. Despite the groundskeeper's best efforts, the clay was baked solid, cracking from dehydration, contributing a fine stream of irritating dust to every little breeze that attempted, with futility, to take the edge off of the summer midday heat. The grass, parched in its own way, crackled under the shoes of the cheerleading squad as they made their paces through summer cheer camp. The fence and the bleachers were unforgiving, doing their best impressions of skillets prepped for stir fry, only without the luxury of cooking oil. It was just as well; any oil applied would have burned right off.

It was a field bereft of players and fans. For the squad in practice, these were imaginary - as ordered and described by their coaches. The scoreboard was dead. The press box atop the bleachers a dark, silent, insular ghost town. A plastic bag - some remnant litter piece that had been missed in the final cleanup of last season - rolled along the bleacher stairs like tumbleweed in the desert. There was no spirit here, save the artificial creation being made on the field below. It was lonely. It was solitary. It was... lost.

Just like her.

Leann Dahlonega Lacey - former starlet, now self-imposed outcast - had, perhaps from habit, also made her way to the location for today's cheer practice. The pink-haired, green-and-white sailor "dress" clad young woman had perched herself in one of the highest portions of the bleachers, simply to observe. Tucked under the press box (for its minor shade was the only relief available from the hateful sun), she'd been at the sad practice of "not belonging" since practice had begun. Although it tugged at her heartstrings, Lee had, so far, remained quite passive. Watching friends, teammates, and new, unfamiliar faces alike was an excellent distraction, and she was quite thankful for it. In a way, she hoped the heat and the distraction would combine as a natural hypnotic and lull her to sleep.

It had been terribly hard to sleep since... the incident.

"Spread out a li'l, left side," She murmured, reaching up to tuck the police cap down over her eyes. "Right side, move forward in time... band's comin' through from that side..."

Her voice, hushed as it was, fell silent. Her mouth moved, however, lip-syncing the words to the chant that accompanied the squad's current movements and formation. The girls below weren't chanting, though. This was practice simply for the physical portion of the routine. All practice - no uniform, no pom poms, no megaphones.

And then, it was over.

"Alright, girls! Great job! A few more times through it, and we'll have it down pat. Let's everybody take about an hour break for lunch, then meet back up here at around 1:15. Since you guys have done such a great job all summer, we're probably gonna call it early today, alright? It's too damn hot out here!"

One of the coaches was breaking up practice. From her elevation, Lee could not be sure which of the coaches it was, but it didn't matter. The re-positioning and intermingling of the girls below told her it was "break" time. She gave a little sigh. It was probably time for her to leave, anyway. Left to their own devices below, it was inevitable that someone down there would look up and see her... and "recognition" was a burden she didn't want to bear or inflict on anyone else.

[Delilah Hawthorne]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, background-image: url('http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h99/houndoomXdelta/backgrounds/67522.png'); width: 415px;] [style=background-color: #615655; width: 355px; padding: 5px; color: #cacaca; text-align: justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px;]The weatherman was correct, today was going to be a scorcher. But there was the team, in the middle of the field, starting to get into the routine of thinking their fans and players were there, being told to use their imagination. Delilah looked up to sky, that was easier said than done, she felt sweat flow down her face and her back, they were doing well, but she would do anything for a break by now. A sweatband on both of her wrists, she wiped the sweat away before getting into their next position at the blow of a whistle. For now, Delilah was unaware of the small audience the cheer squad had received, not just someone who liked a girl from the squad but one of their own. Slowly the girls moved around, their syncing was improving with the new freshmen that had come for practice. Their coach talking to them, all chanting where they should go, so it would stick in their minds so they wouldn’t make any embarrassing mistakes during the season. Once finished with their routine, silence filled the area, a warm breeze came through. Their coach clapped, sunglasses hiding her eyes away from the glaring sun. Announcing it was break time, a sigh of relief left most of the girls’ lips. They formed into smaller groups murmuring about how excited they were if they could get out early and what their planners were for that day. Once more Delilah wiped away sweat, her eyes wandered up to the stands. This person was easy to spot, her eyes narrowed, not in anger but in curiosity and that dang sun. This pink haired person was Delilah’s only motivation and she would suddenly leave the scene. Slowly Delilah walked to stands and up those stares to the girl. “Dang it! Why the umpire saying my pitches are unfair!” Delilah looked up to pink haired girl; a sigh with a smile came out. “You need to make your pitch a little higher Lee; I’ve been telling you that.” “They’re as high as they can be!” Delilah shook her head. “Just trust me.” Once more Delilah sighed shaking her head. She then looked across to other team, her eyes narrowed, sensing their intent in a special away, through their minds. It seemed like the game would be in bag, Delilah didn’t like using her powers but she enjoyed seeing how different teams would react to a good pitcher/catcher relationship. “We’ll win this game.” Delilah looked over to the score board, one would say they were behind but then no one knew what fate would have in mind. That was only one part of their relationship, arguments at first but both would leave with smirks once one would calm the other down. The other was what Delilah was doing now; she stood out more because of her loud cheers, Delilah blamed the fact that they would argue and she was calmer than Leann. “Hey, it’s awesome to see you here. Why are you down there?” She stuck her thumb behind to the field which was getting abandoned quickly, the girls ready to relax for the hour. [/style][style=background-color: #615655; width: 355px; border-left: 5px solid #615655; border-right: 5px solid #615655; color: #a8a8a8; text-align: justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; border-top: 1px dashed #ffa858; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;] words;; 526 tags;; Leann notes;; Aaaand there it goes. credits;; ZETTA! of OTE[/style]

[Leann Lacey]

Spotted. Caught. Shackled to the spot.

Out of... fear.

It might have been scorching in the midday sun, but as soon as Leann realized that one of her teammates had seen her, her blood turned to icy slush. It solidified as soon she confirmed that it was Delilah that was approaching.

~*~Should have already run, should have already run, should have already run!~*~

The litany of paralytic indecision plagued the girl's mind as her trusted catcher climbed the stairs. It was... a difficult situation to say the least. It had been a silent whirlwind of events leading to this moment:

School was out when the accident on the yacht occurred. Delilah and the others had only learned about it through news reports. Leann's stay in the hospital had been in ICU, with no visitors, and she had escaped the medical confines as soon as she was able - again, due to fear. It was a tragedy in its own right.

And the pink-haired girl's disappearance from extracurriculars? No fancy speeches. No physical appearance came with the announcement whatsoever; a fact that was so blatantly out-of-character for who Leann had been that many alarms were raised in the minds of the faculty and, likely, her teammates as well. Instead, the abrupt delivery of physical letters to the cheer squad, the softball and gymnastics teams, and student council proclaimed her withdrawal:

Dear <insert organization/team name here>,

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I regretfully submit my resignation from all activities related to this organization. It has been my honor and pleasure to work and interact with you all, in all things, and I am certain that I have grown as a person because of my time involved with you. This decision has not come easily and although I can offer no details beyond what you have heard from media outlets and school officials, I assure you that it is a decision that I must make. I truly, deeply apologize for all of the problems this will likely cause you. I honestly don't wish to make things so difficult for you; none of you deserve that. Unfortunately, this is the only path I currently have available to me. I wish you good luck and much success moving forward.

Sincerely,

LDL.[/i]

Beyond the letter, everything about her had - save her usual green/white color scheme - changed. The police cap? A souvenir from her first electric run in with authorities. It represented her 'caged' mentality, and offered the solace of hiding her eyes while hopefully implying that she was "not a threat" - even though she knew that part was a lie. The sailor suit-style dress? Her own brand of "scarlet letter." After all, it was on the sea that the terror-she-was had been revealed. Ah, and the now seemingly ever-present inline skates? Her method of quick escape. It's not like she could afford a car and, honestly, even if she could, she was sure she'd simply fry it by accident.


All in all, she had become a ghost. Until this day, at least, she had not let anyone approach her. Yet, for some reason, Delilah had frozen her... temporarily. Seated in the bleachers, one knee pulled up to her chest, with her fingerless glove-clad hands folded around her ankle, Lee merely watched the other girl approach. Her face was mostly hidden by pink hair and the police cap, but she could feel the static energy rising around her. Her muscles were tense. All there was... was fear.

“Hey, it’s awesome to see you here. Why are you down there?” She stuck her thumb behind to the field which was getting abandoned quickly, the girls ready to relax for the hour.

Lee cringed.

~*~It's not awesome! You don't know how dangerous this is! I shouldn't even be here!~*~ went her mind, the image of green-tinged electricity wrapping the mental words in a maelstrom of destruction.

Luckily, no sparks were flying from her physical form and, out of respect, at least, Lee felt she had to... try to respond. Her head snapped up and she blinked, laboriously leaning backwards. She managed a decent enough look of surprise, though it was fake.

"Oh, uh, Delilah... uh, hi. I, er, didn't see you there," she lied, acting as if she had been lost in thought. "Um... looks like... everything's goin' well this summer, huh? Haha..."

She flashed a sad smile, avoiding Delilah's question completely. Her laugh had been nervous; forced. And now that she had spoken, it was taking everything in her power not to bolt from her spot beneath the press box and run - or skate - like hell away from the stadium.

[Delilah Hawthorne]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, background-image: url('http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h99/houndoomXdelta/backgrounds/67522.png'); width: 415px;] [style=background-color: #615655; width: 355px; padding: 5px; color: #cacaca; text-align: justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px;]Delilah moved more slowly now, the pink haired girls thoughts were know her own. She stood there, her head slightly cocked to the side, concern over flowed from her eyes. Delilah would stay out for known; Leann’s thoughts weren’t dangerous, at least to what Delilah knew so far. If they were still somewhere in the past, Delilah would be laughing at her face, the shock on would’ve been priceless; but since the girl practically fell off the face of the high school world it was now the opposite. She had seen the news, read letter that was given for the student council and it just didn’t feel right to Delilah. This was a rivalry a kind of bond that is even strong than any friendship. Yet here it was, a broken friendship and Delilah was bored now, not out of selfishness but the fact that most of her energy now went into two different relationships, Leann’s and now Eli’s. Delilah refused to believe that Leann would drop like that from everything that she loved. Seeing her like this was like a shell of her former self. Here they were, as if they were taking advantage of the now given break. The waiting was slightly killing her inside. That was until she was give another thought. It’s not awesome! You don’t know how dangerous this is! I shouldn’t even be here! The spark that flew from her thoughts made Delilah flinch back almost as if she had actually been shocked by Leann. Delilah brought her hand up to her forehead, rubbing to sooth the mental pain. Delilah sighed softly and smiled. “Yeah, everything’s splendid. It would be even better if you were there.” It took a lot of power for Delilah to not grit her teeth and mumble out the last and it was the truth, most of the older girls were kind of down that their star had left the team. “Moral’s slightly down, you’ve put a lot on my plate now.” Delilah crossed her arms and cocked her head once more. “What have you been up to this summer?” Her eyes narrowed, knowing that Lee could lie. The only question now was how would she get her to tell the truth without revealing her own power? [/style][style=background-color: #615655; width: 355px; border-left: 5px solid #615655; border-right: 5px solid #615655; color: #a8a8a8; text-align: justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; border-top: 1px dashed #ffa858; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;] words;; 377 tags;; Leann notes;; sorry, muse is kind of down atm. credits;; ZETTA! of OTE[/style]

[Leann Lacey]

~*~It would be better if you were there. Morale's slightly down, you've put alot on my plate now.~*~

Leann's thoughts provided a sad echo of Delilah's words, adding a splash of guilt to the pink-haired girl's fear splattered disposition. Though it hurt a bit, it did not cause her to move. She felt it safer to remain static, believing that not tempting emotional movement would somehow safeguard Delilah from an accidental discharge. Perhaps it was the right decision, as no sparks flew forward, but the focus on remaining still also delayed a verbal response. Delilah asked about the ongoings of the summer break before Lee could comment on the morale and activities of the squad.

~*~Running. Wishing Mama would wake up. Knowing it's my fault she's like that in the first place. Hiding. If anyone knew that I was a monster, I'd...~*~

She couldn't finish the end of her final thought. She honestly didn't know how to. Additionally, she knew she needed to say something - the stress of remaining silent was worrying her just as much as her own thoughts were.

"Uh, well... I've... spent a lot of time at the hospital. Heh... I keep thinkin' one day I'll walk in and... it'll all be better again, but..." Her head dropped slightly, allowing her to rest her chin on her raised knee. "I mean... the doctors aren't very... optimistic. S-so, so... I've sorta been tryin' to think about... what to do next. I... I guess I ought to... be out lookin' for a job... or somethin'. Mama's money ain't gonna last forever..."

She closed her eyes.

~*~Don't worry, Lee. You told the truth. That's all true. It makes sense, too, right? Just so long as you leave out the parts about electrocuting people and nearly burning down the house a half-dozen times, everything'll be fine.~*~

Mental self-consolation wasn't really working so well for her.