The Power Of Night

The Reality

On Monday, the students of Delaney's high school started there first day.

And unfortunately for Delaney, things carried on... She indeed did step foot back into a school. On the first day, the halls echoed a sort of emptiness, the guiltiness gave Delaney an overshadowing of bittersweet triumph. As the school was mourning, she at least , was living.

Carter had left something for her,
an atmosphere.

Though his death left her with pain, he taught her that the pain had to be faced. Like ripping off an adhesive bandaid to grow a new skin.

Delaney still wasn't cured.
Some days she would thank beloved Carter, others she would curse his grave. Blaming him ,again, for everything.

He'd done it after all, gave up his last night for her, forced her to read at his funeral, exposing her raw grief.
To everyone.

Because of him, everyone knew who Delaney was.
The hallway wasn't an empty wasteland that Delaney drifted through like poisoned ground, people's faces recognized her. They smiled at her. Worst of all, they knew her name.

Hi, Delaney.

Their eyes said when they met hers.

Others spoke to her face, saying

"You knew Carter."

Or

"You're the one who spoke at his funeral."

Everything they said was true, but they would never know the truth of that night.

They would always know her as the poet.
Only Carter would ever know her for what she truly was: the jumper. That's one thing Carter could never change.
When Delaney wants something, she goes all in. Let's her entire self carried her with one leap of faith.

Delaney had pride in herself, she was finding things to be happy about. But she knew she wasn't the special one to come out of this, not yet anyways.

Carter was the one to give his life, as Delaney was the one to finally take it.

Delaney every so often would see Brady Sakmar in the hallway. There eyes would touch for half a second and then split like it never happened.

She wanted to thank him for her jacket, even though she didn't need it as much anymore.

There was no use hiding when everyone could already see her.

She wondered how he was doing, if the same sad lingered in him still.

But the two distanced each other from themselves. They both knew a different side to the story of Carter's last night.

But for now they were separate.

A week had gone by, it was Friday again. A seven day anniversary to Carter's death and Delaney's birth.

It was a quick passage of time, but only because most who experienced it sleptwalked right through it like a dream.

Seven days in a world without Carter.

But for Delaney, she started to see a lot more of him.

The way people treated each other now that he was gone, they all got a piece of his kindness.

Everyday she passed the baseball fields and remembered how much he wanted to play again.

How every night, the stars would come out , and she'd swore that his face flickered into the night's light.

And now it was a Friday night again, and she would feel him in the night whatever way she could.

But then, the worst occurred.

It was the end of the day, only hours till night fall.

The speaker in the hallway rang a static buzz through the school.

"It is my greatest sadness to express yet another loss to this school. "

Delaney heard.

And she knew. Somehow she just knew.

She doesn't have much time.

Delaney remembered Carter saying, in back of Delaney's mind remained a hole that somehow Bella would recover and live a life she was meant to. But no.

They announcments rang across the school saying she had passed away.

She lost it. Her grip on this life.
Delaney thought that maybe if Bella could stay alive with the disease. Delaney could stay alive with hers.

But Bella had jumped. Leaped off her on bridge after a long hard anticipation. She was gone. And so was Carter.

Once again Delaney's feet carried her , instead of a jumper, she once again, became a runner.