Running Away

Chapter 7: Nightmares

Diesel's POV

"Delilah!" I heard. I looked around, and there was this boy. I had no idea who he was, but he kept coming closer to me. I was in the gymnasium of my old school, all alone. Just me, a random stranger, and empty space.

Not a good sign.

"Wha-what do you want?" I said, near to bursting into tears. I backed away, slowly, but the school gymnasium I was in was too open. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I pressed my body against a wall, my hands rubbing against the worn brick.

"You think you can run from me, Delilah? Run from me like the baby you are? Well, get this. You're a freak, Delilah, and you always have been. And you always will be. You have two options. You can live and live with the knowledge that everyone in the entire state of Connecticut always has and always will hate you. "

"I have the Deetzes!"

"The who? Aww, must be some invisible friend of yours, huh?" the boy said, coming closer to me. I turned around, and said, "I have Lydia! I have Delia! I have Barbara and Adam!" Stupid me, thinking that listing off the people that actually loved me would save me.

"You're pathetic." the boy said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a pair of scissors, and I knew I was done for.

I was never raised to fight. Be seen and not heard. But what if my life was literally in danger? Then what should I do?

My only instinct was to scream. As soon as the random boy picked up his scissors to stab me, I screamed with all my might.

_____

I shot awake in my bedroom, breathing heavily. Did I actually scream? Or was it just in my dream?

Either way, no one was awake. I know the Deetzes well enough to know that they would come down to me if they heard me screaming.

No, I couldn't go back to sleep. It was terrifying to me.

I climbed up to the attic and knocked on the door. Barbara opened it, and saw me crying.

"Diesel? What's wrong?"

Adam seemed to know what was going on, and said, "Did you have a nightmare?"

I nodded, and Barbara let me sit on her lap. "What happened?"

"Well, um, this boy was about to stab me. That's all I remember." I said with a shaky voice.

"Oh my God." Barbara said to Adam, who nodded. "Diesel, honey, do you want to stay in here for the rest of the night?"

I nodded, and Barbara was just about to rock me to sleep when Adam said, "We have Chinese."

I sighed, and said, "I'm not hungry." Adam put away the take out bag of Chinese and Barbara started singing to me and rocking me back and forth.

I eventually fell asleep.

______

It was 6:00 in the morning. I opened my eyes, still curled up in Barbara's lap.

"Well, she's a ghost." I laughed to myself. "I don't think my body weight would get too heavy for her anyway."

Barbara and Adam woke up and Barbara looked at me and said, "Hey, Diesel, you want some breakfast?"

I sighed and said, "Sure."

Adam decided to make some oatmeal, which I was fine with. I loved oatmeal. Adam handed it to me, and Barbara made me get up so she could work on her garden. That was fine too.

"So, you still gonna take me up on the offer from last night?" Adam said, poking me in the side. He started to tickle me and I fell to hysterics.

"A-Adam!" I said, hardly being able to breathe from the laughter. "It's 6:30 in the morning, and I just ate!"

"Glad to see Diesel's back to her old self again!" Barbara said.

I heard a knock on the door and there was Lydia. "Oh, hey Diesel. We were checking for you in your bedroom, but you weren't there. Delia said you'd be up here. And she was right!"

I kept laughing, and Lydia said, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, Diesel had a nightmare last night and she seemed pretty shaken up by it, so I decided to tickle her when she woke up to help keep her spirits up." Adam said. He then looked at me laughing my butt off and said, "And it's working!"

"You're a good dad, Adam. Diesel and I are lucky, right sis?" Lydia said.

"Adam! Quit tickling me!" I said in between breaths. When he finally stopped and I caught my breath, I said, "Yeah. He and Barbara seem to love me as one of their own kids."

Barbara and Adam looked at each other sadly. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Barbara walked over to me, squeezed my hand, and said, "No, Diesel! You did nothing wrong. It's just that...when we met Lydia, we took care of her like she was one of our own. But now that we have you, a girl with such a caring spirit and a kind heart who went through almost the same thing Lydia did, we realized we had two 'daughters,' not just Lydia."

I smiled, and hugged Barbara. "I love you!" I said without thinking.

"We love you too." Adam said, joining in on the hug.

"Yeah, I do too. And so do Dad and Delia." Lydia also said. "Also, why wouldn't I love you? You're my little sister."

"Thanks guys." I smiled.

"Always." Barbara, Adam, and Lydia said at the same time.

AN: Ahh, I'm back! And the Maitlands are back in the story! I love them! Sorry if this chapter was a bit dark. I hope you enjoy this story and Diesel herself. Also, thanks to everyone who's voted on this story! I never expected to get such high rankings. Also this story has 64 reads. W H A T??? I hope you're enjoying! Catch ya later! 💕✌😁