Tales of Lucidrid

Chapter 8

       Delilah woke up that morning before the sun came up. When Delilah crawled out of the tent everyone was already getting packed and ready to leave. She walked over to Genevieve and greeted her. "Morning." Delilah groaned. Genevieve smiled and giggled. "You tired?" She asked sarcastically. Delilah nodded and a slight smile crept across her face. "You think?" Delilah groaned.

The two laughed and Delilah started helping to pack up. Helen walked out the house and greeted everyone. They all waved back and slightly smiled. Helen started to help pack up the tents and blankets while everyone went over the plan one last time. After they were done packing up Helen walked over to Delilah and gave her a light tap on the shoulder. "You were my favorite fan." Helen whispered. Delilah smiled knowing she put her heart and soul into that book so when Helen said that it gave Delilah a sudden feeling of happiness.

It had been hours and they were still walking. That night the group wasn't planning on sleeping, so by morning, they would be there. Because of that Helen brought a bunch of sweets with them like chocolate, baked goods, and more. Delilah was sure she was going to fall asleep while walking. She was used to getting to go to bed at a reasonable time every night but the night ahead she wouldn't even get to go to bed.

Delilah was scared so she grabbed Marcus and Jacob's hands and squeezed them tight as she could. The boys didn't seem to mind at all. Maybe Delilah wasn't as strong as she thought. Genevieve unzipped Delilah's backpack and grabbed some sandwiches. She tore them in half and gave everyone half of a sandwich so they could have the other halves for dinner. Everybody gobbled up their lunch beside Helen who was looking at her half unsurely.

Genevieve signaled for Helen to eat and that's when Helen gobbled her sandwich in one mouthful. Delilah started to think about how long it had been for her parents. Yeah it had only been about three to four days since she had been in the lost Lucidrid but time was different here than it was there. Delilah squeezed even harder on the boys' hands causing them both to flinch. "Sorry." Delilah said looking from side to side at the boys. Delilah loosened their hands and went on.

Five more hours had passed. The slightest sign of night was showing. The bright moon started to appear in the daylight. You could tell the sun was almost setting. "The sunsets in Lucidrid are so beautiful." Sean spoke, breaking the soft silence. Even though he talked about the sunset it was clear he was staring at Genevieve. Blushed filled her cheeks the same with Sean's. Helen was on the verge of tears looking at the two. Delilah noticed Jacob and Marcus staring longingly at her as they said "Yeah." in sync. Delilah started to blush as well, feeling more safe than ever.

The sun had finally left the sky the only thing you could see was darkness. Everyone was looking quite tired besides Helen who was wide eyed and ready for action. She looked like a bug. Every now and then you would hear Helen yell "Wake up!" Which woke the group up but not for long. Finally Helen unzipped Delilah's backpack and pulled out one sweet for everyone. She gave them the most delicious looking dark chocolate in the world that came in tiny cubes. "Take small bites." Helen said before anyone could even lick the chocolate. Following her instructions everyone took extremely small bites until the chocolate was gone.

The sweets sure did help. It was like eating ten energy bars in one minute. The sleepiness of everyone's eyes had disappeared. All there was left was five extremely energetic teens and their "mentor". The only light you could see was the glistening of the stars and moon. You could hear an occasional "Who" of the owls and the chirps of the crickets. Delilah was staring into the night sky, mesmerized by the moon. Her heart started to beat fast, and her hands started to sweat. Her face started to get hot. Next thing she knew her eyes closed and it went black.

Delilah woke up, her head on a stump while being surrounded by the group. She quickly got up and stood still as a stone. "Are you ok?" Marcus asked frantically. "Yes." Delilah said trying to make her response as short and simple as possible. "Can we just keep going." Everyone nodded even though they all looked extremely worried. Even Helen. They kept walking when the sun started to creep up. The sky turned a beautiful orange color. The same as when the sun set the day before.

Every once in a while Jacob would peak over at Delilah to make sure she was ok. Everything was off now. Ever since Delilah blacked out it felt like she was close to something extremely unexpected. It was weird but it kept banging at her from the inside. It kept saying, Something is wrong, something is wrong. Delilah kept closing her eyes to try and get the voice out of her head but it was impossible.

Finally they were there. Back in town ready to take on the Mayor. Helen stopped frozen at the edge of the woods for a long time realizing this would be her first time entering this town since her book came out nine years ago. Finally she signaled for everyone to get in their places and they did just that. Genevieve headed to the Mayor's home, the boys went to start knocking on people's doors, and Delilah followed Helen into the town center.

Helen pulled the note from her pocket and gave it to Delilah. She clutched the note as tight as she could and took a deep breath in. They went to town center and grabbed a few barrels to stand on. People started to stir and walk into town center as the boys were knocking on their doors. Everyone had the same reaction when they saw Helen. They froze and stared. Once almost everyone was there the boys signaled for Delilah to start reading.

"Everyone!" Delilah started. "You have been brought here today to find out the truth about Helen Mell. It wasn't her fault your stories and secrets were spilled it was your Mayor's." Everyone gasped until an angry voice from the crowd shouted, "Proof?" Delilah nodded. "In fact there is proof and I will read it to you right here right now. Dear Helen, I was wondering if you could write about a few certain people in this town of your choice and the history of this town. This book will be put out beyond the walls of hidden Lucidrid. Good luck. From Marissa." The crowd gasped as Delilah showed them the handwriting. Then Helen started. "You see the Mayor and I were best friends before something occurred that made her hate me. She told me to write this book to sabotage me. To make the town think I betrayed them."

All of a sudden the Mares door busted open. Delilah couldn't believe what she was seeing. "What is going on?!" The Mayor shouted. That's when the Mayor made eye contact with Delilah. "Mom..." She stuttered. "Delilah? What are you doing here?" Delilah's mom asked. Before Delilah could continue fists started pounding the air and everyone was yelling. "Kick her out! Kick her out!" It was the angry townspeople. "No!" Delilah's mom screamed.

That's when Delilah woke up in her bed. She jumped up and gasped. "It was all fake?" She said with disbelief. She was on the verge of tears when she decided to go down stairs hoping her parents would cheer her up. Her mom was making breakfast while her dad sat on the couch drinking coffee. She walked over to her mom and greeted her. Her mom hugged her while she whispered in her ear, "If you ever talk about hidden Lucidrid again you will pay."

                                                                       The End