Fan Fiction ❯ The Middle of Somewhere ❯ Somewhere ( Chapter 1 )

Hi again! I know I'm not doen with either of the other stories I've written. Bad me! But This was done quite a while ago and refelected certain feelings at the time. I got a few comments here and there and due to some other encouraging comments here at MM.org, I've decided to post it! It's only a One-Shot, so ya dun hafta worry about my procrastination. Yay! And I realize that once again, this fic hasn't many names. I'm sorry. And if there are grammar mistakes and whatnot, it is because I lack a beta. I try to fix these as best as possible, but I suck at it. XP!!

Disclaimer: MINE!!! ::Does the possessive dance:: Hee hee. I'm proud of this one. -^^- So if you want ahold of it, I ask that you ASK ME!!! I wanna know who appreciates these soooo mcuh they wanna have it for themselves! My one requirement is that you ask. So do, please!

Another hopeless night. Why she even bothered any more was beyond her at this point Her paren's had kicked her out of their house just because she slept with Josh. Not that they really needed reason in the first place. They openly dispised her now that she wasn't small enough to beat into submission anymore. Most of the people she hung with had already gone, whether ODing on purpose or accidnet, or running away. It didn't matter. They were gone.

She looked skywards. The sun still had a few hours to make it's daily appearance. She set the pack in her hand down in the dirt by the road. She had been hoping all night for it not to rain. Highways didn't usually offer much shelter. She rooted in her baggy pants for some form of relief, hoping maybe Josh hadn't taken her last blunt. Her hand encountered something. He had taken the blunt, but at least he had left her a new pack of cigs as a consolation gift. She siged adn opened it up, digging her trusty lighter from somewhere in the huge army jacket. She lit one up, put the rest back and leaned so that her body tilted upwards. The stars held nothing in their bright depths. She took a big drag adn let the smoke drift from her nostrils into the breezy air. She grabbed her pack again by the top and began to drift north.

It was odd, really. Of the few cars whizzing by, none came close to slowing to see what the pathetic roadside teens was wandering around on a deserted highway for. She took another small puff and dropped the cig under her heel. For the first time in two days , a car passing by slowed adn stopped near her. She continued walking. A man stuck his head out of the window.

"Kid. What the hell are you doing out here?" His hat and glasses caused her to give him a second look. It was a cop. Doubtless he was going to end up recognizing her for robbing that drug-store with Wiseguy, or for any of the number of other crimes she had pulled off with her comrades. It didn't matter really. She was going to end up caught or dead one way or another, right? So she stopped next to the car. She slowly turned to face the seemingly concerned man. He sucked in a bit of breath when she faced him.

Her face had become filthy, dirt clogging every pore possible. Her half-starved body was dwarfed by her normally huge and now enormous clothing. Her hair ahd framed her face in straggly thin strands. Red marks traced down her cheeks where she had cried the staining tears of the newest drug Burnweed. Her nose was broken in two places and hadn't healed right. Her black eyes were more obvious in the glare of passing headlights than in normal daylight. And the cuts from her fathers rings had become infected.

"Fuck..." he whispered. She could see the pity and similar expressions flying across his face. She began to walk again, but a hand on her arm stopped that. "Kid, I probably don't wanna know where the hell you got to be lookin like that, but you need help." It was hard for her not to laugh. That was teh most obvious statement she'd heard in a long while. As it was, she choked up some sort of laughter that sounded more like a diseased cough. The guy in the cop car seemed to grow more conserned. "I'm serious. I can get you the help you need. Just get into the car, okay?" He seemed really nice. She just didn't want to trust him yet. So she decided to mess with his head a little.

In a raspy voice, she spoke in a creepy tone. "Can you get help for Rath? Naomi? Those who have gone before...." She hadn't meant to, but now tears began to drip down her cheeks. Rath had died months ago, why was she crying over him now? The cop began to look tired. Oddly, he hadn't sped off yet. Instead, he now got out of his car and over to her side of the vehicle.

"Look. kid. I'm offering you a chance. Don't you wanna get another chance?" he asked gently, putting his hand gently on her upper arm and bending to get a good look at her features. Her red tears stood out firmly in the glare of the passing cars headlights. She sniffled and stared at the man. The question was difficult. Did she really want help? Did she really want to wander into eternity as a messed up kid? The only answer she could come up with was: Would Rath really want the offer?

The answer was of course no. Rath could take care of himself. He had taken care of himself and more, taking in the strays that needed it. The cop was looking at her, waiting for an answer. She could only turn and look blankly. "Rath was waitning for me.......at the diner......" She said bronkenly. The cop could only assume this Rath person was going to take care of her. So he offered up a small smile.

"Do you want me to drive you over there? "He asked ver kindly. Her mouth fell open a little bit, that blank look still there.

"Yeah........I would." The cop patted her arm and led her over to the passenger side of the car. There was only one diner in this direction, so when he started the car, he drove toward April's Late-Night.

"So who is this Rath?" He asked, tryign to find out some more information. The girl leaned her head against the window and stared out of the windsheild. She was feeling even more fucked than normal...weird. Realizing he probably wasn't going to get an answer, he tried a different tactic. "Okay, what's your name?" he asked, still being nice.

"Uhm," she answered. Damn, now she couldn't remember her own name. That Burnweed must have had more effects than Rath siad. He had called her cherie before he had gone away. Maybe that was it? She'd find out later. She should probably use that one for now. "Yeah.......I think it's Sherry."

The cop was polite enough not to ask about the first part. The rest of the short ride was silent. He parked next to the door for her and she got out. He handed her a card with something on it, a number to cxall, she thought he siad. She wasn't able to pay attention. She took it all the same and stuffed it into one of the many pockets and waved absently at the man as he pulled out and drove away. What was she going to do again? It came to her slowly standing in the neon glow of the sign anouncing a breakfast deal. She had been going...somewhere. Maybe she was hoping to find Rath, or Naomi, or that little kid she hadn't really known that well. Maybe Josh was waiting for her by now. She shrugged and reached for her pack.Her hand found nothing. She looked around slowly, wondering who had stolen it. Or had she lfet it in the cop's car? No, he would've said something. Then she realized it must still be on the raodside. Pity. She had the last of her money and lighter fluid in there. Some late-night folks in the all night diner were looking at her funny, so she decided to move on.

She paused when she got to the road. Was she going up it or down? It didn't really matter. If she was going to find Rath, she'd bump into him. Or maybe Naomi would hug her from behind as that kid laughed at a joke that made no sense. She turned right and began slogging. The town road eventually turned into a wider road. A few drunken yahoos were catcalling out of the windows, but she din't think they were whistling to her. She just kept on. Eventually the sun began to show. SHe noticed a bit of light suddenly and looked up at the beacon. Funny, she was looking right at it, but her eyes didn't hurt. Naomi would be laughing at her if she told her that. But the longer she looked at the glowing orb, the clearer it became. She could see Sparks, the cat she'd had a few years ago that they had renamed becaus eit died when Rath started his old Bug with itt under the hood. It was busy chasing something. Now she knew something freaky was up. Why did she care about that stupid cat? She shook her head and stared her pace again. She found herself slowly veering off course, straight towards the road. They few folks on it screeched to a halt as she did her best drunk impression across the asphalt. She continued wobbling even as she came to the end of it. Somehow or the other, she ende up face-down in a clump of roadside brush. It was really cold. She dragged the amy jacket close and dug for her pack and lighter. Dragginf on out with her teeth, she tried to ignite the flame. Again and again it sputtereedd out. She shook it. She was out of fluid. Damn. Giving up on the smoking idea, she chucked the lighter and cig into the undergrowth. She was shivering under the coat. It wasn't that cold out, was it? She shut her eyes and tried to remeber what joke the kid had been laughing at. She couldn't even remember who told it.

The next thing she noticed was a sharper drop in temperature and a sharper intensity of light. She was no longer staring the sun in the face, rather it was abover her now. She got up, keepping the jacket close to her thin worn body, adn staggered towards the shorter roadside grass. Her legs had pains shooting through her calves and her heels hurt. After a moment of standing awkwardly, she figured a cig would be nice. It wasn't until she had pulled out the pack and had begun reaching for the lighter that she remembered it was dead. Her hand brushed against something interesting, though. It was a crumpled sheet of stiff paper. On one side was an insignia of sorts, on the other a number and a name. She read it and forgot it as she scrathced absently at the infected flesh on her cheek. Somone nice had given it to her. Maybe she'd try the number. Later. For now she was ccontent to wander. _+_+_+

~*~ NEXT DAY ~*~

Someone had reported a body on the side of Frinkin Street. The dispatcher told the guy to stay put while she called the department. Officer Jordan was the onyl guy on duty at the moment,and th9is being a small office, he posted a note, locked the building and hopped into his car. When he got to the place phoned in, he found the caller smoking in the back of his pick-up.

"You called and said something about a body?" Jordan asked conversationally. The guy nodded and stubbed the cig out under his boot-heel.

"Yup. 'S sittin there. Am Ah free to go? Ah promised mah wife an boy Ah'd be here this weekend." the man asked while pointing toward the brush on the roadside.

"Uhm, sure. Just sign this form so we can get in touch if we need to, okay sir?" The amn filled it out and handed it back. Jordan strode over to it to see what he could see. It didn't seem to be much more than a pile of clothing. He could see some ratty hair pokking out of teh top of the huge jacket. A hand was holding on to a little peice of paper. He went back to the car and pulled out some caution tape. Stringing it around the body, he got up, waved the man off, and radioed the station to se about getting some investigaters out here.

~*~A FEW WEEKS LATER ~*~

Melanie came to sit by Bernie for their coffee break. Somethiiing had been bugging her. She pecked his cheek as she handed him a mug and sat down.

"Hey, Bernie? Did you hear about that kid that died a few weeks back>?" The man seemed to go over events in his head. It paused upon something and he nodded.

"Yeah, I think I do. That teenager just inside city limits?"

"Yeah. The investigation came up with a paper with your name and number on it, remember?"

"That's the one! Poor kid. Tried to help her. She seemed pretty vacant. Said somethin about meeting a frien named Rath."

"They say she died of starvation, exposure, and drugs." she said quietly. Bernie smiled up at her and patteed her growing belly.

"Don't you go worryin if that'll happen to ours. Get me?" he asked sternly, but gently. She smiled and reached over for a hug. They sat like that for the rest of the break.

_+_+_+SOMEWHERE_+_+_+

She was once more walking along a road. This one seemed different somehow. She didn't dwelll on it, just kept walking. She could hear that stupid kid laughing. She remembered that it was Josh who was telling the joke about the AMerican Leprechaun and she felt proud about it. Someone fell into step next to her. She loked up to see Rath's barely tanned features grinning into her own.

"Hey babe. If Josh says anything stupid, ignore him, k?" he told her, swinging an arm over her shoulder. She pulled his hand closer to her breast and nodded.

"Ya mad at me fer sleepin with him?" she asked carefully. He just grinned down at her.

"Naw! I tol ya, I wantcha ta be happy whether I'm there with ya or not!" He said, making it seem obvious.Naomi popped up on her other side, draping her arm over her other shoulder.

"Hey kiddo! 'Ja have fun without us?" she asked cheerfully.

Eventually the kid loped into step, dodging around them. She was glad to remember that his name was Zach. Josh didn't really say anything, but they understood. They went down the road, chatting with each other, catching up with old news. And even after the road had wound off into smoke, they continued. Forever.

A special THANKIES goes out to those who have reviewed and given me the confidence to post this. I give you huggles and pocky. ARIGATO! To those who wish to have special mention, REVIEW PWEASE! It's not required but it does do so much for the ego!

Tris: Which was swollen as it was before...

Chibi: Party pooper. You'll be out of a job if nobody reviews....

Tris: O.O Ooops! Forget what I said before! I need this gig.