Rain sat at the edge of her bed, staring blankly at the patterns the sun created as its rays passed through the window pane. It was still morning, so the low sun created long, room-spanning artistry with the shadows it produced. But even the odd shapes of the shadows couldn't move the images of the night before out of her mind.
She was too overwhelmed to move, she didn't even want to blink. Her eyes stayed open until her vision got blurry. But her blurred vision took her back to the frosty sight her strangling brought her, and Rain forced herself to blink and right her sight once more.
A light tapping on her door didn't shake her out of her horrified trance. It wasn't until the knocking moved onto pounding that she was shaken out of her stupor. She spun quickly to see Ben standing in her doorway, staring apologetically at her. Her eyes aimed towards the floor, she didn't know what to say to him, or how to say it.
"You still wanna go home?" he wondered softly, doubting she'd even hear his words.
"Yeah," she replied immediately, even quieter than him. "I just want to leave. I just want to see my family again."
"We can probably get you home tonight if you want," Ben suggested.
"That'd be great," she nodded, her eyes finally coming up to meet his. "Thank you."
"There is something I need to ask you first," Ben sauntered reluctantly into her room, "something important."
"What is it?"
"What are you gonna tell people when they ask where you were?" Ben inquired. "I don't know if you know, but there's a lot of media coverage of all of this. They're not gonna settle for a simple answer. They're gonna want to know everything about what happened. And, Rain, you gotta lie. I don't care what it is, but you gotta lie about what happened all this time. About everything, nothing can come back to what actually happened. Can you do that?"
"Of course I can," Rain nodded. "I wasn't planning on telling the truth anyway. Of course I'll lie."
"What are you gonna say? It's gotta be air tight," Ben asked, knowing his fear was beginning show in his voice.
"I can just say I've been on the streets the whole time," Rain answered. "I'll say I slept in random alleys, dug through trash to get food, all that hobo shit. I won't say a damn thing about the hotel, about you or Vin, Joe, or Dando, I won't say anything about this. I sure as hell won't talk about the KC Devils."
"You gotta make sure you don't, understand?" Ben was nearly pleading with her. "You have no idea how important it is."
"I think I do, Ben."
"I really don't think you do."
"I will be fine, don't worry," Rain assured him with a sure smile.
"And your story has to stay straight, you gotta practice it. If you change it up, they'll catch onto that. You need to keep it straight," Ben implored.
"I'll keep it straight, Ben, I keep telling you not to worry. I can handle this."
"Okay," Ben nodded nervously, "okay. I trust you," he tried to hide his fright. He knew he wasn't doing much good. Very little sleep came his way the night before, he spent all night worrying that Vin might eventually side with Joe. This fear was still with him, and probably would be until Rain was back home.
"Can I ask you a question?" Rain finally rose off the bed.
"Sure," Ben nodded, still occupied with his thoughts.
"You think we'll ever run into each other?" Rain inquired. "You think I'll see any of you guys again?"
"Kansas City is a big place," Ben pointed out. "Earth is even bigger. But, I'm sure we'll cross paths at some point again."
"How do you know?"
"I don't, I guess," Ben shrugged. "I guess I have a bit of faith that we will. There too much life left, so many opportunities left. There's no way we won't run into each other again someday," he smiled.
"Makes sense," she returned his smile, "let's hope its a bit sooner rather than later."
"Well," Ben looked at his watch, "Deacon needs more Delicate Rain. That stuff is flying off the shelves," he chuckled. "You gonna be alright around here by yourself?"
"Yeah," Rain nodded, "I should probably be packing up anyway."
"Good point," he chuckled, heading for the door, "I'll see you tonight," he waved before heading out.
Now that she was alone, Rain knew exactly what she was going to do, but it wasn't packing. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her red notebook once again.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I never thought these words would be coming out of me when I left, but I'm coming back home. Of course, you'll know that really soon, and you'll for sure know by the time you actually read all of this. Just know, I had a lot of emotions when I started this journal, I didn't mean anything I said, you've got to believe that, and don't hold that stuff against me.
A lot has happened in just the last few hours. I can't tell you about it, I can never tell you. Just know that what happened changed my mind. I don't want that life I thought I did. All I want is to see you guys again, live in my old house again, and sleep in my own bed again. I guess I should be hoping that you'll accept me back and not end up sending me to that academy after all. I know you won't believe it at first, but I just want to stay home. I don't want to go out every night, some very bad stuff happens at night around here. I just want to stay home and see you. That's not too much to ask, is it? I hope not.
Yours truly,
Delicate Rain
It was at this point that Rain noticed another set of light taps on her door frame. Her head shot up from the journal to see Vin standing in the doorway, an odd smile on his face.
"Hey," she greeted, shutting the notebook swiftly.
"What have you got there?" he wondered curiously, wandering over to her.
"Just a journal," she shrugged. "Just something to keep track of my thoughts for all this. But I guess I won't need it for much longer now. I'm sure Ben told you I'm planning on going home."
"Keeping track of your thoughts, huh?" Vin eyed the red cover of the notebook, suspicion in his gaze.
"Don't worry," Rain explained quickly, "I didn't put anything incriminating in here or anything, you can check," she held the journal out to him.
After a moment, Vin took the book and opened up to the latest, seconds-old entry. He scanned through it, his face staying blank until he got to the end. His brow raised just before he shut the notebook and handed it back to her.
"'Yours truly, Delicate Rain'," he peered at her. "Interesting ending."
"Yeah," she nodded with a laugh, "it's a long story."
"I'm sure," Vin nodded, heading slowly back to the door.
"Leaving already?" Rain wondered.
"I've got a lot of work to do today," Vin replied, slinking into the hallway. "And don't you have work to do too? You should be packing up, getting ready to go home, shouldn't you?"
"Good point," she smiled, putting the journal back in her pack. By the time she looked back up, Vin had gone. He came and went so quickly, she couldn't help but wonder what he even wanted. After a moment she shrugged it off as nothing and sent her mind off on other things.
Finally succumbing to the suggestions, Rain decided to begin packing her things. It didn't take her long to do. Everything fit just as well into her backpack as it had when she first shoved it in hurriedly before slipping out of her window and into the night life that now consumed her.
With everything swiftly packed away, Rain couldn't help but smile. She was doing something she swore she would never do just days earlier. She was going home. She was going to see her parents again. It was a good feeling, surprisingly better than Delicate Rain.
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