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Library Child- Chapter 15: And to that, Good night!
"Bye guys!" Fiera waved as she left her friends behind. It had been a week since the play and her popularity had risen by a considerable amount but still, she was content with her old friends. The week had been balmy and hopeful. Fiera was still living in the Library downstairs boiler room and working as a part time clerk but she was living her dream. Oh shoot, I'm going to be late! She checked the watch Li had given her before when she turned up late for their first date.
Her grin grew even bigger as she thought about her boyfriend. They were officially dating, much to the chagrin of Li's fan girls and Feral. Of course, the latter didn't say anything, for fear of his girlfriend's wrath. Of course, Fiera hoped, he was beginning to accept Li... At least Feral wasn't threatening to strangle Li everyday now.
"I'm here!" Fiera exclaimed quietly as she burst through the door of the entrance, where she slipped behind the desk to check in with the main office and get her hours billed. Cheerily, she greeted the head of the library who took her sheet with a smile
"Sir, you cannot go back there!" She heard Mrs. Desleri's voice exclaim firmly as the loud foot steps rang nearer to the door. It caused both her and the head librarian to look up in surprise. "Sir, you-"
"Is a certain Miss Elissa Morrissa here?" A burly police officer demanded, his eyes scanning the two people. Another two policemen, one fat, one skinny and Matron was standing behind him while Mrs. Desleri continued to protest, ignored, in the background.
"She is," Fiera was no longer uncomfortable using her old name, now that Mortimer was in Jail. "I am Elissa."
"I'm afraid you'll have to come with us, Miss," The police officer stated, "Even though your uncle killed your parents, you are still an orphan under the care of Miss. Fiona here," he smiled at Matron who smiled back, her smile forced.
"No!" she screamed, scrambling behind the desk. Her boss only looked at her in shocked amazement.
"I'm sorry, Miss, but that's how it is," firmly, the burly officer grasped her wrist and started dragging her out the office door, aided by the fat one. Fiera reached out and tried to grapple onto something, anything, but his arm was too strong. Pulling her through the front doors and into the car, Fiera stopped resisting after a sharp pinch from Matron's talons.
Gloomily, she stared out the tinted windows. Matron was riding in the back with her, smiling fakely at the officers who were taking them back. The Fat officer not driving was lecturing her, but Fiera didn't care to listen.
"You know, Miss, you should be glad that some one is still looking out for you after the arrest of your uncle," he continued babbling on about how lucky she was to have some where to go, some place to eat and be happy. Matron added an occasional simpering little "yes" and looked so smug that by the time the two officers dropped them off at the door of the orphanage, she was ready to strangle one or both the fat officer and Matron. Matron was still waving until the officers were out of sight and then she slammed the door tight, closing Fiera inside.
"Well, well, well, little miss librarian finally decides to come home, eh?" Matron cackled nastily. "You were out after hours again, so I'm going to have to punish you." Fear reared its ugly head again as a dark shadow materialized from the shadow. A very sinister and ugly looking man, equipped with several weapons, grinned at her. "Unfortunately, since you were gone so long, I've arranged for a special friend of mine to... shall we say, take my place."
Desperately, Fiera tried to struggle against the ugly man as he dragged her up the stairs. Matron only cackled evilly. Mortimer's revenge was about to take place.
Fiera barely felt the pain now, because as soon as the man was done with her, Matron had entered the room, sneering at Fiera. Scornfully, she dug her stiletto heel into Fiera's palm, making another cut there. Even though, then, she was barely conscious, she had still heard her words loud and clear.
Transferred. Fiera had been transferred orphanages to one far across the other side of the country. She was never going to see her friends again, never going to see Mrs. Desleri again...Never going to see Li again. Remembering this, she burst into a fresh wave of tears.
"Elissi, Elissi! There are people who want to see you," Ali burst through her door, looking really excited.
"Uh?" Fiera could barely move due to her pain. She looked at the small door way, her sight blurred by her tears. Dimly she could see David, one of the little boys, and another one of the little girls, Marline, leading a group of people up the stairs. Oh god, no, not more of the henchmen!
"Fiera!" A familiar voice gasped. Alicia?
"Poor thing!" Mrs. Desleri?
"Whatever B-" Li! Fiera could recognize her boyfriend's voice anywhere. Relief and a sense of security washed over her as she felt herself being gently hugged in his arms. Fiera was content to stay there forever but dimly, she could hear loud sounds of arguing in the background.
"By law, you are not allowed in here!" Matron’s voice pierced through her foggy mind.
"By those same laws, children and young adults are expected to go to a hospital when they are as injured as she is," Feral bellowed. Fiera could see him gesturing wildly to her limp form.
"Besides, she gave us permission as of today to "Come to collect her from her living place". As she turns sixteen today, she is a partial adult and enough of one to allow us to see her,” Calypso snapped.
"Why you!" Matron shrieked, infuriated. "I'll have the mayor on you!"
"I dare say the mayor will not listen to you once she recovers," The pale blond girl snapped, gesturing at Fiera.
"What if she never recovers?" A smug note in Matron's voice hinted.
"Oh give up Fiona," Alicia snarled, "My father-"
"You have no right to call him that, you little back stabber!" Matron shrieked, lunging at Alicia who was shielding the three little kids. Alicia winced as she dodged a swipe from Matron's long nails which had made a cut just below her cheek.
"Stop this nonsense right now!" A steely, commanding voice declared. Even Fiera, whose eyes were half shut, could see that this women commanded great authority. She was about middle aged, with long brownish black hair in ringlets down her cascading down her back. Her eyes were a steely grey, much like the polished silver of her detective badge that identified her as Sara Morris.
"Mother, you made it after all!" Alicia sighed.
"Yes, I did. After I heard your story, I couldn't help but come here," Alicia's mother smiled at Alicia tenderly, "Besides, I have been tracking John and Elaine's daughter for years anyways."
"What are you here for? You are trespassing on this land!" Matron shrieked, fear etched on her face.
"No, I'm not. I am the driver for the car that my daughter and her friends were supposed to be picked up in and their current guardian," Sara, Alicia's mother, stated simply. "Further more, I have a will that was never executed, concerning Mr. and Mrs. John Morrissa. After their untimely and brutal murder, their will was never executed. I have done several authenticy checks on this document and they have all turned out positive so therefore, I am the rightful guardian of their daughter, Elissa Morrissa, AKA Fiera Victoire and her inheritance."
"That's not possible!" Matron snapped, "Your husband, Mortimer Morrissa refused the child and placed her in my care."
"He had no right. The child was signed over to me and to me alone,” Sara snapped, "So if you don't mind, I'll be taking the child now." She shot Alicia a meaningful look, to which Alicia immediately began bundling everything Fiera had. Li lifted Fiera up and started taking her outside as well.
"I'll call the police!" Matron threatened, getting scared.
"You won't need to. They're in the building, searching for you to arrest you for child abuse and blackmail along with assault and several other counts," True to her word, Several police officers came rushing past Alicia, Li and Fiera.
"Thank you," She croaked.
"It was nothing," Alicia smiled as she slipped away to find a medic.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Li asked softly, his warm breath tickling her ear.
"How could I have?" She croaked out and gave a lop-sided smile. Blissfully, she gave into the beckoning darkness that hovered around the edge of her sight.
"She's fainted?" Alicia asked as she came back, snapping her cell phone shut.
"Yep," tenderly, he heaved his girlfriend into the back of the sleek limousine waiting for them.
"I called a nurse about her condition. She'll be at my house soon," Alicia reassured him. They waited in silence until Calypso, Feral and Sara finally exited the building.
"Are we all ready to go?" Sara called from the passenger seat at the front. Calypso and Feral settled in beside them in the back.
"Yeah," Every chorused as Sara made her way to the back.
"Is she alright?" Sara asked, stroking the unconscious girl's hair.
"Yeah. She's fainted but I don't think she's mortally wounded," Calypso had just finished checking Fiera's condition and was starting to clean and bandage some of Fiera's cuts and bruises.
"Did you find out who did this?" Alicia asked her mother.
"No, but I suspect the police will find something of interest on Matron's desk. Her scars are enough to incriminate a torture," Sara smiled grimly,
"That women will face a lifetime sentence in jail for her misuse of authority and child abuse among others," Calypso grinned maliciously.
"Excuse me for being rude, but exactly what relation are you to Fiera, excuse me, Elissa here?" Li asked, still fiercely protective of his girlfriend and wary of the stranger.
"I'm her god mother. Elaine Morrissa was my best friend, so in her will; she left the custody of Elissa to me. My husband," Here, Sara made a derisive sound, "intervened before I could get there and refused the custody, which, under the Morrissa's original will, he couldn’t do. It was then I divorced him and started searching for her. Unfortunately, Fiona here registered her under their fake name, Harris."
"Wait a sec, Harris, as in Richard Harris?" Feral gaped, "No way! He was over 70!"
"John Morrissa was a very talented actor, very rich too," Sara smiled, "They delayed his date of death as well, so his last few roles were played by a ghost actor."
"So what will happen to Elissa now?" Li wanted to know.
"I'm hoping she'll stay with us for a while before she goes to college. I am her legal guardian anyways," Sara smiled, "It's her choice, though I think Alicia would love to have her cousin in the house."
"Can I?" Fiera sat up slowly. She had been awake for a while know, but too weak to move until she heard the news of her adoption.
"We're almost home, cuz," Alicia smiled.
"Of course, it would cause a wrinkle, but it'll smooth over," Sara had reassured her.
I hope so; Fiera thought grimly as she entered the school grounds apprehensively, her hair still brown at the tips. She had let it down, going back to her old looks, combined with some comfortable clothes -not exactly what Elissa would have worn. She felt her arm being squeezed by Alicia and Li's arm around her waist, holding her protectively as she took a deep breath and headed towards the front office to check in.
That wasn't too bad, She exhaled as she left the office and started to walk back up to her second period class. The office ladies had been a bit confused until the principal herself had come out and explain the situation for them. Apparently, the principal had gotten a call from Sara before hand. Sara works very quickly, Fiera observed. Her teacher knew about it as well.
"Eli- I mean Fiera, welcome. It's good to have you in the class again," Mrs. McClaven smiled at her, "Class, this may come as a little shock, but Fiera who had joined us a month ago was Elissa in Masquerade. Now, Elissa has officiously changed her name, we'll have a hard time getting used to it," The teacher laughed fakely.
"Thank you Mrs. McClaven," Fiera smiled serenely at the shocked class as she plopped herself down by Li, who gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek and glared at the rest of the class.
"Now, to continue with today's lessons..." Again, Fiera stopped listening, just for a moment, wiling to savor the shocked and furious looks on the FYE-4's faces. Who's the loser now, eh?
"Oh yeah," Samuel roared with laughter.
"Well, the old lady nearly fell over in shock!" Eric admonished.
"That's what makes it so funny!" Feral and Samuel smirked simultaneously.
"I see..." Li had his arm around Fiera as she, Calypso and Alicia laughed their heads off.
"Lissi!" Their merry-making was rudely disrupted when Alyssa, Clementine and Alexa exclaimed Fiera's old nickname shrilly. Everybody else in the yard seemed to stop too.
"I'm sorry, there isn't anyone by this name here, no please leave us-" Fiera's eyes bulged as Alyssa swept her up in a big hug.
"We missed you!" Clementine squealed, her voice just oozing with fakery.
"Let the lady go," Li scowled darkly as he regarded the three.
"Let me go, you stupid, untruthful, fabrication, mendacious, prevarication, cheating, deceiving, denouncing, failing, ratty, sellout, snitching, backstabbing, anserine, dull, dopy, blockhead, witless, dumb, amoral, primitive, unskilled, crude, crass, vulgar, gross, demoralized, coarse, uncouth wenches!" Fiera spat at her.
"But Lissi-" Clementine protested.
"Her name's Fiera," Calypso sneered at them. She stood by her friend's side, flanked Fiera's other supporters.
"Though it's Morrissa to you," Feral added contemptuously.
"But we never did anything!" Alexa protested stupidly.
"That's rich," Alicia laughed.
"Tell me, do you think tripping me in the hall is nothing? Do you think beating me up is nothing? Do you think playing with my secrets is nothing?" Fiera's voice was deathly quiet, "Do you think black mailing a guy into breaking my heart is nothing? Do you think that even if you come back, crawling like the slime you are is going to get me to forgive you?"
"Fine!" Alyssa tossed her hair, "This is social suicide for you though!"
"No it isn't," A quiet voice behind them whispered. They all turned around to see a young girl, probably a freshman, whisper. She looked small and frightened, with round glasses - your average nerd.
"Shut up, Leticia," Clementine snarled.
"You guys don't have any real friends, just people you threaten," Leticia's voice grew stronger as she saw the people who started to nod, "You force us to do things for you just because you're popular.”Going against the popular people is suicide," You always said, so none of us dared to say anything," she gestured to the other labeled nerds, "but they are more popular than you are, can't you see? Going against popular people is suicide," Leticia finished her speech, satisfied.
"Why you-!" Alexa lunged at her furiously.
"Leave the lady alone," Eric shielded Leticia with his body. He frowned at the FYE-4, "You've got a personality only a mother could love...unfortunately I believe she hates it too."
"Why you-!" the FYE-4 could only pull their hair.
"Good luck doing your homework now," Leticia's friends jeered.
"Yeah right. Alyssa's so stupid she got hit by a parked car."
"And Clementine asked me what the number for 9-1-1 was."
"Alexa missed the 69 bus, so she ended up taking the forty and then the twenty nine," The whole yard burst into laughter as the three girls ran out, screaming dithering threats and crying at the same time.
"Served them right," Alicia sniffed. She motioned for Leticia to join them, "What was the old Janitor's reaction?"
"Welcome home," Sara beckoned them from the sitting room. She was smiling tearfully.
"What are you doing, Auntie?" Fiera asked as both girls came over.
"Just looking at the Valencia," Sara smiled as she unrolled a huge tapestry of pictures of herself and Fiera's parents in Valencia, Spain. It was embedded with rhinestones of various colors and a sparkly glitter overcoat secured the pictures in place, "It was lying in the basement for sometime. The three of us made it after our trip to Valencia, Spain. We used to tease Mortimer about it so much. He always thought it was real treasure."
And so the story ends! I just want to say a big thank you for Mauree W. Renaee, Caroline Nawall and my other reviewers for supporting this story, as well as "Riley", "Emmeline", "Jackie", and "Haley" for silent support. If you have time, I'd appreciate it if you looked at my other poems.
Love, always, Nyte.
I can FINALLY say
THE END!!!!!!!!!!
