keeper (d. Hale)

arrival.

The radio hummed lightly as the car drove down the California highway. It was a quiet January evening and the sun was beginning to disappear behind the tall trees that lined both sides of the road.

Delilah sighed from her place behind the steering wheel. It wasn't a sigh of discontent but more of relief. She was glad to be moving to Beacon Hills, she just didn't like that it was under these circumstances. Receiving notification over the phone that her only living relative, her great aunt had passed away was not the best way to start the new year, even if it did mean she was now in possession of a small secluded home outside of the town.

Delilah didn't know her aunt, in fact she didn't even know of her. According to the documents provided to her from her aunt's estate lawyer, her aunt was a fairly private person and she specifically chose to not to interact with Delilah, even after she was notified of her parents passing. In a way this hurt and the slight guilt she felt for not having a relationship with her was replaced with a sense of understanding. Delilah was a private person herself and at this point she assumed that it must run in the family.

At any rate, Delilah was thankful for the opportunity to jump start her career. As a recent nurse graduate, she wanted to do nothing more than help people and according to the recent news reports, Beacon Hills was in desperate need of people like her. With an increase in documented animal attacks, not many professionals were motivated to move to the small California town. The cases were either too minor or not glamorous enough to entice her fellow graduates, so the competition for the new nursing position at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital was generally non-existent. And in this economy, Delilah had absolutely no complaints about landing a steady job and inheriting her own property.

Delilah sighed again as she checked her map to ensure she was still on the correct route. The road was now shadowed by the surrounding trees and the headlights from her car barely illuminated the space in front of her. As her eyes scanned the remaining distance on her map, a black shape bolted across the road. Fearing it was a deer, Delilah slammed on the car's breaks causing the vehicle to swerve violently to the right. With her eyes shut, Delilah prayed that she wouldn't flip.

She could picture it now, Delilah Vine arriving into the ER as not the nurse she sold to the head of the hospital but as Delilah the car accident victim who would need to be scheduled for brain surgery because of course that is now embarrassingly bad the whole ordeal would turn out to be.

As the car came to rest, Delilah cracked one eye open, followed by the other. The road was deserted and thankfully, her car was still in an upright position. The only damage at this point to her ego. She let out a sigh of relief and guided the car to the side of the road. Once safe, she removed the keys from the ignition and gently rested her head against the steering wheel.

With her head still down, Delilah began to mumble, "you're safe, just breath. Nothing bad happened"

Her heart felt like it was in her throat and did not help one bit when a car horn lightly sounded from her left. She recognized it as a police squad car with what appeared to be a deputy sitting in the front seat.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" The deputy asked through his rolled down window.

The deputy was a bit older with short dark brown hair that was greying at the temples. Delilah stared at the man a look of surprise before coming to her senses and rolling down her window to reply.

"Yes, sorry. I thought I saw a deer dash across the road while I was driving and pulled over to calm my nerves."

The deputy's face which held a look of suspicion softened at her explanation.

"This road is terrible for animal crossings and I have put in a request for signage to be place along the highway for drivers but the paperwork is taking a lot longer than I would like. Are you just passing through?"