Rain Storm D4 Done

Dry lightning cracks across the sky
Those storm clouds gather in her eyes

The sixteen year old girl turns her head towards the storm raging just off the coast of district four. Lightning flashes, illuminating her dark hair and her tiny figure, making her stormy gray eyes flash. Her eyes glisten with tears as a blast of wind lifts her hair and whips it around her face. She knows she should go home but she can't bring herself to enter that damned house, with painful memories of the neglect and abuse from her father. She closes her eyes and breathes in the scents of rain and salt as the tears gathering in her eyes slip down her small face. Another streek of lightening reveals bruises all up her short arms, reminders of why she's not going home and why she never will.

Mist falls softly, deceptively, like her father. He'd been deceptively kind to her when her mother had first died but he'd quickly shown her how wrong she was to assume that there was kindness. This storm will not be kind, she knows that, but for now she just allows the mist to settle on every surface; her clothes, her hair, her eyelashes, her face, anywhere it can. The rain starts to fall faster then, coming down like small needles and soaking her to the skin. She doesn't do anything about it though, she doesn't have to the strength left to care. From the beach, she can see the white caps hitting the shore, much like her father used to hit her, relentlessly even after she begged him to stop. The damp sand at her feet feels soft against her bare feet and she lets herself sink to her knees, unable to keep herself up any longer.

Her fingers wrap around the necklace around her neck and she yanks it off. The charm at the end dangles in front of her as she looks at it, trying to figure out whether she should throw it away into the water or keep it as a personal reminder to never go back. She clutches the chain in her small hand as the tears come harder even than the rain that now pelts her and soaks her to the skin. She looks up as she hears a roar of a huge wave that is coming and for a moment, can think of nothing other than she has to run. She can’t make her legs work though, they’re frozen in place. Knowing what’s coming, she takes a deep breath and a shock goes through her as icy cold water slams into her, throwing her back. Pain goes through her as she hits a rock hard and is tossed around by the raging torrent of water. It brings back memories of her father but she blocks them out and tries to focus on swimming to the surface.

Shatter every window till it’s all blown away
Every brick, every board, every slammin’ door blown away
Till there’s nothin’ left standing
Nothin’ left of yesterday
Every tear soaked whiskey memory blown away

Her arms grow tired as she tries to swim against the current but the energy she had before is gone. Her head breaks the surface for a few moments and she takes the opportunity to gasp in a breath before she’s pulled under again. Tossing like a leaf in the wind, she’s battered by the current. Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain in her as something jabs into her side and she begins to feel herself giving up. This is it, this is how I die she thinks as she feels the world begin to fade to black.

The girl’s body lies still on the beach, her breath shallow and painful because her lungs are full of water. She prays to die and take her out of the misery she is in. As she lies there, she feels a hand on her neck, checking her pulse for any signs of life. She hears a distant voice in her ears but she can’t quite make out what they are saying. Suddenly, she’s rolled onto her side and she coughs, feeling the water in her stomach and lungs come out her nose and mouth, leaving both feeling raw. She feels herself slowly come back to life and blinks open her eyes to see a boy with a shock of blonde hair. He looks concerned and relieved at the same time and she wonders why. why would he care if I was alright, Nobody else cares if I’m alright she thinks. She wants to leave but she can’t move. Her body feels stiff and sore, complaining every time she tries to move even a little bit. She closes her eyes, trying to block out the vision of the boy and the pain in her body. She feels arms under her and a sensation of being lifted before she falls away into oblivion

The first sensation she has as she comes back into consciousness is that she’s warm and wrapped in something. As more of her senses start to come back she feels soft fabric against her skin along with a dull ache throughout her body. what the hell happened. Her mind begins to wake up and images flash behind her closed eyelids. Images of the storm and being dragged away by the current. Of the boy who’d saved her, his concerned eyes as he tried to bring her back to life. She realizes suddenly that she is wrapped in nothing but a blanket and that that is all that is on her, she’s completely naked. This would normally make her feel embarrassed but at the moment, she doesn’t care. She finds her eyes and forces them open, wanting to know why she’s undressed and wrapped in a blanket. For a few moments, her eyes are bleary but as they come into focus, she see’s the face of the boy who rescued her. He looks down at her with relief. “you’re alive” he says. She tries to sit up but the blankets restrict her movement. “Where am I?” she asks, her voice rough from disuse. “And how long have I been out?” The boy smiles at her. “You’re at my house and you’ve been for about two days give or take a few hours” He replies. She looks around at the room. It’s cozy and feels very homely, nothing like her own home which was full of anger and pain. She tried to sit up but her head spun and she was forced to lie back down. “How are you feeling?” He asked. She looks up at him. “Like I’ve been battered by a storm and knocked around in waves” She said, trying to make a joke. He smiled at her.

She laid in the bed, wrapped in warmth as Ariel, the other habitant of the house, bustles around the room, dusting and cleaning up. “How are you feeling?” She asks. “Better” Rain relies. “Do you think you can attempt to get up?” Ariel asks. Rain nods and attempts to sit up, the world stays still. She smiles and gets to her feet, grabbing the bed post for support. “Steady” Ariel’s hand steadies her. She nods and looks around the room. “Triton, our guest is up” Ariel calls. Rain blushes as the boy comes into the room. “Looks like you’re feeling better” He says. She smiles. “Thank you for rescuing me” She says, meeting his gaze. He smiles.

Over the next few weeks, the two of them become very close. He can tell him anything and he’s supportive of her, especially when it comes to her father. She walks up the path to her house, which is battered from the storm, and takes a deep breath before knocking on the door. Her father, drunk as ever, answers the door and she looks up at him with hate in her stormy gray eyes. “So, you came back” Her fathers voice is slurred as he puts a hand on her shoulder. She shrugs out of his grasp and backs up. “No, I’m here to collect my things. I’m moving out” She says, glaring at him. He pulls back his hand as if to strike her but Triton is faster. He slugs her father in the jaw and he stumbles back, reeling. “Lay a hand on her and you won’t have a hand left” He says warningly. Her father looks dumbfounded as the two of them head into the house to collect her things. She marches upstairs, into her room, and grabs a duffle bag. She starts filling it with things she will need; her brush, some under garments, shirts, pants, a bathing suit, and a few other things. She also adds a photo of her mother that was taken before she died. A single tear falls down her cheek as she looks at the photo and Triton puts a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be alright, Rain” He says soothingly. She nods, knowing it will. “I’m going to need your help through this though” She says. He nods and she finishes packing, knowing that whatever lies ahead, she’ll be rid of her awful father and in a place she will be safe

[codeword] odair