Prologue: One Fateful Rainy Night

August 2nd, 2014

The pounding of the rain did nothing to dampen the yelling in the car.

"What's it to do with you!? It's my life, not yours!"

"Its wrong! You know it's wrong! And If I ever see you-"

"No! I don't know that! And I can't believe you think that! I'm just living my life and you have no right to force me to do otherwise!"

I had been pushing him, and I'd known it. What my goal had been wasn't even clear, only that I'd needed to push my father to a decision. Needed to know what would happen, what he would say or do when pushed to the extreme. But I never imagined what he would do.

The car screeched to a stop, rocking and jumping as the man pulled hard to the shoulder of the road.

"Then GET OUT!"

It was a ludicrous thing to say, to demand. They were on the middle of a highway, in stormy weather, miles and miles from any city. Nobody else in the car supported it.

But I just couldn't stay.

He threw off his seat belt and pulled the car door open, deaf to the voices of his mother and sister. The side of the road was muddy and treacherous, the rain only seeming to pick up, as if in response to the scene. The door slid shut automatically, and he refused to look behind him, to acknowledge the sound of the car screeching away, pulling a hard u-turn and zooming off into the night. He tried not to think about the mud splattered all over once nice clothes, or the sheer cold already biting into him from the rain.

He might not make it to the next city.

But he couldn't go back.

It was then that he realized he still had light to see by, and that he wasn't alone. He turned to see a car pulled over on the side of the road in front of him, the light spilling over from bright headlights. He must have been driving somewhere behind them, and had pulled over after seeing what had happened.

The drivers side door opened and a man about his age stepped out. He couldn't make out much else, save that he was clearly not dressed for the weather, his light jacket drenched in seconds.

"Are you alright?" He called. "What just happened?"