1.
The first thing Rain noticed when she began to come to her senses was how amazingly cold she was. Her fingers felt hard and stiff, and when she attempted to wriggle them around a bit, it felt as if they just might shatter. Her toes were equally cold, and her nose and lips were quite literally numb.
Why's it so cold? Rain's mind moaned groggily. She frowned deeply and attempted to lift her arms so she could grope around her bed for her thick, soft, enormous blanket featuring an orange-yellow tiger prowling through a thickly vegetated forest floor. That's when she realized that she couldn't move her arm, let alone grope for her blanket to ward off the biting cold. Something hard and cold twisted in a binding circle around her wrists.
A cold, hard fear suddenly struck Rain's heart, and her throat seemed to squeeze closed tightly for a few moments, making it hard to breathe. She parted her lips and breathed in quickly, her heart pounding, her blood begging for more oxygen to fuel her quickening heart. That's when she knew something was horribly wrong. Usually, her room smelled like usual room smells: coconut and cinnamon, from the candle she had on her night stand, the smell of ink in paper from all her doodles plastered to the walls. Her perfume would smell of cotton candy, her hair of honey and clover. But now, the air tasted completely different and unfamiliar. It tasted thick, dark, musky. Rain could swear she could almost taste the tiny dust particles and dust mites that lived on the air. It tasted of desperation, of fear, of sadness and horror. It tasted of blood.
Rain's eyes reluctantly parted. Gunk and eye boogers caked rain's lashes, making it difficult for her eyelids to part. This happened only while Rain was sick with either seasonal allergies, or pink eye. Or spent a night of crying hard.
At first, it was too dark for Rain to make anything out clearly, but she blinked furiously and her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. A single spotlight shone down from directly above her on the high, high ceiling, stinging her eyes and causing her to squeeze her eyes shut tight before she got over the initial shock of the brightness. Far above her, thick, dull gray chains dangled from the ceiling, stopping around seven feet from the ground. Rain couldn't tell how large the room was, for it was filled with almost suffocating blackness that Rain had never before experienced. The only light was that bright white light shining straight down on her and nothing else.
Rain's back and neck ached from lying upon such a cold hard concrete floor. She wore only her underwear and bra. Her eyes grew wide and horrid dread and fright weighed down on her. Se tugged at her arms furiously. Chains rattled and handcuffs jangled around her wrists, but unable to get past her jutting wrist bones. The shackles were bolted to the floor on either side of her head, providing only a little slack.
Rain's mind reeled and she suddenly felt extremely nauseous. Vomit clogged her throat, but she swallowed it down. Where was she? What had happened Rain had no idea. She strained her mind, trying to remember how she had ended up there, but it was blurry, foggy. The last thing she remembered was getting her pumpkin spice coffee from the café. She was in a hurry, wanted to get to school early so she could turn in her project for Mr. Ellis, but then- nothing. What had happened after that? Why couldn't she remember? She had heard about people whose minds blocked out memories from them without their knowing, supposedly to protect that person from something scarring. But never before had rain ever lost a chunk of time like this.
"Finally! You're awake! For a while there I had thought you died of fits." Came an eerie, low voice. Rain's heart skipped a beat and she scrambled clumsily into a sitting position. Her eyes squinted and she peered into the darkness, trying to see where the voice was coming from. It was a young man's voice, more like a teenager. It was rough, raw, as if it was accustomed to screaming. Suddenly, a large black steel-toed boot entered the circle of bright white light cast by the spotlight. The light glinted off the boot's toe, and Rain whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut. The fear and confusion was so great that it was nearly choking her. What would this person say to her? Do to her? And, for that matter, who was this person? Where were they?
A slurping noise snapped Rain out of her thoughts. It was the sound of someone sucking nonchalantly at a straw, drinking some sort of beverage. Rain slowly opened her eyes and stared with big eyes, looking up at the person standing before her, starting at his boots. Then his thin legs clothed in black skinny jeans, his black jacket with a forked tail, a white square on the front of the jacket featuring a large black Z? Then his face, a handsome face with pale skin and spiky black hair atop his head. Thin, angry scratches stretched across his face, and a fresh bruise was blossoming on his left cheek. He was staring at her with large eyes while sucking at a glass of what appeared to be Mountain Dew.
The young man raised a single gloved hand in greeting. "Hello." He said pleasantly enough.
"Wha-who-where-" Rain spluttered, her heart pounding so hard she could feel the blood rushing through her veins.
"Wha-who-where?" The young man mocked, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "I find it amazing how easily humans manage to forget their manners, even in the most pleasant of situations. No introductions or polite conversation! The only thing you can manage to do is blabber like an idiot! Wha-who-where-fook!" The young man said, sucking angrily at his straw. "Ah, but what did I expect? You did, after all, do this to me." He pointed to his face, and a flashback suddenly entered Rain's mind.
Walking down the street hurriedly, sucking at her pumpkin spice coffee… it burning her tongue… suddenly, hands wrapped around her neck…. Spinning around, scratching and clawing and screaming for help but no one came…
…. No one came to save her…..
"…. pleasant situation…?" Rain said curiously, cocking a brow. Sure, she was scared shitless, but for some reason she didn't feel like the helpless, quiet little girl that she was back when she went to school. She'd expect that, in a situation like this, she would burst into tears and begin begging for her life, promising anything and everything in exchange for her safety and survival. Stay calm. A voice whispered, and she surprised herself by listening to it. Freaking out now wouldn't do any good. It wouldn't help anything. In fact, she was sure it would make matters worse. "How is this at all a pleasant situation?"
"Well, you're not dead or in any exceeding amount of pain… yet." The boy said thoughtfully. "So I would consider that pleasant."
"Yet? So, wait, let me get this straight. You wish me to remark upon the weather as you smash my skull in?" Rain said hotly, furrowing her eyebrows together.
"Touché," the boy said, raising a brow. "But I probably won't smash you skull in. Not right away, at least. You'd die much too quickly if I were to do that. And if you were to die, how would you ever learn your lesson, suffer the guilt and horror of being another filthy human?"
"Am. I see." Rain said, rubbing her freezing feet together. Her heart sank with dread. All her life she had lived an ordinary life. She was an ordinary girl who lived with an ordinary family in an ordinary house in the suburbs. She went to an ordinary school, where she got average grades in the normal, usual classes. No special placement classes, neither positive nor negative. She'd eat a peanut butter sandwich everyday for lunch while sitting at the usual table with her best friends who always seemed more extraordinary than herself. The only thing exciting thing about her was her unusual name.
She had always wished for something exciting to happen to her. That maybe she'd be whisked away by sexy pirate ninjas, or that her letter from Hogwarts would finally arrive- five years late, but arrive nonetheless. But now that something out of the ordinary was finally happening, Rain's old life was beginning to seem more and more attractive.
Stay calm. Something whispered in the back of Rain's mind. Swallowing fear, Rain took a deep, calming breath.
"So sorry for being rude earlier," Rain said carefully. She tried to sound calm and casual, but there was still a tremble in her voice. "My name is Rain E. What's your name?:
The young man bowed deeply, a strange wide smile stretching across his pale face. "I'm Johnny. Johnny C., but seeing as how we're sharing this intimate moment, feel free to call me Nny. N-N-Y, not K-N-E-E. It's what all my friends call me." Johnny's face suddenly became dark. "That is, before they betray me or they all go away. Or I kill them, of course."
Rain swallowed hard, her eyes growing wide. Johnny sipped casually at his glass of Mountain Dew. "Are you… going to kill me?" Rain whispered.
Johnny stopped sipping and stared at Rain. "More than likely, yes."
Frightened tears dribbled down her cheeks without her consent. She hated crying. She shook her head, her light brown hair sticking to her wet cheeks. "Um is it- is it too much to ask why? Why are you going to kill me? Do you- do you just choose people at random err….?"
Johnny clutched his glass tightly, his beetle black eyes narrowing, bringing an even darker, more sinister look to his face. "Tsk," Johnny said furrowing his brows together angrily. He let out an angry breath between his teeth and narrowed his eyes at Rain. "How quickly they forget! They cause such pain to people, but as soon as they turn away they forget the hurt they inflicted!"
Rain stared. Then she fidgeted awkwardly. "That doesn't really tell what I did to deserve to be brought here and killed and maybe even tortured and raped-"
"I WOULD NEVER!!" Nny screamed, his tongue a jagged thing in his mouth, his eyes bulging wildly. Spittle flew from his lips and sprinkled Rain's face. He took a step toward her, looking over her. Rain cowered in his shadow. "THE VERY IDEA OF DOING SUCH A THING MAKES VOMIT CURL UP MY THROAT AND I JUST WANT TO SPEW IT ALL OVER YOU! FOOK! I hate blood and sweat and urine and all those other liquids that drip and squirt from the human body! I hate touching even! Do you think I like touching you? No. I'm doing this to teach you a lesson, to enlighten you, so you may see the absolute filth of this world."
"Wait." Rain said suddenly. She suddenly remembered something. Buying her coffee, turning around quickly. Crashing into a tall, dark, thin person, spilling her coffee down the front of the person's shirt… "I- I remember now! You're the person I bumped into at the coffee shop!"
"So glad you remembered." Johnny whispered in a low voice. He clutched the glass so tightly cracks spider-webbed across the surface. His shoulders shook with silent rage.
"But I apologized!" rain yelped in defense. "And I wasn't lying! I really AM sorry I dumped my steaming beverage all over you! I'm sorry! I'll buy you a Brain-Freezy or a MonkeySuck if you want! There's no need to go all wacky on me and-"
Johnny threw his glass hard on the concrete floor beside Rain. It made an amazingly loud shattering sound as it broke. Shards shot out in all directions. A jagged piece sliced rain's exposed thigh, another sliced a trail from the left side of her chin to her eye brow. Surprised, Rain screamed and jumped, but she shouldn't have been worrying about the broken glass. She should have been worrying about Johnny.
He lunged at her, his left gloved hand curling around her neck. She could feel his nails even through the thick fabric of his gloves. He squeezed all the air out of her throat, and she gawked up at him, her eyes wide and moist. Johnny reached behind him and pulled out a large machete… out of nowhere somehow. That he pressed against the side of Rain's head. "I wonder," Johnny mused. "How many hacks would it take to make it to the center of your head."
"Nnngh-" Rain choked out.
Johnny grinned. "Oh, what was that? Trying to say some earth shattering last words? I don't think I shall grant you the privilege. Nothing noteworthy could ever fall from the lips of a maggot like you."
"Nnn- nnnngh!" Rain tried again, her eyes bulging, her face slowly turning purple. Tears began to trickle from her eyes and down her cheeks, into her hair. "Nny!" She finally squeaked. She wrapped her legs around Johnny's own and rubbed her warm crouch against his shins, then leaned forward even though it caused the machete to cut into her skin a little, and licked his cheek. A combination of two things he couldn't stand…. Touch and saliva…
Johnny reeled backward, away from Rain. His legs got tangled with hers, and he fell over backward, his butt thudding against the concrete. He gawked at Rain, who was backpedaling away as far as he shackles would allow. His beetle black eyes narrowed becoming hard and stone-like. He pressed his lips together into a thin line. "I need to be away from you." Johnny whispered, slowly getting to his feet and smoothing out his shirt. He turned on his heel and began to march away.
"Wait!" Rain cried. Johnny paused on the very edge of the spotlight. He didn't look at her, didn't glance over his shoulder, but Rain could tell by the way his back stiffened and his shoulders squared that he was listening. "When're you- when're you gonna let me out of here?"
Johnny glanced at her with a friendly grin. "I'll check on you in two weeks. I won't bother to feed or water you…
Two weeks?