Chapter 21: Forever May End Too Soon

This chapter is told in Cliff's POV.

As I stared at the shell necklace that lay in my hand, a lightening bolt filled the sky with light in the distance. The cold air rushed into the inn, blowing my bangs from in front of my eyes. When I looked up she was gone.

"What had just happened? Was this my doing?" I asked myself. I doubted it. I looked into the main room of the inn. Every set of eyes was on me, and not a sound could be heard. Rain water dripped from my coat onto the wood floor, each drop echoing into the room. Another flash of lightening filled the sky outside, and a loud bang followed, but it was not lightening. Every eye in the room was instantly refocused to the upper level of the inn, where a door had just been slammed, and a shadowy figure walked out from within the room. It was none other than Kai.

As he approached the stairs, it was clearly noticed that blood was smeared across his face. He walked down the stairs with a slight limp, his purple bandana dangling from his hand. His foot slipped, and he stomped down on the next step. At that moment Popuri ran to him from within the silent crowd and came to Kai's side.

"Sweetheart what happened to you?" she pleaded as she placed her hand on his chest. He pushed her forcefully to the ground, sending a gasp echoing throughout the room.

"Get off me you stupid whore," he growled, not even bothering to look at the girl. Ann helped her friend up from the ground, and a soft cry from the pink haired girl could now be heard. He continued his walk to the door, not one person moving from their position. As he came close to me, he looked me directly in the eyes, squinted, and then spit at my feet.

"Out of my way, vagrant," he hissed through his teeth, and pushed me out of his way. That was it. I whipped around and grabbed him by the collar of his vest, slamming him against the wall. People quickly moved back, a few quickly exiting the inn, others running upstairs.

"What the hell did you do to her!" I yelled at him, I could feel my hand tightening around his shirt. He didn't answer. Instead he looked at me wide eyed in fear.

"Tell me!" I said again, pulling him a little away from the wall, and then slamming him into it again.

"I didn't do anything to her," he mumbled. I could feel the fiery building up inside of me.

"Like hell you didn't," I shoved him to the ground, and turned back to the main entrance. The rain streamed down like a theatre curtain, this all seemed to be like a movie playing in my mind. I pounded my fist on a bar table, realizing that the shell necklace was still in my hand. I looked at it again, and put it in my pocket, safely hidden away.

"Jen is out there right now, who knows in what kind of shape, thanks to you," I hissed, referring to Kai, but not even bothering to look at his pitiful form on the ground.

"You shouldn't be the one talking. I'm not the one sleeping at her house, if that's what you're actually doing. I'm not the one getting jealous, now am I?" Kai remarked snidely. I spun around, coming face to face with Kai, who had finally gotten to his feet.

"I loved her, you… you just used her," I hissed back at him, taking a step forward.

"And she fell for it," he grinned. I felt my face heat up, and I just couldn't hold it back any longer. I charged forward and slammed my fist right across his face. I wasn't usually the one for fighting, but I wasn't about to let him treat Jen like that.

Kai was down on the ground again, but he wasn't going to stay there for long. He quickly got to his feet and retaliated. More people exited from the Inn, others screamed, and some even cheered the fight on. I got Kai again in the face, and he finally collapsed upon the ground. I walked up to Kai's battered body.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you anymore. I'm not like you," I said and turned toward the door. Suddenly just as I started out into the rain, something crashed into the side of my head. My eyesight suddenly became blurred, and everything began to spin. I collapsed upon the ground, and everything went dark.

"Wake up… Cliff wake up…" A voice said softly, pulling me out of my sleep. As I opened my eyes I saw the bright shining eyes of a young girl leaning over me. She had medium length auburn hair and beautiful green eyes. I finally came to realize that I was lying in the flower field at the base of Mother's Hill.

"What are you doing here?" I asked softly, rubbing the lingering sleep from my eyes. The little girl looked at me sweetly and took my hand helping me up.

"I've just been sitting here watching you sleep. You looked like you were having a nightmare…" she said.

"I was… it was about my parents…" I replied. The little girl and I walked over to the pond and sat down, our feet gently touching the water's edge.

"Cliff… you never told me about your parents… what were they like?" the little girl asked, picking up a flower in her delicate hands.

"Well… my mom, Maggie, she was an amazing. She use to make me cookies in the winter, and I would help her put the laundry out to dry in the spring. She was really pretty too. She had long blonde hair that smelled like strawberries," I smiled, picking up a rock a skipping it four times before it sunk into the water.

"She sounds really nice. What about your dad?"

"His name was John. He taught me everything I know. He use to take me on camping trips, and take me fishing. He was the one that taught me to love animals so much, and respect all kinds of nature. I loved them both so much, and we were all so happy together…" My voice started to die out.

"What happened to them?" the little girl asked.

"They died when I was five. They were going out to the city to see a play in the grand theatre… and they never came back. I waited all night on that beach, just waiting for their boat to pull into the dock... but it never came. The next morning, mayor Thomas told me that the boat they were on crashed into a reef… there were no survivors. I've got no one left."

"You have me," the little girl said, taking my hand. "We will always be friends, no matter what. Friends forever…"

"Jen!" I screamed out in a cold sweat. I was on the floor of the inn, people staring down all around me. I jumped to my feet, barely able to stand because my head was still spinning.

"Cliff, take it easy, you got a good hit to the head there," Karen said, ushering me to sit down again, but I pushed past her, grabbing my coat and swinging open the door. It was still poring outside, lightening still filling the sky with terrifying bolts.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

"Well, Popuri got you right in the back of the head with a good sized beer bottle. You've been out like a light for the past hour," Ann said, handing me an ice bag for my head. I pushed it away.

"I don't have time… I have to go…" I said, looking again to the lonely road.

"Where are you going... it's freezing outside?"

"I have to go find Jen. She's out there somewhere, and if anything happens to her… I don't know what I'll do…"