If there is a description of a perfect night, this night is one. The clean, crisp air seems to have been breathed from the depths of a lovely, happy world of unending love that brings a magical quality to the whole town.
A couple are immersing themselves in this as they joyfully make their way back from their movie date.
"I'm so glad you're happy", the elderly gentleman remarks to the woman in the wheelchair.
"Don't be modest, you insisted on a night out. I have to admit you do know what's best for me." she smirks at him.
He laughs,"Well, you know how to take my attention away from work. So the least, I can do is return the favor."
"Ehemm, well, I don't know what you mean - I just walked by your office door." She slyly remarks.
"Well, that's all you really need to do." He looks into her eyes as she laughs.
"Well, I have to say this is better than our 10th anniversary."
"Ohh, how?"
"It's just the two of us." she concludes.
"Yes, that was a crazy night." he recalls.
They hear a howl and the gentleman takes a defensive stance as he puts himself in front of her instinctively.
"Don't you see her..?", a desperate, tired man breaking from an alleyway shouts at the couple staring at him in confusion and fear.
The lady looks at her husband and then at the desperate man as her husband asks,"See who?"
The desperate man stares at them and steps forward, "Nooo. She's Here." He coldly barks at them.
The elderly gentleman steps forward, "Look, if she is, maybe, she's left at seeing us. How about you come to the Precinct and you can tell them about who's troubling you."
The desperate man darts his eyes all around and raises his hands up, "No. You won't get me to go back. I'm not an IDIOT. I'm not Stupid."
He slowly backs away towards the alley, cautiously watching for any movements in the shadows. "You're not taking me in...No"
The elderly man starts to pursue,"Hon, don't follow. I'm worried." Tears forming around her eyes.
He looks at his beloved,"We'll pass by the precinct. Hopefully, he won't get far and they can give him the help he needs."
With that, they firmly grasp each others' hands as he caresses her hair in comfort thinking how fortunate they are.
The desperate man tries to run through the dimly lit streets as if evading a pursuer. He runs wildly as he collides against the walls, and slams into streetlamps and hydrants frantically looking behind him. As he turns the corner, he breathes in deeply.
"You aren't running away from me, are you, Garfield?" Rage replies from behind.
He gasps as a cold chill wraps his shoulder. "I...I.. need t-t-to-o.. get away..I...I...Uhhh!." He cowers into a mouse and furiously breaks for the sewer at the street corner. He frantically runs along the slimey tunnel ledge as he feels the slime against his paws scathe each time he lands while he is taunted by Rage's haunting image in the glistening ground before him as the wind in the tunnel cries mockingly (or is it the wind?). "Oh, Gooodddd!" If I can just keep moving...as he passes one long tunnel after another. He can hear the flesh burn away the lining of his paws as he screeches in agony. Finally, he sees a light filtering down from a distance.
The light is coming from the streets above and can now be seen pouring through the far end of the tunnel, raising his hopes as he lifts his tired arms to fly. The sewer mists feel good at first as he can taste freedom now, "Augggh"; unfortunately this is short-lived as Rage has decided to transform the mists into acid rain scalding his wings. He tries to hold on as he squawks in pain.
Finally, he flies through the grate just to crash on the oil-rancid puddle, where Rage is now drowning him in the bitter murk as he gulps the grimey water until he loses consciousness and welcomes death.
He opens his eyes to realize he is not dead but in bad shape as his oil-soaked feathers is devoid of all the torture he's undergone so far unaware how long he has remained out.
"Ready for another round", Rage states from a lamppost she is leaning against. "I'll give you a 5 second start. 1...2..."
"Leave me alone! Please..Stop.. STOP!" he pleads as he is now sobbing. "..3...If I were you I would have used your time wisely instead of begging like a fool uselessly...4..5."
He jerks his head up and drags himself out into the form of a city cat as he sprints to the outskirts of town as the dark claws dig into his back and strip him of his flesh piece by piece. His nerves are on fire as he tries to shake off the razor-sharp talons, realizing the longer he leaves the claws in his back the deeper the flesh is taken; however, if he constantly shakes them of he gets many more lashes and soon the talons attack open wounds. He has no recourse until at the edge of the city, where he runs towards the oncoming traffic in the interstate highway hoping to become just another roadkill - instant death so he hopes.
However, Rage has not finished for tonight; he wakes again to his unending nightmare at the shoulder's edge to see scars as only evidence of this evening's torture. He staggers up and knows his bones have not completely healed from the impact.
He howls in pain as he transforms into an armadillo as he now runs in open desert. Rage has withdrawn her physical assault and instead has opted for a visual one. Suddenly, the barren, rocky land washed in moonlight loses its mystical quality and transforms into a desolate, menacing terrain filled with evil sounds and deathly smells as shadows of all horrors expose themselves to the only soul around.
His terror has no shape as it is unable to quantify his reality between his instinct to survive and his desire to die as he scampers wildly between shadow kicks and agonizing volleys that bring him back to his original position. After several hours of deciding between this endless, humiliating taunting to that of transforming into a hyena and make a break that would again commence the physical torture, he builds himself up to make that futile dash. As he transforms, he sees Rage manipulating his transformation and is so horrified, he feels his heart stop and the world darken.
Again, he awakens shivering to the crisp night air and ignores the brilliant stars, as a foggy light in a valley catches his attention. Yes, that's a small town's lights. Exhaustion wearing on his battered body - he has no clue as to where he musters the last strength to run the distance as he feels the shadows again closing in on him.
The diner and motel lights beckon him onward announcing their presence to the weary traveler. Tears form around his eyes but he still doesn't breathe in fear Rage is still planning more devastation for him.
He reaches the road that marks the town's edge and finds Rage waiting for him there. He looks at Rage and knows there is no end to his doomed fate and resigns himself to become Rage's toy. So he bends down and kneels to her presence. Rage looks at him in disgust and kicks him to the side.
"Go ahead and get a room. I've got some more ideas I want to test on you." He cowers. "NOW." He hurriedly runs with his head down.
Finding no one in the motel lobby, he walks towards the diner. At the door, he stops momentarily to straighten his tattered clothes and his dirty hair and to find change in his pockets. As he puts a shaking hand on the handle he holds himself up against the door ledge as he looks up in desperation and holds back his tears as he attempts to put some resolve back into himself.
He straightens himself up and walks in. His eyes adjust to the stark light of a spotless diner. He sees a girl buried in paper on one of the bench seats to his right as well as well as two older men sitting across each other on another set of bench seats lined against the left wall in front of him. He walks slowly along the aisle and sits on one of the fixed barstools facing the counter where a middle-aged woman with a warmth to her is talking to a trucker seated at the far-end barstool.
She moves down to face him,"Fine evenin' to ya'self. Wha'll yuh have?" He hesitates and considers whether he should delay getting the room and stay within the safety of the diner or not anger Rage any further and just get the room. Rage will still be Rage - so he seeks this temporary respite just a bit longer. "I'll have water, please." She looks at him confused. "Ok. Water, then." She smiles.
He looks at the two older men who have just stopped talking and they return to their conversation after he meets their stare and nods. Before, he goes to his glass of water he looks in the direction of the girl who suprisingly is still busy with her paperwork.
The trucker replies as he gets up,"G'Night, Louise. VERN!" He says louder presumably to the cook in the back room.
"Take care, Bill. When ya comin' back?"
"I'll be 'roun these parts sometim' next month, have to head north and run the Detroit-Chicago run. See ya then, take care y'selves."
"We sure will. We're not goin' nowhere" she replies mirthly.
The ordinary whirring of life is comforting to him as he drinks down the water. "Easy, boy. I don't want you drownin'" she laughs. "How about you try some of Vern's Chickun soup. Best soup for miles." He cringes,"I'm vegetarian."
"Ohh, I see. That explains why yuh so scrawny. Need meat to fill those bones - I'd say yuh look a little green, too." He is startled to awareness and looks at his skin. "Relax, child. yuh'll be back to yur rosy self aftah Vern's soup. He'll make a special one wit'out the chickun - ok?"
He stares at her and calms down. "uhh, thanks."
After the warm soup, he reluctantly asks about a room.
"Don't worry - he's used to being woken up. Just knock hard on his door." Louise informs him.
As he makes his way out, he looks at the girl again who now looks up as well and he sees the most striking blue eyes he's ever seen - he stutters and becomes flushed.
The rest of the night, he becomes a zombie as Rage continues the mental and physical torture until day breaks - only the striking blue eyes saves him from insanity as he fixates on their beauty and on hope.
continued in Raven's Realization