Chapter One-Hundred and Twenty-Four
John yawned, rubbing his eyes as a warm hand touched his cheek. He gave a little smile as the vision of Clarissa standing over him swam into focus. "Mom?" He mumbled, noticing that her hair was drenched with water, and that her fingers were wet against his cheek. "What're you doing here?" He jumped as thunder boomed through the school. He let out a cry of fear, launching himself into Clarissa's arms as she ran her finger's through the back of his hair.
Clarissa shushed him, pressing a soft kiss to his head as he flinched at the noise of the storm outside. "We were evacuated to the school for the storm." She soothed, able to feel the fear coursing through his body. "Tell me what you're afraid of." She sat beside him on the sofa, taking his cheek in her hand as she looked into his brown eyes that were shot through with yellow.
"Jacob…" He choked, trying to focus on her and not the storm. "He… used to beat me in the storms… he-he used the thunder to, to hide my screams…" He swallowed, his muscles tensing as lightning flashed outside of the window. "He saved the worst ones for those days."
Clarissa nodded, letting him pull her closer as he seemed to go into a memory of what had been done to him. She let the memory ride itself out, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop it from taking him. She could feel him jump with every imagined blow to him body, hear his whimpers of pain. His finger's dug into her back, and she knew that these memories were so much worse than what he'd allowed them to see before. She brushed his hair back from his ears, looking up at Claire as she walked through the library doors with Dominic and a handful of the others. "Memory…" She whispered, seeing the question in her daughter's eyes.
Claire nodded, placing her hand on John's shaking back and leaning forward to whisper in his ear. "Sugar, you're safe now." She breathed the words to him, just loud enough for him to be able to hear her through his flashback. "You're safe…" She smiled as his shaking slowed, and eventually faded to only the occasional tremor as he looked at her. "See? You're okay." She brushed a stray tear from his face, giving him a kiss before Principal Anderson's voice came over the speakers.
"Attention all Huntington High students and families, the coast guard has informed us that the storm will last through the night, and that everyone should stay here through the storm. All men and boys will be asked to please sleep in the gym, and all women and girls will stay in the library. Any farther questions will be met as soon as we get everyone settled in."
John's dark eyes met Claire's just as the lights went out, and they were left in the dark.