⊱No Escape In A Silent Storm⊰

⊱Prologue⊰

───────────────⊱⁜⊰───────────────

June 27, 1981                                                                                                                                 

Monday

     Evening sunlight shone onto the scene; a quaint little community park in the center of a small town. Children ran across the open fields, accelerating down its rolling hills with glee. Their parents watched complacently from the nearby benches, the odd one here and there engaging with their offspring.

      Along the sidewalk strolled a teenage girl, Jennifer Freeman. With each step she stomped, fists clenched tightly in her worn pockets. She was angry, furrowing her brows and sporting a frown. The sticky shimmer of dried tears reflected on her face in the rays of sunlight. Her lip was swollen, and bleeding as though someone had hit her hard in the mouth.
     After a few more frustrated steps, she removed a hand from her pocket, reaching up to wipe the dripping red liquid from her face.

     Jennifer looked down at her hand, observing the blood for a moment before carrying on. She began to observe the environment, her rage subsiding long enough to be aware of her surroundings.
     She watched jealously as the little kids played alongside their parents in the park, forced to think of her own. One, a fearful woman with misplaced loyalty, and the other, an endlessly drinking man with fatherless tendencies. Neither was worthy of her love, yet somehow she loved them both. Jennifer shook her head at the thought, picking up her pace again.

At once Jennifer heard a deep rumble, signaling the quick approach of a storm. How fitting, she thought to herself, ignoring the pittering of scattered raindrops on her scalp. She noticed now that the families in the park were packing up and leaving frantically, as though afraid to get wet. Good.
Lightning began to flash across the horizon, and the wind blew strong. Jennifer was unmoved by this and kept on. for she relished the feeling of cold rain rolling down her hot skin. It was as though it was washing away her pain. If only...

CRACK. Thunder boomed, having hit the ground not very far away from Jennifer. She felt it reverberate in the air, and the ground shake beneath her. All of a sudden, Jennifer felt a tremendous force throw her to the ground, accompanied by an intense burning sensation that sparked through her entire body. The pain was unbearable, but in a flash, it ceased.
Dazed, Jennifer lay staring up at the dark clouds above her, numb and confused. Her ears rang loudly, and despite wanting to reach her hands up to plug them she found that she could not move. She couldn't even bring herself to blink as specks of rain fell into her eyes.
Jennifer only felt the fluttering of her heart in her chest, as well as how she had to strain for every breath.

Somehow over the noise in her head, she noticed the faint sirens of an ambulance approaching. Next thing she knew, the fuzzy silhouettes of EMTs were hovering over her, moving quickly to and fro in a way that made Jennifer's head hurt.
The world suddenly began to fade into darkness as she slipped into a deep sleep.

⊱July 8, 1975⊰

Jennifer blinked awake, inhaling sharply. The unfamiliarity of the room she was in caused her to panic, her heart once again racing.
Feeling the urgent need to move, she curled her fingers slowly, glad when they cooperated. She looked around, noticing that she was attached to a plethora of beeping machinery.
With a deep breath, she recognized that she was in a hospital-- a place that she had visited often in her daily life, and one of her least favorite locales. However, she was rather unsettled by the fact that nobody seemed to be around. The place felt abandoned in the silence. Once again she grew frantic. Groaning in pain, Jennifer forced herself to sit up.