Stark Contrast

Prologue: The spark

        " Every great story starts with an event. One singular moment in time that changes the whole course of what could have been a rather mediocre storyline. My father called it the spark, I'm not sure if that's what it's called or he just said that because it rhymes with Stark. I mean thinking about it now that sounds like something he would do ... .wait a minute I'm getting off track, sorry about that i tend to ramble. So this Spark it's like what they call the domino effect. Now don't get me wrong I've never been one to believe in destiny or higher callings, I've always believed that we as people carve out our own paths, some just have better advantages than others. I have to be honest though, this is not where I was planning on my story to go but, thinking back now I realize exactly when it happened, the moment but I never could have imagined what came after happening in a million years. Maybe that's why it's called the spark, because it happens in the blink of an eye and takes off like a raging wildfire in the middle of brush while the wind rages and there is no hope of slowing or taming it until everything settles and the path is already forged and your left to make sense of what happened. Where it all went wrong or in some cases right. Well this is my story and how it all began with that single moment that changed everything. The spark."

                                             2 years ago

                               Cambridge, Massachusetts

           Fall, my favorite time of the year. It's the only time of the year I feel like you can actually feel the change in the air, the calm before the impending storm of holidays and cold weather that has everyone scrambling and in a complete state of disarray. Tonight for a mid October day, is pretty cold. Not a normal cold though, one of those colds that you can feel in your bones, kind of like your body sensing incoming danger before it hits like a freight train.

           Returning to the apartment I share with my boyfriend John Walker from a party his fraternity was throwing, and we're both drunk. Him more so than me but still not enough to keep us from arguing. Unfortunately it is a very common occurrence for us these days, half the time I'm not even sure what we're arguing about. Tonight's topic is his unchecked jealousy issues, apparently any man who so much as looks my way is making a move on me in his eyes.

           Walking into the apartment we share across from the Harvard Campus that we both attend, I toss my purse and keys on the coffee table as he goes off about a guy I talked to at the party. I sigh and take my heels off sitting on the stool next to the kitchen bar. John paces in front of me yelling " Honestly Rowan, do you really think I'm going to believe it was a harmless conversation when you were both eye fucking each other?" He accuses with a bit of a drunken slur. I know I shouldn't so I don't aggravate him more but I'm a Gemini and a Stark therefore I really shouldn't be held liable for my sass and facial expressions at this point. So I roll my eyes which only pisses him further off, like I knew it would. I stand up slightly swaying because like i said I'm sort of drunk and he is fucking up my buzz. " I was not eye fucking anyone, we were talking about Professor O'Connell's lecture, but since you apparently have the hearing of a fucking vampire you already know that. Just admit you're looking for excuses to fight John." I say making my way past him and into our bedroom to change out of my dress. I can hear his feet stumbling behind me as he follows me to the room and I can feel his eyes glaring into the back of my head.

            As I grab a pair of pajama shorts and a black tank top out of the dresser I swear I feel a chill run through me before I feel his breath on the back of my neck, the hairs on my arms and neck stand on end. I turn to face him and I can't quite decipher the look on his face, but it's cold and detached, nothing like the John I know but before I can make sense of it, it's gone, replaced with a look of irritation. I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. "What?" I ask as our eyes are locked and in a stare down. After a couple minutes pass I hold up my clothes " Well, I'm going to go change, when you figure out what you want to say you let me know. ok?" With that i head into the bathroom to shower and change.