Jukai

Chapter 21 Wait till

Nicole hunter

Lying there in the silence, the only sound I could hear was the storm intensifying outside the window.  Night had fallen, and the house was wrapped in a heavy stillness.

The storm outside raged on, but inside, all I could hear was the soft hum of the wind and the occasional creak of the house settling.

The hurricane's roar was deafening, trapped within the walls of Terry's guest bedroom, but in the stillness of the room, it felt as if the world outside was miles away.

I stared at the door, my mind too foggy to even consider trying to pick the lock.

The thought was there, but the energy to act on it was gone. I wasn't sure what I was hoping for—freedom or escape, or maybe just something to distract me from the mess my life had become.

The ceiling fan spun slowly above me, its five blades moving in lazy, repetitive circles. Time seemed to stretch as I lay there, waiting for Terry to return, though I wasn't sure when or if that would happen.

I needed to figure a way out of this room, and quickly... him taking my gun wasn't going to stop my plan... I just had to change a couple of things and move quickly.... my mind was made up and he wasn't going to stop me.

Hours passed. The anger that had once boiled inside me, sharp and fierce, was now slipping away, dissipating into an empty ache.

But what I couldn't understand was why Terry cared so much. Why did it matter to him what I did with my life? It was my decision, my choice.

The last month had been a nightmare—losing my husband, and then my father just a year later.

It felt like the universe had torn everything I knew away from me. The loneliness was suffocating, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I didn't belong in this world anymore. Without them, I felt like I was floating, lost.

And if I wanted to end it all, so be it. It was my life to take, not his. So why did it matter to him so much?

Why was he trying so hard to stop me?

It was as if Terry thought locking me in his guest bedroom would magically change how I felt, like his attempt to control the situation would somehow make everything better.

But in reality, it wasn't going to work. No amount of time, no forced isolation, could fix what was broken inside me. There was no saving me. This was my decision.

Feeling trapped, but not by the room. I was trapped by the weight of my own mind, by the grief that still clung to me, by the overwhelming loneliness that seemed impossible to escape.

Suddenly, I heard a pop, and then the lights flickered once before going completely dark, plunging the house into shadows. The storm outside roared louder, the wind battering against the walls, the rain pounding down.

Getting up from the bed, I called out to Terry, hoping he would hear me, but the storm outside seemed to drown my voice, its roar growing louder by the second.

The wind howled against the house, making the walls shudder as if the whole structure might be torn apart. I moved toward the bedroom door, my heart pounding, praying that Terry would come and unlock it.

I grabbed the door handle, pulling on it with all my strength, but it was no use. The lock held fast, and I could feel a surge of frustration bubbling up inside me.

I called out again, this time louder, my voice barely cutting through the howling wind outside.

"Terry!" I shouted, but the only reply was the deafening sound of the storm as if it was swallowing everything in its path, including my voice.