The Divine One- A Perrentes Love Story

-16-

When darkness falls over San Diego, it doesn't just inch silently and peacefully over the cliffs and hills.

In San Diego, just after sunset, the night is like a menacing cloak over the howling waves, shadowing everything in the city. The ocean is no longer blue, but rages and hisses like a writhing serpent in shades of black.

A storm was rolling over the water, only visible against the ebony sky when it lit itself with brilliant flashes of purple and white. Claps of thunder shook the house as we all sat together on the ground, surrounded by candles and flashlights. The power was out.

Victor and Jaime sat together under a blanket, and talked and laughed quietly. Their ease and relaxation seemed comical to me, as I shook with anxiety.

It helped that I was there, with them, but tonight my heart ached remembering what a night like this meant for me back at my apartment.

Andy would have been in one of his moods. I would be drunk, on the couch. He would try to grab my wrists and drag me upstairs to the bedroom, and what could I do to resist? Disoriented. Confused.

I cringed at the memories. My palms sweated and I shook, my anxiety gripping my heart and thoughts. He'll find me here. He'll find me here and take me back and there will be nothing I can do to fight it.

Another flash of lightning lit up the room for a split second, illuminating the familiar faces across from me. They were silent, as thunder filled the air and made the house tremble in fear. Then there was another light, one that didn't go away so quickly.

The unmistakable glow of headlights passed through the window, distorted by the rain, as a car pulled into the driveway.

I leaped up, my chest constricting with anxiety, and trembled as I stared into the light. Vic jumped up from the floor, too, and we looked at each other. Who would be here this time of night, during a severe storm? I could tell from his eyes that he knew, and I did too.

He snatched a flashlight and grabbed my wrist, pulling me quickly upstairs. He turned into his room, and I followed, dragged along in agonizing fear. He dropped my wrist, throwing open the door to his closet, and began to shove objects and fallen clothes to the side, out of the corner. He pushed me in, throwing random things on top of me. Blankets, shirts, CDs, hangers. He slammed the door closed, and I was alone in the darkness, breathing like my lungs were on fire.

There was a clap of thunder, and lightning flashed in a line under the closet door. The sound of fists on wood shook the house, and I struggled to hear the events downstairs.

The front door's hinges squealed as it was flung open, and the hiss of rain sprayed, muffled by the floor below me. Voices. Three of them. I couldn't hear what they were saying, and they were quiet, easygoing. The scene sounded like music; the violent tap of the rain was a snare drum, the voices were quiet violins, the thunder was the timpani. The softness of my own breath in my lungs, and the bass of my heart pounding in my ears.

Suddenly, a crescendo. The violins screamed, profanity echoing up through the floor. The timpani roared, accompanied by flashes of blue lightning. A crash came from downstairs, and the yelling continued, becoming more violent. The thump of something heavy smacking the ground dully shook the floor, and I whimpered as another clap of thunder drowned every noise.

There was silence, then the hiss of the rain, then the slam of the front door, and then there was nothing. I didn't dare move; my body was frozen to the ground and my heart pounded in my ears. The sound of an engine filled the driveway, and the lights of the car faded off in the storm.

I leaped from the closet, shoving open the doors and out of the bedroom. I sprinted down the stairs in the darkness, trying hard not to trip over myself or anything else.

"Vic?" I cried. "Jaime?"

Someone moaned on the floor, partially illuminated near the window. I grabbed a flashlight from the ground, and shined it on the figure.

Vic lay on the ground, blood running down his face.