Rise of Rain - Sequel to Tower Falling

Chapter Two

HELLO YOU BEAUTIFUL LOVES OF MY LIFE. This chapter is kinda short, but I have plans for the next part of it and I wanted to get this out to you as soon as I could because I'm in DISNEY WORLD and I don't have as much time to focus on writing. (I've been up since 2:30 in the morning don't judge me I only got three hours of sleep before my flight.) Basically I'm here because I want to finally get a picture with Peter Pan. Basically. He's hot as hell, no matter who's portraying him. Damn son. Anyway, I hope you like this little bit. I'll have the next part out as soon as I can!

Chapter Two

My eyes were glued to the TV screen. Danny and I had been watching the news when there was a sudden emergency announcement. It was still flashing on the screen, the scroll bar beneath the "Breaking News" headline seeming to fly by at a hundred miles an hour. "High security patient has escaped from mental institution; New Yorkers are recommended to stay indoors."

"It's Darren," I said, my voice shaking as badly as my hands. I set my mug of coffee aside before I spilled it; I couldn't tell if my hands were vibrating from fear or from too much caffeine. "Danny, it's Darren."

"It's not Darren," he said consolingly, coming up behind me and putting his hands on my shoulders. He applied a little pressure and started to massage the tension out of my body. "They said it was a high security patient. Darren's not dangerous enough to need high security."

I leaned back against the cushions, the remote clutched tightly in my hand. "Are you sure?"

Danny kissed the top of my head. "Yes, Andie, I'm sure. Change the channel. You shouldn't keep watching this; it won't make your nightmares any better."

He squeezed my shoulders again before he let go and turned to walk toward the window. He told me to change the channel, but I couldn't. My hands wouldn't let me. It was like I couldn't move. I was frozen, staring at the screen as the name of the patient popped up. Darren Lee.

I jumped off the couch, but it was as though I couldn't move my feet any further. "Danny, it's Darren!" I shrieked, pointing at the screen. A photo of the escaped patient appeared immediately after and my heart nearly gave out. "Oh, God!"

It was Darren, but it wasn't Darren. There was the reddish blonde hair, but it was longer in some spots than others. One of his eyes was missing, a long scratch that looked like it hadn't properly healed running across the empty socket and down over his mouth to his jaw. There was a smile on his face, razor-sharp teeth glinting in the photo's light. It was a monster. It was what I imagined Darren looked like on the inside, without his pretty boy charm disguising him on the surface.

"Relax, Andie," Danny said, still looking out the window. "We don't live where we used to anymore. We moved here after he was put away. There's no way he knows where we are. He can't get you, and he can't get me." He smiled at me before looking back to the window. "Why are there so many police cars outside?"

I turned toward him and dropped the remote to the floor. "Danny, get away from the window," I said quietly with an urgency I'd never before felt.

Danny laughed a little. "Andie, we're on the ninth floor. It's not like he can - "

Glass shattered. I think I screamed. Danny was shouting, and then he was gone, his body flung out the window and to the street below, nine floors down. And then there was Darren, standing inside the smashed window, his fingernails long and untrimmed and stained with red. He was hunched over like a feral animal ready to pounce. "Hello, Andie," he said, his voice much deeper than I remembered it being. "You look surprised. You should've known I'd be back for you."