Cold Hearts in The Rain

Chapter 38

Hey guys, if you loved this book, how about checking out the new revised draft I'm putting out?

A lot of things will change; my writing style has hopefully gotten better, the story will have less plot holes, and I'll be deleting some scenes and adding on others.

Lots of things will remain the same, just be rewritten differently, because I'm not here to waste your time for you to reread the same words all over again—especially with a heavy story like this one.

Two chapters of the revised draft are already out, but here's Chapter 1:

The pitter-patter of raindrops littered the top of my umbrella as walked down the street. The humid air mixed with the smell of wet grass filled my nose. I closed my umbrella and let the rain surround me, staring up at the sky as droplets kissed my skin.

The rest of the walk home I kept my umbrella down. My hair that I had straightened for picture day began to curl up, my clothes were started to cling to my body, and a chill flooded into my bones.

I didn't mind though. I loved the rain.

As I unlocked the door to my house, an unsettling feeling entered into my body. It was eerily quiet—which wasn't unusual in the slightest—but for some reason, this quiet seemed different. It was as if it didn't belong, holding a secret with smugness in the absence of sound. I shook it off and walked upstairs to my room, settling down to do homework.

The quiet only grew louder.

My parents weren't supposed to be home until after a function my dad was holding, some big event he was hosting for his job. My dad wanted me to go, but I had a massive upcoming project that was due at the end of the week. So he and my mom went without me.

I connected my phone to a Bluetooth speaker and blasted the music. The silence was driving me insane. It wasn't as if I never experienced quiet before; my parents left me alone plenty of times before on date nights are anniversaries. I couldn't shake off the feeling though.

Loud pounds erupted on the front door just in time for a quiet part in the song I was playing. My heart leaped in my chest. I reluctantly left the comfort of my bed and ran down the stairs. Once peeping through the peephole I saw two officers standing outside.

My heart sank.

I opened the door slightly and I poked my head out. "Hi?"

"Hi, sweetheart. Do you know this license plate?" the short female officer asked me. "We traced it back to this address." I glanced down at the frayed and almost curled up sheet of metal, examining the numbers and letters in her hand. DOE 8900. That was the plate to my dad's car.

"Yeah, that's my father's," I said. The officer sucked in a breath, her eyebrows lifting in pity. Oh god. Something's happened.

"Sweetie, there's been an accident," the tall, stocky officer beside her began. "We speculate the car slipped off the road and fatally crashed into a tree, where it went up in flames. Nobody made it out."

The rain poured on in the as the officers fell silent. My brain ceased to think as my body trembled. For a moment, everything went perfectly still.

Then one singular thought came into existence: Mom and dad. Dead.

A sudden ache slammed into my chest full force. Tears followed in an intense onslaught, the officers distorted by their unwelcome saltiness. The noises coming out of me where unnatural as the female officer rubbed my back soothingly.

I was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

***

"I'm so sorry," Logan whispered into my ear. Another sob wracked my body, one powerful enough where sounds no longer escaped me; the ache in my chest deepened as my heart cracked and overflowed.