The Rain | Part 1 | The Beginning Read online

  The Rain

  Part I: The Beginning

  Marietta Standlee

  Copyright © 2020 Marietta Standlee

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 9798551178040

  Cover design by: Canva

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  This Series is dedicated to my uncle Klaus, who is like a father to me. Love you Klaus

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Part II

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Part III

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  The Rain

  Books By This Author

  Part 1

  The Amusement

  Park

  Chapter 1

  I should be happy. I finally got what I’ve been waiting for; Ryan’s arm is draped around my shoulders during our descent into the dark. His fingers caress the top of my shoulder, but the goosebumps I anticipated at his touch elude me. My stomach drops, but not because of his fingers drawing lazy circles on my bare shoulders. But because our boat plunges sharply down, into absolute darkness.

  We emerge from the gloom with a wet splash spraying all of us, particularly the kids in the front row (lucky me). Nebulous light illuminates enough for me to make out Ryan’s handsome profile as he takes in the artificial world around us.

  It’s not the first time today we’ve been enjoying the Pirates ride, but every time we do, he is as spellbound as he was the first. The bright smile on his face reminds of that of a little boy on Christmas morning.

  But he is not a little boy, far from it. Ryan is attractive in an all-American-boy way, blonde hair, blue eyes, angular face. He is also the quarterback of our school’s football team and has Mr. Popular written all over him. He is so out of my league; it’s not even funny. Still, I have been harboring a hard crush on him for six months.

  During the last week or so, he began showing an interest in me, which should have sent my heart into a tailspin, but to my utter dismay, it didn’t. For the hundredth time, I ask myself what the hell is wrong with me, but once again, there is no answer.

  I turn my head slightly and catch Blake’s eyes, who sits in the row right behind us, all by himself. How he managed to snag an entire row on a popular ride, where people wait in line for an hour, is another Blake mystery. He raises an eyebrow insolently at me, and his eyes dance with cynical amusement. His lips turn up into a smirk as he moves his chin, gesturing at Ryan’s arm, still resting on my shoulder.

  With a huff, I turn my head back around and snuggle closer into Ryan’s chest. I force myself not to allow Blake to ruin this for me too. He shouldn’t even be on this trip. He is not on the football team.

  All of us are only here thanks to Ryan’s dad, who sponsors a California/Amusement Park trip every year after the football team won the championship during the previous season. That by that logic, I shouldn’t be here either is beside the point. My dad is the coach, and since it’s my weekend with my dad, I have a right to be here. Blake, not so much.

  If rumors are to be trusted, the only reason he is here is for punishment. Imagine that, an Amusement Park trip as a punishment. I huff again, and Ryan eyes me quizzically.

  “Are you getting bored with this ride?”

  I don’t want to appear bitchy, so I shake my head no, and lie. “It’s just stuffy in here.”

  A scream pierces the air, but this is an amusement park; people scream. I disregard it and decide to stop thinking about Blake and enjoy the ride with Ryan. My gaze wanders around the various pirates and skeletons artfully arranged in the semi-darkness. Mist rises from the water surrounding our boat, and I suppress a yawn. The whole atmosphere, the water, the haze, the semi-darkness is not helping me stay awake.

  I’m probably not the only one who is tired either. We drove here on a bus for more than fifteen hours straight. We arrived in Anaheim at around four AM this morning and were given just enough time to shower and change clothes in our hotel rooms, before being ushered to breakfast and the Amusement Park right after.

  I’m not complaining; I enjoyed every minute of this trip so far. However, I’m getting tired even though I managed to snag a few hours of sleep during the drive last night.

  It’s just not enough for somebody who is accustomed to sleeping fourteen hours a night. Had I known sleep deprivation was part of this trip, I would have seriously considered not going.

  Yeah right, who am I kidding? I would have walked over hot coals if it meant spending an entire weekend in Ryan’s proximity.

  Another scream echoes through the cavernous space. This one comes from the boat ahead of us. It’s the third time we’ve been on this particular ride, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why anybody would scream, apart from the initial drop into the darkness.

  After that, it’s more or less a sightseeing tour. Entertaining for sure, but not frightening in the least. Unless you are a little kid, I guess. Another yawn tries to escape me, but I camouflage it with a sneeze. Ryan stiffens beside me.

  “What is that?” He asks.

  I try to follow his gaze, but suddenly the boat comes to an abrupt stop. Even though we weren’t going very fast, the force of it propels me against the handholds. Hard enough to knock the wind out of me. Behind me, Blake doesn’t fare much better; he too is thrown forward. Ryan stops himself at the last second by bracing his hands in front of him.

  “Is there somebody out of the ride?” Blake asks, pointing at the other boat that has been ahead of us the entire time.

  Goosebumps rise on my skin; my dad is on that ride. When I squint my eyes, I can make out a tall figure pulling somebody else out of the boat. The other person is much smaller and fighting forcefully to stay inside the vessel.

  “Shit, is that coach?” Jason yells from two rows back.

  I crane my neck, I still can’t make the figures out very well in the gloom and shadows, but he seems to be about the right heights.

  “Let’s go.” Ryan orders while Blake jumps out of our boat.

  His feet splash into the water. Luckily, we are at a point where the water is only about two feet deep, but it’s still enough to make running awkward.

  The other six members of the footbal
l team, sharing our ride, join Ryan and Blake in their mad dash towards the other boat. While I stay frozen in my seat, I’m not even sure I’m breathing at this point.

  Why would anybody try to pull somebody out of the ride? My eyes stay glued on the fight, the taller person pulled the other figure out of the boat and is choking him or her. It’s hard to tell from where I’m at because of the gloom and haze evaporating from the water.

  As Blake reaches them, I feel myself rising from my seat, but I don’t remember making the decision to leave the ride, but it’s as if my legs have their own free will. Same as my mouth, which is whispering: “Dad.”

  Blake reached the struggling people. He pulls on the taller man’s (dad’s?) arms. But it seems his attempt is in vain, as the person getting choked, goes down to their knees. Ryan joins Blake in trying to free the struggling victim. Both boys' attempts to pull the aggressor’s hands off his victim’s throat seem futile.

  Another commotion breaks out behind me. Two men fight each other, while a woman attacks one of the men, back in the boat behind me.

  Water sloshes against my feet, drenching my shoes. Like in a nightmare, I fight step by step to move forward, like walking through molasses, making my way towards the struggle.

  Another scream has my head swivel back to the boat I just left. At least five people are fighting with each other now, but I don’t know any of them. They were in line with us to get on the ride, and we all ended up in the same boat (no pun intended). My attention is focused forward, and I whisper again, “Dad.”

  I know it’s him. Deep down, I know. I can’t explain why he would attack somebody. If this weren’t him, though, he would have jumped out to help by now.

  Whoever is in his grip, their fight is slowing. Neither Ryan nor Blake seem to be able to get my dad’s hands off the poor soul’s throat.

  “Dad!” I scream this time.

  He stops. His head turns my way.

  “Dad, please stop.”

  “No, Vivian,” Blake yells at me, all the while trying to stop my father from choking somebody.

  That somebody plunges to the ground like a ragdoll as my father suddenly releases his hold on their throat. Even though they are at least fifty feet away from me, and it’s gloomy and misty, I can feel his eyes bore into me, feel his sole focus directed at me.

  “Vivian, run!” Ryan shouts at me.

  But that doesn’t make any sense; why would I run from my father? Loud banging noises reach us from the outside, and my heart skips a beat as I recognize the sounds of gunshots.

  Blake tackles my father to the ground as he surges forward toward me. Ryan helps try to restrain my dad, who struggles furiously. Jason and the other four players finally reach them and attempt to help as well. Just then, another person throws himself out of the boat and attacks of all people, Jose.

  Jose swats his attacker away like a pesky gnat. He is the wide receiver of the team and easily weighs over two hundred pounds. At seventeen, he stands already over six feet tall. But the man who attacked him doesn’t give up. As soon as he is back on his feet, he attacks Jose again. Conner and Ty come to their teammate’s aid, and together they subdue the man.

  All this happens simultaneously while I move closer to where my dad is, and where the boys still try their hardest to keep him down. When I’m about fifteen feet away, I almost don’t recognize him, and my heart drops at the sight. His face is distorted in an ugly snarl, his eyes are bloodshot, but the worst is the way he is growling at me. His head moves back and forward like a rabid dog’s, exposing his teeth, as if he is ready to bite me.

  Sweat pours down Ryan’s and Blake’s faces, their biceps bulge as they put all their strength into keeping my father down. An utterly ridiculous notion. Because even though my father is a football coach, he is far from a football player. Think chess nerd, and you can picture him. He probably weighs less than me. Still, Ryan and Blake are having a hard time keeping him contained and away from me.

  To my left, Jose, Jason, and Ty still fight the guy who attacked Jose. Conner appears indecisive, probably trying to decide if he should help with his coach or the other three boys. But that’s not all that is taking place here, far from it. There is mayhem everywhere around us.

  Due to the mist and gloom, I can’t see that far out, but even with the fog, I can tell that fights are happening in the other boats as well. Shouts and grunts are somewhat subdued because of the water, but the sounds of fists hitting flesh are unmistakable.

  From outside the artificial world we are currently in; I still hear gunshots. My mind is having a really hard time wrapping itself around everything that’s happening.

  “Monica!” my father screams at me, his voice coming out as a snarl.

  The blood in my veins turns to ice. I don’t think he recognizes me. He thinks I’m my mom. There is so much hate on his face; I take an involuntarily step back.

  “Monica,” he snarls again, renewing his efforts to get away from the boys’ hold on him.

  Deep down, I know that if he could, he would lunge at me and choke me like he did to that other person, whose prone figure still lies motionless in the water. Did my dad kill them?

  “Coach,” Ryan shouts at my dad, in an attempt to bring him back to his senses, which only seems to enrage my father further.

  Somebody else jumps out of the boat ride, a woman, she throws herself on top of my dad.

  “No!” I scream. Watching in horror as my dad’s head plunges underneath the shallow water.

  Blake releases my dad and tries to pry the new attacker off.

  Right then, Ty manages to land a hit on the man he and his friends have been grappling with ever since he attacked Jose. Ty’s fist connects squarely with the other man’s jaw. Once, twice, with his third blow, he finally takes the man out of the picture for good.

  With that attacker down, it frees the three boys to help Blake and Ryan, who were both forced to let go of my dad to try to get the woman off him. But she sits firmly on his upper back, pushing his head down into the water while anchoring her legs against my dad’s flanks. She is not even paying attention to the two boys pulling and shoving on her. Her body sways, but not enough.

  Blake and Ryan, as well as the other boys, seem somewhat out of their element. All their lives, we have been taught how wrong fighting is, and here we are. All of a sudden, we find us in the middle of a nightmare, and none of us seem to really comprehend yet, that this is a fight for life and death.

  My dad’s limbs flail in the water, thrashing. Blake and Ryan try hard to get the woman away from him, but she won’t budge. Both boys still try to come to grips with the sudden reality of having to fight a woman. All the while, she snarls incomprehensible words. She’s big for a woman, but Blake and Ryan are both strong; this shouldn’t even be a competition.

  Frozen, I stand there, not understanding why the boys can’t just throw her off my dad or why she is attacking him in the first place. Ty, Jose, Conner, and Jason reach the struggle.

  Just then, two more men enter the fray, as if lured by the violence. I don’t know where they came from; it’s as if they appeared out of thin air.

  “No!” I scream again.

  One man rushes Ryan, who is taken by surprise and loses his balance but manages to stay on his feet, grappling with the newcomer.

  The second man makes a go for Blake, but Ty and Jose intercept him. Together the boys manage to free Blake, to try once again to get the woman off my dad.

  Jason and Conner reach the man exchanging punches with Ryan. Without warning or preamble, Jason interlocks his fists and pounds them on the back of the man’s head, having obviously lost his scruples. The attacker’s knees buckle, and he goes down. Conner, also realizing that the rules have changed, lands another punch on the man’s temple for good measure, which finally brings him down.

  In the meantime, though, my dad’s head is still underwater, and his flailing has subsided. My hands fly to my throat; it feels as if somebody is choking me, and I can
’t find my voice to scream.

  Ryan is back at the woman’s side and pulls on her hair in an attempt to make her get off my dad. She doesn’t even flinch, though; she doesn’t appear to feel any pain whatsoever. Somehow Blake finally manages to get his hands underneath her arms and pulls mercilessly on her. He, too has lost his qualms and is ready to play dirty.

  Ty and Jose are still engaged with the one still standing attacker. Ty uses his weight and pushes the man back, while Jose pummels him with his fists. Even from a distance, I can tell that he is still holding back. But it’s enough to force the attacker to stumble against the boat. Snarling, he extends his arms for a woman who screams in fright. She barely manages to keep herself and the toddler she is holding from the man’s reaching hands.

  Distracted, the man seems to have forgotten about Ty and Jose. The two exchange unsure glances, torn between helping the woman holding her child and their duty towards their teammates and coach.

  Ryan decides for them, as he yells their names: “Salinas, Fenton, get your asses over here.”

  With a few steps, they are on Blake’s other side and push at the still roaring woman. With their combined strength, they finally topple her over, instantly she attacks Blake. Ty, Conner, and Jose rush around my father’s lifeless body to aid Blake, while Jason and Ryan turn my dad over.

  I give the fighting a wide berth and close the distance between my father and me. A whimper escapes my lips as I see his lifeless, bloodshot eyes stare at nothing.

  “Shit, Ryan.” Jason hisses, then turns towards Ryan. “I need help with the coach, McCarthy.”

  Unable to move, I watch helplessly while Jason and Ryan administer CPR to my father, but I know it’s of no use. He drowned in less than two feet of water in less than two or three minutes. My mind screams at me that he probably kept hissing and shouting underwater and thus effectively drowned himself, but my brain struggles to wrap itself around any of this.