Rainy Days - Ailee

The early morning sky was clad in grey. The clouds were doubling up each other menacingly. The smell of incoming rain was heavy in the air as was the electricity, the expectation of the coming storm. A crash of thunder sent her heart hammering. Moments passed in expectation until finally the rain that held back all day cascaded down from the heavens upon the earth. Drenching the parched earth, the smell of wet soil lingering in her nostrils as the girl watched the storm progress aggressively.

Even though the weather was an unexpected obsticale to her freedom, it wouldn't stop her.

Nothing will.

Having no early classes was an advantage, so it was plain clear she'd be gone by the time the students should have their break. All she had to do was to call a cab after delivering the letter she spent the night writing to the headmaster's desk. The letter that includes all the excuses of why she's leaving.

She slowly clasped her fingers around the crisp envelope, gulping down her anxiety. The stairs creaked as she trudged up each board, lumbering slowly, lifting her feat to meet the base. One foot followed the other. The mountain of steps grew more and more difficult and tiresome. An eternity seemed to await her.

*Hold yourself, Hyemi. You can do this.*

Making sure that the least person she ever want to get caught by is nowhere to be seen, her palm hugged the handle, and swung the door to the side.

2,3,4 steps more then stop.

She placed the damned letter on the desk in a place where it can actually be seen -it was an incredibly messy desk- then promptly lifted her hand as if it stung her. An unreadable feeling ran swiftly between her face before she hung her head down and squeezed her eyes shut. Oh, the disappointed look on the principal's face. She can already picture it. It felt as if her lungs stopped expanding, while her heart dropped from her chest.

*Good bye, Dalton's academy.*

...

The boiling clouds grumbled in the distance, complaining of the heavy weight they bore. The storm they unleashed was massive above her. The rain pounded down, each drop a small stone, peircing cold and soaking her to the bone within seconds. The wind moaned and lamented, making it difficult to put one foot infront of the other. It was clearly throwing a fit today, thumping the earth and snarling at the trees that bent to avoid its fury. Lightening splintered the darkened sky, and the raindrops continued their ravage on earth, ripping cruelly at the ground and whistling angrily through the rees. This rains surely meant business. And its business was keeping her in place.

"I've been waiting for exactly 26 minutes under the rain. Why isn't there any flippin' cabs hitting the road?!" The drenched latter hissed, her sharp tone  betraying her impatience. Checking the surface of her watch for the umpteenth time, she was finally aware water droplets were splattered on the covering and the wristwatch was dead long ago.

The dripping lass wasn't exactly known for her self-ccontrol, and it took every ounce of her energy not to break a fit about it. Such a shame, though. It was a treasured piece, since both of her grandmothers searched everywhere to find it. Even though she desired to scream, to yell, to cry, to bawl about it, there was nothing to do. So the only action she actually came to do while standing there, getting a free shower from karma, was to sink to the ground, and keep her eyes on the road that seemed to melt.

Eventually, a cab was at the distance, plodding in an prolonged matter. Hyemi almost cried from joy, since she was waiting the whole morning for this. With every unhurried stride, it decelerated towards her, and she could almost sing. Her chest was expanding with hope. Her eyes shone from a mix of delighted tears and rain drops. It came to a stop infront of her, for her fortunate luck.

The passenger's window rolled down, and an old man in his fifties with lines of age on his forehead came to her sight. "Hop in, miss."

It almost took Hyemi an eternity to understand he was adressing her, and she nodded in a speedy motion that her head almost fell off its place. Rotating to retrieve her crimson backpack, her lungs forgot how to get air in.

His face was a storm itself. Eyes shadowed with an unreadable stare. His crisp white shirt was evermore clinging to his chest, and he looked rather fobidding and detached. Fuming, his seething aura was towering her, and she shrank back in fear. The world stopped turning, and the wind held its breath to observe the two. He was the hurricane himself.

Luhan.

His demeanour was menacing, hostility pouring from every pore he owned, and Hyemi had a sudden urge to whimper. His build was trembling, but Hyemi knew it wasn't from the wintry weather, Hyemi knew it wasn't from unease, Hyemi knew it was from rage itself. Detecting the letter he was clenching at, Hyemi directly recognized it.

Hell sure will break loose now.

"Where do you think you're going?" Luhan spat, outrage surging through his veins.

Silence is an unplanned wave that left her shivering.

His palm, somehow, found its way to her wrist and she was trapped. "Answer me." Hyemi caught his tone, cool and fluid. Unsafe.

"Answer me." He impulsively explodes, and the composure is gone, the steadiness of his indifferent voice was gone. His palm is a twisting serpent choking its prey.

Flinching at the last sentence, she struggled to make herself hold his condemning gaze. A wave of helpless panic left her trembling, and tears began pricking her eyes. She took the mistake to hold his gaze, and his unfathomable look softened.

"Seriously, Hyemi. Why are you running away? You think danger would be lesser than it is back in your home? You're just trying to find excuses to leave..." The wounded look on his face was heart-squeezing, and she broke down.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't take this anymore! You people are just mad!!!" Tears crammed her eyes as she stifled a sob. "I just can't take this anymore. This craziness for nothing-"

"Nothing? You think we're not in danger, too? You think we're doing this for nothing? Honestly, Hyemi. We all have a place we wish to go back to, but we won't just leave. We all are fighting for peace." He growled.

"It doesn't concern me. I'm just a normal girl with-"

"Normal? Normal? Don't you realize this? You were never normal! All your life was a lie, and nothing else! How come you think you're normal when you called a saraph? How come you think you're normal when you punctured a hole through the headmaster's office in the spur of the moment? How come you think you're normal when you saw your parent's past?" The latter exclaimed between the patter's of the rain, and the girl froze.

Grasping all he said was true, she stifled a sob. He's right. She was never normal. All the incident's were a broken film that kept filming through her mind. It came to no succes, since she began silently weeping because of that. Luhan's grip was gone long ago, and all the thoughts but to cover her face with her dirtied palms.

With a sudden, it was warm.

His arms swathed around her cracking body, and he pulled her to his broad chest. Hyemi blinked as she acknowledged the sweet musk's scent that wrapped her, placating her fluttering posture. Her eyes commenced to water, but she refused to cry more. As her weak arms enfolded his waist, she concentrated on his steady breath that was at the crook of her neck. Even though the embrace was unpredictable to happen, Hyemi's heart stirred. It was a heaven to be caught in his arms, having him cradle her. It truly was.

"Please don't leave....We need you...

I need you.."