Page 33 of Bad Star

Chapter Sixteen

Rainn saton the balcony on a lovely Sunday afternoon and went through the events that had unraveled in the previous few weeks. She felt the ring on her finger and used her right hand to take it off and feel it with her palms. It was the perfect fit and the fact that it meant something to her made her feel excited and warm inside. She listened to her surroundings as she did this and enjoyed how the birds sang in the nearby trees. Her mind thought of the few wedding planners that she had interviewed so far and her mind was decided on a couple in particular. She raced back to the songs they had suggested for her but had declined them all. There was a piece that she had been working on and she knew that it would be perfect for the walk down the aisle. She also had the perfect dress design and wished that she had the eyesight to see how lovely it was. Familiar distant footsteps disturbed her thoughts and she felt excited knowing that it was her lover approaching. She however felt disappointed when she listened more keenly, knowing he must be drunk from the staggering steps that he was making towards her.

“Hello dear,” Jack said as he planted a light kiss on Rainn’s cheek. She felt a wave of disappointment rush over her again as her fears were confirmed. His breath reeked of alcohol and from the swish of his left hand she could tell that he was still drinking.

“Started earlier than usual today,” Rainn commented and listened to him as he sat next to her at the balcony.

“Well,” he answered and did not bother to add anything else to his short statement.

Rainn did not feel like getting into a fight with him but she could feel the anger within her boiling.

“I don’t like it” she said, getting to her feet to prove her point.

“Well you had better get used to it,” Jack said and he too got up, walking over to where Rainn was. They stood face to face before Rainn could feel the strange new scent on him.

“What is that?” Rainn asked curiously and leaned closer to him to get a stronger feel of it.

“Come on, Rainn! You have smelled the liquor on me before!” Jack complained.

“No, there is something else other than the liquor”, Rainn insisted and moved even closer to him. She could feel it even more now, a strange scent unknown to her.

“What is it?” Rainn insisted.

“Ok, I may have smoked some meth earlier on,” Jack confessed and did not seem to care after his confession.

“Where did you get it from?” Rainn demanded in an irritated voice.

“What do you mean, where did I get it from”, Jack said sarcastically “Like I would tell you where I got meth from, I’m not insane.”

Rainn felt his words hit hard on her heart like a sledge hammer but chose to remain silent. She knew that he was only acting this way because of the dig but was still very hurt nevertheless. She turned on her heel and started heading back into the house from the balcony but was pulled back by Jack who held on to her left wrist.

“Where are you going?” Jack barked.

“As far away from you as I possibly can get, I cannot be around you when you are like this” she wailed and turned again, trying to get away from him.

“Don’t go!” he both pleaded and commanded, still with a firm grip on her.

“Let go of me!” she shouted at the top of her voice.

“You are not going anywhere,” Jack snarled.

Rainn stopped struggling and turned to face him, she could feel his warm breath close to her and she did not like how his scent was overpowering her and weakening her knees. She mastered all the courage she could and spoke to him.

“You need help Jack, you need to stop doing this to yourself!” Rainn shouted. From the way his breathing changed, she could tell that he was really mad.

“I don’t need any help!” Jack shouted back “And you will not tell me what I need or do not need.”

“I will tell you what I don’t need,” she barked “I do not need you in my life anymore. I cannot build a future with someone who does not love himself enough to admit that he needs help at a point of addiction!”

Rainn did not know where she had gotten all that courage from, but she knew that it had been a long time coming.

“You are leaving me?” he shouted back angrily, before throwing the bottle that he had in his hand. It landed on the ground floor straight from the balcony making a loud crashing sound.

Rainn felt a fear rise from the pit of her stomach to the end of her fingers and toes. She could taste blood in her mouth and a cold sweat broke on her forehead. Her first instinct after this explosion was to run and run she did. She ran back into the house and knocked on a few things before landing face flat on the ground.

Jack was of course hot on her trail and he let out a wicked laugh that made Rainn shiver to the very core of her being. She wondered why no one could hear all the noise that was coming from them and decided to scream and shout for help. She let out an ear splitting, thundering scream that made her throat sore. She did not stop at that and was just about to let out another when Jack sat by her side and placed a hand over her mouth.

“No one can hear you from all the way over here” he said. He still had the wicked demeanor which made Rainn even more nervous.