Chapter 30 | Rae
Rae
I heard Caleb walking around his room, opening and closing drawers, to find clothes to wear after his shower. We both desperately needed to clean up after working outside.
Since the rain hadn’t come, we’d hung out in the barn after finishing up the chores until the sun went down. I realized I hadn’t thought of anything besides Caleb and being here with him while we were out there. It was nice.
I had showered, dressed, and was searching for my extra toothpaste in my bag on the counter. I had only found travel sizes of my toothpaste before coming to stay with Caleb and hadn’t remembered to order it online yet.
I heard Caleb open his bedroom door and walk past the guest bathroom. Duke sniffed at the guest bathroom door and the sound made me laugh. I love that dog and his silly personality.
“Come on, boy. Give her time. She’ll be out with us soon...Good boy, Duke.” The way he spoke to Duke, praising him when he listened and speaking kindly even when he didn’t, it made me smile. I always loved how sweet Caleb was with animals.
I froze, realizing something that made me happy and scared me at the same time. I also loved how he was with me. His gentle words and how patient he was with me—was I falling for Caleb? I mean, I’d always liked him, maybe even loved him, but was it too soon after everything that happened?
When I kissed him earlier, it was like nothing I had ever experienced.
I finished looking through my bag and still hadn’t found my extra toothpaste. Frustrated, I left the bathroom and walked into my room. Maybe I threw it into the wrong bag while I was packing at my parents’ house.
“Ugh I am such an idiot. Where did I put it?” I grumbled to myself as I shoved the bag back onto the bed and knelt to search under the bed.
“I can promise you, there are no monsters allowed under the beds in this house,” I heard Caleb’s voice at the door.
I looked up at him and realized how silly I must look.
I stood up quickly and felt dizzy. I started to stumble and Caleb crossed the room in a couple of steps, grabbing my elbow to support me. Duke ran to us and sat at our feet.
“Easy, Sunshine. You okay?”
The spinning feeling finally stopped. “Yeah, sorry. I must have just stood up too fast. Thank you for helping. I was trying to find my other toothpaste since I ran out of the one in the bathroom. I can’t seem to find it, though.”
“Why don’t you use mine until we can get you some more?” he said as he let go of my elbow.
“You want to share toothpaste with me?” I asked, figuring I misunderstood what he meant.
The look on my face must have shown how confused I was because Caleb laughed. “I can run to the store, if you’re opposed to that, and we can order more. However, in the meantime, yes. Just use mine.”
“You...don’t mind?” I waited for him to say he was just kidding, but he didn’t.
“Nah. We’ve kissed a couple of times, and I would gladly kiss you again, if you let me. It wouldn’t have bothered me before, and it bothers me even less now.” He winked at me, knowing the mention of our kiss and the wink combined would cause me to blush. He wasn’t wrong.
“I’ll go get it for—” a deep roll of thunder cut Caleb off. “Hold on. I have to take Duke out before it starts raining really bad. You can get it if you want, or I can when I come back inside.”
I smiled at him as he left the room, appreciating his kindness. I headed to his room and walked past the windows where lightning streaked across the sky. Thunder boomed loudly, shaking the entire house and causing me to jump.
“I’m okay,” I kept telling myself as lightning flashed and booms of thunder made the walls shake. I hate storms. Ethan always...
No. I’m not thinking about that right now. I am safe with Caleb.
I forced myself to start looking for his toothpaste and not stand there, frozen. I heard the front door open, and Caleb laughed as Duke shook, probably trying to shake all the water off his fur.
I opened a drawer and saw it in a drawer organizer, right next to his toothbrush.
“Hey, Rae, did you find the toothpaste?” Caleb called from the front room. I could hear him laughing still, and it sounded like it was because Duke had the zoomies.
“Yup! I—”
Suddenly, lightning struck and all the lights in the house went off. I froze. No. This can’t be happening. I dropped to the floor and scooted back until my back hit the wall. I tried to scream, to call for Caleb, but nothing came out. My chest felt tight, and it hurt to breathe.
I heard footsteps running down the hall and into the bedroom. They sounded just as loud as the thunder.
Oh no, Ethan is here. I was wedged into the corner of the bathroom wall and the cabinets. I was cornered and had nowhere to go, and nothing to protect myself with.
I heard a voice. It was a man’s voice. Oh my gosh, he’s here. He found me.
The footsteps stopped and the voice said something, but I couldn’t make it out. It didn’t really matter what he said to me. The actions always hurt more.
Lightning lit up the bathroom and the silhouette of the source of the footsteps was right in front of me. He found me.
I pushed harder against the wall and kicked my foot at him as he backed up and sat across from me.
Was he taunting me? He spoke again and I felt like I was going to be sick.
There was a weird tapping sound as he spoke.
Then a moment later, I heard a thump, then he spoke again, right before a flash of lightning filled the room.
I wished my eyes could adjust enough for me to see before the darkness swallowed me whole again.
Why was he not moving towards me? I wish he would just get whatever he had planned over with.
Thunder shook the wall my back was against and I tried to not react, to not show my fear, but he knew.
He said something to me and a wave of nausea came over me again.
I felt like I was going to throw up, but if I did, I would be vulnerable and he could use that to his advantage.
I tried to calm myself, but it felt like my throat was closing up.
I started to gasp for air and felt like I was choking.
He said something and moved towards me. I jumped. I was still cornered.
He touched my arm and the wave of anxiety only grew as I wondered what he was waiting for.
I had to fight. My arms felt like they were made of lead, but I had to try.
He tried to speak to me again, but I couldn’t focus on his words.
I just had to fight. I felt his hands on my leg, then my arms, and I tried to scream again, but nothing came out.
I pushed and hit, but he was too strong.
I knew I had scratched him, but it hadn’t stopped him.
“Rae! Sunshine! It’s me!” I heard Caleb’s voice.
“Caleb, help!” I cried.
“Rae, honey...” Suddenly, I felt arms wrap around me and hold me close. They didn’t squeeze, but instead they just held me. “Sunshine, it’s me. You’re safe. I promise. It’s me. I got you.”
“Caleb?” My voice squeaked when I said his name.
“Yeah, honey. It’s me, Ranger.” He ran his fingers through my hair in an attempt to comfort me.
I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer than he already was. I buried my face against his chest and tried to match my breathing to his. Caleb kept whispering things I couldn’t quite make out, but the sound of his voice was enough to keep me anchored.
Little by little, the world stopped spinning. My hands were still trembling, but his warmth didn’t leave. For the first time since the lights went out, I felt a flicker of safety.