Prologue

 

The wind sang songs of love and care, of gentleness and tenderness, of affection and warmth. The rains emphasize each sentiment with its own feeling as it tapped against the windows of the small studio apartment. Thunder and lightning beckoned with its brash sonic boom and flashes of lightning strikes, urging the young woman in the studio to heed its call.

 

Love and care.

 

Come with us, we will love and care for you as you deserve.

 

Gentleness and tenderness.

 

Come with us, you will receive all the gentleness and tenderness we have to offer.

 

Affection and warmth.

 

Come with us, our affection and warmth has always been yours since the day you were born.

 

Rhythmic tap on the windows.

 

Enter to our embrace, we promise you our everything.

 

Brash sonic boom and quick flashes.

 

Leave this world which only brought you misery and come to ours where you will forever be cherished.

 

Love and care.

 

Come with us, we will love and care for you as you deserve.

 

Gentleness and tenderness.

 

Come with us, you will receive all the gentleness and tenderness we have to offer.

 

Affection and warmth.

 

Come with us, our affection and warmth has always been yours since the day you were born.

 

Rhythmic tap on the windows.

 

Enter to our embrace, we promise you our everything.

 

Brash sonic boom and quick flashes.

 

Leave this world which only brought you misery and come to ours where you will forever be cherished.

 

Over and over again, the voices of the storm raging on the coast of Florida beckon the almost comatose woman lying on her bed.

 

The voices were determined to claim one of their own tonight when the weather of this world strengthens their powers.

 

Usually, the black hair woman was able to ignore the voices. She knew area with strong wind lent the voices strength. She avoids it. She knew when she touched the water, phantom sensation runs along her body. She took quick showers whenever her body odor becomes too strong. She knew electricity tries to jump out of the sockets to dance with her. She increases her speed when there is an energy source nearby.

 

Today was different.

 

Today, the burden of this world destroyed her willpower to continue to live.

 

Today, the temptation of the storm was too much.

 

The young woman tried to shut off all of her senses. She wanted to gather her thoughts, to decipher the words spoken in hushed whispers, to unravel the lies that was this world.

 

Those lies were not manipulated by the forces outside the studio. She knew it was the truth in their evil little hearts. Her mind knew it was the truth, but her heart did not want to accept her newfound reality. She wanted to cling to the lies.

 

The forces outside will not allow it.

 

They have endured for too long. They have endured when the people around her deny their existence. They have endured when those people closest to her abandon their affections towards her under the guise of false concern. They have endured when those around her realize her usefulness and exploited her for their gains. They have endured when those same people tore down the false facade and destroy what little happiness the woman had.

 

They have endured enough.

 

Today they will take back their beloved daughter. Today they will take her back, or the world will know their fury.

 

The young woman opens her dull black eyes. She was tired. She was too tired to fight.

 

Slowly, the girl got out her bed and walked through her living room to the front door. She stared at the door as if it was the door to hell itself. Perhaps it was.

 

The wind whispered, the water tapped, the lightning danced.

 

What is it if not the work of evil forces?

 

What is it that torment her mind so?

 

If the forces at work now are evil, are they worse than the people around her?

 

She reaches for the door knob, hesitated for a moment then decisively open the door. The wind pulled her; the water directed her; the lightning showed her the path;

 

The young woman, like a savant, followed a path only she can see. Her dull eyes followed the flashes of light. The woman's legs were weak and thin from malnourishment, yet she continued to take unhesitant steps towards an unknown destination. Despite her determination, her body is incapable of supporting her efforts.

 

The young woman fell into a puddle of water.

 

She was tired. The bones in her body felt like jello. Her muscles ache from exertion. This little trip was the furthest she has ever walked in her entire life. It was a testament to her willpower she got as far as she did.

 

The elements refuse to let her surrender. If she was unable to move by herself, then they will move her.

 

The downpour increased, raising the water level in the streets. Slowly, the young woman floated along the water currents.

 

As her body was drifting along the currents, the black hair woman can hear the giant waves crash against sandy beaches, the howling of the wind rushing by and the roar of thunder as it herald lightning.

 

She knew she was being carried towards the eye of the storm three miles off the eastern coast of Florida.

 

It was strangely comforting how peaceful and calm the center of the storm can be.

 

We offer you peace. We offer you calm. We offer you our very being.

 

"I accept," the woman whispered. The storm rages in exuberance. Finally, their child has accepted them. These were the first words she said in acknowledgement of their existence.

 

It was also the last words she utters while in this world as she rode the crest of the tide high into the air with the winds howling and the lightning crashing into her frail body.