The Man In The Rain

"Mom! Why did you have to drag me to this backwater place? I wanna go to a college in a city, not some town on the border of the country," Jane cried out in indignation as she carried her stuff inside her new house, which looked quite cozy and small compared to her old house.

Still, she was unhappy with her new place since there were no places of entertainment or malls where she could enjoy on her own.

"Jane, be mature. You are already eighteen years old. So, as a young lady, you should learn to adapt to situations like these. It's also hard for me as a single mother to do all this shifting on my own. But we have no nice since my new job posting is in this place," Maria said with a sigh as she placed down a huge box in her hand.

Jana blew through her lips in frustration as she continued to take out her stuff from the truck.

The other reason she was disappointed in moving from her old home was that her only close friend, whom she had known for over ten years, was in that place.

And she knew how hard it was to make such a friend, especially when she was an introvert, and now she has no friends here, and neither was she confident of making new ones anytime soon.

However, just to distract her mind, she took a look around to see who all her neighbors were and only two other houses in the vicinity.

"Oh, hi there!" An old man's voice sounded from behind.

Jane turned around and saw an old couple with gentle smiles looking at her.

Jane's lips parted, not knowing who this couple was and why they approached her.

"Hello, young miss. My name is John, and this is my wife, Marla. We noticed you and your mother moving into this house and wanted to greet our new neighbors," John said with an amiable smile while Marla nodded with a pleasant smile.

"Ah, Good morning! I suppose you guys are our new neighbors," Maria came out with a beaming smile as she noticed the old couple approaching her daughter.

"Yes. We live in that boring-looking house over there," John said as he pointed at a small grey-colored building that looked quite old for a 21st-century house.

"We won't slow you down with your work anymore. Why not come over to her house later when you two have settled down? I would love to talk to your lovely-looking daughter as well," Marla said in a tone of appreciation as she noticed Jane's long silky black hair, which hung down her back like a waterfall.

She also couldn't help but admire Jane's light brown eyes that looked like a pair of twin pearls, and her pale skin looked as beautiful as the snowflakes.

She could see that Jane got most of her genes from her mother, especially her eyes.

"Sure. We will find a convenient time and come by later," Maria politely said.

Soon, Jane and her mother shifted everything into her house, and the skies had already become dark enough for the moon to shine in its full glory.

Jane had her first day of college tomorrow and decided to sleep early, especially when she was feeling tired from all the moving stuff around.

'Hmm...at least I get to sleep on my soft old bed...' Jane mumbled as she dozed off before she could realize.

*RUMBLE!*

"Haaaa...." Jane woke up with a startled expression upon hearing the loud rumbling of thunder.

She looked out the window to see bright purple flashes covering the skies while a slight drizzle pelted the windows.

Feeling curious about the sudden rain and thunder, she got up and peeked out through the window only to see an empty street.

But before she could assume that no one was out, she saw something shocking.

A man in a black hoodie seemed to fight with a masked man. And they both continued to engage in a fight till the masked man kicked the hooded guy's stomach and removed his hood to reveal a handsome young man with medium-length hair.

However, what happened next made Jane's heart thud when she saw the young man quickly getting the jump on the masked guy and taking out a knife before slicing his throat.

'What the hell!' Jane was shocked and horrified as she quickly shrunk her head and pressed her back against the wall, feeling her heart trembling with panic.

Even though the skies were dark, because of the street lamps, she was able to at least see what was happening and clearly saw the hooded man slicing the neck of the masked guy with his knife.

She couldn't believe she just witnessed a murder and decided to take another peek to see if what she saw was real and not just a dream.

But all she saw was the masked man lying on the ground with his blood slowing spreading around and the hooded man suddenly looked up, towards her direction!

"Shit!" Jane immediately pulled herself back and almost stumbled out of panic.

She quickly jumped onto her bed and didn't dare to go anywhere near the window again.

'Who is he...and whom did he kill...why...' She mumbled as she fidgeted her fingers.

For the rest of the night, she wasn't able to catch a wink, and when Maria came up to wake her up, she saw Jane sitting up with reddened eyes.

"Oh my god, Jane? Are you alright? Why do you look so pale and tired?" Maria asked with visible worry.

"I-I am alright...I was just too excited...heh..." Jane replied with a dry chuckle while still thinking about what she saw the previous night.

Maria frowned and asked, "Are you still having those visions? Do you want to see a psychiatrist again?"

Jane grimaced, "What? No! Of course not! I told you I don't have any "visions" anymore, nor do I want to see a psychiatrist ever again. Jeez, mom!"

"Okay, okay. It's just that you know...I am just concerned about you...especially when some of these visions you claim are about the future came true. Well, anyways, forget I said anything and go get ready," Maria said with a sigh as she left.

Jane rolled her eyes as she forced herself to get up while pushing away her thoughts about what she saw before.

Still, she couldn't help but ask her mother to drop her off at her college since she was scared to walk on the street alone.

Once she entered her new college, just as she expected, she was sitting alone in her new class while others seemed to have a good time mingling around.

She only glanced at the entrance occasionally to see who her new classmates were.

However, suddenly her eyes got fixed to the entrance when a young man entered the class whose face looked eerily familiar...just as same as the young man she saw yesterday night!

Only now that she was seeing him closer, he looked tall, handsome with chiseled features and light blue eyes, which looked quite charming.

He had a gentle smile on his face, but upon noticing Jane, his smile curved into a dark smile as he approached her, his gaze glued on to hers.

'Oh no...why is he coming here?? I have to run...maybe complain to the police?' Jane's thoughts became chaotic as she tried to think up various solutions to deal with this situation, but weirdly her body stayed rooted to her seat.

She held her breath as the young man sat beside her and didn't dare to look towards his side.

"Hi. I am Damien. What's your name?"

Jane replied with a shaky smile as she quickly glanced at him, "I-I am Jane."

"Hmm...nice name. So, Jane, tell me one thing." He put his head closer to hers as he whispered in her ears, "What did you exactly see yesterday night?"

Jane felt like her heart almost leaped out and replied as she shook her head nervously, "N-Nothing at all. I was...sleeping. What could I possibly see, heh..."

Damien only smiled as he leaned back and said in a low voice, "Meet me behind your house tonight, 12 AM. Don't make me wait."

Jane gulped, wondering what this mysterious and seemingly dangerous guy was up to and if he was planning to threaten or kill her subtly.

However, she nodded out of fear and then looked away as she held her breath.

The hours passed though it seemed like an eternity for Jane as she quickly ran back to her home, not bothering to linger in the college for long lest Damien finds her again.

However, even after getting back to her room, she couldn't help but walk around her room restlessly as she kept on mumbling, "What should I do...what should I do..."

And before she knew it, the moon took over the skies, and she was still awake, not knowing what to do or if she should tell her mother.

But then, thinking about her mother's safety, she did not dare to do that.

Finally, after mustering up her courage, just before the clock struck 12, she silently made her way down and slipped out the back where there were only trees and plants covering the area.

"Good. You came."

"Ah!" Jane was startled upon hearing the familiar voice from behind as she turned around to see Damien coming into her backyard.

"W-What do you want? I told you...I didn't see anything. B-But if you try anything, I will call the cops. I have already scheduled a message for them in case something happens to me," Jane bravely said after tightening her nerves.

Damien slightly laughed, not feeling bothered by her 'threat', and came closer as he said, "Your life is not as normal as you think. You have been living a lie, and there are people you should be wary of...people who will do anything to get their hands on you. Don't you ever wonder why you have these visions, especially of the future?"

Jane was flabbergasted to hear all this but couldn't help but mumble after a few moments of silence, "H-How do you know?"

"Because you have the Astral bloodline...the one that allows you to see visions of the future, and there are people who would be willing to kill anyone in their path to enslave and use you. There is a war coming which will devour this world soon and a whole another world you are not aware of. Now tell me...do you want to survive that war and live?"