Finding Grace (Series)
Book 1, Fate is Cruel
Written By Laura V.C
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PROLOGUE
Summer holidays began the night of June 30th, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect, but the weather was unpredictable as Corie knew. She was a sub weather forecaster, and knew the weather as though she was psychic. She knew there was something coming, but she didn’t know what. She stood outside the popular club, Krazy and stared up into a jet black sky. The wind howled around her, tossing the thick strands of her brown hair around her face.
“Corie, come on. You’ve had enough air. I want to dance.”
Corie’s best friend, Shanay stood in the doorway of the packed club, not caring that a bouncer was scowling at her because she happened to be in the way of the clubbers arriving and having to push their way past her. She tossed her blond hair back over her shoulder and sighed impatiently.
“It’s gonna rain,” murmured Corie, and turned to Shanay.
“It’s so not. Didn’t you see the forecast? Clear night or something, it’s not supposed to get cloudy, and it’s too unlikely it’ll rain without clouds.”
Corie shook her head. “That’s Jim’s forecasting. If it was mine, I could’ve said it was going to rain, cause it is.”
“Corie, you’re acting weird. The bouncer is staring at you funny, and I’m cold.”
Corie shrugged and followed Shanay inside, but took one last look to the sky. She felt rain. She didn’t know why she could feel it, she just could. It was a gift she always possessed. It was the main reason she wanted to be a meteorologist. Her eyes strayed to a long black car. She had seen it once before when she had taken her breath of air. Was it strange to see it a second time?
“Corie,” Shanay whined. She gripped around Corie’s arm, and pulled her in, ignoring the angry groans of people she was forcing herself and Corie through. She threw her into the raucous of the dance floor where Corie danced, looking around her. “You’re so weird tonight. What the hell were you checking the weather for? You’re not working.”
Corie faced her. “I wasn’t checking the weather, Shay. I was getting air, I told you that.”
“It’s not gonna rain, k?”
Shanay suddenly started grinning, and she grabbed Corie’s shoulders to twist her around. “Hot guy over there. So hot, must go, must attempt conversation.” She laughed, and pushed her. “Go.”<
Corie skidded in front of a young guy who was hot with shades to cover his eyes. She smiled at him, and began to dance around him alluringly. He took notice of her immediately. “Hey, you have a name?” He asked her.
“Yes,” she replied, and leaned near his shoulder.
“Well-” he urged.
“Well, what? You have to guess.”
The guy laughed, and followed her around him with his eyes. “You look like a Stephanie.”
“Nope. Guess again,” she teased, and tousled his dark hair.
She moved her lips close to his ear and whispered, “Corie.”
He grinned and nodded. “That would’ve been my next guess.”
“You are?”?
“Jake.”
She danced to the front of him, but made sure there was no real body contact. “I like that name.”
“How many drinks have you had tonight, Corie?” He asked her.
“None yet.”
“I’m gonna fix that. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
Jake left, and Corie continued dancing. She was having fun, enjoying the lights that swayed over her, but one yellow light swept over the watch on her wrist, and she stopped dancing. She left the dance floor, and ran to the table where Shanay had been sitting with two guys, both vying for her attention. “Shay, I have to go. It’s one- thirty, and I have work tomorrow at eight.”
“What?” Shouted Shanay over the loud, pulsing music. “Come on, Corie, there’s a half hour left. You can stay for a half hour more…”
Corie shook her head, checking her watch again. “No, I have to go. I told Shirley I wouldn’t be late again. Remember, it’s three strikes and I’m out of a job. This would be my third.”
“Corie, you can live without one of your jobs. God, you work more then you play,” whined Shanay, getting to her feet.
Corie glimpsed the floor where she had regrettably left Jake. “I’m sorry, I have to go.” She turned to head for the exit and Shanay called after her.
“A half hour!”
Corie burst through the doors, and was shocked by a rumble of thunder that rolled through the clouds above her head. She nodded. “I knew it.” She bent her head, and began walking down the dark street. She didn’t bring her car, since she only lived a street from the club. The street, however seemed longer to her that night, and lightening shot through the sky more then once. She hit a crack in the pavement that sent her down on a broken heel. She made a noise of frustration, pulling the shoe off her foot. Rain came down then, hard and furious, drenching her through. She stood on stocking feet, and broke into a run. “Couldn’t wait till I at least got to my apartment?” she snapped at the sky. She made the mistake of looking off to the road, and a chill entered her. A long, black car was following her, the same black car she saw roll by the club twice. A sicko, she thought, and swerved to the side as far from the road as she could manage. Her hair was pasted to her cheeks, and she desperately tried to force it out of her eyes. A hand suddenly caught her at the elbow, and she let out a cry.
She wrenched herself away and was startled by a pair of black eyes attached to a head of black hair. The man was tall, and broad, and could easily subdue her if he wanted to. “I saw you before. I’ll scream if you come anywhere near me.”
“Corie Grace?”
Corie backed away, shaking her head. He was a stalker. Fear caused her feet to move, and she turned to race down the wet and deserted street. She could see her apartment through the rain. She didn’t stop before the road, but continued across it. A pair of headlights blinded her, and images of the life she knew raced like flipping photos in her mind. She let out a scream, and a thought entered , a last thought, “It’s gonna rain…”
Epison 2 Eye of Storm-Coming Soon
