CLOSER │ J.JK

Chapter 1

Don't know how long I've been walking from home, but all I know is that I'm freezing. It's pitch-black outside, hugging my body tightly, trying to warm myself up, but it's not working. Strong wind and rain are creating chaos around the small town; rain pillars are flying all over the sky, like thousands of arrows together, unstoppable and endless.

I tramped my way along the muddy trail in irritated silence. It was supposed to be a full moon tonight. Not that I could tell; the clouds above stopped any light from aiding me on my so-called "journey". The road I'm taking is next to the little forest. It's really late, and everything is so fuzzy that I don't even notice cars passing by on the road. Trees are shaking from strong wind, and I'm shaking from the cold while looking down and walking fast till music fills my ears from across the road.

I slowly look up to see little wooden bar and thought to myself "I should definitely go in there for 10 minutes at least, or I will freeze to death; need to figure something out". After crossing the road and getting close to the bar named "Glisten Grove" the music starts to get louder. Slowly opening its door, I can clearly hear relaxing blues music. The smell of cigarettes fills the whole bar; it was small but also looked cozy, with people being busy with their companies drinking, smoking, and talking. My head was heavy, and I was still shivering, so I decided to find the bathroom first.

"Do you need help, ma'am?" Hearing a soft voice behind my back made me instantly turn around to see tall, manly figure standing in front of me.

"Uh..." stopped mid-sentence to analyze him for no reason. He must be working here, I thought. He had nice broad shoulders and a very attractive face with dark features.

"I'm just looking for bathroom." He smiled at me, which made his eyes disappear, and pointed his finger to the other side of the bar.

"Just go straight and then left."

"Thank you."

I started to make my way towards the bathroom, thinking about previous events which occurred at my house.

*5 hours ago, from now*

"LOOK AROUND" he screams after throwing random stuff around. Everything is mess, trying to contain myself and process my thoughts while my father, whom I loved dearly, tries to destroy everything around me.

"Do you think throwing things around makes you any stronger?" his behavior made me laugh, and I couldn't stop it either.

"AFTER ALL THIS, YOU ARE STILL NOTHING!" he continues.

Smiling at him through the pain, knowing that he has no idea about me, does he? Him being absent answers the question perfectly. Father became like this since my mother and brother left us without any trace, and here lies the big mystery.

Once, we did have loving family, but now it's just a memory or old book with dust all over it. Being too young back then, every little thing had its own color or purpose. In my vivid memories, my mother's and brothers' faces are too blurry. All I remember is one Christmas night opening gifts with them and smell of cookies from the kitchen. Sounds sweet, doesn't it? Back then, I couldn't realize what was happening around me, but now I want to find the answers and make this puzzle clearer. For a while, I was resenting them for leaving us, desperate to find the reason behind it, but my father kept that as a secret for a reason. Since then, I have been living with my dad, if you call that "living". Father thinks he is taking care of me by not coming home and "working". He doesn't work at all, he gambles - a lot. Staying at some random places, not coming home for days. Always wondered what was going on in his head. My life routine is quite different from his, which he doesn't realize. He thought his daughter would always tag along anywhere, but no.