“It’s not what it looks like.”
Disbelief.
“Oh, Miles please stop yelling.”
Exposure.
“I can explain.”
Humiliation.
“Please don’t leave…”
A door slams in the distance.
Silence.

So vividly he could remember that man. Two eyes gawking back at him, surfacing a mixture of mortification, apology, helplessness. And Alice, his sweet, darling Alice, lying on the kitchen table, shirt ripped open, lips swollen with intimacy, eyes violent with regret. He couldn’t remember much else after that - just a lot of screaming, and the quick packing of bags. Five years of marriage, and she was messing around? It should have been obvious. Why wasn’t it obvious?

White stockings stretched taut across milky skin, young skin. A purple dress hugged the chubby body, skirt ruffling at her unsteady knees. Trembling fingers clenched firmly to a matching purple hat, arms hugging closely around her knees. Honey locks framed an angelic face, dough eyes squeezed shut tight as the six-year-old was lifted over her father’s shoulder, and she was carried outside.

“Where are we going, Daddy?” The youthful voice whined, pulling her hat on her head and wrapping her arms around her father’s neck. “What were you yelling about?”
“Don’t worry, princess. We’re just going…on a trip.” Milo reassured as they hurried onto the driveway, suitcase in one hand, a ragged teddy-bear in the other.
“But what about Mommy?”
“Mommy’s a little…busy right now.”
The young girl gripped tighter, fingers digging into his back.
“Don’t be scared, Sadie. We won’t be gone that long. Besides, it’ll be fun. I promise.”

Dexterous fingers prodded hastily in the man’s pocket, grabbing the keys as he lifted his hand from his side and jammed the jagged metal into the keyhole on the car door. The lights flickered on, and the man strapped his young daughter safely into the back seat and handed her the bear before shutting the door and climbing into the driver’s seat. The dark silhouette of a woman in a robe bustled out from the doorframe, and Miles threw the car in reverse.

“Wait! Miles!” The voice called as another figure stood behind the woman. Miles cringed, already out of the driveway as he pulled the gear to drive.
“Mommy!” Sadie shrieked as she gripped the threadbare doll tighter; but the man had by now driven off down the street at an alarming speed, before slowing down to the permissible limit. The young girl began to sniffle, but the man continued driving.
“We’ll see Mommy again, sweetie. We’re just going on vacation, remember?”
The girl’s voice was choked with tears. “Okay, Daddy.”

It was only about an hour before the steady movement of the car had lulled young Sadie to sleep. Miles, on the other hand, was a wreck. His usual dark brown hair was limp with sweat, straight locks falling to frame his pallid skin. Dark green eyes blinked the sleep away relentlessly, intent on staying awake. He was a young father at the age of thirty, due to unplanned fatherhood. But like most parents, it wasn’t something he would regret. Milo loved his daughter more than anything in the world. Alice, on the other hand, hadn’t seemed quite as thrilled about an early pregnancy at the time. After all, she was onlytwenty-one when she’d become expectant, fresh out of college.

Milo had never anticipated this. If yesterday somebody had told him that Alice would have an affair, he would have considered him a lunatic and immediately shoo him away. It wasn’t like her at all. She was so committed to him, she seemed so happy. He was only gone for a weekend. Had this happened before? Did this happen often? Miles couldn’t concentrate, and he resorted to focusing on the road. The occasional passing car, the flickering traffic lights, the blaring car horns. Anything to keep him awake. Anything to keep his mind off of Alice. And then, it began to rain.

It began a slight drizzle, sprinkling down from the dim-lit clouds suspended in the sky, murky and foreboding. Milo hardly noticed. Within minutes, the light shower turned to a downpour, water falling from the blue in buckets, creating small rivers running down the gutter on either side of the street. The windshield wipers jumped in motion, sweeping frantically at the oncoming storm. It wasn’t until the lightning struck that Miles had considered it dangerous. “One, two, three-…” Thunder roared to life, and it was far too close. The man continued down the road, waves roaring underneath his wheels and spiraling out onto the curb.

He’d never noticed how empty the streets were. Nothing looked familiar, and there were no signs in sight. Had he veered off track? It was definitely possible. He took it upon himself to find the nearest rest stop and ask for directions. Certainly that would be the most logical thing to do, right? Miles just feared there were no nearby pit stops; everything looked to be out in the middle of nowhere. How he did hate being alone.

“Daddy?” A slow voice called from the back, tiny knuckles rubbing her bleary eyes as she picked her teddy off the ground. “Where are we?”
“We’re still driving, Sadie. We’ll be there soon.”
“Where?”
“…It’s a surprise. Now go back to sleep.”
The young girl made a face, but said nothing, and laid her head back on her doll, slowly falling back asleep. It was already three in the morning, and Milo was undeniably lost.

It was twenty-two miles down the road before the car began to sputter. Only somewhat at the start, but soon the sounds became worse. At one point, Miles could have sworn he felt the car jump. It soon slowed to a halt, right in the middle of the street. He cursed under his breath, immediately regretting this and turning to check if Sadie had heard. She was still asleep. The man sighed, leaning his head back on the chair and running violent hands through his now messy hair. What was he going to do? He was in the middle of nowhere with his six-year-old daughter, it was pouring, and the car was out of gas. Perfect. Just perfect.

The sound of rain splattering atop the car’s roof filled his ears. Smudges encrusted the once clear glass, water stains, circles of infinite color yet as clear as the morning sky; the windows blurred with downpour. No moon dare show its face amongst the heavy clouds for fear of vanishing within the darkness. Milo was left in shadow.

Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Drip. Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Drip.

The water tapped at his window so slowly, in contrast to the heart hammering in his chest. He feared it would burst at any moment, his ribcage left defenseless to the sudden torrent of erupting gore. The only thing left to calm him was the slow, soft breathing of his young daughter a few feet away. Slowly rising, falling, in harmony with the tapping rain. Why couldn’t he relax? Something was wrong; he could feel it. Miles had to get out of that car.

Author's Note: I'm planning on continuing this story in chapters. This started out as an introduction - but I figure that I should try out the whole 'story' thing. Therefore, this will be chapter one. 'Cha. (: