The Triangular Dimension

Chapter 3: The Storm

The cool air bombarded Clive as he pushed through the heavy, metal door of the club. He shivered, and was suddenly all too aware of his bare chest. "Clive!" Ludo and Liz ran up behind him. "What the fuck, man?  You were downstairs for 5 minutes! You couldn't have possibly gotten anything from that!" "Not true, Ludo," Clive started as he continued to walk, "Getting sucked off by a random stranger can be alarmingly sobering." "Exactly, what fun is that?!" Fudo stopped walking, and Lisette ran to catch up to Clive. "Clive, where are you going?" "I'll be home soon; don't wait up for me." "Clive! Stop." Clive turned to look at his friends. They both wore expressions of deep concern. "Don't worry, I just have to do something." Clive turned on his heel and started running toward the cliff. "But Clive, there's a huge storm coming tonight! CLIVE!" Clive ran until he was out of earshot of his friends. When Clive came to the woods that separated the street from the cliffs, he stopped short. The wind blew harshly against his face, which he now realized was wet with tears. He rubbed his eyes dry, and pressed on through the thickets and dry twigs.

One he had finally reached the edge of the cliff, he collapsed in the sand, burying his face in his hands.  He wasn't at all sure what had upset him so in between arriving at the club and now. Suddenly, he felt a pressure building in his rib cage, and he let out a soul- ripping yell. Exhausted from his outburst, he slumped over himself, feeling the hot tears streaming down his cheeks once more. They turned cold as the wind picked up again, and Clive heard a rumbling in the distance. He did not look up, nor open his eyes, but he turned his head slightly as if to hear the sound more directly. The sound seemed to have a similar idea. The roar of the thunder was suddenly much louder than it has just been. Clive opened his eyes and looked up to see the dark blue night sky had turned black, and the stars and moon had taken refuge just above the angry clouds. The thunder clapped again and seemed to shake the Earth itself. A frightened Clive stood to hurry away from the edge, when lightening struck right in front of him, causing the unstable ground around his feet to crumble. His breath caught in his throat and he remained still. The ground ceased it's crumbling. Clive shakily exhaled a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding, and took a cautious step forward. Wrong move. The ground shattered like glass, and he fell right through; almost as if he'd simply waltzed off the edge. As he tumbled downward, he couldn't breathe, think, or even scream. He could only stare at the unforgiving water splashing frantically below him. At the last second, he clamped his eyes and mouth shut, and awaited impact. 

The impact he received first was not what he expected. He felt a hard smack against the back of his head, followed by a scrape that started from his neck, and seemed to travel all the way down his body. He let out a sharp cry, which was then swallowed by the sea, along with his breath, as the current sucked him under. He looked up and saw nothing but black. It was useless to try to kick to the surface, so Clive let his vision blur and his body go numb as he felt himself sink.