The Little Stranger

Chapter One

(I have rewritten and tweaked a lot of chapters of this story because I wanted to put a lot more depth into it. so and I am putting the newer version up)

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The raging ocean and the churning white foaming waves dashing against the huge jagged rocks a long way below Jake. Fear gripped him vividly, that it coursed through his body, making his heart pump loudly in his ears. His sole concentration and focus were on keeping a grip of Caroline's hands, as she dangled over the cliff's edge, ready to meet the raging water and rocks below.

Her eyes were as dark and stormy as the sea below her. as she looked up at him. Clinging to her desperately, he felt the great strain on his body with the ache in his arms trying to hold onto her, so as to not let her drop,  just wanting to pull her up over the edge, but his body seem to have seized up, making it impossible for him to move.

She was laughing at him now, that crazy taunting mocking laugh, "You promised you would always be there to catch me if I fell," she screamed the reminder at him, tears now streaming down her face, " "But now you have to let me go"

"No, Caroline, just hold on!" He called to her in desperation, his grip on her wrists tightening, as he felt her give up the struggle and slide a little out of his hold

"Just let me go," her plea echoed all around him eerily. and he knew he was losing her, but he refused to release his hold on her, and now found himself being dragged down by her slack weight, it pulled him over the edge with her, but still he couldn't let go, suddenly feeling himself freefalling through mid-air, hearing her screaming his name as they both headed for the roaring sea below and now realising it was too late to save her or himself.. ........

Jake Kavanagh woke with a start from the nightmarish dream, that had left his heart palpitating, and his mind disoriented by his surroundings for a few moments, as he glanced around him.

Then he realised that he was not falling to his death but was sitting in an Airplane, high in the sky.

"Jake, are you alright?" the concerned enquiry came from his close friend and manager, Maurice Lewiston, sitting opposite him, and who happen to the owner of the private jet they were travelling in.

"Yeah," Jake finally managed to reply after a few moments, as he mentally attempting to shake of the last images of his dream, He took few deep breaths to calm his thudding heart, as he shifted himself in his seat.

"I didn't realise I had fallen asleep," he then said rubbing his hands over his face in a further attempt to shake of the last dregs of his disturbing dream.

"Well that is hardly surprising, since you haven't slept for almost about two days straight" Maurice replied, his grey blue eyes which were set in a podgy face of a middle-aged man, now frowned worriedly as they rested on his younger dark-haired companion.

"We will be in Chicago soon," he then informed him, "So you better get yourself prepared for what's to come. If that is even possible." he finished dryly.

"True," Jake agreed, "thanks for the loan of your plane, and for coming with me, I am not sure I could have handled this on my own" he admitted

Now his mind was returning back to his dream again, seeing his estranged wife Caroline's face again. The cold reality of the cause of his nightmare, hitting him in the gut all over again.

He was on his way to identify her dead body. The phone call he received two days before, from the American authorities to inform him about it, had shaken him.