Into The Darkness

Chapter 2

Noel woke up to the sound of shouts and screams coming from next door. " Argh, you think they'd have some respect for the people who're still sleeping!"

She sat up and reached for her alarm clock, feeling it's face. Her fingers ran across the smooth surface with the raised bumps and slender hands. " Two o' clock?!?" She was, needless to say, shocked at how late she had slept.

" Damn it." She kicked herself mentally for staying up so late trying to finish the book she was reading. " I will so get Ry for hooking me on Anne McCaffrey…" she snickered. " But I suppose it's only payback for getting him hooked on those Harlequin romances."

She flopped back in her bed, not caring that she had slept half the day away. She felt good, better than she had in a long time. Better than she had felt since the accident. She had passed all of her final exams with flying colors and would be graduating with her class after all, which had been her biggest fear after the initial shock of losing her sight.

Today was the first day of the rest of her life, the first day of being a high school graduate, and the first day of summer. " God I love Saturday!" she squealed ecstatically.

Finally ready to get up, she slid her feet over the edge of her bed and placed them carefully on the floor, mindful of the books scattered by the bed. All Anne McCaffrey of course. She counted steps over to her dresser and opened the top drawer. After a moment of concentrated search she found what she was looking for.

" Ha! I knew it was in there." She returned to her bed and laid down the treasure she had found. It was a new book, another Anne McCaffrey novel, All the Weyrs of Pern.

She silently counted back to her dresser and rummaged through the drawers emerging with some clean clothes for her to change into after she showered. " No, wait. I don't want to get dressed… where did mom say she put my green bikini?"

She searched through her clothes once again coming up with several bikinis, none of which had the three knots sewed on them that told her they were the green one. She pulled out one with two knots, that was her red one, and one with five knots, her black one, and one with seven knots, that was her purple one. Frustrated with her inability to find what she was looking for she sat down heavily on the floor.

" Sometimes I really do wish I could see. Where the hell is that bikini?" She stood up again suddenly as she remembered her mom saying that it was on top of her dresser, not in the drawer. " You think I'd remember something like that." She muttered to herself as she grabbed it and started edging around her room, counting again to get to her door.

She turned left and counted fifteen steps to the bathroom. Walking in she didn't bother to turn the light on. She had lost that habit long ago since she didn't use it. She pulled her jet black hair back and turned the shower on. Stepping in, she quickly scrubbed her slim body.

In less than ten minutes she was wearing the elusive bikini and its matching sarong, both gifts from Ryan, and carrying her new book out to the hammock.

Her head turned towards the pool as her nose picked up the faint but unmistakable scent of chlorine. She wrinkled her nose as she remembered the standing house rule for her: NO SWIMMING WITHOUT SUPERVISION.

It's not like I don't know how. I used to swim and surf everyday… but the word 'before' lingered in her mind reminding her that she wasn't the same person she used to be. But it wasn't the same anymore, and she hadn't been swimming since before. " Damn." She said aloud.

" Damn." A young voice from in front of her repeated.

She swung around abruptly, startled at the presence of another. She usually sensed when there were other people near her. Just chalk it up to all the noise next door, she thought as she heard screams of surprise and a loud splash. A small hand grabbed her hair and pulled it gently. " I say hi to you."

Noel grabbed the little boys hand and untangled it from her hair. " And I say hi back. Where did you come from, next door? Where the party is?"

" Uh huh. My daddy there." The small hand gripped hers tightly. " Take home?"

She stood, the boys hand still in hers. " Sure, I'll take you back home. But why don't we make it a game?" Her mind was flying along at a break neck pace. She didn't know the steps to the neighbors' house and she didn't have her cane, not that she ever used it. Noel didn't like for people to know she was blind.

" Game good!" the voice replied enthusiastically. " Play game with Kevy!"

She smiled down at where the voice came from. " Okay, here's the game. I'll close my eyes and you lead me to your daddy and mommy, okay?"

" Okay."

Noel found herself being dragged along, presumably to the party. It had to be to the party, she reasoned, cause with every step she took it got louder. She could hear individual voices talking about a surprise and about the cake and how beautiful it was.

And then she heard another voice, loud and very distinguishable from the rest of the crowd. It was a deep voice and very upset.

" Kevin! Where were you?"

Suddenly Noel's hand was empty and she could hear the sound of someone sweeping the little boy off of his feet. Noel had the sudden impulse to make sure that the kid didn't get in trouble. " He was with me. At my house. I live next door."

" I'm so sorry that Kevin bothered you miss…" The man stood waiting for an answer.

Noel held her hand out. " Noel. Noel Sands." A large hand engulfed hers and shook it vigorously.

" Kevin Richardson. This little monster who cornered you is my son. He's a Kevin too but we call him Kevy. Or Caboose, but that's a long story."

Noel laughed. " I'm sure it is, maybe you could tell it to me sometime. But little Kevy here wasn't bothering me. In fact, he actually helped me out some."

" How?" A soft female voice asked.

Noel turned her head to the voice, a habit that helped hide her disability. " Well, if it hadn't been for him I would probably have waited a lot longer to meet my new neighbors!"

The woman laughed airily, her voice light and happy. " Oh, we're not your neighbors. We're just here for the party. One of our friends decided to throw a party for his wife."

Noel grinned. " That sounds so sweet. He just decided to have one?"

" Well, no. She just found out she's pregnant and they've been trying for so long!" She paused and drew a breath. " Oh dear, what dreadful manners I have! My name is Karen. That big lug holding my little Kevy is my husband."

" That is so romantic! And it's so nice to meet you Karen. So if you're not my neighbor, who is?"

Kevin laughed. " That would be Nick. Follow me and I'll introduce you."

Noel panicked. Follow him? I can't even see him! " Maybe I shouldn't. I don't want to intrude on the party or anything…" She let her voice trail off, hoping that they'd let her off the hook.

Karen hooked her arm around Noel's and said " Oh nonsense! The more the merrier!" and dragged her off to meet everyone.

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