Chapter 55: Window Pain
Master Bedroom, The Kennison Estate, Latimer Ave, Baltiney, New York...
The rumbling of thunder had been an appropriate backdrop for the war going on inside the contentious weary mind of Ken Ryker, formerly Ryker Kennison. He had managed to make his way home in the middle of the night but had not been of the mind to venture toward the apartment of his on-and-off lover Valencia nor his current pet project of sorts Dean at the roadside motel. He had come home in a bid to recuperate from his rather blissful week of nonstop parties and numerous sex romps with either one or the other. He very rarely liked to be alone during his downtime but something had compelled him to return to his former family estate alone. Ken passed out after a few shots of bourbon and found his way into an uneasy sleep only to awaken at the first crackle of thunder as it ripped across a black sky that loomed over his surroundings.
Ken had been covered in a sheen of sweat as he opened his eyes finding himself lying on his back in the center of his bed noticing how the lights had all gone out and he'd been relatively alone. The rumbling and the flashes of lightning amid the hard downpour of rain only seemed to make the war inside him all the more intense.
{"Rye."} said a familiar voice getting his attention.
Ken tried to ignore it knowing all too well whom the voice had belonged to. He had known that she couldn't be the one speaking to him, she'd been dead for years.
He attempted to close his eyes and fall back asleep knowing there wouldn't be much for him to do with the house pitch black due to the blackout and his inability to see very much aside from his hand in front of his face due to the flashes of lightning.
{"Rye...."} the voice had returned but this time he could have sworn she'd been near him in the dark, her lovely naked body present as she slowly straddled his waist.
"Fuck..." growled Ken unable to ignore the very real image of his naked and very dead wife as she settled onto his cock as she had so many times before. "No..."
Sera smiled at him like she always had, so bright it could have given off light of its own. She placed his hand on her belly as she stared into his terrified eyes and told him about their unborn baby.
Ken had been at a loss for words as he noted the blood spilling from her mouth and stomach as the room shifted and they were once more at the crash site.
He could see the debris and the broken bodies that littered the site. The same rage and anxiousness that filled him that awful night had returned in full force and he found himself moving through the all too familiar wreckage. The atmosphere shifted and he'd been speeding down the highway with a bottle of booze gripped firmly in his hands as he loosened his tie as a loudly blaring tune played in the background the words had eluded him, but he recognized the beat being a sort of rock n roll track.
He pushed his foot down on the gas as the speed increased. On the seat beside him had been Sera, as dead as she'd been during the plane crash with blood running down her cheeks like tears as she sat back without a seat belt, her body slowly decomposing yet still beautiful as she sat beside him begging him to go faster as he pressed the gas harder the drink spilling all over the front seat as he focused on the empty highway at her behest. She reached over and gripped his cock causing him to take his eyes off the wheel then the car spun out of control and the impact was nearly upon him before everything went black.
"AHHHHHH!" yelled Ken as his eyes burst open amid the darkness but he was not alone as his body convulsed in the wake of him nearly falling out of his bed.
"Ken...open your eyes...it's okay Ken it's okay." said the soft and concerned voice of Evelyn Towers as she softly stroked Ken's cheek.
His body continued to shake among the bedding as the seizure lingered with its hold over his body. Evelyn gently spoke to him and patted his sweat-slick face with the wet cloth she'd managed to get to. Hot tears streamed down the cheeks of the visibly disoriented Ken Ryker as Evelyn attempted to keep him calm and see him through his seizure.
The lights had come back on and Malcolm had walked into the room noting the chaos of the scene as pity filled him. He managed to get the power generator to work and ventured toward Ken's room when he heard all of the yelling once the thunder stopped rumbling.
Evelyn sighed as she continued to wipe Ken's sweat-slick face.
"It's okay," she said softly. "We're here now...it's okay."
"E-Evelyn?" said Ken slowly coming to his senses despite the mild tremors moving through his body. "M-Malcolm what are you two doing here?"
"We were having lunch and saw your car so we decided to stop by given the rain and how rarely you're home we figured we'd pop in for a visit," Malcolm explained. "The storm kind of caught us off guard and well we noticed you in distress when we got in and the lights went off."
"Fuck..." growled Ken in annoyance. "My fucking head hurts...."
He had not liked the idea of feeling so weak especially when it had nothing to do with a post-sexual romp.
"Hey buddy why didn't you tell me you had seizures?" asked Malcolm a bit confused.
"I don't," replied Ken bitterly. "And last I checked "Buddy", you bailed on me when I got a little too friendly for your liking with the hot Ramos girl."
Evelyn sighed as she looked over at a now-silent Malcolm.
"Evelyn what brings you by?" he asked trying to sound charming despite his embarrassment at having been so weak and helpless in front of her.
"I don't know call it a hunch and your oh so exquisite charms," she replied evenly.
Ken sighed as he found himself too weak to keep his eyes open as he drifted off leaving Evelyn and Malcolm to fuss over him in silence.
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The Kennison Estate, Latimer Ave, Baltiney, New York...
Malcolm did not know what to think as he paced the darkened living room unsure of what to do now that he'd known that Ken's ailments had not subsided as he initially believed. His best friend had been right of course, he'd been so replied by Ken's shift in behavior that he had forgotten that it was due to the Traumatic Brain Injury that he sustained due to the car accident and that Ken was simply trying to piece together a life that had not been his own previously.
Evelyn finally managed to get Ken calm as he slept and stepped out briefly to meet a concerned Malcolm in the living room.
"I didn't know he was this bad." said the sorrowful man.
"I told you, he's barely getting by so the little stunt you and Coleman pulled isn't in the least helping him." Evelyn reminded him.
"Well there has to be some kind of consequence for his actions," growled Malcolm in his defense. "Otherwise he'd just be running wild and that isn't going to fix his obviously glaring problems."
"No." agreed Evelyn for once. "It won't."
Malcolm sighed as he sat down in one of the armchairs unsure of what to do at the moment. Evelyn placed a hand on his shoulder and sighed.
"As I said, Ken is still alive there is something you can do for him and that's being there for him when he needs you." she reminded him. "I don't have that luxury with Sera and it kills me that I can't be anywhere for her, especially when I heard she outlived her boys just before you and Ken arrived...the pain she must have been in..."
Malcolm gripped Evelyn's hand and nodded.
"Okay," he said composing himself. "Okay, I hear you...I'll look after Ken...come hell or high water...you go home and get some rest if you can, your daughter's gonna need you after all teenagers are a real handful."
Evelyn nodded and headed out the door bound for home. Malcolm settled onto the nearby sofa determined not to leave Ken overnight given his condition.
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Master Bedroom, The Kennison Estate, Latimer Ave, Baltiney, New York...
Ken's dark brown eyes stared out into the darkness of his bedroom as the door closed when Evelyn took her exit. He had known they were there to watch him and it only served to annoy him that they elected themselves as his babysitters. He had been especially annoyed that Evelyn had seen him at his weakest given the seizure. He rolled his eyes and tossed off the covers before struggling to sit up and make his way out of bed and toward his makeshift bar where he poured himself a jittery glass of bourbon and stared out the window at the numerous drops splattering across the glass.
He had not been opposed to the rain entirely, it had often been soothing to him when he'd awakened in the empty hospital room but when he'd had his bad days he preferred to endure them alone keeping both Valencia and Dean in the dark for as long as he could. The last thing he needed was for Malcolm and Evelyn to go about telling his parents about his latest episode and adding more fuel to the fire so his mother could have him committed again.
Ken slowly managed to get his shaking hand to hold onto the glass of bourbon and lift it to his mouth. He hated how weak he became when he'd been in that state and knew next to nothing about what had brought it on. The doctors had told him he'd have his days when he left the hospital but they had not been aware of just how numerous those bad days would be.
In a way, Ken had been self-medicating in a bid to distract himself from the painful memories that plagued him even when he had not been aware of them or their meaning. The angry man made it a point to make a trip to see Spyder once morning hit and score some more Kandy. He also made it a point to stop in and see Dean before they had to attend his family dinner.
Ken's dark eyes once more scanned the window as the rain continued to cascade down the glass panel. The darkness had done little to steer him away as he watched the flashes of thunder and the recollection of rain being what occurred as he stood at the graves of his dead wife and children came back to him. There were numerous faces in the crowd after that but he recalled the cold wet drops against his exposed skin and soaking into the black suit he'd worn that day. It was as if the sky had been a reflection of his broken heart and the storm within. It had been no different in the present as he continued to sip his bourbon listening to the rain.
He had not decided if he hated the sound or found it soothing given his current mood.