Rising Storm

Black

Winter's wind ripped at the branches of the trees. Snow was thrown every-which-way, smacking Stormi in the face, forcing her to flinch and close her sea-foam eyes. Her dusty blonde hair snapped around as if it were a whip as the wind tangled it into an ungodly mess. Most people would have enough sense to not go out on a walk in the mountains during a blizzard, though, Stormi was determined. A feeling in her gut had sent her there on that very night at that specific time.

The storm raged on ahead, whistling as its wind punched the trees above. Despite the frigid temperatures and the pain of the snow hitting her in the face and eyes, Stormi pressed on. Ahead of her was clearing that had once been a meadow, though, the stream that rushed through it had flooded, leaving it an icy mess. She froze as she stared ahead at the frozen and newly formed lake, a figure standing on the opposite side from her. Due to the bulk of it, and the lack of figure, it was seemingly male. He was tall, lanky, and his face was ghostly pale, though he was too far away to make out the features. Despite the terrible weather, he wore no more than a t-shirt and a seemingly thin leather jacket. Around him, there seemed to be a blue-ish white glow, making him seem like a ghost.

Stormi backed away, staring at the stranger who stared back at her. He didn't move, didn't speak; he did absolutely nothing but stare into the depths of her soul. Nervousness screamed for her to run home to safety, though, a part of her told her to go towards the stranger. She took a step towards him, and he vanished into the swirling snow, leaving her to stare at the location he had been. She hurried forward, across the solidified water to the exact spot that he had been standing. There were no footprints. It was like he had never been there.

The eeriness of the storm along with the mysterious figure pulsed fear through Stormi. The wind howled around her as she stood in the exact spot the stranger had. She stood, staring in the direction he would have vanished, wondering if he would return. After a few dreary moments, she backed away, following what remained of her footprints back towards her home town of Kings City.

The streets were rightfully deserted as Stormi ran home. By the time she threw the door open to her house and locked herself inside, her face had been nipped to red by the scorch of the wind. her eyes watered, making her look like she was crying without the emotion of sadness.

"Stormi! Where have you been?" The voice of her older brother, Skye, startled her.

"Um..." Stormi mumbled, staring at the floor, refusing to meet Skye's glare. "I've just been out..."

"IN A BLIZZARD!" Skye shouted, grabbing Stormi by her hair and dragging her forward. She squeaked at the sudden force upon her head, trying to break her locks free from her brother's death grip. The force released after she was slammed down onto the couch. "What were you thinking?" 

Stormi's gaze lifted to observe her brother's face. He wasn't a bad looking man, a head of white-blonde hair upon a tall, stout, and muscular form. His jaw was set in a disapproving manner, and his sea-foam green eyes were filled with fear. At the sight of the pained and stern expression pasted on her brother's face, she winced and returned her eyes to the floor.

"You are ridiculous! What the hell am I supposed to do with you, with your sneaking out and adventuring? You're gonna get yourself killed!" Skye scolded, pacing back and forth in front of his baby sister. Stormi didn't answer his question, her eyes glued to the the carpet. She attempted to tune out her brother by tracing the texture of the soft flooring with her eyes."Well? I'm waiting!"

When her brother didn't cave, she looked up. "I just went on a walk!" She cried out.

"Where?" Skye pressed, narrowing his eyes at her.

"The forest..." Stormi responded.

"Why?" Skye's voice continually dropped, becoming more and more deadly.

Stormi closed her eyes. "I dunno..."

"Yes you do!"

"I just wanted to try and find dad!" Stormi cried, tears filling her beautiful sea-foam eyes.

Skye's eyes narrowed even more so, turning them to tiny slits. "You know that you're not going to trick me out of this. You and I both know that the cops have his body, Stormi. Stop lying or you're grounded to your room until the end of break!"

Stormi sighed. "I just... I had this feeling. That I needed to go to that certain spot for some reason. And there was a strange boy there_"

Skye cut her off. "You SNUCK out of the house at TWO o'clock in the morning to MEET and BOY?" He snarled. "You know better than that shit, Stormi! What the hell are you thinking?" He pointed at her, his finger centimetres from her nose.

"No! Its not like that!" She cried, meeting her brother's angry eyes with her desperate ones. "I had a dream about that spot. A voice in the dream told me that it held the answers to dad, and when I went there, there was a strange boy there that I've never seen before. I wasn't meeting anyone there. He was just  there!"

Skye sighed and sat down beside her, rubbing his face with his hands. "Oh Stormi... I wish. I wish I knew how to parent bratty little sisters!"

Stormi punched him in the arm. "You are such a jerk," She grumbled. "Besides, you're a better mom than mom."

He laughed a little bit. "I'm just a 'jerk'," He mimicked her. "The military is a nightmare, lil' sis. Makes you tough."

Stormi smiled a tad bit. "When are you gonna take me to see mom?" She asked.

"When I have a day off and you aren't in school," Skye responded.

"Do those days ever exist?" She asked

Skye sighed and shook his head. "Slim to none."

Stormi stood up. "I'm going to bed... I love you Sky-Sky..." With that she headed off to her room. 

The inside was small and clustered due to the mess of dirty clothes and other random objects that had been tossed around lazily. She sat on the side of her bed, lost in thought. She contemplated her life, from the time she was young until everything went to heck for her and her brother.

Skye had graduated before life fell, leaving his ten-year-old little sister alone to deal with it. He had left for the military. For two years, everything went well. Stormi lived with their single father who always cared for her and put her first.

Then, their father disappeared. Stormi's world was turned upside-down. She lived with her friend, Connie, for a couple of months until Skye returned to his home town to care for his baby sister. That was the way it was for  four more miserable years, and now, only a week before the present, the authorities located  their father's body. Skye was sent up to see, refusing to allow his sixteen-year-old sister to accompany him. Stormi had greeted him at the door, her eyes filled with desperation, silently pleading her brother to tell her that it was not their father that they had found dead, though, Skye's face was colorless and pale, his eyes bloodshot and dim from countless tears that had fallen. All he could offer her was a slight, curt nod. Stormi had fell to her knees, screaming the most agonizing pain she could humanly muster. Skye knelt beside her, dragging her into his lap in a tight hug, holding and rocking her as the wept for the loss of their loving father together.

Stormi closed her eyes, the memory sending a fresh surge of pain through her mind. She crawled into bed and yanked her blankets over her body, and slowly, she drifted off into an uneasy slumber.