Sigh ... I wish this were mine, but alas it is not. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
To answer a few questions in the first chapter's reviews ... this story is loosely based on Into the Storm. Granted, I made some changes to the plot, improving it as it were. Adding romance (citrus!) and finding out what happened after the tornado.
A tornado is as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling winds that can reach 300 mph.
Thursday, May 27th, 2021
11:10am
Washita, Oklahoma
"While we wait for this magical system to organize, let's get some B-roll of the Titan," Jacob said. "You keep tracking the nonexistent system, Cullen."
Edward watched as Jacob parked the Titan and he stood in front of the vehicle with Quil filming him. Seth was in the van with Edward, filming him. "So, what are you looking for, Dr. Cullen?" Seth asked.
"I'm tracking the front and watching the isobars to see if there's any rotation," Edward said, clicking the mouse around the computer screen. Seth zoomed in on the computer screen. The information made no sense to Seth, but clearly to Edward there was something that caught his attention. Edward pointed onto the screen with a smile, "There's some building activity about twenty miles from here. Do you see the growing cloud tops? The higher cloud tops, the likelihood that it will be a severe storm. This is prime weather for explosive storms."
"How did you get into weather?" Seth questioned. "You seem awfully young to be so accomplished."
"I've always been interested in weather. I grew up in Illinois, in the suburbs of Chicago. We had our share of tornadoes and scary weather. Whenever that happened, I was glued to the television, watching as the updates crawled along the bottom of the screen. My dad always hoped that I'd become a medical doctor, following in his footsteps. The whole fear of blood put a kibosh on that dream pretty quickly," Edward explained with a quiet chuckle. "Instead, I sailed through high school and undergrad. I graduated from college at nineteen and was accepted to my graduate program shortly after that. While I was getting my doctorate, I got married and had a baby girl, which slowed my forward momentum."
"You miss her?" Seth smiled. "I couldn't even imagine ..."
"She, my Lilybug, is the light of my life," Edward breathed. "Anyway, I defended my doctorate thesis and was given funding to further my research. I'm in my mid-thirties and I have an untested theory and working for the best boss ever because the funding ran out. My wife left me because she thought being married to a doctor would have more notoriety and a lot more money. With me being paid as adjunct professor wasn't her dream."
"It's her loss, Dr. Cullen," Seth said kindly. "You're brilliant and your idea ... it's something that should be implemented."
"As for now, it's an untested hypothesis. I was trying to create a more efficient, accurate way to predict storms and their paths. A lot of deaths and injuries come from people not being able to find shelter in time," Edward said. "My grandparents were two of those people. In 1990, an EF-5 tornado tore through Plainfield, a small farming community, at the time, just north of Joliet. My grandparents were at a convenience store. The alarms went off just as they got in their car. They thought they could outrun a tornado, but the car was tossed into the air. It was found ten miles away in Crest Hill and my grandparents' bodies were never found. I was seven. I should have been terrorized, but instead, it began my life-long infatuation with meteorology, tornadoes and all things weather."
There was a beep on the computer. "What's that?" Seth asked.
"We've got some action," Edward muttered. He stood up, poking his head out the back the van. "Jacob! We've got to go! There's a tornado watch twenty miles away with storms popping up on the radar. There's high cloud tops, indicating the possibility of hail and rotation within the system."
Jacob blinked before barking orders. The Titan was loaded up and they took off toward the storm system that was building in intensity. Unfortunately, the system fizzled out as they arrived and Jacob called Edward, ripping into him when they pulled into a roadside motel in Elgin, Oklahoma. "Cullen, you asshole! There's nothing! NOTHING!! What the fuck?!" Jacob snarled.
"Look, Jacob, it's bound to happen," Edward replied, trying to calm Jacob down. "It's hot, sticky and I can still feel the heaviness in the air. Why don't we check into the motel and I'll do some more detailed analysis, okay?"
Jacob's hand clenched into a fist, ready to clock Edward, but Quil pressed his hand against Jacob's chest. "Boss, you know that the weather is unpredictable. It's Dr. Cullen's research that we're trying to fine-tune." With an arched brow, Quil led Jacob to the office to check everyone in.
"He's got a point," Paul grumbled. Paul was Jacob's production assistant and was doing this for extra money for college. He was a student, studying to be a science teacher. "We're chasing ghosts of tornadoes."
Edward picked up his laptop and overnight bag. Seth gave Edward a sympathetic look. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Edward walked toward the office of the motel. Jacob stormed out, pressing a key into Edward's hand. He glared at Edward. "I don't care about what the investors say, you're done," Jacob sneered. "We're leaving and you're staying."
"Jacob, let's not be hasty," Seth argued. "We can talk and make a plan of attack."
Without a word, Jacob turned on his heel. Everyone just stayed in place until Jacob screamed. "Are you coming?"
Edward and Seth were in the same room. Carrying his laptop, they went into Jacob's room, who was scowling angrily at his computer. Edward opened up his laptop, checking the weather system. "I know you're done with me, but we're in a prime spot for tornadoes. The air is unstable, humid and there are random storms popping up all over the area ..." As Edward was talking, rain began to fall, followed quickly by the distinct sound of hail hitting the windows. "See?"
"Seth! Quil! Cameras," Jacob ordered, throwing open the door. "Cullen?"
"Straight-line winds, but the atmosphere is exploding," Edward explained, showing Jacob the radar. Jacob's response was to close the computer and pushed Edward out the door. They ran on a full tilt back to the armada of weather vehicles. As they settled into the cars, the sirens began blaring. It was going to be a very long day.
Finally, some tornadoes!
A/N: Ugh, I'm definitely not Team Jacob, if you catch my drift. He's such a bag of douche ... both in the movies and in the books. It makes sense to make him a bag of douche in here.
Pictures from this chapter are on my blog. You can access that through a link on my profile. I'm also on FB: Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation. Twitter, too: tufano79.
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