My Weird Secret Life

Chapter 45: Now He's Here . . . Now He's Not

    Rylie took over for the driving part for a while. I curled up in the back and trying to think positive, fell asleep.
   
    "Auntie A?" Auntie A stood in all her glory right in front of me smiling from ear to ear. "Auntie A!" I yelled excitedly. I sprinted forward and reached out to hold her . . . But she exploded into dust the moment I touched her. "W-what?" A thousand versions of Auntie A appeared in front of me. Auntie A in different attire, with different expressions. I reached for one of them, any of them but they all exploded into dust. I knew this would happen every time I reached for her but I couldn't stop. All of them turned toward me at the same time and asked,"Why didn't you save me?" "I . . . I-woah!" I was pulled back by something and fell through a dark and empty space for an eternity.
    I shot up from my seat on the van. Hair glued to my sweaty face, breathing gone haywire, and my heart pounding in my chest trying to push itself out. I panted heavily and slowly everything got back to normal. "Zayana! Come here!" Still emotionally traumatized, I got up and started swimming toward the front. "Quick!" Rylie said. "I'm coming!" I snapped annoyed. I swam up and pulled on the lever making the van stop. "What?" Rylie pointed,"Look! The surface!" I squinted and saw something mounding up into a mountain, shaped like a tsunami. I stared terrified. So many threats in just the span of one day. "That's not the surface." "Oh, really?" I squinted trying to make sense of it. "Is it . . . is it just me, or is that mountain moving closer to us?" I asked, Rylie grinned,"Well, of course not, silly. We're moving towards it. It's okay, I get confused sometimes too." Ignoring Rylie's reaction to my rhetorical question, I shook my head. "No we're not. I pointed at the lever. "I stopped the van." Rylie looked confused once again,"Huh?" Then Agua screamed,"Drive! Drive! It's a sandstorm!" I looked at him,"What?" All of a sudden we were shook and all I could see was sand piling against the van. It swept it up like at a car wash when the soap slowly spreads over the car. Except this car wash wasn't slow or fun. "We're moving backwards!" Rylie said pointing at the radar. I looked at the radar and saw half of it was taken up by the sand. "Just go around it!" I yelled over the sound of the roaring sand. "We can't, it takes up miles of space!" Agua yelled. Suddenly I felt something tickling me. I giggled and glanced down. Then did a retake and my smile dropped. I stared bug-eyed. "The sand! It's seeping in!" I screamed. "We'll all drown!" Rylie shrieked. I turned around and slapped her. "Ow!" I've always wanted to do that. I know it's weird but it was satisfying. "First of all you can't drown. We are going to live, we have to. Now get yourself together!" Rylie nodded,"Of course, what do we do cap'n?" I looked at her confused,"Captain?" I asked. Rylie frowned,"Cap'n. There's a difference." I practiced her way of saying it then shook my head clearing my thoughts,"What about it?" Rylie smiled,"I've always wanted to say that." I nodded understandingly. "Grab blankets and stuff them in all crevices." Rylie saluted and I looked at the sandstorm trying to think of the best way to deal with it. "How long does a sandstorm usually last?" I asked,"They last from three to four minutes." I sighed relieved,"Great, so we'll wait for it to pass over." Rylie nodded and then went back to stuffing blankets everywhere. Only a minute after, the sand started to die down. I grinned,"On we-" I started. "Oh right. I forgot to mention that after that three to four minute mini sandstorm. There's a long five hour one." I looked at Rylie utterly dumbstruck when we were knocked over and we started turning barrel rolls. "AAAHHH!" we all screamed. As Kai slammed into me and I held onto him tight, I yelled to Rylie in frustration,"You couldn't have mentioned this before?" Rylie shrugged as she flew past me. "I forgot," she yelled back over the sand. "How could you forget?" I yelled right back. Rylie rested her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Hope killer," I whispered. "There's no way we can go through it?" I asked. Everyone shook their heads,"No!" They yelled. I thought then snapped my fingers,"Yes, there is." "What?" said Rylie. "I said yes, there is!" "What?!" She rocketed into the window. I said,"Some people's IQ drops every second!" She smiled while rubbing her head from the impact,"Oh!" I struggled, gently passing Kai to Rylie the next time I was hurled by her. I had an idea, it was a risk but I had to try it. I swam to the front and grabbed the door,"What the heck are you doing?" Agua shouted,"Saving everyone! I hope." I took a deep breath, grabbed the door, and opened and closed it quickly swimming out. The sand somehow made its way up into my eyes and I wiped them really quickly. Then it made its way into my mouth and soon I had a mouthful of sand. I tried to spit it out without allowing anymore in but that's as stupid as it sounds. I swam up for air but kept getting swept backwards or downwards or something would slam into me. I lost all sense of direction. My hair whipped in every which way. My eyes were crusted closed with sand. Then my hand slapped a rock. A dry rock. I gripped it and wrestled myself up. As soon as I did manage to get to the surface of the sandy water I spat out the sand until being pulled back under. The sand was in my eyes and in my hair and mouth and in my ears and in my nose. It was so annoying, I wanted it gone. I tried to transform into my glowy form but it didn't happen. I pounded my hands together like before but it wouldn't happen. I felt around for the van but couldn't feel anything. It could be miles away! I swam back up and took a big gulp of air then dived back under. I needed to figure this out. I thought about the last moments I saw Auntie A and how my parents could possibly still be alive and somewhere on this earth. I thought about what Aaron had done for me and what the Night Terrors had done to him. Then I thought about the pain Kai was in and that was enough to get me started. I saw a white light for a second but then it faded. Panic welled in me and I felt ready to scream to the world when a voice boomed in my head. A deep voice. Do you want me to stop the sandstorm? You only have one time, I would choose now. A blue and black wolf showed up in my vision. Theos? I gasped, a mistake. I started choking and swam back up for a breath of air. Yes or no. Which is it? he asked. I thought about it and nodded. My friends needed my help and I couldn't provide them with it right now, but Theos could and I needed his help. Suddenly I was glowy again. All of the sand settled and gathered into a small mountain. Something motioned my hands down. The sand flattened out on the seafloor and spread until it looked like there had been no sandstorm. It wasn't me doing this though, it was Theos in my body doing it. When I was done I gasped for breath and panted resting my hands on my knees, or whatever they call them, then I whispered thank you to Theos. I felt exhausted. You have so much potential. Just like your mother. My head snapped up, my mom? "What? Do you know where my mom is? Is she alive? Where is she?" I screamed. Theos didn't answer and the blue and black wolf faded away into my memory. "Theos! Where's my mom? Theos! Theos?" I gripped my head and thought of the same things I thought of before the wolf popped into my head. But I saw nothing, I heard nothing. I knelt down and sighed. He was gone.