Patagonia

The Storm

~Jasper~

Once I had landed in the ominous, badly-worndown airstrip, Abby was already waiting inside the main hanger as instructed. I told Luke to make her wait there, even though it was cold, damp, and creepy. Who cared. Not me. Never me. I could never tell anyone or let anyone pick up on my real feelings.

When I walked up to her, I offered her a barely-there wave of my hand before leaning down and grabbing her suitcases.

"Thank you for picking me up. This is much cheaper than commercial flying, haha." She said with a warm smile, even though her body was shivering. I grunted in response while the wind whipped through my blonde curls.

Turning, I headed back towards the small four-seater plane before tossing her luggage inside. I could feel her small prescence behind me as I said over my shoulder,

"Go ahead and get in."

I walked around the other side of the plane to adjust myself in the pilot's seat. After a couple seconds, I glanced over at her door in questioning to barely see the top of her head as she jumped up.

"Excuse me!" She jumped again, "How do you open the door?!"

Inwardly cringing, I leaned over and unlatched the metal handle before pushing the door open. Her cheerful face beamed up at me.

"Thank you!" She chirped, quickly scrambling up into the seat with a grunt of exertion. I rolled my eyes before answering,

"You know how to close a door right?"

Abby laughed happily as if I had just said the funniest sentence ever.

"Of course I know how to close a door, you stinkerbutt!" She exclaimed, stretching outside the plane to slam the metal door shut.

Stinkerbutt?...so freakin' adorable.

It banged close as she jumped with a squeak of surprise. Casting me an apologetic gaze, she remarked,

"Like that! Ah-hah hah hah..."

A rosy blush colored her cheeks as she turned to look out the window. I caught it with an inner humm of satisfaction. She was so cute I could just lean over and kiss her pouty lips.

I always wanted to kiss those lips, spent many a night dreaming about how they would feel against my own.

Get a hold of yourself. She is your brother's fiancé.

I started up the engine as the propellers roared to life in speeded rotations. As soon as we took off, our lives would never be the same again.

The ride was quiet, awkward and completely unwanted. I always felt moody and strangely out of sorts around this woman. She had an unsettling effect on me to say the least.

When dark, thick clouds began to form around us, I frowned in annoyance. There were no signs of a storm approaching from my radar. Today was supposed to be nothing but blue skies, but the murky grey and tan clouds swirling about so quickly left me taken aback.

"Is there a storm out here?" Abby asked beside me, looking up from her bible. I nodded wordlessly as my eyes narrowed in on the subtle traces that left my blood running cold.

This was no mere storm.

This was a hurricane.

The clouds filled the frame of my plane's front windshield. I switched my signal lights on and lifted my intercom to touch base with the nearest flight tower.

"This is plane 17845, coordinates 75'24'23'50, it's looking pretty bad out here, please send me the coordinates to the nearest strip."

The intercoms remained eerily silent. Muttering a curse beneath my breath, I tried once more to reach someone, anyone.

Abby cast me a worried glance that I fully ignored while I continued to touch base. My hands angled the steering forward, slightly dropping us down into a lower altitude so I could fly beneath the wall of clouds. No such luck.

My coordinates were turning, spinning as if we were flying straight into the twilight zone. I suddenly remembered where exactly we were flying over.

The Bermuda Triangle.

All at once, I lost control of the steering grip as the nose of the plane moved at an uncontrollable angle. The wind was tremendously strong, veering me off location like a wave would naturally pull one's feet deeper into the depths of the sea through the sand. My inner compass was frantically moving, trying to keep track of which direction we were steadily heading towards.

Abby gripped the sides of her seat with white knuckles, all the while praying loudly.

I winced at the irritating sound before I snapped out in stress,

"Keep it down, Mother Teresa, I'm trying to focus here."

She sent me a shocking scowl that I was actually surprised to see on her face.

"I'm praying for a miracle." She stated matter-of-factly. I scoffed as I continued to haul the steering wheel around, fighting against the tumultuous wind.

"Sweetheart, I'm the only miracle you have right now."

My words came out much more confident than I truly felt.

A zap of lightning struck the front of the plane. Abby screamed. I hissed and watched with sinking disappointment as my controls flickered on and off. My GPS screen completely blacked out, leaving me flying blind through thick, mud-colored foggy clouds.

Suddenly the world tilted and spun violently out of control in total chaos.