WHIRLWIND ✶ Tyler Owens

[ 002. ] BELLA'S FIRST TORNADO

˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪  ౨ৎ˚₊
chapter TWO ╱ BELLA'S FIRST TORNADO

  Javi, with a kindness that definitely did not go unnoticed, allowed Valentina to install a car seat in his vehicle.

Isabella, nestled behind Kate's seat, watched the world blur past through the window, her wide eyes taking in the shifting landscape. Valentina chose the middle seat, despite Javi's gentle warning that it was probably the most dangerous spot in the car. He advised her to sit on one of the sides, but her heart pulled her toward the center, wanting to be as close to Isabella as possible.

For now, Isabella seemed content, her small face calm as she gazed outside. Valentina, however, felt the tension coiled in her chest, a mother's instinct whispering that peace is fleeting. She could only pray that Isabella's calm would last, though deep down, she knew better────the storm within her heart was never far behind.

   After a stretch of silence, where only the low hum of the engine filled the space between them, Javi's voice broke through the quiet. His question hung in the air like a lingering thought. "What did the tornado cowboy have to say?"

   Kate, her expression tinged with a knowing smile, began to shrug off her jacket, the movement slow and deliberate. "Exactly what you'd expect," she replied, her words carrying the weight of inevitability. Valentina, ever attentive to the smallest details, reached out to assist Kate, her fingers brushing the cool fabric of the jacket. She carefully took it from Kate's hands, laying it across the seat beside her with a gentle precision, smoothing out the wrinkles as if, in this small act, she could create order in the chaos they were chasing.

   The silence returned, but this time it was thick with anticipation, the kind that comes before a storm. Kate's eyes lifted to the sky, narrowing as they studied the gathering clouds, swirling in a slow, ominous dance. "The updraft is cycling," she announced, her voice steady but tinged with the urgency of what was brewing above them. The clouds, dark and brooding, seemed to pulse with energy, as if the sky itself was holding its breath.

   Kate's gaze shifted to the screen on her lap, where a map flickered with shifting colors and lines, each one telling a story of what was to come. The roads ahead were uncertain, but Kate's voice remained unwavering as she made her decision. "Okay, let's take a right up here," she directed, her tone calm, but with an undercurrent of resolve. Valentina almost gaped at the sight of Kate confident exterior, unlike before.

   Valentina slid to the other side of the car for just a moment, taking a quick picture of Kate from the side while also capturing the darkening clouds above. She also turned around in her seat, taking a picture of the line of cars following behind them as they took a turn.

Valentina noticed the way Kate's eyes darted nervously toward the window, her gaze fixed, unblinking, as though trying to decipher a hidden message in the landscape. Following Kate's gaze, Valentina's breath caught in her throat. There, in the distance, stood a lone wind turbine, its towering frame trembling against the force of the gathering storm. The blades, which usually turned with a lazy grace, now shuddered violently, as if the very air around them was thickening with menace.

Without thinking, Valentina reached for Isabella's hand, her grip tightening as though by sheer will she could protect her daughter from what was coming.

Beside her, Javi seemed almost detached from the tension that crackled through the air, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he observed the sky. His eyes held a strange glint, a mix of anticipation and familiarity with the chaos about to unfold. "It's forming," he murmured, the words tinged with a sense of inevitability, as if he were speaking of something fated, a force of nature that had always been destined to appear. "Just like you called it."