DEATH WISH - Twisters

It Didn't Work

TYLER AND Phoenix walked side by side up to the house, hand in hand, and Tyler smiled down at Phoenix as she knocked on the door. After a few moments of no answer, she rang the doorbell instead. She let out a soft sigh when no one answered and the two turned away, walking back down the steps.

Tyler stopped however when he heard running footsteps behind him. "Hiya! I am so sorry, I was in the barn! Can I help you?" a middle-aged woman asked. "Hi, yeah, we're uh...looking for Kate?" Tyler asked. "And you are?" the woman asked. "We're friends of hers, she seemed pretty upset last night and we just wanted to make sure she was okay" Phoenix replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm Phoenix Collins, and this is Tyler Owens" Phoenix introduced and the two women shook hands. "I'm Kate's mom, she's in the barn, just over there" she pointed and the two tornado wranglers nodded. "Thank you so much, ma'am" Tyler smiled.

They made their way down to the barn, hands entwined as Phoenix still had a somewhat prominent limp. The two walked inside to see Kate leant against a wood beam as a DIY tornado was moving around the figurines.

"Look at that" Tyler smirked. "You built your own tornado?" Phoenix chuckled and Kate smiled back at her. "Middle school science fair project" Kate spoke loudly over the wind as Tyler stepped closer, unlatching his hand from Phoenix's.

"Well, you must've won" Tyler said and Kate just gave him a look. "You kiddin' me? Course she won, look at this!" Phoenix stepped closer, bending down to look at all the different houses and trees. "How'd you find me?" Kate sighed, leaning against the beam.

"Well, Javi told me last night and Dexter also pieced it together" Phoenix stood up straight. "He remembered your name on the news from a few years back" Tyler continued and Kate looked at Phoenix. "You told him?" she breathed. "Never. Why would I talk about your trauma when I can't even talk about mine?" Phoenix shook her head, stepping towards Tyler and leaning against him.

"I'm sorry about your friends" Tyler sighed, wrapping an arm around Phoenix's waist. Kate nodded slightly as her mom came back inside. "I'm fixing some food. You three okay eating outside?" she asked. "Oh, we're not gonna bother you, Ms. Carter" Tyler shook his head.

"He's not staying" Kate gestured. "He's staying. They both are. You can call me Cathy" Cathy replied. "Kate, why don't you set up the table" Cathy said before walking out.

~~~~

"That only gets you so far and every chaser has to make a guess, and the good ones have an instinct for it" Tyler said, gesturing to Kate. "Oh, she had that early on. Always knew when weather was coming, even better than the cows" Cathy nodded.

"Wow, you hear that, blondie? You're better than the cows" Phoenix grinned and Kate shook her head with a chuckle, pushing Phoenix's shoulder. "That's a compliment" Cathy said quickly, causing the two young women to look at each other and laugh again.

"Got to have a feel for it" Cathy continued. "She always had a feel for it, huh?" Tyler asked. "Oh, yeah. One time, I was giving her a bath-" Cathy started. "Can we not?" Kate asked. "Maybe just a little. And we heard thunder, and she shot up out of the tub and ran out the house naked as the day she was born-" Cathy continued.

"Oh my god" Kate buried her face into her hands and Phoenix just laughed at her. "-and I had no idea where she w...I was terrified. And when I finally caught up with her, she was standing in the middle of the wheat field, staring at the sky" Cathy finished.

"I gotta try that out" Tyler nodded and Phoenix looked down to hide the red that flushed her cheeks. "Will you stop encouraging her?" Kate asked, turning to Tyler. "Keep your clothes on, Kate. Let your mom finish" Tyler teased. "All I'm saying is, she always loved weather. Worse the weather, happier the girl" Cathy said, sipping her water.