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CHAPTER ONE "you're pope, right?"
EVELYN HAS NEVER been the biggest fan of storms, whether it be a few small claps of thunder or full blown hurricanes. When she was a little girl, she used to sneak into her parent's room and hide out with them until it passed. The safety of the people she loved was enough to help her ride it out, her mother telling her silly little children's tales to pass the time. These days she has nobody to cling to, no way to drown out the harsh winds that batter against her home or the constant splatters of rain against her pristinely washed windows.
No, instead she forces herself into her abnormally large walk in wardrobe and huddles up in the corner with her hands over her ears and eyes scrunched shut. Her father had told her that as she grew up, her phobia would fade and yet somehow its only increased tenfold. Being in an empty house, one so big, on her lonesome is enough to amplify any fear that she has.
Evelyn isn't sure how long has passed when she finally sees some sunlight creep underneath the closet door. Pulling her hands from her ears, the girl scrambles towards the door and throws it open, a sigh of relief leaving her lips. The window is still decorated with stray raindrops, the condensation built up on the glass, but she can just see outside. The damage is widespread, she can see a few fallen trees and the water by the dock is still rather uncontrolled.
There's an incessant buzzing noise coming from her beside table, her phone close to vibrating off the edge but she manages to intercept it seconds before. There's numerous names across the screen; a few from her step-dad, multiple from Jeremy and several from Sarah. Only one of them actually lives in the Outer Banks area and experienced the same thing as her, the only difference is Sarah had her family with her when the thing struck.
It's her step-father whom she answers first, clicking on the messages and smiling lightly at them.
'Heard about the hurricane. You ok?'
It's a short message, a simple one but the fact he actually cares is enough to warm her heart a little bit. She doesn't see much of Alex these days, he's always so busy working on his new movies that he can't be home with her. She appreciates his work ethic, the way he is so dedicated to the craft he loves, but she misses him quite often. It's perhaps a little silly but he's the last tie she has to her mother — the man who still wears his wedding ring on his finger to this day.
'I'm okay. Just a bit of a fright! :)'
She presses send and quickly replies to her two friends who express similar worries for her. Jeremy, who lives back in New York, knows all about her fear of storms. She'd spent a few nights sleeping over his house in her early teens when a storm hit, she'd let him hug her tightly whilst his parents made hot chocolate and tried their hardest to distract her from what was happening outside. Fuck she misses them too.
