POWERS OF NATURE Book 1 - Into the Storm

Chapter 19

After two days of research, they were no closer to figuring anything out than they had been on day one. It was now Wednesday evening and Stephanie was trying to focus on the papers in front of her on her desk. She had a History test that Friday, so while she attempted to study on school work, Matt was lying on her bed going through the journals again, looking for any information Stephanie might have missed. Her mom had left that morning for a job in the city, the biggest contract she'd landed. It made it a little easier for her and Matt to keep searching at her house so she could also study for school.

Aiden had made a secret phone call to his grandfather, which again yielded nothing more than Stephanie had better start running if she wanted to live. He had refused to confirm over the phone if Aiden and Matt's father was the same boy, or offer them any other information. So Aiden had left to go see him. Although he had promised Stephanie he wouldn't, as she believed it was too risky, she knew he would do it anyway. It wasn't only her life at stake, but his too and Stephanie knew that he would do whatever it took to make sure they were both safe.

Stephanie felt her eyes drooping seconds before her head dropped onto the desk with a bang, making Matt jump from the sudden loud noise that broke the heavy silence. "Ow!" She complained, rubbing her forehead. She frowned at her school work, which seemed impossibly insignificant at the moment, her anger and ear mixing into a boiling volcano inside of her.

"This is impossible!" She snapped, shoving the papers away from her. Needing to release some of her contained anger, a clap of thunder sounded outside, turning the warm evening ominous.

"Steph.." Matt said, a warning in his tone.

"What? Don't lose control? That was on purpose." She turned to him, his surprised smile not even registering. "I just needed to..." She couldn't find the words to describe it. Sure, the action could be compared to a toddler throwing a toy out of frustration, but Stephanie couldn't help it. At this point, she wanted Michael to come. She wanted to face him, just to get past this stage of not knowing anything. She didn't know his secrets, didn't know when or if he would come. It was maddening, the waiting slowly driving her to the point of snapping.

Stephanie threw herself onto the bed, Matt yelping as she landed on his outstretched legs. "Sorry," she grumbled as she moved to lie comfortably next to him. Matt watched as the shadows fell over her face and reached for her hand, drawing her into him. Stephanie made to pull away but he held her tighter.

"Steph, I know it's hard but you need to calm down. You're losing your control, even if you doing it on purpose, and if we have any hope of facing what's coming, you need to have control." He said firmly, not loosening his hold on her until he felt her relax against him.

Stephanie knew he was right but right now she had no control over her future, so how could she have any control over anything else. With Aiden pulling a disappearing act, it just added to the pile of unknown and made her worry even more.

She sighed, allowing herself to just relax in the moment and slowly the dark ominous weather outside returned to normal. Returning Matt's smile with a tight one of her own, she thought back to Aiden. She had asked Matt where Aiden had gone or if he had said anything, but Matt either didn't want to tell her or he just had no idea himself. She suspected the first option, but hadn't pushed the issue for fear of causing tension she didn't have the strength to deal with.

Stephanie knew Matt knew she cared for Aiden a little more than she should even if she hadn't said anything, and if she allowed herself to think about who she would save should it come to that with Michael, she couldn't answer. Selfish as it was, she needed both of them.

She turned her head to watch Matt as he continued reading through the third and last journal. He hadn't voiced any further doubts since she had shown him all the stuff her and Aiden had found, but she could see in his eyes that he wasn't totally convinced his dad was the key to everything. Matt had tried to reason that maybe his dad was just keeping a secret for someone else, but seeing as though nothing could be found to support his theory, he'd left alone.