The Fast Lane

Chapter 21

I didn’t remember getting home last night, so I assumed that I must have fallen asleep in the car. Harry was completely asleep when I woke up in the morning, not even shifting when I climbed out of the bed. I had the sudden urge to go on a run, so I put on tennis shoes, threw my greasy hair up into a ponytail, tucked my phone into the waistband of my shorts, and stepped outside. The wind was blowing like crazy and yet the air was thick as ever. Gray clouds lined the sky and dirt from the road blew around. I hesitated for a moment on the front porch, looking around in the field and observing the strange weather. Maybe I should just stay here… I thought. But after a short pause in the wind, I figured I was just trying to convince myself out of another run and I took off down the porch steps.

Usually when I went of runs I would stop and walk every three minutes. I was so bad about running that I rarely did it. Today was different though. I guess it was my thoughts about Niall’s last night that kept me distracted as I turned onto another dirt road, and before I knew it I had no idea where I was. I stopped, looking around at the two houses that were on the street. They both obviously hadn’t been occupied for quite a few years. The shudders were falling off of the windows and the paint was peeling off of the exterior of the houses. The stairs on both of the front porches were worn and stooping down, and the bottom step was even broken on the smaller of the two houses.

I breathed in deeply as I tried to catch my breath and put my hands on my head as I stared at the smaller house. I turned to walk back the way I came, looking for a street sign or something to help me figure out where I was. I didn’t come to Jenna’s often, especially since it was out in the middle of nowhere, and I definitely hadn’t ever gone on a run out here either. After walking about a half mile, I stopped. It was then that I noticed the large black cloud that had been growing behind me for the last 45 minutes. The wind was getting worse and worse, and finally the rain began to fall. I looked up and squinted as drops started to hit my cheeks and I turned to start running when it began to pour. The dirt around my feet turned to muddy puddles that splashed up onto my leg as my feet hit the ground.

I heard a crash above my head as lightning pierced the darkness. I could no longer see down the road in front of me and I was soaked. The wind was howling and whipping the rain all around me, almost to the point that it stung when it hit my face and arms. Panicked, I grabbed my phone from my shorts thinking to call Harry, but the water had already gotten to it and I could see that the screen was completely messed up. I squinted all around me for something to stand under - a tree or maybe a house that didn’t look so creepy. When I didn’t see anything, I turned back around and sprinted to the smaller of the rickety wooden houses that I had seen before.

I leapt up the front steps, jumping over the broken one, and slammed into the front door forcing it open. Water ran down my arms, hair, and legs to the creaky floors which were already wet anyways from the leaks in the roof. Walking into the kitchen, I searched for a light of any kind. I shoved rusty pots and pans out of the way as I looked for a candle or a lighter. I opened one of the drawers and shrieked when a spider jumped out as the drawer fell apart in my hands. Giving up, I turned to gaze out of the broken kitchen window that looked over the front yard. I grabbed an old towel from off of a hook on the wall and tried to dry off my phone, pushing the home button and cursing myself for not having gotten the lifeproof case when I had the chance. When the screen was still twitching and flickering, I sighed and looked back up and out of the window. Then I saw it.

Through all of the darkness and blur coming from the rain hitting the window, I could make out a large, black whirl of wind. The funnel was tearing through a field about 500 yards from the house I was in. I couldn’t force myself to move as I watched it rip up wooden fences and absorb old deserted cars. My mind kept telling me the same thing over and over as I watched the sucked-up dirt and grass from the field add to the severity of the vortex - there is no way you’ll survive this.

My body began to shake as I listened to the house creak and I watched the structure sway all around me. Pots and pans were rattling in the cupboards and I could feel the wind rushing through any opening in the house - an open door, a broken window, or even a crack in the floor. When the tornado was about 200 yards away, I finally came to my senses and began to run through the house. I opened every door on the first floor until I found a closet, which reeked of mold and probably had a dozen spiders in it, but I didn’t notice as I flung myself into the floor and struggled to close the door. I curled up in a corner and closed my eyes, hugging my still-flickering phone to my chest and shaking as the walls around me shifted and cried under the pressure of the wind. All I could think about was Harry. I couldn’t bear to think about him waking up and not knowing where I am. I should have left a note or something. I was an idiot for leaving the house. Then I thought about him being sucked up by the tornado. what if he was already dead? I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured Harry - His handsome jawline, his perfect brown curls that framed his tan face, his green eyes that seemed to pierce my soul each time he looked at me, and his mesmerizing lips that folded outward so strangely, yet so captivatingly when he said my name. Tristan. I could hear him say it. Tristan. Tristan. I opened my eyes. “Tristan!” Was I really hearing him?

"TRISTAN where are you?!"

His voice was coming from my phone. I looked at the screen, still flashing an assortment of colors. Was I going crazy?

"Tris please answer me!!"

It was really him. He must have called and somehow my phone must have answered. I held my phone to my ear, struggling to hear him over the howl of the wind. I could hear slats of the house being ripped up outside of the closet. I felt the floor rumble as pieces of it were shredded just outside of the door in front of me.

"Harry I-"

Before I could tell him where I was, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and everything went black.