Storm

Chapter 4

Where have you been all day?"  Said the voice of my sister behind the door.  "Elena!  Don't scare me like that!"   Elena smirked as she said, "So, you and Wes, huh?"  I blushed and turned my face in the other direction.  "I'll take that as a yes.  Let me just say, I knew it!"  Elena sat there, spinning in circles, pumping her fists in the air and smiling.  "Ok!  Just keep it down!"  "Come on!"  Said Elena as she ran up the stairs.  I followed her as she walked into her room.  "So, did you just find out today?  Or have you always known?"  "I just found out today."  I replied, playing with a different colored cube that sat on her desk.   "Do you like him too?"  I sat there in silence for a moment.  Do I like him?  Then it occurred to me:  If I like him, he could be in danger.  "Are you ok Janey?  You look pale."  "Huh?  Yeah, I'm fine."  "So?"  "So, what?"  "Do you like him or not?"  "I do like him, I'm not sure how though."  Elena smiled as she got up and grabbed my arm, leading me to the door.  "You know, you two really should be a couple.  I foresaw this as soon as I saw you and Wes together. Bye!"  And with that, she pushed me lightly out of her room and shut the door in my face.  I smirked and rolled my eyes.  Little sisters. 
    I walked into my room and went over to my bathroom.  I opened the door and took off my jacket, placing it on the counter top.  Then, I turned on the sink.  I ran my hands underneath the cool water, dried them off, and then began to put my hair into a ponytail.  But, as I put my hair up, I caught a glimpse of something on my neck.  I reached for the bottom drawer of my dresser and pulled out a mirror, holding it out behind me.  I nearly screamed at what I saw.  There was some sort of tattoo etched into my skin.   Who the heck did this?  Is this some kind of sick joke? I placed the mirror down and stared at my reflection.  This has to be a sign.  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a quick picture of the tattoo.  I looked at my phone and saw the small design once again.  It was a circle with two pointed lines.  One on the left side going down, and one on the right going up.  I examined the picture closer, but saw nothing more than my skin and little pieces of my hair.  I put my phone down and looked into the mirror.  I screamed and backed into the wall at the sight of my hair and my eyes.  I looked at the figure in the mirror, it copied my movements.  But it looked so much different then me.  With pure white hair and eyes, and even the slightest bit of purple in the iris.  My eyes looked just like... like... "Janey!  Janey, open up!"  Screamed my dad from outside of my bathroom.  But I couldn't move.  "Janey!"  Screamed my mother.  But I sat still.  The mirror figure smirked as she reached out her hand and put it to her chest.  Then, the pain started.  I couldn't scream.  I couldn't do anything as pain lurched through my chest.  I only managed to make small croaking noises that only made my parents scream my name louder.  "Janey!" Cried my mother desperately.  Then, the figure in the mirror let a single tear slip from her smirking face.  "Help them."  She said, and my lips moved as well, even though I couldn't speak.  She looked straight into my eyes and put a hand to her head.  Instantly, I saw the mother from the night before, sitting in her chair, being swept up by the storm, her daughter struggling to breathe as they held onto each other.  I screamed and noise actually came out.  "Janey!"  Screamed my father, panicked.  I could hear banging on the door, but the only thing I was focused on was the figure in the mirror.  "In time, I'll tell you, why I am doing this.  It's for your own good.  We cannot have a remake of what happened last time.  Let me show you.  Let me in!"  I cried out in pain as my father broke down the door.  Then, everything blacked out. 
    Let me show you, were the words that echoed through my mind as a new vision played through my throbbing head.  I was in the city, except, everything looked older.  The metal was barely even on on earthen walls and there were lots of machines struggling to keep out what looked like lightning.  "Hey!  Have you seen my son?  Mister!  Have you seen my son?"  Shouted a lady from behind me.  "Mommy!"  Shouted a little girl as she ran up to her large family.  "Oh sweetie!  We were so worried!"  Said the mother.  Everywhere I looked, families were gathered around white tents, wrapped in blankets.  And a little farther off I saw families surrounding the wounded.  I walked over there and saw families crying together and hugging limp bodies.  Tears filled my eyes and I turned away immediately.  "Everyone!  Pay attention!"  I turned and saw a woman with dark hair and striking blue eyes in the center of the crowd.  "I came to warn you!  This is only the beginning!  If you value your lives and the lives of your families, you will listen to me!"  I didn't get to hear the rest of what the lady was saying because I was instantly taken somewhere else.  Clouds swirled around me and soon enough, I was in an enclosed white room with eight people inside of it.  I could hear thunder booming outside and the constant cracks of lightning.  "Why are we here?"  Asked a man in the corner.  "What makes us so special?  Why are we the ones that have to sit here and watch every last one of our people get taken by the storm!"  "We should have listened to the girl."  Said a lady in the corner.  "She warned us, she knew this was coming."  Just then, a door on the left side of the room opened up and three men stepped in.  "Hello."  Said the man on the far right.  "You might be wondering why you're here."  "No kidding!" Said a man in the middle of the room.  "Where's my family you no good little-"  But the man who was speaking was cut off by the scientist who had first spoken.  "We have brought you here because, when this is over, you will be our next start to life."  Everyone in the room feel silent.  "So, all of our families, the ones you'd promised would be safe, they've been taken by the storm?"  "I'm afraid so, ma'am."  The man who had spoken earlier shot up and attacked the scientist.  It took several people to get him off of the man but once they did, the middle scientist spoke.  "We are terribly sorry, truly, but we need your help if we want to save our race."  "You killed all those people, you let them die!  You knew this was coming and you didn't rush to save our people!  What makes you think we're going to help you?"  "We need you."  "Well we don't need you."  Said the man as he sat back down on the floor and sobbed.  All the people looked to the three men and I saw the men's faces turn to satisfaction.  "We'll be back soon."  Said the far left scientist.  The scene changed again and in front of me stood the man who had been sobbing on the floor.  "Hello, Janey."  "Y-You can see me?"  "Of course I can."  "How?"  "I don't have time to explain.  You must listen, can you do that?"  I nodded and the man looked at me sternly.  "The scientists are not who you think they are.  They have not been helping you, they've been killing you.  They've been studying what happened the last time and they think that they just have to keep repopulating and keep making sacrifices, but they're wrong.  You have to stop them, you can't fail like the last one.  The storm lives in you.  The storm doesn't want to kill us, it can't help itself."  "You make it sound as if the storm's alive."  "That's because it is, in ways you can't possibly imagine.  But they know, the scientists know.  Don't make the same mistakes.  Stop the scientists, stop the storm.  If you do, you may yet have hope, and so will your people."  "I don't understand.  What do the scientists know?  How is it alive?"  "I've run out of time, Janey.  You only have two weeks left before the storm comes.  Good luck, I wish you the very best."  "Wait!"  "What now?"  "What happened to the other girl?  The one who failed?"  "She is not to be spoken of.  Goodbye, Janey."  "Wait!"  But it was too late.  Everything went black.  My breath was caught in my throat.  You make it sound as if the storm's alive.  That's because it is, in ways you can't possibly imagine.  What does that mean?  Who is it, alive?  You only have two weeks left before the storm comes.  Two weeks to stop the storm.  Two weeks to save my people.  Two weeks until I might die.  This is absolutely impossible.  Where do I even begin?