Syra

Chapter 2

8 months later...

It's been a week since the wedding. Paul has left me to my own devices for the most part. He knows he'll never be my dad, and to me, he'll never replace him. But Ally has become like a sister to Braydee and me.

Mom and Paul bought a house last month. That was when I really realized it was gonna be official.

Mom and Paul left for their honeymoon in Rio the day after we finished moving. Tyler stayed with my sisters and me while they were gone, with occasional check-ins with my grandma.

As they walked out the door that day, I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of dread.

"Mom, wait!" I called, running after her.

"Honey, it's only a week. You'll be fine," she said.

"Please don't go," I told her, wrapping my arms around her. "Something's gonna happen."

"Nothing is gonna happen. We'll be fine," Mom said. "Now, let us go."

I wished Mom would've listened to me. Something was going to happen in Rio, and Mom wouldn't hear it.

Or maybe she was trying to cover up my powers in front of Paul. That's what I hoped, anyway.

As she walked out the door, I knew it would be a long time before I saw her again. But thankfully, it got rid of Paul. It was almost worth it.

"Something's gonna happen to them," I told Tyler as the door closed behind Mom.

"They're gonna be fine, Syra. You're overreacting," Ally said.

"What's gonna happen?" Tyler asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know, but it's gonna keep them there for awhile," I replied.

"What are you talking about?" Ally asked.

Braydee glared at me and Tyler. "Syra's making a big deal about this, just like everything else," she said.

"Shut up, Braydee!" I yelled. I got a throbbing pain in my head and doubled over. I saw visions of fallen palm trees and ruined buildings. They were only split-second images, but I saw them clear as day. I gasped. "Hurricane Leah."

"What did you say?" Ally demanded, her arms crossed.

"Hurricane Leah is coming, and it's gonna ruin Mom and Paul's honeymoon."

"They're not gonna die, are they?" Braydee asked.

"I don't think so," I replied. "But the destruction...it's awful."

"As far as I know, there has never been a hurricane called Leah," Ally said. "So what are you talking about?"

Braydee had her phone out and was looking at what I assumed was an Internet search on Hurricane Leah. "It's not a hurricane yet. It's a tropical storm off the shore of Florida," she said. "Here, it says 'Tropical storm Leah is not expected to make landfall for several days, if at all. Residents of Florida and the Carolinas are advised to stay in their homes for the next few days.'"

"But it's just a tropical storm, and it doesn't seem to be that bad. Besides, how did you know about it?" Ally asked.

I exchanged worried glances with my older siblings. "Just a hunch," I lied.

"You need to call Mom," Braydee said. "You need to warn her."

She handed me her phone. I called Mom and waited anxiously for her to answer.

"Hello?" Mom said.

"Mom, please don't go to Rio yet," I begged.

"For the last time, Syra, we are going to be fine. I promise-"

"If you're not coming home, at least take the Hurricane Leah warnings seriously. A lot of lives are gonna be lost this week," I said.

"Hurricane Leah? I haven't heard anything about a hurricane," Mom said.

"It's just a tropical storm right now, but it's gonna get worse. Please be careful," I said.

"Alright, I love you," Mom said with an exasperated sigh.

I hung up and gave Braydee her phone back, tears stinging my eyes. "She wouldn't listen."

"You tried, Syra. And without you, we wouldn't have known about the storm until later," Tyler said.

"Are you ready to tell me now how you knew about it?" Ally asked again. "And don't tell me it was just a hunch."

"Okay, fine, I could sense it," I replied angrily. "There are certain things that I can sense."

"Anybody can guess that kind of stuff-"

"Your name is Allison Kendra Jordan. Kendra was your mom's name. You woke up at 8:34 this morning, and you fell asleep at 11:53 last night, even though we were all sent to bed at 9:30. You stayed up on your phone," I said.

"You guessed all that-"

"You were looking at pictures on Instagram of your celebrity crush that I know for a fact you've never told anyone about. Should I tell Braydee and Tyler who it is so they can make fun of you?"

Her face went beet red and she gulped. "Actually, I do want you to tell me."

I chuckled. "It's Harry Styles," I said. "Despite the fact that you tell everyone you hate his songs and think he's ugly. It's a cover-up for the fact that you have a massive crush on him."

"Holy crap!" she yelled. "How did you do that?"

I smiled. "Just a hunch."

"Can I slap you now?"

"Is there anything else you can see about Hurricane Leah?" Tyler interrupted.

I closed my eyes and focused, relaying everything I saw. "There's gonna be damage all down the east coast. Death toll is gonna be somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000," I said. "But I think Mom and Paul are gonna be safe."

"Tell me exactly what you know about them," Tyler demanded.

I focused on them. My head started to throb again, but I kept looking, pushing though the pain. "I can't see them," I said.

"You can do it, Syra. Keep looking," Braydee pushed.

I clutched my head and kept focusing on Mom. Finally, I saw her. It wasn't a clear picture, but I saw Paul knelt beside a hospital bed. He was holding someone's hand. I couldn't see who it was, but there was only one person it could logically be.

I opened my eyes and gasped. I had trouble catching my breath. I collapsed, but Tyler caught me. "Breathe, Syra," Braydee said. "What did you see?"

When I could breathe regularly again, I told them about what I saw. "It had to have been Mom," Tyler said.

"Unless it wasn't the future you saw," Ally said. "Now I don't know how these 'hunches' of yours work, but I'm assuming you can sense the past as well as the future, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"What if you saw my parents?" she said. "What if that woman was my mom in the hospital...?"

Her voice trailed off. I could sense what happened; not only what happened to Mrs. Jordan, but also how it made Ally feel.

"I'm sorry, Ally. I know how hard that was on you, and I can speak from personal experience that losing a parent to cancer like that is the worst thing in the world," I said, trying to make her feel better.

"Stop trying to read my mind, Syra. Leave me alone," Ally said before storming off to her room.

"Is that why you still feel Dad's death so deeply?" Tyler asked. "You can still remember it like it happened yesterday."

"No, Tyler. I feel it like the second I heard the news. I feel that every second of every day," I replied. "That's why I can't stand Mom and Paul together, because I can still remember Dad clearly."

Tyler and Braydee were silent for several minutes. They stared at their feet and kicked the air. Finally, Braydee spoke up. "I didn't realize how much that meant to you."

"Well, no one's ever asked me about it, so I've never talked about it," I replied. "There's gotta be something we can do to keep Mom safe."