by Holly Hook
Thomas Curt shoved her back with one hand as the other closed around the gun.
It was over in two seconds. Janelle fell back into the couch, breath escaping in a half-scream. She didn't have her Tempest strength here without any ocean water. Thomas Curt had the advantage.
"Now there's no need for that," he said, catching his breath and sitting up taller. He waved the gun through the air. It was only a gesture. He wouldn't shoot Janelle. Couldn’t. But it didn't matter. Without the ocean, Janelle was as helpless here as anyone on the street.
Leslie stole a peek at her skinny arms. She might have the strength to fight Thomas Curt, but he didn't have any specific orders not to fire at her. It wouldn't work.
"Yes, there is," Janelle said, collecting herself. "There are too many people in this city. What do I have to do to get you to let Leslie out of here? Do you need me to negotiate anything?"
Leslie tensed, waiting for the bomb to drop.
Thomas Curt shook his head. "There's nothing you have to do as far as I know. There's nothing you can do."
He seemed genuine. Maybe he was right. Andrina wouldn't want him of all people to know that she was planning on making another goddess right here.
She sat, silent. So did Janelle. Mel was the only hope, in that case. He was still out in the car. Leslie hoped that he picked up his phone and called for help and didn't dare come in here. Another hostage wouldn't do them any good. And meanwhile, Andrina might already be meeting with Sophia. The sky had gone dark enough for her to appear somewhere in Flint, and the first low clouds were starting to filter over the treetops around them. A wisp. A roll, grayish green and ominous. This was something that belonged in the Midwest, out over rolling fields and farms. Not here.
It didn't look much different from the storm Paul had almost had his Outbreak in.
* * * * *
Sophia wasn't sure how she got here, but it didn't matter now. Hryokkin held control of her limbs as she climbed off the city bus and next to a kiosk. The demon had kept a steady control on her from the moment she climbed on the bus at the airport economy lot to the moment she got off here. Hyrokkin seemed to have a good sense of direction, because the whole ride had only taken about twenty minutes or so.
The note from Andrina crumpled in her hand as she looked around.
Wherever this was, it wasn't a nice part of town. The sidewalk was crumbling. Weeds sprang up between miniature canyons. Papers stuck against chain-link fence and a sign down the street advertised a gentleman's club. It wasn't the only one on this stretch, either. She also spotted what looked like an adult bookstore not too far away. This was definitely the part of town where you locked your car door.
The bus rolled away quickly. Sophia felt exposed all of a sudden and fought an urge to back against the fence.
I'll keep you safe, the demon promised. Now show me the address again.
Sophia pulled out the paper, her nerves crackling and urging her to get back on another bus and leave. As much as she wanted Hyrokkin gone, she still wanted to turn back.
That might be that old factory over there, Hyrokkin said. Look to your right.
She did.
Behind ten-foot-tall chain link fence, a rusty factory loomed with a sliding door slightly open. A light burned inside, yellow and dingy. Other than that, it seemed every inch abandoned, a shadow of despair. No cars in the parking lot. No people.
Sophia glanced at the huge square on the paper with the X in the middle. It had to be this factory. Nothing else in the area matched the description.
"How do we get in?" she asked out loud as her legs started to walk on their own. Anyone passing by would have taken her for crazy.
The gate is open. This is the place.
Thunder rumbled. Sophia still had control of her neck, and looked at the sky. She had never seen it look so ominous. It was green. Grass green, almost. It was a good thing Paul and Leslie couldn't have Outbreaks for a while. This would be the kind of weather she'd expect a monster tornado to form in. Not just a little funnel, but a town-crushing wall of destruction.
Thankfully, this wasn't Tornado Alley.
There.
The chain-link gate stood open just a little, enough so that someone her size could squeeze through. Sophia obliged, almost catching her shirt on a piece of peeling rust. Ahead, the door to the factory looked bigger than it had on the street. It was too quiet inside.
Sophia jumped when the gate closed behind her with a loud, final slam.
Go back.
It wasn't Hyrokkin speaking this time. It was something else, something scared and more familiar.
Herself.
Of course she hadn't come here out of choice. Nothing had been her choice at all in the past week. Her life wasn't hers anymore. It hadn't been since her mother had left. Maybe it never had been.
And yet she stepped forward across the cracked pavement, away from the rest of the world and the cars rushing past the fence. She felt as if she'd entered another universe behind this fence. The green sky started to roll overhead, bringing with it a gust of wind that pushed her closer to the door. It seemed like the open maw of a trap all of sudden.
For her, anyway. Not for the demon.
Sophia stole one last glance at the world that was about to end.
It might not be the best, but not everyone deserved the horrifying blizzard Hyrokkin wished to unleash on it. Not her grandmother, Callie, Janelle, her mother, or even Shane.
Enter, Hyrokkin commanded.
Sophia tried to pull back, but her foot took one step through the threshold, and then another.
The abandoned factory smelled of dust, metal, oil, and chemicals mixing together in one sickening stench. Stains marked spots on the floor where machinery had once stood. Graffiti decorated the walls. A single hanging light shined into the room, illuminating catwalks and rusty chains that stretched overhead.
"Welcome, Sophia. Welcome, fellow goddess."
Sophia started. Winter spread through her again, this time with flurries of excitement and anticipation from Hyrokkin.
Andrina stood on the other side of the room, dressed in another gray business suit and staring down at her from one of the catwalks. It looked like it might break and fall to the ground under her weight, but amazingly, it held. The storm goddess had a faint glow in the dim light. A grayish-blue, rippling like waves and rolling like the clouds outside. Even from here, Sophia could sense the strange light in her eyes, the rage that matched Hyrokkin's all too well.
Andrina put one foot over the railing of the catwalk. Sophia tensed. She was going to fall. But she didn't. The goddess zipped to the ground, blurring as she did so, and re-materialized on the floor of the factory. Sophia blinked to make sure she was seeing it right. She was. Andrina could move faster than any other living creature.
"Now," she said, slowly tapping closer as her high heels struck the dirty floor. "Let's get started."
Chapter Eighteen
The crack of thunder rolling over the house made Leslie curl into a ball. Something screeched in the walls. The house frame, maybe. It did that sometimes if lightning struck too close.
Rain beat down on pane of the picture window, creating a roar that only seemed to get louder with each passing second.
Like the roar that she'd heard climbing into Paul's van back at the arena.
"Leslie, I'll keep you awake," Janelle said, hugging her from the side. She grabbed the remote off the coffee table while Thomas Curt watched, indifferent. At least he seemed that way. He still kept a tight grip on the pistol on his lap, occasionally moving it to remind them that it was still there.
The television's volume cranked up so high that it almost drowned out the roar of the rain on the roof. The characters on TV spoke so loud their words were distorted. Janelle nodded at her, but there was too much doubt in that nod. Her best friend knew as well as she did that it wouldn't really work.
But at least she didn't seem to know the real purpose for them being here.
<
br /> Leslie had to choose within a few minutes.
Turn Janelle or kill Paul with heartbreak.
Those were her only two choices.
Janelle or Paul.
She couldn't choose either. "I can't," she managed, threatening to break down again. "I can't make another decision like this, I can't--"
"Decision?" Janelle's eyes widened as she stared at her. Confusion fell over even Thomas Curt's face.
There was no holding it back anymore. Leslie realized that the invisible noose around her throat was gone. She could tell Janelle now, because it didn't matter anymore. "Andrina wanted us here so I'd have to give you my breath!"
Janelle released her hug and shrank back a bit on the couch. Lightning flashed outside and across her face as comprehension grew over it. The tension in her best friend's posture hurt. She waited as if Leslie were going to rush at her any second and force the change.
"Wait, wait, wait." Thomas Curt leaned forward, raising one palm. "That doesn't make sense. An Outbreaker can only give someone their breath after their first Outbreak. Never before. It doesn’t matter if you've matured or not. You can't do it yet. That's not why Andrina has you here, Leslie. It isn't what you think."
Leslie's head spun. Andrina wouldn't have her here for any other motive. Would she? To hurt Paul, maybe, but she had no reason for that. Paul wasn't even a threat to her.
Leslie froze as Janelle's posture relaxed just a little. "Then what is this for?" she asked. Her knees trembled so much she could barely balance on the couch. "Just to make me kill most of my neighbors and make history repeat itself around here?"
"History?" Thomas Curt asked, lowering his eyebrows. "What history?" He cast his gaze outside.
How could he not know? Leslie didn't want to explain it to him. Not here. Not now. Not when she was about to make it happen again. A bad taste rose into her mouth like she was going to throw up. She tried to push down the images of the Flint tornado growing bigger inside her head: the flattened houses, the twisted cars, and the people digging through rubble in search of those who were still trapped…
Leslie had to make a run for it. If Janelle ran behind her, Thomas Curt couldn't fire on them. She hoped her best friend got the idea.
She almost bolted off the couch as the door flew open, bringing the storm in with it. Water sprayed in horizontally as three people crowded in through the door.
Mel. Gary. And Paul, still pale with his shirt put on inside out. If he'd hurried over any faster, he would have still been in his hospital gown.
Leslie grabbed the edge of the couch as Janelle nudged her from the side. She had played it safe after all and had Mel call for reinforcements.
"Paul!" she cried, embracing him as he made it to the couch. She breathed in the rain on his shirt as he pulled her close. "We have to go. I can have an Outbreak. He said so."
Thankfully, Paul didn't argue. A curse came almost under his breath. He pulled her away from the couch and towards the door. The others moved around her, scrambling.
Then another click made everyone in the room freeze.
Thomas Curt was still armed.
"No one move," he said in a voice that trembled like a minor earthquake. He held the pistol between both hands, swinging it back and forth between Paul and Gary and Mel. "I'd hate to shoot, but I can't control myself. Really, I'm only warning you. I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"Then let Leslie leave. If you don't want anyone to get hurt, that is," Janelle demanded. She stepped boldly in front of her, spreading her arms to block Leslie as much as she could. She'd caught on that Thomas Curt couldn't shoot her. "By the way, all the people in this city count as 'anyone.'"
The former Mobley mayor didn't even blink. He just shook his head as another lightning strike hit so close the thunder came just a split second later.
Leslie held down a yawn as a wave of fatigue crept under her eyelids and spread through her shoulders, making them slump. She shook her head. This shouldn't be happening. Not with her adrenaline pumping and her heart racing, that was.
Paul linked his hand with hers, unaware of the drowsy spell creeping up on her by the second.
The drowsy spell. Paul had experienced the same thing. Before his--
"Outbreak." Leslie finished her thought out loud, punctuating it with a yawn.
All heads turned towards her as she started to slump in Paul's grip. It was happening, just as it had with Paul a couple of weeks ago.
"No," Paul cried, holding her up. She came to her feet and let her head loll onto his shoulder. "Leslie. Stay awake. I won't let this happen to you. I swear I won't. Keep your eyes open and stay with me."
The anguish in his voice made her open them all the way again. She had to stay awake. If not for the city, for him. That was imperative.
The television announced a special report, so loud that it jolted her the rest of the way back to full awareness. It wouldn't last long, she knew. A few minutes at the most. Eventually, the Outbreak would win. She'd fly away from her body and become--
"Leslie, run," Janelle ordered, backing against her and Paul. On the other side of her, a TV weatherman pointed at a giant red blob on the radar and muttered something about potential high winds and large hail.
Thomas Curt turned the gun on Janelle.
Leslie sucked in a breath. He couldn't. He'd even said so.
But the others didn't know that.
Not Gary.
He cried out, leapt over the back of the couch, and rushed at Thomas Curt.
Janelle screamed, letting her mask fall away completely.
But it was too late. The man turned the gun on him and pulled the trigger.
* * * * *
Sophia felt the internal blizzard take over as Andrina approached. Thunder cracked as she came, as if her footsteps were causing the noise by themselves. Maybe they were. With a storm goddess, it definitely didn't seem impossible.
Hyrokkin rose completely back to the surface, moving Sophia's lips and turning her into a mouthpiece once again. Sophia was helpless to stand there as she spoke, as much as she wanted to run away from the monster with the swirling eyes. "I still hold my promise. Release me, and I will help you. It appears we share the same problems with the world. You were rejected once, weren't you? I can tell."
Pain flashed across Andrina's features, but it was gone as soon as it had come. Sophia wondered what had happened to her in the past, when she was still a Tempest. "True," she said, stopping a few feet away. The atmosphere around her was electric, like the storm outside. "I agree with you that the world should be punished for its intolerance. There's simply too much of it to cope with any other way. It's the reason I became what I am now. To protect my people. And above all, my daughter."
"Daughter?" Hyrokkin asked. The same question echoed through Sophia's mind. This monster had a daughter? Why hadn't Janelle or Leslie or even Callie told her about that? It was important.
Then it hit her.
Janelle.
Who else could it be? They didn't look that different from each other. And if Andrina was former Tempest High Leader, it made even more sense.
The ice retreated a bit as the thought played itself in Sophia's head. Her gut told her what it meant: a shocked uh oh from Hyrokkin.
Hyrokkin went to move her legs to the side.
Andrina didn't let her. With a growl, she reached out and caught Sophia under the chin, lifting her into the air.
Her throat closed to air. Sophia struggled. The floor disappeared under her feet.
"From what I understand, you attempted to harm my daughter in the public library." The goddess's voice rode on thunder, coming from everywhere at once. "I know she was there with the others when you froze Paul and the other patrons. Your 'friends' were more than happy to supply that information."
Sophia struggled for breath. Only a straw's worth of air made it to her lungs. It wasn't enough to speak, even with Hyrokkin's help. The demon seemed to have retracted back to her hiding place somewher
e in the back of her head, cowering, leaving her to take the rage that she didn't deserve.
"I would have been happy to oblige you with your request, whoever you are." Andrina spoke to the space past Sophia's eyeballs, and it gave her a sense that the goddess was staring right into her soul. "That all changed yesterday. My decision will never go back."
It wasn't me, Sophia struggled to say. Her lungs burned. Only a croak managed to escape. But she doubted that would make a difference.
There was no fighting Andrina. It was all over for both of them. This monster had killed hundreds before even reaching goddess status. It wouldn't be a problem for her to commit murder right here. Sophia was expendable.
With another growl, Andrina tossed her backwards.
Sophia felt the air rushing past her in slow motion. Andrina grew smaller and tilted from her view. The frigid slush filled her body again. Hyrokkin was back.
I'll protect you, she said.
Too little, too late.
Sophia crashed into the wall as a rusty shelf fell over her. In the shock, she felt no pain, but the world around her deepened to a gray as she caught sight of Andrina, marching in for the kill with a more intense look of hatred than she had ever seen before.
* * * * *
Click.
Thomas Curt pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't fire.
Leslie caught his look of confusion before Gary tackled him in the chair. The two scuffled and Gary flew back at the couch two seconds later, gasping for breath.
Andrina must have given him a gun that wasn't loaded.
She had really made sure there was no possibility he shot Janelle.
"Gary!" Janelle's shout carried all the relief in the world as she ran for him. She caught him under the shoulders and tried to pull him away from the couch. He didn't resist. Muttering something, he pointed at the door.
Leslie's thoughts turned to syrup. Her eyes started to slide shut despite the noise outside.
The Outbreak was coming. Strong. Unstoppable.
