Hurricane (The Charmed)

by Dianne Nutting

  Lyla’s mother put down her fork, leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

  Frank Bleu looked over at his wife. “Constance, he has a point. We don’t know what to expect.”

  Mrs. Bleu stood a pained expression across her face. “Excuse me.”

  Lyla got up to follow but Chase stopped her. “Let me?”

  Lyla nodded her head yes and watched Chase walk away.

  Chase opened the bedroom door and found Mrs. Bleu sitting by a bay window overlooking a flower garden.

  “Mrs. Bleu?”

  She turned to look at Chase. “Yes?”

  Chase could see tears in her eyes. He walked over carefully.

  “I felt Lyla the minute she came into town.” Chase stared out the window. “My parents aren’t the warmest people, Mr. M basically raised me. Everything I know about caring for someone comes from how he treats us. I love Lyla so much I have an ache inside when I’m not with her.” He looked up at her then. “Mrs. Bleu, I’ll always make sure she’s happy and safe.”

  Lyla’s mother felt heartbroken. To feel so much for someone else made her happy her daughter found what none of their kind in the Charmed have. Love. In an effort to keep their kind pure, it has made them an unhappy race. She looked up at Chase and a tear fell from her eye. “I’m happy she’s found you, Chase. I can see how much you love her. We’ll work all this out.” She smiled at him. “Those marks look painful.”

  Chase looked down at his arm. “I forget they’re there and how they must look to everyone. They’re not painful.” Chase smiled back.

  “You’re both so young.”

  Chase continued smiling. “It’s not like we had a choice.” Chase looked back out at the garden. “Why don’t we take it one week at a time?” He looked over at her. “We can start at Jaden’s house the first week that way Mr. M can help us through this. The next week we’ll try your home. I think we have to stay together, Mrs. Bleu.”

  “What about your home? Won’t your parents miss you, even on some level?”

  “Mr. M didn’t tell them. Not yet anyway. They travel a lot, I spend most my time here anyway.”

  “So, you’ll come over next week? To stay with us?” She thought for a moment. “I think we can do that.”

  Chase smiled. “Lyla has your eyes.”

  “I’ve heard that.” She smiled at him. It was going to be really hard to hate this boy. “Let’s go, I’m starving.”

  They went to the kitchen and dished up food. Mrs. Bleu told everyone the plan. Everyone agreed. Mr. M gave Chase a smile of appreciation.

  “Okay, now for the part that’s really hard.”

  Mr. Bleu looked up. “There’s a harder part than my daughter almost dying, getting married in a gunshot wedding and now needing birth control? Oh do tell.”

  The table fluttered at his abrasive nature but Mr. M continued un-phased. “You have to let Lyla un-cloak.”

  “Why?”

  “I have to put a diminishing spell on both kids for the marks. If Lyla cloaks, the spell will conflict. It’s more dangerous to show the marks than to be seen at this point.”

  “No. She can continue to be homeschooled and stay in our home. I don’t like that plan.”

  “There’s not much to like about any of this. But we have to keep trying different things until one sticks.”

  “Or gets them killed.” Lyla’s father stared down McCown.

  “Point taken.” He thought for a moment. “How about her un-cloak at school then goes straight home?”

  Lyla felt like a puppet, watching the adults talk about them like they weren’t there. She hated the idea of being a prisoner to this predicament. She looked over at Chase he looked to be of the same mindset.

  Mr. Bleu was still arguing his case. “What if the High Council finds out?”

  “I don’t think either of them will be seen again. They’ll try to protect them from power hungry people by incarcerating them.”

  Chase spoke up. “Jail? We’ll be jailed? That hardly seems fair!”

  “Well, now you see what we’re up against.” Mr. Bleu looked at Chase.

  This was all too much for Lyla and like her mother she excused herself and walked out of the room to the back garden and sat down.

  Chase came up and sat down next to her. “This sucks.”

  “Yes it does.” Lyla leaned into him. “Chase, is it always going to be this way? Is this why they all go mad, from not having a normal life? From being hunted?”

  “Maybe.”

  They sat in silence for a while until they heard voices being raised in the house. They ran back in. Mr. M was in the air, Lyla’s father was holding him up by some invisible force.

  Chase waved a hand and Mr. Bleu was thrown across the room, sliding across the kitchen table and landing in a heap in front of the stove. Chase had cancelled out Mr. Bleu’s powers.

  Mrs. Bleu ran over to her husband and helped him up. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a lanky frame that unfolded itself from the small area on the floor. “Why did you do that?”

  “I was protecting my family. What were you two arguing about?”

  “Sam wanted to keep you both here. I say you both stay permanently with us.”

  Lyla’s mother stepped between the two. “For tonight you’ll stay here, Lyla will go with us.” She looked up at his face. The look of panic ran across his features.

  Lyla’s mother placed a hand on Chase’s arm. “Just for tonight, Chase. It’ll be okay, both sides will calm down and we’ll talk tomorrow. Deal?”

  “I don’t like it.”

  Mr. M walked up rubbing his shoulder. “She has a point, Chase. If you’re able to spend a night away, there are possibilities I never thought of.”

  Chase took Lyla’s hand and walked out of the room to his. He wrapped his arms around her holding her tight.

  “This is so fucked-up.” Chase buried his face into her hair. She smelled like orange blossoms. He stroked her long blonde hair and moved his hands to her waist.

  Lyla looked up into his eyes. They were light green, she couldn’t recall ever seeing that light a color before.

  “Chase, we have to keep our heads. It is ridiculous but I guarantee you, my parents will be more sound tomorrow.” He looked away but Lyla pulled his face back by placing a hand on both sides of his face. “I love you.”

  Chase wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her. When they finally broke apart Chase was calmer and more centered. She did that, brought him back to reality. They walked out together. Chase opened the car door for Lyla and watched the car drive away.

  Mr. M watched Chase for any sign of problems but there wasn’t any, just sadness. Chase walked back into the house and straight to his room and shut the door.

  Mr. M and Jaden turned in early. The house was quiet by ten.

  Chase lay awake in bed thinking about their situation. This would never be over. He and Lyla would be forever on the run. He couldn’t imagine a life without her but part of him cursed the situation. They would always be looking over their shoulder. Chase began to drift off to sleep as the lights in the house winked off one by one. Chase’s last thoughts were of running away with her.

  A nagging discomfort woke Chase. He opened his eyes and it was still dark on Sunday morning. Something was wrong, he was uncomfortable. His marked arm was aching. Chase looked down, unable to see anything in the dark except shapes moving. He flicked his light on. The shapes on his arm were moving in a slithering pattern up and down his arm. Chase stared for a moment and that’s when the pain started, it was an ache at first, then it became a full-out roar of agony. Chase screamed.

  Jaden threw his door open. “Chase?”

  Chase jumped out of bed and held his arm. “Aaaaah!” Chase screamed. The lines were moving at a more frantic pace all up and down his arm from shoulder to wrist.

  Mr. M ran into the room, his hair askew and he was blinking around the room. “Chase? What’s wrong?”

  “She’s gone! Lyla! They
took her!”

  Mr. M pulled his phone out and dialed a number. The voice on the other end was in a state of panic.

  “We’re turning around Sam, oh god we’re sorry. We didn’t know.”

  They could hear screaming in the background. Chase stood up and punched the nearest wall. He began pacing the room, waiting for them to return.

  As Lyla’s family got closer, the marks settled down. Finally the movement stopped all together and Chase put his head in his hands to wait, sitting on the edge of the bed. Lyla had been in pain and he couldn’t stand for that.

  Mr. M motioned for Jaden to follow him out of the room.

  “Jaden, I need you to do some research.”

  Jaden ran a hand through his hair. “Ok.” The dark circles stood out on his normally sun-tanned cheeks. This had been hard on everyone.

  “I’ll tell you later, let’s get ready for our guests.”

  Jaden shook his head and walked into the living room while Mr. M walked into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Twenty minutes later the front door banged open and Lyla walked straight in and directly to Chase’s room, shutting the door behind.

  Mr. and Mrs. Bleu were standing on the front steps, heads bowed.

  Mr. M opened the door wider. “Come on in, we’re all awake now.”

  The four of them sat at the kitchen table staring into mugs of coffee nobody was drinking.

  Mr. M ran a hand across his face. “So you tried to run?”

  “Yes.” Lyla’s father spoke up.

  “How far away before she started to scream?”

  “About twenty five miles.” He set his mug down and rubbed his eyes. “I’ve never heard anything like it, ever.”

  Lyla’s mother placed a hand over his. “We’re putting our daughter in danger by being here. We need to go.”

  “But you saw what happened….” Mr. McCown stood up.

  She placed a hand up to stop him. “No. Not Lyla. Frank and I are on the counsel’s radar. Lyla isn’t. We need to draw them away from this area while this takes place. I’m sure this isn’t the only change that’s going to happen, nobody knows she exists. Not yet anyway. So far everyone knows that the next person has to do with us. We have been hunted and watched for years. I’d like to kill every one of those people who predicted it. Lyla has never been given a normal upbringing because of it. Maybe if we draw all the eyes away from here, she might have a shot at a normal adult life.”

  Mr. M seriously doubted it. Power sought out power. It was all over the history books, so were the mistakes.

  “How did you keep her a secret? Any hospital would have alerted someone.”

  “I had her at a convent. The sisters took me in. Frank wasn’t even allowed to be there. We left when we knew it was safe and that if we were stopped I could fabricate her birth, which I’ve had to do on multiple occasions. We cut and dyed Lyla’s hair so she would look different. I don’t know if that even worked.” She smoothed out her hair that was neatly pulled into a very tight bun. “This is such a mess we tried so hard just to fail.”

  Mr. M softened. “Nobody is blaming you for this, Constance.” He put his hand on hers. “Maybe now it’s time to get some help.”

  She shook her head with resignation and looked up at her husband Frank. “We have to lead people away from here, at least until they can get this thing under control.”

  “I do want to warn you both that, if things go bad, you may never see Lyla again.”

  Frank stood. “I trust you will keep that from happening Sam. We’re placing the care of our daughter in your capable hands. You are the expert on this subject, are you not?”

  Mr. M began to squirm. “Of course you can trust Lyla in our hands.”

  Frank and Constance stood and walked toward the door. Constance turned and glanced toward the bedroom door. “Say goodbye to her for us. Tell her we love her and we’re doing this for her.”

  “Don’t you want to tell her yourself?”

  “The screaming was so bad Sam. Chase will take good care of her.” That was all she said as she turned and walked hastily out of the house.

  Frank turned and spoke quietly to Sam. “Call if you feel we need to come back quick. Keep me informed, alright?”

  Sam shook his hand. “Of course, you have my word.”

  As they drove away Mr. M turned toward Jaden. “God, I’m glad they turned around.” They walked back into the house. Mr. M looked at Jaden. “Why don’t you try and get some more sleep?”

  Jaden’s eyes had bags, his hair was wild and his shirt was sideways. “That’s probably a good idea. G’night.”

  He watched his son walk down the hall to the door next to Chase’s. He didn’t envy his youth. Inexperience caused stress and in the months to come, Jaden would need his help. He wondered how much of this current problem they would go through alone.

  Mr. M noticed Chase’s light on. He walked down the hall and knocked on the door.

  “Come in.” Chase said.

  Mr. M opened the door. Chase and Lyla were sitting on the floor, backs against the bed. Both looked so tired it hit him in the gut. Chase had Lyla’s arm, he was massaging up and down where the pain had been. Mr. M sat on the carpet opposite them.

  “How bad was it?”

  Lyla started to talk, stopped. Her face crumpled and tears started. She hid her face in Chase’s chest.

  Chase held on to the back of Lyla’s head. He looked up. “Like that.”

  “Was yours as bad?”

  “Yes.” He leaned down and kissed the top of Lyla’s head.

  “Is this permanent?”

  “I don’t think so. I heard of one case that lasted longer than the two months. I’m going to have Jaden research it a little more.”

  “How long ago?”

  “The most recent one.”

  “What happened?”

  “It was around the seventh month, she was used for experiments. I’d rather not go any further than that.”

  Chase swallowed hard. “So a normal life is probably out of the question.”

  “Time will tell. We have a lot to plan. Why don’t you two get some sleep. We’ll talk when everyone is rested.”

  Chase nodded.

  Mr. M left the room. He wouldn’t be sleeping, he would be making plans.

  Nine in the morning came fast. Jaden was pouring himself coffee when Mr. M came into the kitchen. He took stock of his son and made a mental note to try and get him alone to talk. Chase and Lyla entered the kitchen. Lyla sat at the table while Chase poured them each a cup of coffee.

  Mr. M looked at Lyla over his mug. “We should get to your house today and get your things.”

  Lyla shrugged okay. She looked just as tired if not more so than everyone else. He would have forced everyone back to bed if he actually thought they would sleep but he knew the answer to that one.

  “Lyla, your parents are going away.”

  Lyla stopped scooping sugar into her coffee and looked up. “What? Why?”

  “They’re worried about drawing attention to you. I think they felt guilty about last night and want to make amends. By being away they will make sure all eyes are off this community.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Lyla, they are the ones who have been tracked. Nobody knows about you. The predictors out there know your parents are going to produce a child on November first. According to records, you haven’t been found out yet. But it’s only a matter of time. So your parents are leaving town to keep you safe. You and Chase should have a few good months to learn your skills and from what I saw yesterday, Chase is getting them in droves.”

  “What’s next?” Chase finally sat at the table with everyone.

  “We have a lot of research to do. I thought I knew everything there was about this, come to find out, I don’t. First we get Lyla’s parents out of here. Next we hit every spell and history book we can find. I’d rather not make you two go on the run.”

  “Dad, you asked Lyla to un-cloak. Wha
t about the others in town? She’s going to have to register, isn’t she?” Everyone looked at Jaden he had become so silent lately it was almost easy to forget he was there.

  “No, that’s too risky. For now, it’s to school and home as long as she hides in the car, it should be alright. Unless you would like to continue homeschooling?”

  “No. I don’t want to be two miles away from Chase if that’s okay.”

  An unease spread through everyone at the table. Nobody wanted a repeat of last night.

  Lyla looked at her watch. “Maybe I can catch my parents before they leave.”

  “I’ll drive you.” Chase stood up, placed his coffee mug in the sink and headed out the door with Lyla.

  Lyla and Chase said good-bye to her family and spent the next three hours gathering her things and sitting on the porch that overlooked Lake Morton. The swans given to Lakeland by the Queen of England years ago were protected by the city and it gave Lyla great joy to watch them.

  “Chase, do you think we’ll make it?”

  “Make it in what way? Old age? Another two months? Together? Into a nuthouse? To Norway? I need specifics.”

  Lyla looked over at Chase who beamed a wide smile at her.

  Chase sighed. “I don’t know. I’m hopeful though.” He squeezed her hand and they settled into silence looking out over the lake. A loud noise ruined the peaceful chatter of ducks. Chase looked down at his phone. “My parents want to see me. They must be leaving again and want to say good-bye.”

  “What do you mean; again?”

  “My parents travel a lot. That’s one reason why I live over at Jaden’s. I don’t think Mr. M likes them. Well, I guess we should go. I’ll drop you at Mr. M’s and head over.”

  “Better make sure your marks are covered.”

  Chase looked down at his arm. His hand was the trickiest part. Even with a cloak of some sort, the ring finger may not cloak as well. He made a mental note to keep it hidden if he could. His parents weren’t that observant, but it was better safe than sorry.