The main reason she hadn’t come with me to Colorado for college was because she wanted to be an actress. For that part of her vision board to become a reality, she said she needed to stay in Cali.
She was going to make it in Hollywood, that much was certain.
I slowed the bike as we approached the top of the hill. A blink of an unusually bright light in the sky caught my eye but I stayed focused on the road ahead. It had been unusual… but… we were almost there.
Then the light grew. Everything around us turned completely white, like it had been erased. For a second, I thought maybe Eva had decided to take a photo of us to post on her social media with the flash on. But the light didn’t go away. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see the road.
I closed my eyes and even though the bike was slowing, I could feel it swerving out from under me. Hell, how could I maintain control when I couldn’t even see the road?
“Hang on,” I said trying to open my eyes.
The light was gone but my vision wasn’t working the way it should. There were weird glowing orbs and dots making it impossible to see anything other than random shadows.
The wheel twisted and the bike went sideways down to the ground with Eva and I both still on it. I winced as my leg hit the pavement and my bike slid over it.
My body rolled several times before I skidded to a painful stop. I blinked rapidly, trying to see more than darkness and glowing lights. I could feel the road under my burning palms but I still couldn’t see it.
“Eva?” I called.
No response.
“Eva!” I shouted. When she still didn’t answer, I called for her louder. “Eva!”
3
Stevie
It was hard being away from home but I couldn’t stand another minute of my younger brother and sister fighting. My mom had passed out on the couch, not that she gave a crap about any of us anyway.
I needed a break from the job I hadn’t signed up for. Hell, I was only twenty and somehow already had the job of parenting an eight and a six-year-old.
My dad disappeared two months ago. It’s not something I can tell anyone because no one would believe it. He went out for a pack of cigarettes and he hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
My mom thinks he’s dead. Apparently, he had some debt and she thinks the collectors came to collect and when there wasn’t anything there, he was thrown into the Atlantic.
It was definitely possible.
She stopped going to her low-paying receptionist job two days after his disappearance. The small amount of money she had in her bank account now goes to funding her alcoholism, which, to be honest, it had been doing for as long as I could remember.
Vodka was her poison. After I’d carried three bottles to the recycling bin, I just kept walking.
I’d found myself on the beach which was a good two miles from my house. Ryder probably was playing a video game or they both had decided on a cartoon. They were going to grow up with such problems and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I wished I could have done better for them but no one cared to do better for me.
My mom got to lie around in a stupor while I’d have to worry about getting Ryder and Beth to school every morning. I made their lunches, did their laundry, and gave them my money to pay for their lunches. Thank God my mom didn’t have access to my bank account.
There wasn’t anything worse than working as a cashier but I didn’t get a choice. I had to take the first job that was offered to me, even though it only paid minimum wage.
There was a time I dreamed I’d go to college and get away from this horrible place but that time never came. If I would have left, Ryder and Beth would have been taken away or maybe something worse would have happened to them.
I dug my toes into the sand, trying not to think about anything. The sound of the ocean at night was soothing. I almost wished I would have brought a beach blanket so I could have taken a nap. God knows I couldn’t get sleep at home.
While Beth was a good sleeper, Ryder was not. I was up every morning at five-thirty no matter what. While he could entertain himself, he still liked to talk. Neither of them, Beth or Ryder, were good at being alone.
I liked being alone. It was how I recharged. Not that I was going to be able to recharge for much longer. I needed my battery completely replaced and I didn’t know how I was going to do that.
I took care of Ryder and Beth as if they were my blood because I didn’t have any proof that they weren’t. They looked like each other but I looked nothing like them. They had glowing light brown hair and milk chocolate eyes… I had dull black hair and green cat-like eyes.
One night when I’d been younger and my mom had been more than just a bit tipsy, I asked her who my dad was. She just laughed and told me that my dad was my dad and that I looked just like his grandmother Joan.
I didn’t believe her. But maybe I’d just wanted a different family. A different life.
The wind picked up and blew my hair back away from my face. I closed my eyes and listened as the sounds of the crashing waves became a bit wilder.
“Looky who we found,” a voice said behind me.
“No way! You’re not working?” the second voice said.
I recognized them instantly. They weren’t twins but everyone in town had always teased that they were.
“Ola, Stevie,” Jace said flopping heavily down next to me.
His wavy brown hair flapped over his forehead. He looked at me with his glowing gray eyes half-closed. I rolled my eyes as the scent of pot drifted off of him and into my nostrils.
I sighed. “Hi.”
I started to get up.
“Whoa, no wait. Don’t go,” Jace said. “Didn’t mean to chase you off. It’s such a beautiful night.”
“I was just leaving,” I said.
“Steeeeeevie,” Jace said dragging out my name. “Stay with us. We don’t bite.”
Jace waved at his partner in crime to sit down. Gage was a bit more apprehensive. He also didn’t look quite as stoned or perhaps he wasn’t stoned at all.
Gage had always been the quieter of the two. It was probably why I liked him better.
Jace lived four houses down the road from where I lived. He knew far too much about my childhood, my life, and my parents. It was embarrassing, although his life hadn’t been that much better.
I knew that his parents had split after his dad won a ton in the lottery. Shortly after, he’d run off with a gorgeous younger woman. They now lived in Nevada and had a toddler. Jace called him his little brother but I was pretty sure his dad hadn’t talked to him since he’d left.
Jace’s mom was dirt poor, just like us, but she was far more motivated than my mom. She had a job in a call center that paid reasonably well but after paying their bills, there never was much left.
Paycheck to paycheck. It was better than my family, where we were just digging our hole deeper and deeper.
“We went to the store to see if you were there,” Jace said.
“Why would you do that?” I asked. I tried to avoid them as much as possible.
“Bored,” Jace said with a shrug. “Plus, you don’t say anything when we come through your lane with a bit extra in our pockets.”
I blinked several times. “I didn’t know you were doing that.”
“Oh, shit,” Jace said laughing and he jammed his elbow into Gage.
They were both just as old as I was but they both acted far more immature. Maybe it made everything easier for them. Maybe I should have been doing the same.
Gage lived on the other side of town. His life had been nearly normal as far as I knew. His parents were married, working, and they weren’t poor. He was an only child… at least I thought he was.
“Are you going to tell on us?” Jace asked.
Gage leaned forward to look at me. He held my gaze for only a second. “Just to be clear, Jace is the only one stuffing his pockets.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone,” I said.
“Thank you!” Jace said placing his hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged and his hand slipped down into the sand. He giggled as he pulled it back and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Sorry, Stevie,” Jace said. “I’m just in such a damn good mood tonight.”
“Why?” I said unable to stop my nose from scrunching. It was hard to believe anyone had any reason to be in a good mood. Like ever.
“Because of the weed,” he said in a voice that he’d intended to be a whisper but it came out louder than his normal speaking voice. He laughed again.
Gage leaned forward again. “I didn’t want any.”
“I don’t blame you,” I said with wide eyes.
Drugs… alcohol… it was all something I had no desire for. As far as I was concerned, it ruined everything.
“What’s that out there?” Jace asked pointing at a small star above the ocean. It seemed to be getting bigger.
“It’s a plane, man,” Gage said.
“It’s a beautiful plane,” Jace replied. “Sure is moving fast, though.”
Jace wasn’t wrong. The light not only seemed to be moving fast but it was also growing.
“Is it a meteor?” Gage asked getting to his feet.
“Must be,” I said watching it move quickly. My eyes narrowing more and more with its increasing brightness.
The light seemed to be heading toward us. I felt like running away but I couldn’t get to my feet. I had to turn away and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Holy crap!” Jace said as something thudded down near us.
“Cover your eyes,” I said. Afraid Jace was sitting there staring at the light. If the sun could blind a person, there was no doubt the light heading our way could do the same.
“As if I have a choice,” Jace said in a much more sober tone. His case of the giggles was gone.
Something touched my leg and I kicked my foot at it.
“Oww!” Gage howled.
“What are you doing?” I asked my eyes still closed.
“I can’t see. I fell,” Gage said sounding frightened.
I reached down and pulled him toward us. The three of us huddled together, afraid to open our eyes.
“Why did you look?” I asked.
“I didn’t mean to… it flashed before I had a chance,” Gage said squeezing my arm as if he were afraid to let go.
I patted the back of his hand. “You’ll be okay.”
A loud noise crashed through the sky. I could feel the earth shaking deep under the sand.
My ears started to ring. I felt disoriented. The three of us held onto one another as if our lives depended on it.
The world around seemed to settle but my ears were still ringing. I dared to open my eyes.
Many of the city’s lights had gone off just as they could have in a storm. Everything was quiet except for the ringing in my ears.
“Was it a nuke?” Jace asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think so.”
I got to my feet, pulling Gage up with me. Jace was standing so close our shoulders were touching. He was just as frightened as I was.
“Are you okay?” I asked staring at Gage.
He blinked his eyes rapidly. “No… I don’t know. I can’t see you. Just your shadow.”
“We should get him to a doctor,” I said.
“I don’t think I should,” Jace said. “They’ll smell me. I can’t get in trouble or my mom’s going to send me away.”
I sighed. “It’s okay. I’ll help you.”
“Thank you,” Gage said holding me tighter.
We started away from the beach. I’d have to leave my bike behind, which was a scary thought. I didn’t like walking the streets at night and it wasn’t like I felt any safer with Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Can’t See.
“What’s that noise?” Jace said turning back toward the ocean. He continued to walk backward, his eyes squinting as he tried to see something. “Don’t you hear that?”
My ears were still ringing but once he stopped talking, I heard it. It was the sound of rushing water.
The wind picked up and blew my hair in my face. My grip on Gage tightened and I tried to run while guiding him along.
My voice was loud. “Run!”
4
Joss
There was a tree less than six inches from the front bumper of Deacon’s car. Somehow, he’d managed not to hit it.
“What the hell was that?” Caleb asked, panic thickly coating each word.
“My car!” Deacon howled as he opened the door. He stumbled as he walked around to the front of the car. The headlights made him glow as he inspected the front end of his car.
Caleb hit the dash with his palms. “Why are you worrying about your car right now? Get back inside and get us on the road!”
I wasn’t even sure if Deacon had heard him. If he had, he’d ignored him and walked alongside the car, checking each tire and the side of the car. It was unlikely he could have seen much of anything in the darkness of the ditch.
“This thing has like a hundred scratches on it,” Caleb complained as he looked out of his window.
“And he can tell you the story behind each one,” Lexi said. “But you know this car is his baby. Relax while he checks it out.”
“Relax?” Caleb said twisting his head like the girl in The Exorcist. “Were you not here only minutes ago? Did you see that thing?”
Lexi shrugged and leaned back in her seat. “A shooting star.”
“That was no shooting star,” Caleb said as Deacon got back inside the car. His head straightened and he crossed his arms. “Can we get out of here, please?”
“Yeah,” Deacon said looking in the rearview mirror.
The car bounced as he backed out and got us back on the road. He shifted into park and took in several breaths.
“Okay,” he said. “Guess I’m a little more freaked out than I thought. Never been in an accident before.”
“And you still haven’t been,” Caleb groaned. “You gently drove us off the road a little.”
“We were in the ditch,” Deacon said. “I couldn’t see. My eyes are still wonky.”
My vision was a bit off too. Grainy. Darker. But maybe it wasn’t my eyes.
“There are no house lights,” I said.
“We’re in the country,” Caleb said. “But I think we should turn this baby around and just head back home.”
Deacon looked at me over his shoulder. “Is that okay, Joss? If you have your heart set on the party.”
“We’re almost there,” Lexi said with a sigh. I hadn’t realized it but she was probably hoping her crush would be there. “We can go and relax there.”
Caleb opened the door and got out of the car. “Fine. Have fun. I’ll walk home.”
“Caleb!” I said placing my hand on the door. “You don’t have to walk.”
“Yeah, get back in the car,” Deacon said.
Caleb slammed the door and walked off into the darkness behind us. Deacon shifted into park and muttered a curse.
I turned but I couldn’t see him behind us. “Dammit.”
I pulled the handle and slipped out of the car. It was strange how the only thing I could hear was the sounds of his shoes scraping against the road. There were no crickets or other sounds of night.
“Caleb!” I said adjusting my walk into more of a job. He was walking so quickly. “Come back to the car.”
A gust of wind blew so hard it nearly stopped my pursuit completely. The stillness that followed sent a shiver down my spine.
Caleb turned sharply. His voice was loud… angry. “I know she wants to go back there to see him. I’m not stupid. The last thing I want to do right now is to get into the car with her.”
He slammed his fist into his thigh and the wind blew again. Caleb grabbed me.
“Whoa,” he said.
“Let’s get back inside the car,” I said. The weird electrical feel in the air made my nerves tingle and not in a pleasant
way.
Caleb looked around. A massive bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. I grabbed his hand and pulled him back.
“Please,” I begged.
“Okay,” he said swallowing down his nervousness.
We turned and walked back toward the car. The wind blew at us again so hard it felt like an invisible but very solid wall had dropped down between us and the car.
It blew again, whistling in the nearby plants and trees. Lightning cracked again and rain poured down out of the sky.
Deacon turned the car and proceeded toward us at a slow speed. Caleb was holding my hand but it didn’t matter when the wind picked up again.
Our hands slipped apart as my feet lifted off the ground and blew me back. I landed on my bottom hard, skidding back several feet on the road before coming to a stop.
The lights from Deacon’s car were about six feet away. Caleb lifted me off of the ground and dragged me through the strong wind back to the car. He stuffed me inside before climbing in after me.
Lexi leaned forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t tell by her trembling fingers she didn’t like being in the backseat alone.
“Are you okay?” Lexi asked.
“That is crazy wind,” Caleb said.
Caleb and I were completely soaked. All I wanted was to get back inside my parent's house, dry off, and hide under the covers while the storm passed.
“This is ridiculous,” Deacon said making his car crawl forward. The wipers flipped back and forth at top speed but the rain was falling so fast it was impossible to see the road. “I don’t think I can drive in this.”
Caleb reached over and turned on the radio. “I didn’t even know there were any storms predicted for tonight.”
“There weren’t,” Lexi said. “I checked this morning.”
Several deep beeps came out of the radio speakers. My eyes met Caleb’s in the near darkness. The turquoise dash lights reflected in his worry-filled eyes.
“Seek immediate shelter,” the robotic voice on the radio said. “This is not a test.”
The Reset Series (Book 1): Flood Page 2