by Holly Hook
"Paul. Stay awake," Leslie said, shaking him. Another eruption of pain spread across her chest as she spoke. Tears fought their way out, but she blinked them away. Would Paul see them? She didn't know. "Why did you have to do that?"
"Because I had to," he said, trying to sit up. Paul didn't succeed. Instead, he fell back down to the still-stiff carpet.
His hypothermia was so bad that he'd lost some of his motor functions. What was next? His breathing? Heartbeat? Already his gaze was shifting to the ceiling.
"Janelle. Get up. Now!" Leslie rose, forcing her pain to the side as panic took over. She dug into her pocket, produced her new phone, and made the call that she prayed would save Paul's life.
* * * * *
Sophia stood and watched the traffic go past through the trees ahead as the Other's icy presence faded away, leaving her in control of her limbs once again.
A chain-link fence stretched along next to her, bordering what looked like a college campus. Where had she been before? This made no sense.
She shook her head, trying to remember. The world had turned gray for a while, and then what? The Other had spoken through her lips again, for the second time in twenty-four hours. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
Sophia gripped the fence as it all came spilling back.
The library.
The Other's name was Hyrokkin, and she was some Norse winter demon that even the gods themselves feared. Her body was this monster's prison, and it was screaming to be let out, so much that she had probably killed her new friends.
No!
Sophia let her forehead fall to the fence as the first sirens met her ears from some distance away. How far was the library? She didn't know. All she knew was that right now, she couldn't risk going back there. Hyrokkin could easily act up again.
Calm down. They are not dead. Only a little cold. This was necessary.
The voice sounded more like nails scratching down a board than ever.
"Necessary for what?" Sophia asked out loud, glad that the college campus was empty on this weekend day.
You'll see.
"I hate you," was all she could manage. Hyrokkin was trying her best to take everything from her. Could she even face Janelle and the others again? After this? They definitely might not tolerate her now.
Sophia stared at the sky, half wishing that Andrina would just appear and vaporize her already.
Climbed over the fence.
Started to run.
Didn't look back, in case the beast inside her came all the way back and tried to hurt someone again.
* * * * *
Leslie only remembered certain parts of the ride to the hospital in Mel's car, trailing the ambulance with Paul inside.
The lights flashed. And flashed. Behind those back doors, Paul was on life support and surrounded by complete strangers. The fact grew bigger and bigger inside her head until it threatened to explode.
Next to her, Janelle seemed to be recovering. She could walk, at least. Her friend had also declined the ambulance and knew exactly where she was. It was definitely Paul that needed to be in there. He'd gotten the biggest dose of Hyrokkin's attack. If it hadn't been for him, she might have taken his place in the ambulance, or worse.
Bracing herself for the chest pain sure to come, Leslie asked, "Did you see where Sophia went?" Nobody had seen her in the madness as paramedics had stormed the library with stretchers and gloves.
"You should have gone in an ambulance," Janelle told her, rubbing her arms.
"I'm okay," she lied.
"You probably busted a rib."
"I can go the emergency room." Leslie barely held back the tears. They were just talking to take her mind off the real issue. "If I lose Paul--"
Then I became an Outbreaker for nothing.
Janelle hugged her from the side, careful not to constrict her. "I know how you feel, Leslie. Believe me, I do."
And she did. That, Leslie knew. Janelle had nearly lost Gary once.
"Paul's awesome. He'd do anything for you."
Something about her words made the tears spill out of Leslie at last.
* * * * *
They waited for hours in hard hospital chairs.
The stretching of the shadows across the hall was agony. Leslie's muscles started to cramp in the chair, and a massive stress headache flared up as the hand on the clock moved between for and five, earning her lots of sympathetic glances from Janelle. Janelle spent much of her time pacing, making phone calls and sending Mel out to look for Sophia.
"Why are you looking for her?" Leslie asked. Her throat had a lump in it and her mouth was dry, making it almost too painful for speech. "You saw what she did. And Sophia ran afterwards."
That fact still didn't clean away the one that she had been the one to offer to help Sophia with research. If she hadn't, Paul might not be lying here in the hospital.
"Sophia didn't do that," Janelle said, turning back to her. "That winter goddess in her did. We have to help her."
She'd never thought about it like that. "But she's dangerous. According to what I read, even the gods didn't want to deal with her. Maybe that's why they trapped her in Sophia."
Leslie poked at the bruised rib, wincing at the tenderness. Thankfully, it hadn't broken, but it was still very painful. The emergency room doctor had given her pain meds to take for the next couple of weeks if she needed it. It didn't compare to what Paul had gone through: moderate hypothermia, from what the baffled doctor had told them. Usually, it happened to homeless people in the winter, not to people browsing through the library in the spring.
Any more, the doctor had told them, and Paul's heart might have stopped right there in the library.
If her boyfriend hadn't pushed her out of the way, Leslie would have been the one lying in the hospital bed, or worse--in the morgue.
Would her mother have come up to see her if that was the case?
Unfortunately, she didn't know.
"I don’t know if we should try to find Sophia," Leslie went on. "She could always do that again and not be able to help it."
"You just said that Sophia did it on purpose."
"I didn't." But it had sure felt that way when she'd found Paul on the floor.
"Well, you implied it. Not that I'm blaming you," Janelle added quickly. "I wanted to put the blame on her, too. But I think she might have run because she wanted to protect us."
Janelle stood and walked out into the hall, standing at the window outside the visitors' lounge. She was staring out at the Flint skyline, Leslie realized. Its stubby buildings looked drearier than ever. The sun couldn't help it at all. Sophia was out there running around, alone in one of the most dangerous cities in the country.
Leslie stared at the ceiling, overcome with guilt for hating Sophia. Maybe Mel would find her wandering around. When night fell, she at least needed a place to sleep, even if it was in some motel somewhere away from everyone else. "What are you going to do if he finds her?"
"I'm not sure."
Leslie had just decided to pipe in with her motel idea--at least Hyrokkin didn't seem to have the ability to hurt anyone outside of the room Sophia was in--when a nurse came to tell them that Paul was stable and ready for visitors on the next floor.
Her heart felt so big and happy as she led them to his room that she forgot all about Sophia for almost an hour.
* * * * *
Janelle wasn't sure how long she sat in the chair in Paul's hospital room, gaze wandering out the window as Leslie rested her head on Paul's shoulder and watched silent images flit past on the TV screen.
Paul looked much paler than usual and he had an IV machine hooked up to his arm, feeding him warm liquids. It was still better than he'd looked back at the library. A nurse had brought him a warm drink to sip on, but he ignored it, running his hand down Leslie's hair. She hadn't told him about her cracked rib yet, and Janelle had a feeling that she wouldn’t.
"Wow," Paul muttered, lifting the remote and studying the buttons on it
. "This is my first time actually getting to watch TV since I was ten, and there's nothing on that interests me. Sorry, but I can't stand another show about trash and antiques. I don't know if I can tolerate another thirty-six hours in this place."
Leslie laughed. It was nice to see her back. Janelle couldn't believe she'd ever been angry at Paul. Nothing better had ever happened to Leslie. Turning Leslie hadn't really been Paul's fault. She had to keep telling herself that for Leslie's sake.
Paul flipped to another channel and dropped the remote. He squinted, sitting up and nearly spilling his drink on his lap. Leslie joined him, paling as she stared at the screen.
"Janelle--" she started, glancing away. "Sorry, but you need to look. Even if you don’t want to look."
Her stomach lurched as she twisted in her chair, knowing what she'd see.
Rare Off-Season Typhoon Roars Towards Japan.
Waves crashed against the shore of a fishing village, slamming the pavement just behind a car speeding through the gray apocalypse.
Janelle turned away. She couldn't watch any more.
Once, she had done the same. She had been the same.
"You don't think--" Paul started.
"Elise," Leslie finished for him.
It had to be true. There weren't supposed to be any typhoons right now. She'd know. Janelle held her stomach as she remembered Elise vanishing into vapor in front of all of them in Mobley. Andrina liberated her from her human form, and this was the result.
Now here she was, forced to obey the new storm goddess's will. Or maybe this was Mr. Allister or his wife, even. They were the only three Tempests she knew of who had suffered this fate. Knowing it was definitely one of them gave her an urge to get up and run out of the room.
"What does Andrina have against Japan?" Paul asked, letting his hands slap down onto the plain white hospital sheets. "Ouch." He winced. "They said I have frostbite on my fingers."
"She hates everyone," Janelle muttered. A pressure seemed to be building on top of her, slowly coming down and crushing every second.
If she didn’t go goddess and fight her, this would continue.
More people would die.
And more.
And more.
And if she did go through with it, she might go insane with power and help to make it worse. Everyone she cared about would eventually die, leaving her alone in the world.
Her father. Leslie. Gary.
"I need to go to the bathroom," Janelle lied, rising from her chair. Paul and Leslie deserved some alone time, anyway. Well, as alone as they could get with nurses and orderlies going in and out.
Leslie nodded, but she didn't seem to get the real meaning.
The hospital blurred around her. To think she'd once dreamed of going to medical school. That dream seemed as distant as another planet now, and her future foggier than the most distant galaxy.
Janelle had gone halfway back to the elevator when her phone rang.
She fished it out of her pocket. Mel.
Her formal, professional voice went back up, part of the mask she needed to wear when she wasn't in her protective circle of friends. "Yes?"
"I'm down near the parking garage," he said, making no effort to hide the nerves in his voice. "I found her. The Sophia girl. She refuses to enter the hospital, but she does request that you come down and talk to her outside."
Chapter Nine
Sophia's instincts told her to run. She almost hadn't even climbed into Mel's car when he'd caught her wandering around the campus she didn't know the name of, staying far away from the buildings and whoever passed her on the sidewalks.
What do you suppose I should say to her? She thought to the other voice within--Hyrokkin, the winter demon. Sorry that you tried to murder her? Sorry that I let you get out of control? Her anger was rising, higher than it had after she'd fished Speedy out of his slushy, frozen tank and buried him in the backyard. How did you get stuck in my body with me, anyway?
But the voice didn't respond. It was as if it was hiding, waiting for another good opportunity to strike. Thankfully, it hadn't reared up on the car ride over here.
But she had to give Janelle, and by extension Callie, some explanation for why she was about to disappear. She would never see her best friend or her grandmother again, but perhaps it was better that way.
Sophia knew it wasn't safe to step inside the hospital. It was best to meet Janelle outdoors. Even if Hyrokkin went all Ice Monster again, the effects wouldn't be as bad in the open air. Shane had survived it just fine, and the roads were dry now. There wouldn't be any accidents, at least.
"Do you think Janelle will want to fight me?" she asked Mel.
He shook his head, which made the butterflies calm in her stomach. Sophia hated confrontations more than most, even yelling ones, so much that she often used to let Callie take care of them for her back in junior high. It was necessary when you had a winter demon sharing your skin.
"Our High Leader is very understanding," he told her, speaking slowly on each word and rubbing his hand through his silver hair. "She will hear you out. Though, do warn us if you feel another attack coming on. I must ensure her safety. It's my duty."
Sophia felt like a rabid animal on a leash. Even the Tempests were afraid of her.
They had a right to be. Tempests and Outbreakers had no resistance to Hyrokkin's wrath. Only Kenna, the volcano goddess, had chased it away when she'd come out through Callie's fireplace.
An idea started to form in her head, but she shoved it to the side when she spotted Janelle jogging around the corner of the hospital ahead.
"Sophia," she breathed, her now-professional voice a huge contrast to the T-shirt and jeans she wore. "You wanted to speak with me?"
Janelle hadn't spoken to her like this in the car. Distance had shoved its way in between them.
"Yeah," she said, suddenly hating how immature she sounded compared to Janelle. "I was coming…to say goodbye." She stared down at the pavement and her hot pink shoelaces. Her face felt like a dam holding back all her emotions, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep it from breaking. "I didn't mean to run. I was afraid she'd come back." Her voice quavered. Sophia wanted to fall to her knees. Even Shane's betrayal hadn't made her insides coil as tight. "I didn't mean any of it."
"I know you didn't."
Sophia didn't realize she was holding every muscle in her body rigid until then. She opened her eyes, and spots flashed at the sides of her vision as blood flowed back into her head.
Janelle hadn't moved closer, but she hadn't turned away, either. "Is there anything we can do for you?"
"How are Paul and Leslie?" If Janelle wasn't trying to strangle her, they were probably okay. It was the question she'd dreaded asking the most, but she had to know.
"Paul's recovering. Leslie has a bruised rib, but that's mostly Paul's fault."
"He was trying to keep her away from me," Sophia said. The sinking feeling returned, a horrible, sickly green color that filled her gut. "I remember a little. She was standing the closest to me when it took over. It would have been worse if he hadn't pushed her out of the way."
Janelle nodded. There was no denying it, then.
"That's why I need to leave. Unlike the rest of you, I can't tell when an attack's going to come on until it's too late. It's getting worse." Leslie and Paul knew when they could have Outbreaks: only during thunderstorms. Janelle and the other Tempests could only transform when they dove into the ocean. Kenna could only make volcanoes erupt when she was near them.
And she, Sophia, had no way to keep the other inside her at bay.
"Are you sure?" Janelle's voice carried hope, hope that she would say yes, and hope that she would say no. "There's nothing that can help keep all this under control?"
Kenna was the only lead, but how much would that help? It still might be better than a life on the streets, which was sadly the best case scenario for her if she took off now. "Maybe one thing. But it might still be too dangerous for m
e to be around." Her misery threatened to pull her down into the ground. She could be making a horrible mistake. "When Kenna came through the fireplace, it chased Hyro--I mean the Other--" Sophia held back from saying her name, since Leslie's speaking it had caused it to rise to the surface. "--seemed to back off. It was almost like she was scared of her. Well, I suppose fire would be her weakness, right?"
"Every goddess I've heard of has one," Janelle said, nodding. "They're not as invulnerable as they'd like to be, believe me. Kenna's is water, by the way."
Goddess.
Maybe Sophia should tell Janelle what she'd held back until now.
"She asked Andrina for help."
"Huh?" It was Mel who asked that question, turning his head to face her with big, scared eyes.
"The presence." Sophia tensed again, waiting for it to come back, but it didn't. "When it saw her, well, 'releasing' Callie's dad, it took me over and asked Andrina for help. It spoke through my lips. And it promised it would help her in return if she released it from me."
Janelle was already pulling out her phone. Her lips were pursed tight, and her hands shaking as she produced it from her jeans pocket.
"What are you doing?" Sophia asked. She backed away, ready to run if she had to. Maybe she had broken some kind of code, or worse, somehow gotten the insane goddess to start coming this way. Had she put the entire Tempest people in danger?
"I'm calling Kenna and getting her to come out here right away," she explained. "You should have told us that sooner."
Shame bubbled up inside her. "I'm sorry, Janelle. Really, I am. But I needed somewhere to go until I can get back home."
"You do, Sophia." Janelle held the phone to her ear as it rang. The sound seemed to drag out for an eternity as Sophia waited for her sentence, whatever it was. She'd deserve it. Paul and Leslie were lying in that hospital for the crime of trying to help her. Maybe the Tempests would let her off, and have Kenna take her back home so that she couldn't hurt any of them again.
"Kenna," the Tempest High Leader ordered into the phone. "Have my father drive you out to the hospital. He'll know where it is. From now on, we keep Sophia with us, and you need to stay around her at all times."