by Holly Hook
* * * * *
Janelle prayed on the way back that she'd made the right decision.
It didn't make her feel better about the whole situation, treating Sophia like a prisoner for something that likely wasn’t her fault. Mel didn't have any advice to offer her as he drove down the freeway.
But deep down, she knew there was no better choice. Not now, anyway. Even her father had agreed with her back in the hospital parking lot. Sophia hadn't argued with her plan, either. Kenna didn’t seem too happy with her new job in guard duty, but Janelle figured it all had to do with her resentment at not being the one who got to fight Andrina.
Janelle would have loved to trade with her.
She put her face down in her hands as Mel paid attention to the freeway. He couldn't see her in the backseat, ready to break down. Her father, Kenna, and Sophia were riding in the camper behind them. Leslie had stayed at the hospital with Paul. Right now, she was protected by four walls of metal and glass, shut away from the world.
As Tempest High Leader, she didn't know what to do.
About Sophia. About Andrina. About anything.
The sound of the endless freeway clunking under the rental car was just another reminder of that fact.
* * * * *
"Paul, how are you feeling?"
"Better."
Leslie snuggled up to him, watching the sky start to grow darker. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and it was still a bit cool, but Paul was definitely coming completely back to life. But soon visiting hours would end, and she'd have to go down to the front of the hospital to be picked up. Mel would return at eight to take her back to the campsite.
Provided nothing had gone wrong. She hadn't heard from Janelle since she'd left the room after the news story. Then again, her TracPhone didn't have a lot of minutes on it yet. Calls were for emergencies only. Janelle would have to call the phone here in the hospital room, and Leslie couldn't remember if she'd written down the number.
"Did I really call for my dad?" Paul asked, facing her. His eyes were so soft now that Leslie could barely see the black flecks in them. They looked almost human.
"You did. Right when you tried to sit up," she said. "And your uncle." She tried to smile, but it was hard, thinking of the family Paul had lost. "You weren't with it."
"I guess my brain was frozen," Paul said. He, too, forced a smile. "Kind of like it was when we were trying to watch that reality show earlier."
Leslie chuckled. Paul hadn't missed much in the years his father had kept him away from TV's and computers.
A few stray raindrops splattered down the window. Leslie tensed. Paul seemed to sense it, because he tightened his grip around her.
"It's not a thunderstorm," he said. "Besides, it's too early for you to start having Outbreaks. I've never heard of anyone having one less than three months after they were turned. And even that's rare. It's usually closer to a year."
Three months. Her first could be only that far away.
Leslie's gaze fell on the Flint skyline.
She'd never been able to wrap her brain around the fact that a monster F5 tornado had roared through here once. Until now, now that she and Paul were sitting here, capable of making it happen again if they stayed too long.
Paul kissed the side of her forehead, his breath warm against her hair. "I'm sorry I brought that up. I forgot about the history here."
He was so wonderful. He always knew what she was thinking, and he knew all the right things to say at the right times. Her mother, she thought, could take some advice from him.
But she hadn't. Not once had her TracPhone buzzed with a new call or text. The thought always stayed with her like a lingering illness, never quite going away enough to make her feel completely good.
"I only told you about it once. I didn't expect you to remember."
Leslie started to close her eyes, wanting the final hour with Paul before she had to leave to be as peaceful as possible. Rain pattered against the window as Paul's chest rose and fell as if there was nothing wrong in their world.
She would have missed the shadow stretching across the floor of Paul's room if she had closed her eyes a second sooner.
But definitely not the horrible, electric feeling that filled their space as it did so.
The one she hadn't felt since that awful night in the Masonic Temple where things had changed for the worse.
Paul swore before he saw the figure walking into the room to greet them. Leslie sat upright, positioning herself in front of Paul. Her bruised rib yelled out in pain, but it was the least of her worries.
With the click of high heels and the swishing of formal business clothes, Andrina stepped in and stopped at the foot of Paul's bed, smiling her shark's smile. Her grayish-blue eyes bore into her own as they swirled and raged with hatred for the world.
She tightened one fist, and the lights in the hospital hallway went out. Machines beeped and a ringing phone went dead. Paul's IV machine sputtered for a second. A second later, the emergency power came on, making everything beep back to life and casting the hallway outside in an eerie white glow.
"Paul. Leslie." The goddess spoke slowly and deliberately. "I would like to talk."
Chapter Ten
The horrible paralysis had already come over Leslie. She froze, on her knees next to Paul. Judging from the lack of movement next to her, he had frozen, too.
Leslie glanced out into the hallway, as far as her eyes would allow. A figure rushed past, pushing something that squeaked with every turn of the wheel. The curtain to Paul's bed hung in the way, and she had a feeling that Andrina had no intention of brushing it to the side and waving in a nurse.
"Don’t be afraid," she said, folding her arms. The gesture only made Leslie feel a hair better. "I am not here to release either of you. Yet, that is."
Then what? Leslie tried to ask. But her lips seemed to have frozen shut as if Hyrokkin had decided to try freezing them to death all over again. This wasn't much different. "How did you find us?" Even Thomas Curt wouldn't have told her where they were at. Not after she'd betrayed him.
Andrina took the remote and turned on the television. It came on despite the partial power outage. "For one," she said, "I knew you would come back to Flint to get your family to leave, Leslie, soon after you left Mobley. For another, I knew everyone else would come with you. Janelle. Kenna. Paul. When Kenna came through the fireplace at the Allister's house to take their daughter, I knew where her destination was likely here. It only made sense."
Andrina knew they were all in this area. Leslie wanted to scream. She shouldn't have come back, but she hadn't had a choice.
Leslie squinted at her and glanced at the window. They were too high to jump out of it, and they would never make it, anyway. Andrina was capable of holding the whole hospital hostage.
"The girl that was with her is harboring another goddess inside her, one that asked for my help in return for hers. Kenna pulled her through as well." She paused, watching Leslie's jaw fall. Sophia had never mentioned that. "All it took was an educated guess to assume she'd come to this area, a lead that turned out to be right. From there, it was only a matter of checking on your local news for any unusual events. The Internet has been invaluable for that." Andrina smiled again. "That, and other media outlets that you can't avoid. Whoever this new goddess is, she sent a very big signal, and it worked."
Leslie glanced at Paul out of the corner of her eye.
The signal. Hyrokkin had thrown her frostbite tantrum attack to get attention. Nothing more. Paul had been unfortunate enough to be caught in it.
The library.
Of course a bunch of people suffering from sudden hypothermia indoors in mid spring would get the local media's attention.
Andrina took a look at the television. "I imagine this rings a bell for you both, doesn't it? I knew that goddess-harboring girl would want to seek help from you and Janelle, and that you were likely among the injured. You were all there, correct? Answer me."
Leslie felt her lips moving. Andrina's will was forcing them to work against her, the way Hyrokkin had used Sophia's. "Yes.
The library wasn't just on local television.
It was on a national TV channel.
News Alert. A Dozen Library Patrons Dazed by Mysterious Temperature Drop. Three Hospitalized. Investigation Ongoing by Local Authorities.
She recognized the entrance to the public library. Police cars sat around it, lights flashing. This must have been shot after they'd all gone to the hospital, because the ambulances were all gone. The image slowly turned, telling her that this had been shot from a helicopter earlier today.
Andrina clicked the remote again, and the betraying television went black.
The room seemed to swirl around Leslie. Paul breathed heavily next to her. Neither of them could speak. Did Andrina know about the campsite they were staying at? She didn't know. Maybe. Maybe not. If she survived this, she'd have to call Janelle and warn them all. Or maybe Andrina wanted her to do that so she could somehow track down all the others.
"I will find this new goddess. After an incident like this, I've made it my personal mission." Andrina's eyes churned with greater intensity. "Now, listen carefully," she said, pacing around the room. Her voice exploded inside Leslie's head. This effect always happened to Tempests and Outbreakers, and it was one of the most unnerving things Leslie had ever heard, like she was being invaded. Was this how Sophia felt when she had her episodes?
"Paul, your turning Leslie has complicated things, as you both may know." Andrina stopped near the window, played with the blinds for a moment, and turned to them. "I regret my mistake back at the Masonic Temple when I tried to release Leslie. I wasn't thinking of the consequences at the time. As you know, I still need a strong Outbreaker to lend Janelle their breath, and Outbreakers like yourselves are very rare."
Like yourselves. Those words sent a shudder through Leslie's being. Andrina was certain she had gained Paul's power.
She thought of the pictures she'd seen of the Flint tornado aftermath as a kid.
That wasn't a good thing.
"As Janelle is the most powerful Tempest alive, it will take more than a regular Outbreaker to bring her to goddess status." Andrina let the blind flip all the way up. The sound would have made Leslie jump if she'd been able to move. "Paul is injured, unfortunately, and since he gave his breath to you, he won't be able to deliver it for at least a few more months."
With a lurch of her stomach, Leslie got what she was getting at.
The invisible coil around her throat seemed to loosen. Andrina was letting her speak, and she was taking advantage of it, as much as she wanted to curl up inside herself and hide. "I'm not doing it," she said. "Janelle doesn't want to join you. Even if she turns, she still won't. I know it."
"If she turns, she will finally see logic. We have no place in this world, running around inside human bodies," Andrina said, the anger and the hurt in her voice very clear as she seized the back of the chair like she wanted to throw it at both of them. She could, but Leslie knew she wouldn't. She'd already betrayed that fact. "Besides, I did not say that you will do it now. As a newly-turned Outbreaker, you haven’t gained the ability to give someone your breath quite yet. Not until after your first Outbreak."
The grin in her voice had Leslie want to put her hands over her ears and scream. There was a horrifying promise in Andrina's eyes, the exact opposite of Paul's. It was one that she knew she could not escape.
"As my daughter's best friend, you will play your part in doing what's best for her," she finished, drawing closer and putting her hand on Leslie's shoulder. Leslie tried to recoil, but she couldn't. The paralysis seemed more intense now, and the goddess's contact was making her dizzy, sending horrible tingles through every cell of her being. "I may not like you, Leslie, but I know you will do your duty in this. Also--" Andrina released her grip, and the tingles vanished in an instant--"there's one more thing. Both of you will stay quiet to everyone else about this conversation."
Leslie nodded. She definitely wasn't going to stay quiet. But she had to lie. Do anything she could to get Andrina to leave. The phone on Paul's table would work overtime as soon as that happened, but she made sure not to glance at it.
She blinked, but Andrina was backing away now, past the curtain, and with a blur that didn't look quite real, she was gone, flying silently through the halls and probably back out into the rain outside where she belonged.
With another concert of beeping, the regular lights came back on, leaving Paul and her alone.
* * * * *
Andrina had planned ahead.
The phone in Paul's room no longer worked. Leslie's TracPhone battery was drained so much that it wouldn't even come on. She would have to wait until Janelle and her driver picked her up in order to tell her what had happened.
Leslie kissed Paul goodbye and stalled getting out of the room. She considered staying all night, hiding from the nurses in his bathroom if necessary. But he'd insisted that she go and warn the others.
"If Andrina wanted to release me, she would have done it right here," Paul said. He lay back in his bed. "Besides, if I vaporize, it'll just let alert everyone else that she's around here. I don't think she's dumb enough to do that, especially since she wants to keep all this quiet."
"But she wants me to give Janelle my breath," she protested, knowing that Paul was probably right. The minute hand of the clock crept closer to eight. "Maybe I should stay away from her. Just in case."
Paul shook his head. "She's waiting for either one of us, I think. Even she can't know which one of us will gain the ability first." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"But she was talking mostly to me."
"Leslie, you have to go. Tell the others what's going on. If she comes back for me, it won't make a difference if you're here or not."
She hated to leave Paul back up in that hospital room, knowing that Andrina knew where he was. She'd asked a nurse what time he'd be able to leave. He would remain here for another thirty-six hours, warming up on fluids while an insane storm goddess was on the loose. Maybe she could have Kenna come up here and watch out for him tonight. As much as the idea of another girl being in Paul's room left a bad taste in her mouth, it was better than the alternative. Kenna, at least, wouldn't be paralyzed if Andrina showed up. Unless she came into contact with too much water, that was.
But maybe Paul was right. Andrina could be telling the truth and really was waiting to release them both, or at the same time along with all the other refugees. She clearly had something planned, something that involved Janelle and that other winter goddess who was locked in Sophia's body. What it was, she couldn't guess besides the obvious.
Leslie let her forehead fall on the wall of the elevator as it descended. She couldn't turn her best friend. The thought of becoming like Andrina horrified Janelle. It would be the worst betrayal possible.
Mel's rental car waited in the front lot, under a light. Leslie glanced at the sky, but the stars had come out. The rainstorm was gone. Had Andrina just seized the chance to appear, or had she commanded it to show up here?
"How is Paul?" Mel asked, glancing straight ahead as he pulled out of the lot.
"Take the freeway," Leslie said, sucking in a breath and not wanting to wait another minute to spill the news to Janelle. "I--"
Her throat locked up. Words failed to form in her mouth as she tried to move it.
Mel braked at a light. "Did you say something?"
She opened her mouth to speak again. Yes, Andrina just visited us, and told us she still wants Janelle to go all goddess and join her, and that she knows we're all in this area. Oh, and she knows exactly where Paul is. Floor it back to the campsite.
But the words formed only in her head. Her lips refused to move.
"I--" she started again, and coughed.
She realized with a rush of nerves.
Andrina had done something to her when she had touched her should
er and sent that horrible tingle through her body.
The storm goddess's voice echoed through her head.
No, you don’t.
Leslie's biggest talent--talking--was gone.
"No," Leslie muttered, too low for Mel to hear.
She could say nothing about Andrina or her visit.
Mel pulled away from the hospital, and the tall building disappeared around the corner, leaving Paul behind. With horror, Leslie realized she was helpless to do a thing to make sure he stayed safe.
* * * * *
Sophia settled back on her cot and watched Callie and Kenna finish moving their clothes and bags into the camper. Outside, night had fallen, leaving only the yellow glow of the light over the counter. Huge shadows stretched along the walls, like the ones that seemed to be filling her more with every second.
She was a prisoner. That she couldn't deny, even if it was for her own good.
Callie sat opposite her as Kenna busied herself stuffing her shirts and pants under her bunk. The volcano goddess was ignoring her at the moment. Maybe it was resentment. Sophia didn't care. If her presence kept Hyrokkin away, it was a welcome relief even if she was in this prison.
So far, it seemed to be working. Not once had the voice returned since coming back here.
But what if she couldn't go back home? Ever? Hyrokkin might try to hurt her classmates. Her grandmother, even. That was all to be considered if the Tempest High Leader decided not to take some other action against her.
"I heard what happened," Callie said carefully. She kept her hands on her lap, like she was afraid she would have to get up and run any second.
"Oh." Sophia felt exposed and scrutinized. "Callie, I didn't know--"
"Janelle told me not to stay in here with you. I told her to stuff it," Callie said. She smiled. "Hey, you put up with my secret. I can put up with yours."