Page 52 of Here and Now
Both are on his bed.
This storm came out of nowhere and arrived with a vengeance. The wind is howling, and the sound of the rain pounding against the roof has me hoping the house is strong enough to withstand it.
A loud crack comes from outside and then a crash.
They both yell and I rush to them, pulling them into my arms. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” I say over and over.
There’s a groaning noise, and I’m terrified to see what the hell came down outside, but either way, I don’t have a great feeling about staying here.
“Come on, let’s go to the back of the house.”
There are fewer trees there, and if that was a branch that came down out there, I don’t want us to be near it.
I get them settled in the bathtub and give them the lantern. I remember something about storms and that being the safest place. “Can you boys stay here? I want to go look outside and see if there’s any damage.”
“We’ll stay,” Kai promises.
“Okay, just sit tight.”
Once I close the door, I look down at my shaking hands. I hate storms. I’ve always hated them, and having Kai and Ethan here is making this one especially bad. I close my eyes for a second, take a few deep breaths, and focus on going to check on things.
When I open the front door, my worst fear is real. Either the wind or lightning hit the tree at the end of the walkway, and a large branch is dangling. One gust of wind and it could fall on the house or my car.
I rush back inside and grab my phone to call Hazel. I need to get out of here, but I’m not sure where to go.
As I’m scrolling to her contact, Miles’s name pops up on my screen.
“Hello?”
“Penny, it’s Miles. Listen, I just got a notification that lightning struck right behind you. Are you guys okay?”
“No, I mean, we’re okay, but it hit here, too, and we have no power. I need to get the boys out of here. There’s a huge tree limb hanging over the front of the house.”
“I’m coming.”
“No! You can’t come here. This storm is absolutely horrific,” I say quickly.
“Get the boys, get in the car, start driving to that clearing at the end of your street. I’m on my way there now,” he commands.
“I can’t. I’m not even sure it’s safe to get to the car.”
Right where the tree branch dangles over the vehicle.
“Then I’ll get to you.” The sound of his engine igniting is in the background. “I’ll be there in four minutes. Get whatever you need and then go to a safe place in the house. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I nod, even though he can’t see it, relief filling me. “Okay, but please be careful.”
“I’m fine.”
I head into Kai’s room, tossing some stuff in a bag and grabbing Ethan’s. Then I do the same for myself, grabbing some essentials and my burner phone. I send a quick text to Quinn, letting him know what’s happening and where we’re going. We communicate about locations on that phone.
There’s a horrible storm and we had some issues. I’m going to stay with a neighbor with Kai and his friend until it’s done. Ethan is Kai’s friend, and the neighbor is his uncle.
Quinn
You’re okay, though?
Yes. We need to leave, the lightning hit a tree out front and it’s been really scary.
