Master of the Storm

Chapter Twelve: No One Means Well

A/N: uhh idk Beatrix is in her emo phase

"Wow, he really doesn't like us," Beatrix said, looking over the document. "Double agent and murderer? He's jumping to a lot of conclusions."

I decided not to suggest he was homophobic. It wasn't the time for jokes.

"So, what do we do?" Evianna asked. "Do we storm the place? Do we get more backup?"

"Well, first we need to get Sean and Hayley here. And maybe help them practice there powers a bit, so they're ready," I said. Pluto nodded.

"Then, we need Valerie to convince her parents that she needs the hotel for schoolwork and they can't open it yet," Beatrix added.

"For schoolwork?" Valerie said.

"Yeah, parents love to hear that."

Valerie sighed. "Okay, I'll contact them."

Beatrix continued. "Then, we need to make an actual plan. Like, we can't storm the place."

"What do you suggest, fearless leader?" Pluto asked drily.

Beatrix sighed. "Nothing. I have no suggestions, no ideas. You guys will have to think of that, I'm meeting someone."

"Who?" I asked.

"Another guy on the list. He replied to my voicemail. We're meeting by this skatepark a few blocks away. Also, I shared our location with Sean, he's coming later."

She got up, preparing to leave. "Don't you at least want some food?" Valerie asked.

"No." And she was out the door. I wondered if she was alright, after the night before. I reminded myself she wasn't my responsibility.

"My mom says she doesn't understand why I need to hotel for school," Valerie said.

"Tell her it's for social studies project on buildings," Pluto suggested.

While Valerie tapped away on her phone, I struggled to connect to the wifi. "It's not working," I complained.

She rolled her eyes. "That's because there isn't wifi yet. Just turn on the data."

"How?"

Valerie groaned, and took the laptop out of my hands. "In Settings. Here, I'll show you." And I watched her go into the settings and turn it on. I wasn't really sure what I needed internet access for, I just wanted it.

I opened a web browser and decided to look at news stories. My eyes widened when I saw what came up. "Oh shit guys," I said.

"What?" Evianna asked. She had been so quiet I had almost forgotten he was there.

"There's pictures and videos of the whole car chase me and Val were in with those guys," I said. I clicked on it as they crowded around the computer again. It was a pretty bad quality video that had clearly been filmed on someone's phone, but it showed me leaning out of the car as the ones chasing us shot at me.

"Congratulations, you've gone viral," Evianna said, patting me on the shoulder.

"Alright, that's enough internet for today," I said, shutting the laptop again.

"What are you gonna do about that?" Pluto asked worriedly.

"Nothing," I responded. "I mean, what can I do? I can't control what people put on the internet. Besides, it's bad quality and my face is hardly in it, so who's gonna know it's me?"

"No one. I mean, besides the evil corporation that's hunting you, and by extension, the rest of us," Pluto replied casually.

"They're not gonna be too happy to find out that people have seen this," Valerie said worriedly from behind me. "Since they've been keeping this hushed up for years."

"That might actually work in our favour," Evianna said. "If people know about this."

"This isn't some action movie," Pluto reminded her. "People aren't gonna think it's cool that teenagers have destructive powers. They'll be afraid."

"Maybe they should be afraid," I said.

"On that happy note, I'm gonna go make breakfast," Pluto said, standing up.

"I'll join you," Valerie said, and they left.

"What are you gonna do today?" Evianna asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't really have any plans."

"You should go after Beatrix," she told me.

"And why would I do that?"

"Cause, you guys are kinda like the leaders, if there are any. Besides, we should be going off alone anyway. Evil corporations hunting us and stuff."

"Okay, I'll go find her," I said, though I wasn't looking forward to it. "Hopefully they're still in the area of the skatepark."

I left my phone to charge, and grabbed my coat, preparing to leave. I didn't particularly want to go after Beatrix because she would assume I was desperately chasing after her since she thought everything was about her, but Evianna was right, it wasn't safe for us to be going out alone at the moment. Maybe it was time for me to dye my hair again, I didn't want to be too recognizable. I could go purple, a shade dark enough that I wouldn't have to bleach my hair.

It wasn't hard to find the skatepark, as you could probably heard the scraping of the wheels on the skateboards against the concrete from a mile away. I didn't see any tall pale blondes anywhere, so I kept walking. Behind the park, there was small wooded area, which I made a beeline towards. I figured they might have gone there.

As it turned out, my instincts were correct, and through the thing trees, I saw Beatrix, standing with a tall, muscular brunette boy at around seventeen. In his palm was a miniature ball of fire.

The two of them turned in alarm when they heard me coming, and the flame disappeared quickly.

"It's just me," I said, walking closer.

"You know her?" the boy asked Beatrix.

She nodded. "That's Damira. The one I mentioned?"

He seemed to relax at that, his shoulders dropping. "Was that fire I saw?" I asked, though I knew the answer.

He nodded. "Yeah. I've been able to make little fire balls for like, two years. They never stay for long, but they're cool to look at."

"Does other fire hurt you?" Beatrix asked. "Or are you immune to it?"

"I don't actually know," he admitted. "The smoke hurts my lungs sometimes."

"Interesting," she murmured. "We haven't met anyone with those kinda powers before." I almost brought up Valerie until I got the overwhelming urge to keep my mouth shut.

"It was cool meeting you guys, but I've gotta go, I skipped first period for this. But I'll keep in touch, obviously," he said, before hurrying away.

I was about to yell at Beatrix for using her powers on me, until I wondered why she had. "Did you not want him to know about Valerie?"
I asked.

"People, boys specifically, are easier to work with when you appeal to their need to be the first and the best," she explained.

"So I'm guessing that was a success," I said, as I watched him leave.

She nodded. "We're on a roll. Why did you come after me?"

"Evianna sent me," I said. "Said it's too dangerous for us to be leaving alone." Beatrix looked away, seemingly annoyed. "She means well," I told her. "Even though you clearly don't like her."

"No she doesn't," Beatrix replied.

I looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"No one means well. Not really. They pretend they do. But I see right through them. I see who they really are."

Well, that was a bit concerning. But she'd been saying a lot of weird, cryptic stuff lately. "Are you doing okay?" I asked cautiously.

"I'll be fine. My powers are just a bit much to handle right now, that's all," she replied, bringing back her cool demeanour, and she stuck her hands in her pockets, walking away from me.