Master of the Storm

Chapter Twenty One: Swallow Me

A/N: this doesn't really have anything to do with this chapter, but Centre of the Storm just got its first review!!! It was a really good review overall that totally praised my book, and it kinda motivated me to start writing this chapter after ignoring it for weeks

"So, what are we going to do for six hours?" Beatrix asked, sitting down at the kitchen table beside me, as I stirred the uninteresting bowl of cereal I had made myself.

"We have a lot of options, actually," I said. "Explore the rest of the hotel. That should be less risky when it's just us. And no one will be here this early in the morning. I also want to look through the journal again."

"Sounds good," she said, standing up.

"Also," I started. I felt that now was a good time to ask. "What did Evianna mean about you feeding your own agenda?"

Beatrix sighed, leaning up against the wall. "It was mostly Evianna trying to stir up drama. But I guess there was some truth to it."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That I'm helping you guys because we want the same thing," she explained. "I'm on your side because it's beneficial for me to be. Not because we're all best friends. When we're done, don't expect me to stick around."

"What about me?" I asked.

"You know I'll always be here, if you want me to," she said quietly. "You better not tell anyone I said that."

I laughed. "Okay, I won't."

We left the kitchen, and as I headed towards the door leading to the rest of the hotel, Beatrix grabbed two sodas from the pantry, tossing one to me. I opened the door, and we stepped in to the hallway. It was long and clean, with doors on the sides.

"Do you think they've put furniture in the rooms yet?" I asked.

"Probably," she said. "But the TV's probably don't work, since the Wifi hasn't been set up yet."

We walked down, looking around to make sure there was no one. We did try to open a few doors, but they were all locked.

"It seems the first floor is pretty empty," she commented. Then, we saw an open door. Beatrix walked over, preparing to go inside, when she froze, her eyes wide, and then hurried away.

"There's someone in there!" she hissed.

"What? Who?" I whispered back.

"Some inspection person or something, I don't know!"

Just as we were about to run back to our door, we heard footsteps inside the room, and realized she was about to come out. So we ran the other way, farther down the hallway. We couldn't see stairs anywhere, and the elevator would take too long and make too much noise, so it seemed that the only option was a closet.

I gestured towards it, and she rolled her eyes. "I'm not getting into a closet with you," she hissed. "That's so cliche."

I had almost forgotten how annoying she could be.

Leaving her standing in the hallway, I opened the closet door, and slipped inside, closing it. I wondered what she was going to do now, trapped out in the open. Then I remembered she was carrying mind control powers.

I heard voices in the hall, that then turned to whispers, and felt a strange pulsing energy all around me. I should have made her come with me.

I pushed open the door, to see an older, professional looking woman, standing in front of Beatrix. She had a dazed look in her eyes as she turned to walk away. "I can't even leave you alone with people," I snapped.

"I didn't hurt her," she protested. "I just told her that she was done with her job and she should leave! Not my fault I'm persuasive."

"You're unbelievable," I said, walking past her.

"Clearly, there's nothing for us in the hotel," she said, ignoring me. "Wanna go get coffee?"

It took a bit of convincing to get me to leave. I was nervous about one of Thomas's guys seeing us, as they were probably planted all over the city. Or someone who thought they recognized me from the video that was currently blowing up the internet. And we'd promised the others not to go anywhere. But I had to admit, I didn't want to stay holed up in the hotel forever. So we left.

"I sure hope you have money, because I don't," I said, as we slipped between the trees behind the hotel.

"I don't need it," she replied.

"Beatrix-" I started, but she cut me off.

"What's the point of having these powers if I can't use them?" she asked. "If I keep them inside, they'll swallow me whole. So put away your moral compass, and let's have some fun."

We went to the coffee shop where we had met her a week ago. It felt a bit strange to be there when it wasn't in the middle of the night. It was like she saw it in a new light. Or maybe she just saw it in light.

"You can't just mind control everyone in there into doing whatever you want," I told her.

She turned around, grinning at me as her hair blew around her face. "Watch me."

We went inside, and all the booths were filled up. I watched her confidently stroll up to one of them, where an elderly couple was sitting and talking. She leaned down to them, and I couldn't really see what she was doing, and then they were packing up and leaving.

We slid into the booth, and she smoothed over the table with a napkin. "Isn't this fun?" she asked.

I propped up my chin on my elbow. "I guess."

"I'll go get us some free stuff," she said. "What do you want?"

"Just get me a cookie or something," I said. "Don't overexert yourself."

"I won't," she said. "I know what I'm doing." I wasn't sure about that, but I let her go. I just hoped she knew what she was doing.

Beatrix came back a few minutes later with two cookies. She practically collapsed into the booth. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I may have overexerted myself," she mumbled, leaning her head against the window.

"You okay?"

"It was scary," she told me. "I had ordered a tea, was just convincing the guy at the counter that he should give me free stuff, and I suddenly got this overwhelming urge to get him to... hurt himself."

Her words brought back a memory of when I had been standing in front of the forest, about to start the search party for Alyssa, and some of the girls had been making comments about us, and a little voice in my head had told me to hurt them with my powers.

I took a bite of my cookie, and felt the hairs on my back stand up. "Don't turn around," Beatrix said softly, looking over my shoulder. "But someone outside is watching us."

"Who?" I asked.

"I don't know, I can't see from this angle," she whispered. "But they've been standing behind the tree and watching us since we got here."