storm warning // novel

Prologue

Autumn

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"Auuuu-tumn!"
A shadow of annoyance passes over Autumn's before she turns around. "What is it, Gloria?" 

"Dad said to tell you to go to his room." Gloria winked cheekily at her younger sister, earning an exasperated look from Autumn. I wonder what he wants, Autumn wondered nervously. Knowing her dad, it was most likely not a hug and compliment for getting a good grade on her report card.

She walked trudgingly up the stairs and knocked on her dad's bedroom door. "Come in," she heard him say from inside. Autumn entered, fiddling with her fingers anxiously.

Her father was sitting on the bed with a grim expression. Fearful, Autumn sat down in front of him. "Yes, Father?" she asked in the politest voice she could muster.

The tall man sighed. "Why do you do these things, Autumn? Why can't you just be normal, like the rest of us are?" Knowing what was coming, Autumn bit her lip and sat as still as she could, wishing that she could be anywhere than where she was...

Jasmine

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"Jasmine! Get over here!" A voice bounced across the grass. Jasmine laughed and turned around. 

"Seriously, can't you tell when a girl is busy, Megan?" Regardless, Jasmine ran over to a blonde-haired teenager on the edge of the field. Megan greeted her friend with a bump on the shoulder, and the two chattered normally, like they did every day for as long as Jasmine could remember.

"Hey look, let's go join them." Megan gestured over Jasmine's shoulder to where a cluster of their friends were hanging out.
"Connor's there too-oo..." Megan said with a wink when Jasmine looked hesitant. 

"Argh, why do you always know my secrets?" Jasmine complained, but she gave in. "Fine, let's go. But I'll be there first!"

The two raced across the field, weaving in and around each other without a care in the world...for now.

Nova

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Nova sat up in her bed at a crackling thunder sound outside. A flash of lightning through her curtains caused her eyebrows to jump up, but no other physical reaction. What the heck? It's supposed to be clear for the next week!

Confused, she jumped out of bed and walked over to her sister's room. "Silvey! Silv! Wake up!" She whisper-shouted, shaking her sister awake.

"Nova? Is that you?" Silvey sat up. "What's wrong?"

"Look outside..." Nova trailed off at another bang of thunder. The two opened the curtains in Silvey's room together and they both stared in shock.

A huge storm was raging outside, something worse than anything they'd ever seen. Living on the coast, they'd had their fair share of bad rainstorms and scary floods over the years. But nothing like the storm in front of them.

Rain pelted down from the sky faster than bullets, shaking the glass with their ferocity and filling the air with their blurry speed. The wind raged, growling like a ferocious beast and ripping things away from the earth below. The tall, firm, sturdy tree in their yard seemed to be on the verge of flying away, and an odd variety of colored objects flew past the window. If she looked closely, Nova could see water rushing down the street like it was a river, churning and dark. 

"What the heck?" Silvey exclaimed. The 16-year-old's eyes narrowed in worry. "Are Mom and Dad awake?" 

Nova shook her head. "I haven't checked." She ran out of the room and towards their parents' room, slowly descending into a state of panic. It's just a normal storm, you'll see. Tomorrow morning, everything will be back to normal, and you and Silv will be laughing about it like all the others times you did. But a quiet urge in the back of her head, plus the terrifying sounds from outside, told her otherwise.

She knocked on the bedroom door, but before she could open it her father opened it from inside. "Nova!" He exclaimed. "Are you and Silvey okay?" 

Nova nodded. "What's going on? Why is there such huge storm?" 

Her dad shook his head. "It's not a storm. It's a hurricane." Worried expressions danced across his face. "We need to get to safety, but there's no way out of the house. The floods are surrounding us."

A sudden cracking sound, along with the loud sound of rushing water, caused Nova to jump. Silvey came up from behind her. "What in heck was that?" Silvey asked nervously.

Their mom caming running up the stairs. "The house is flooding!" she yelled, panting. Silvey screamed. Water churned around the base of the stairs, the level rising rapidly.

Nova's brain went into overdrive as she tried to come up with an escape plan. "Can we jump to the next house from the roof?" Nova offered.

Their dad paused, but another boom of thunder made up his mind for him. "I guess we have to try."
The family made their way to the roof, through the attic. Silvey climbed up first, and Nova followed. A scream ripped from Silvey's mouth.

The roof was sloped, and buckets' worth of water was sloshing down it at high speeds. The rain felt like shards of ice slapping against their skin, and cold winds shook the shingles worryingly.

Nova forced her eyes open and glanced over to where she knew their neighbors house was. The distance seemed uncrossable, immeasurable - there was no way she could make it over there.

A wave of water sloshed against her hands. Nova felt herself start sliding and screamed. She tried desperately to gain traction, to stop herself from falling, but the normally rough surface felt smooth and cold as ice with the water raining down it. She saw her older sister desperately reach out a hand to try and grab Nova, but Nova didn't even try to take it, seeing how pointless that would be. The water forced her further down the roof, and despite her scrambles to get a grip, she felt herself tumble off the edge, before everything went dark.