Fate's Decree

5: Melisande

Mom and I ride in the car for what feels like days. She's taking me to Orlando, where we will hopefully find the glowing stone that my ring is part of. We have been traveling forever, but when we at last reach our destination, which is in a suburb outside of Orlando, we need to ditch the car.

"They've likely seen us crossing the states boarders," says Mom. "I think I know exactly where the stone is, Meli."

"Where is it? How do you know? Are we close?"

But as I ask that last question, I notice the sky is turning dark and the air is cold. I shiver hard, pulling my hoodie off my waist and pulling it on. Mom looks at me, a worried look on her face.

"Meli," she says. She turns to look up at the darkening sky, its blue hue fading into thick, black clouds. I take a deep breath and try to keep calm as my ring glows brighter than ever before.

"Mom? What's happening?"

"The storms...."

"What?" I ask. "Mom, what are you talking about? What is happening?"

She lowers her gaze back to me. "We need to go, now."

"Go where? Mom, please answer me!"

"We are going to head just a mile down that road," she says, nodding toward a road to our right. But then, the wind kicks up, roaring like a bear. I flinch, stepping back, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Oh, no." Mom steps closer to the road.

"What?" I ask, having to shout over the winds.

My ring glows, its light like a pulse. I turn away from the road, and it dims. When I turn back, it glows brighter. I stare at it, my hands shaking as I feel a strange emotion wash through me. The wind blows harder, blasting into us both.

Mom reaches for me. "Meli, take my hand!"

I reach for her, but then, her body jerks hard. Blood blooms on her stomach. She gasps, looking down at the bloody wound in her gut. I scream, running to her. But rough, gloved hands seize me from behind. I scream, kicking and thrashing.

I am thrown to the ground, and I look ahead of me, seeing Jake laying on the grass. He looks at me, horror in his blue eyes. He has a gag on and his arms and legs are bound together. Jake sees something behind me and screams against the gag.

I turn my head and scream as cold revulsion and rage builds in me. My mother, her eyes sightless as she lays broken and bleeding on the grass.

"No!" I scream, and then, the men turn and yank me and Jake up.

They drag us into a large, black SUV. I am shaking as they plop us down, wrapping zip-ties around my wrists and ankles. But then, as I look out at my mom.... I realize they're just gonna leave her there.

And it seems that the storm answers my furious thoughts, because wind batters the van as we are driven away from my mom's body, away from that town.

And, to my shock, I see that a huge funnel cloud is forming over the town, tearing towards us. The men around us start yelling, demanding that the driver hurries up.

Jake looks at me, but in his slumped position, he can't see out the window like I can. I see the tornado growing bigger and faster. And it tears toward us, a beeline through the suburbs of Orlando.

"What the hell?"

I look at the man beside me. A tag on his lapel says AGENT Crispin.  I look at Jake again, and see his blue eyes are fixed on the agent, too.

"What the fuck is going on?" Crispin demands.

"It's starting." I turn my head at the sound of the familiar voice. Malik, the bastard who hurt Jake, is driving the van as fast as possible down the roads, away from the raging wind.

Jake looks toward me then, and the pure sadness on his face is enough to make me remember that these men shot my mom. They killed her, and then, left her body out there in the open. They left her there like she was garbage.

I don't care what it takes. But I'm going to get revenge, I'm going to avenge her. She's not going to have died in vain. And I'll make sure that Jake and I get through this nightmare. We will survive. But these agents? They won't.