Kate Andrews

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After ringing the doorbell three time, I eventually just took out my key, pushing the door open, dumped my bag on the couch, exhausted from my busy day of being a sophomore. Kevin was already home from school and, sprawled on the sofa, had somehow not heard the bell. Or, more likely, just hadn't bothered getting up to open it. I deposited my key in a drawer, and turned to see what important thing my little brother was doing, that had restrained him from opening the door. He was reading a book. Wait a minute, reading a book?

"What are you doing?" I demanded. He looked up at me, as if noticing my presence for the first time. 

"Reading. Isn't that what you keep telling me to do?" he replied innocently. For a 10-year old, he's not all that innocent.

"Well, I try. But you never read!" I said, putting my hands on my hips, then realizing I looked like my mother, dropped them.

At that moment, Aaron, who was on break from college, walked out of the kitchen with the cookie jar in his hands, "Don't be deceived. He just has a book in his hands because he got bored of doing absolutely nothing for 2 hours." At the end of his sentence, his gaze turned away from me and landed on Kevin. At least he supported me in trying to get Kevin to read. 

"And why were you doing absolutely nothing?" I asked, reaching into my bag to take out the book I had been reading under the desk at school.

"No electricity," Kevin said glumly.

"For two hours?" I marveled.

"Uh, have you looked at the weather outside?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, it's terribly sunny," I replied, leaning over to take a look at the cover of the book Kevin had in his hands. It was my journal.

My journal! I snatched the book out of his hands and he jumped up.

"What-you-how-ugh! Get back here!" I sputtered.

Kevin just grinned and ran down the hall, "You were right! Reading is fun! Now, who's this Percy guy that you talk so much about?" he shouted over his shoulder, turning back for a second, showing me the expression of glee that he wore.

"That's Percy Jackson, you idiot," I shouted right back, sighing with relief. He wasn't talking about who I thought he was. 

Kevin came back down the hall and wiggled his eyebrows, saying,"Ooh...who's that?"

I shook my head incredulously, while Aaron rolled his eyes and walked out onto the balcony. My brain was whirring with vengeful pranks I could pull on Kevin, but it was primarily to calm me down, because I knew my parents would never let me get away with it. I heard Aaron shout, "Get out here, the two of you!"

I thought that he was calling us out to distract Kevin and I, so I called back, "Don't try to defend him, mister!"

Kevin grasped the opportunity and made his way outside after Aaron.

"Kate, just shut up and come here!" Aaron shouted. Look who's getting bossy! He's only 5 years elder to me, after all.

"What now?" I muttered, but I followed him out.

Out on the balcony, I found the two of them staring up at the sky, their mouths hanging open.

"What are you guys staring at?" I demanded.

Neither of them replied, Aaron just pointed upwards. 

As far as I could see in any direction, there was a mass of dark thundering clouds above us. So dark that they looked completely black. There were flashes of lightning every two seconds.

What was going on? I had been outside exactly five minutes ago and then it had been perfectly sunny. I despised sunny weather, but that was besides the point. Lightning crackled. Thunder boomed. It felt like the sky would never be blue again.  Zeus must be really angry or something. A bolt of lightning struck a tree, as if trying to prove a point. It was kind of scary, but I found it pretty amazing. I've always loved that mysterious feeling that a storm brings. They've always felt magical to me.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Kevin squeaked, trembling. He, for one, was not that big a fan of storms. Most people weren't.  Quickly, he manned up his voice, "Where are Mom and Dad?"

Aaron kept his eyes trained on the sky, but he managed to say, "Dad came home early. They've gone out. They won't be back till 11 o' clock."

Talk about bad timing.

"This-this isn't right," Aaron shouted over the howling winds.

"How long did it take you to figure that out, genius?" I asked, rolling my eyes, but my hands tightened on the railing. 

"No, I mean that- Never mind. But this shouldn't be happening. Kate, do you remember that vacation we took to the beach 6 years ago?"

"Hey! I was there too, you know!" Kevin protested.

"Yeah, but you were like, four."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Aaron continued, "There was a storm a quarter of the size of this one. Look around and tell me what was different about that scene and this one."

"Uh, the storm was a quarter of the size of this one?" I said.

"I'm serious."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It felt like I was playing a game of 'Spot the differences'. 

"I remember a lot of screaming and running, and general panic. Mom and Dad were trying to get us to our cabin, right? But what's your point?" I said, finally.

Aaron just spread his hand in a wide arc, indicating the neighborhood, and I realized what he meant. There was no noise, except for the thundering clouds and the rustle of leaves. Not even the rain had started yet.

I blinked through harsh the wind, and pulled my blowing hair back. Not a single person was in sight, and it seemed like we three were the only living beings in the neighborhood. It was as if everyone had just disappeared.

Where was old Mr. Warner, who greeted me with a smile every time we saw each other and asked how life was going? And Brooke, who used to baby-sit me until 5 years ago and could probably tell more about my childhood than my own family could? What about baby Sophie, who I had sat for so many times, myself? All those people couldn't just be gone, could they?

"What are we supposed to do?" Kevin asked. I didn't answer. All I could do was stare helplessly at the powerful winds that were causing the cars on the street to crash into one another. Despite the clear indication of the storm, there was still no rain. A chill went down my spine. I loved the mysterious feel of storms, but this felt different, somehow.

"Why is -" I began, but my sentence was cut off by Kevin's scream, rippling through the silence of the evening.

If you guys like poems, check out some of mine!

Please vote, comment! Thanks for reading. :)