Shelter in Place; Supernatural Occurrences

Prologue

Zee's POV:

My stature quivers in the dark as I stand before the door of the house. Surely I was one of the last to arrive, there was already a ruckus held upstairs and outside, plus I was normally fashionably late.

"Cordially yours." I chuckle again at Mark's regards, 'twas my signature sign-off after all. The whisper was barely heard over the quarrels of mixing voices and bombarding crashes of bass and dubstep.

It was a frosty night out, that would be my excuse as to why I was trembling in fear. I was never a socially active being, I always blamed my zodiac relations for causing my anxiety. Although I didn't quite spend my free time cleaning specks of dust off of my anime collection.

I brought my freezing cold hand up to the dark wood door preparing to make myself notable. I'd meet some new people today, that was the other bad news. I was already fretting the party today in the first place. I had woken up to the sound of the usual lady on the news blabbering away about the forecast at seven in the morning. Fortunately today wasn't Sunday, otherwise I wouldn't have overheard the warning on the tricolored screen. I would be too busy listening to a couple of nerds ramble on about some wind-down game. But I too was one of those nerds, I was part of the crew.

As my knuckles met the barricade blocking me from my crowd I took in a sharp breath. The third factor of the night made me queasy, I knew something bad was bound to happen.

"Zee!" My masked buddy had been the one to greet me in the swarming Tuber fest. Mark hadn't told me he would be inviting some of the older collaborators, not that Cry was forty, or something, he just wasn't really known for being courteous to Mark's gang.

I lightly smile as I found the brunette was invited to Mark's housewarming party. It seemed as if every YouTuber he's even mentioned was invited. I take his hand and allow myself to enter in Mark's new humble abode. With my other hand I push up my turquoise nerd glasses taking in the whole spectacular scene.

"What brings you here?" I speak in a tone slightly louder than a mumble as I remove my slightly oversized, black hoodie. I tie the sleeves around my waist, it settling just above my camouflage skinny jeans.

"I thought I'd be nice and celebrate Mark's seventy-fifth move." We both laugh at his exaggerated joke, but what really hit me was his sincerity. I barely hide a curious frown as I watch the others hustle and bustle in and out to the fire place.

"Should we be out there?" I ask a little puzzled by the other's movements. I point to the sliding, glass doors tilting my head in Cry's direction. He currently lean by the coat rack in the doorway scanning the area before he noticed my gesture.

"I guess so." He shrugged as we followed the other's motions. I then had to put my jacket back on as I gripped the sliding door holding it open for Cry.

The first thing I took notice of was the blazing fire in the discarded pile of dampened wood. The crackle and pop of the settling blaze drowned out my zipper and the scuttle of lawn chairs around the ring of boulders. I had chosen to sit next to the other familiar family gamer I knew besides my crew and Mark. His blonde hair even brighter when reflected and illuminated in the glow of the heat.

I waved at him as he took notice of the two of us sitting side by side. Then beside him was another friend, a vlogger friend at that, another blonde as well. Abi was listening to the stories passed down from Mark himself as he toasted a marshmallow at the tips of the flames. She was listening intently before she glimpsed up at the darkened sky. Abi lowered her head only to quickly stare up at the clouds above our heads.

I was again confused at the questioning behavior most of the YouTubers were portraying today, but I was answered by a jolt and an ear splitting crack of thunder. I fell from my chair staring at the looming shadows before me as I was pelted with rain. The fire set ablaze was put out with the torture of droplets, and I couldn't see a thing.

Abi's POV:

I had gotten to Mark's house about 15 minutes before the clouds started gathering. I kept shooting nervous glances up at the looming black wall of lightning-filled clouds as they came closer and closer. I looked down at the ground between my UGG boots, and tried to calm myself. It's just a storm, I told myself. I looked back upwards, and cuddled into my warm, oversized sweatshirt. Mark noticed me looking at the sky, and glanced at me, concern filling his brown orbs. He casually asked if anyone would like to tell stories. Of course, I agreed. It was a commonly known fact that they calmed me in a stressful situation. I listened to Mark's story, occasionally glancing around, and seeing my good friend Zee walk through the slideing glass door. I was about to go and say hi before I noticed she was talking to Cry. I smiled slightly, and went back to listening to Mark, forgetting all about the storm. Then I heard an ear-spliting crack of thunder.
I got one glimpse at Zee, before the bright light from the fire was suddenly gone, put out by the stone-sized water droplets falling from the black sky.

Then the hail started.

Mark stood up, and I made an attempt to, but fell all over myself and the chairs, so he helped steady me. I saw Zee get hit to the ground, so I got over to her as fast as I could. I helped her up, and yelled over the now-howling winds, "Are you okay?"
I could barely hear her reply.
"Yeah, I'm fine," She pointed at the door, "Lets get inside."
I nodded my head in agreement, and we ran inside. I checked to make sure that everyone was in the house, then went to pull the door closed. That's went I saw it. A funnel cloud.
Oh.
Shit.
I thought.