A Child Named Loveless Preview (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3 - The Tower (Part 2/4)

Granny Snow pulled up to the driveway of her house,

"Come on, girls. Run to the door. I think it's starting to rain."

Surely enough, small dribbles of water were falling down from the sky. Slowly, they started to come down in groups, then floods.

By the time it was pouring, they were safely inside, but the rain had come out of nowhere.

"Oh, dear." Granny Snow fretted, "It's been years since I've seen a storm like this one."

"Granny," Erica said, "Where did that tower come from?"

"Tower?" Granny repeated, "What tower?"

Rose gave her a strange look before she saw that Granny was looking right at the tower. Or rather, she was looking in its direction. It was like she was looking past it. Unable to see anything save for the flat, Saskatchewan fields that went on for miles and miles until it met the horizon.

"No, sorry, it's just a cloud." Erica said, looking away.

Rose opened her mouth to say something. That no, it wasn't just a cloud. But she kept her mouth shut. Erica was lying. Calling her out on her lie didn't seem like a good idea. Still, Rose didn't let her eyes wander away from the tower. It was as though she were entranced and unable to look away.

The sky seemed to be growing darker and darker. Lightning lit up the neighbourhood, though it seemed to be focused around the large stone structure that only her and Erica could see.

It wasn't normal.

All the lights in the house flickered, then went dark.

"I think I have some flashlights in the cupboard." Granny Snow said absently, taking out her phone and allowing the screen to illuminate her path.

Rose and Erica stood still and silent in the dark.

"You can see it...right?" Erica whispered to Rose.

"The big stone tower with lightning around it?" Rose swallowed, knowing now was not the time to be funny, but the sarcasm in her voice was stubborn about being there, "Nope."

Erica crossed her arms and shot her a dirty look before she looked back at the tall, impossible building that had appeared there as though by magic.

"What is it?" Erica wondered.

"I don't know." Rose admitted.

Rose could hear her heart beating behind her ears. Her hands and body shook. It was like she had seen this tower before. Perhaps in a dream. A distant dream that refused to be remembered. It was strange how familiar it was. How familiar Erica was. And how the tower and Erica seemed to coincide. Their meaning overlapping with one another. Rose had no doubt that for Erica, she thought of her and the tower in the same way.

"Erica, hon," Granny Snow returned with the flashlights, "Could you hold one of these while I bring the mattress down? Rose, you're going to need to help me carry it down the stairs."

The girls were snapped out of their stupor. They felt reluctant to leave, as though something might happen to the tower if they took their eyes off of it. They both realized that was a silly sort of logic and that at some point, they were going to have to go to sleep.

They brought the mattress down to the living room. Erica slept on the couch and Rose took the mattress on the floor.

Throughout the entire night, Rose would wake up, then go back to sleep to the sound of the house creaking due to the force of the wind. Branches and other debris pelted the window and side of the house.

As morning came, the storm was still going strong and the sky was so dark that it looked like it was still night.

"Good morning, girls." Granny Snow came from down the hall. She looked out the window with worry, "I've never seen a storm like this one. Last time it only lasted a couple of hours." She looked over at her granddaughter, "I'm sorry, Erica. It's a shame that this had to happen during your first week here."

Erica shrugged,

"It's not like you can control the weather, Granny."

Rose stared out the window, then tensed at the sound of a loud 'Crack!' They all let out a scream as the tree in front of their house, on the boulevard fell over. It wasn't big enough to reach the window, but still.

"Oh, goodness! Girls, let's go to the basement." Granny decided, "Come on." She ushered.

They hadn't even had any breakfast yet. But somehow, Rose got the feeling she wouldn't be able to eat anyways.

They quickly made their way downstairs, plopping down on the old, flower-print sofa. Granny Snow sat in a rocking chair beside them. She turned on her cell phone and started to look up the weather.

She clucked her tongue,

"It says there's no storm in this area. Of course, that's not right, you'd have to be blind not to see it!"

Erica and Rose exchanged uncertain looks.

'The tower." Erica mouthed to Rose who nodded in response.

The tower was somehow the cause of it all. That's where the storm was centered.

"I'm going to see if I can't create some lunches and snacks for the three of us." Granny Snow decided.

It went without saying that none of them were headed outside today. It was too dangerous to leave the house. It seemed dangerous letting Granny head upstairs, actually. But neither Erica nor Rose was about to stop her.

"So," Erica began slowly, "You scared?"

"Of course, I am." Rose said. She wasn't ashamed to admit to her fears, "I've never seen a storm like this one before, and we both know it's not normal. That tower out there...it appeared right after my aunt went missing and..."

"And right after we met." Erica completed for her.

Neither of them knew the significance of these strange, seemingly random instances, but they both knew that they were connected somehow. No matter how unlikely, it was baser instinct that nagged at them, telling them it was so. Like something deep within their souls was trying to break out, but it was silenced by thick walls that refused to give.

The sound of shattered glass broke them from their conversation. The house shook and the loudest crack of thunder either of them had ever heard seemed to resound all around them. Like they were close enough to touch the lightning its self!

"Granny!" Erica jumped from the couch and ran upstairs. Rose ran after her.

As soon as the girls entered the kitchen, they were greeted by a terrifying sight. Granny Snow was laying on the floor, covered in broken glass and blood.

"Granny?" Erica's voice was a mere whisper. She broke from her stupor first, then crouched down beside her, carefully. She pressed her fingers to her grandmother's neck.

"S-she's alive." Erica stuttered.

Rose reached into her back pocket and took out her cell phone.

"Hello? Hello?" She looked at Erica, panicked, "I'm not getting a signal!"

Erica took out her own cell phone and dialed emergency. She let out a curse, then ran a hand through her hair before tying it up into a ponytail.

"Okay...okay, we'll...we'll just have to...to do something. Help me clean off the glass from her clothes."