I smiled as I realized that I'd just watched my graduation ceremony on television, I had chosen not to attend, opting to work master control at the television station for extra money.
I glanced at the date as I signed the log, dating and giving it a time, then I realized that it was May 21st, six years ago today, I'd graduated from high school. It seemed perfect that it was the same day as my college graduation ceremony, granted I wouldn't get my degree until I completed my final class over the summer.
My phone vibrated and I glanced down to find a text message from my friend Lara Marcs.
Wal-Mart?
Sure, I responded, giving her a time that I would be ready.
A few hours later, Lara picked me up and we headed towards the super center.
"So, they are calling for bad storms tomorrow, what are you doing?" Lara asked.
"Working, Cherryville is having their graduation and then I'm at the station until ten."
"I'll text you if something happens. How about we go grab lunch before you have to be there, say Mythos?"
"Sure, Greek sounds good," I laughed as we firmed up plans and headed into Wal-Mart.
The sun beamed down on my face as Lara and I walked into Mythos, I hoped we would be out quick, but at the same time, I wanted to, for some unknown reason, enjoy today, before being cooped up in the station or the cave at the gym.
The atmosphere was authentic at the Greek restaurant as we waited for our food.
"Mom said really bad weather moving in," Lara said.
"It never hits populated area's," I shrugged it off, living in the heartland for so long had made me immune to natures forces, I never thought they would hit us.
"That was good, we'll have to come back soon," I told Lara as I glanced down at my phone to check time. "You should come visit me later. I hate to eat and run, but…"
"I know, go, I'll swing by later," Lara laughed, throwing down her half of the bill and put my half of the bill down and left for Cherryville High's graduation.
"Oh, text me when you get there, I have to-"
"Let me in, I remember, I worked there last summer," Lara laughed as we parted ways.
"Great job, guys," I said over the headset as we wrapped up Cherryville High School's 2011 graduation. "Edward, find Ty, Ty find Lars, and Lars find Edward."
I smiled as the boys pointed their camera's towards one another. I hit the button's and while we weren't going live over air, we were on the big screen upstairs and everybody deserved their fifteen minutes of fame.
"Bella," Rosalie Hale said over my shoulder. Rosalie was our instructor and was on duty for this graduation. "Tell the guys to get everything brought down, there is a nasty storm brewing and they need to get home."
"Hey, guys," I said. "Wrap up, I know we were having fun, but Rose thinks we need to head to wherever we need to get. There is a bad storm coming in."
"Roger that," Tyler laughed. The screen's went black as each turned the power on their camera's off.
"Mom called," Rosalie was saying to our engineers, Tony and Mark. "Said the siren's are going off in Carter but it's just a small one in the country."
"You thinking about driving home?" I asked as I wrapped up my headset up, just as I heard the boys coming down the stairs. "Anything left?" I asked.
"Just a couple of tri-pods," Edward said.
I nodded and ran out the door. Seconds later, I heard Edward on my heels.
"Think you can get away that easily."
"You know I don't particularly like storms," I said.
"Want to come over later tonight? Jazz is bringing Logan over, Alice will be there as well."
"Maybe, I haven't seen them in a few weeks. Alice and I keep thinking about getting together for lunch but timing is never right."
"Come over around seven," Edward smiled at me. I loved his crooked smile, it always made me sigh. I picked up the tri-pod and went back down stairs, Edward following me, hitting my butt with one of the legs as we went down the stairs.
"Bella," Tony was saying, "I'm going to the station, do you want to go?"
"Damn," I muttered. "Edward a rain check, I have to work."
"That's fine," Edward smiled and dropped a small kiss on my lips. Even though we'd been openly dating for a year, the guys of the broadcast department still caused us problems when they caught us kissing or holding hands or having a few moments of private time.
"Ew…" Lars said. Whistles and hollers followed me as I went towards the back exit.
"Bye," I whispered. "Bye guys, be safe tonight."
"Sure."
"See ya."
As I walked outside at 5:20, less than an half-hour after graduation had gotten out, the siren's were blaring from the roof of Cornwell Hall. While I have this fear of storms, I have grown up in mid-Missouri and most tornado's don't every hit the more populated area's. There have been very few incidents that I've ever heard of any type of populated area's being hit, I've never witnessed anything first hand. I do have a fear of storms, especially if I'm out in them, like now, but I never think a tornado is going to just swoop down and get us. They simply sound the sirens so that people will head inside due to high winds.
Most everybody I know will be outside looking at the clouds. The people from graduation were starting to scatter as the sirens sounded, the line of cars exiting to the main roads made me glad that I was driving in the Gator.
"Thanks for the ride," I told Tony.
"Not a problem, it's weird, the siren's sounding and all; the sky isn't green or anything."
I've seen a few funnels go over and such, the green sky is always a dead give-a-way, but no green was present.
We zoomed over the grass as we headed back towards the school's television station, Tony pulling up in front of the doors to the shed the stored the Gator.
"When are you going to let me drive?" I joked.
"Never," Tony laughed as he slid out and opened the door before tossing me the keys and I let myself into the station.
I smiled as I realized that my friend who was covering for me so I could direct had already set up my first show of the night. The time read 5:28. The sirens had already shut off and I knew the night would be okay. It was just another normal night.
"Night," Tony yelled from the door.
"Drive safe," I said as I heard the door shut. I wondered if everybody over at the gym had made it home safely as I put the first show on then called Greg to make sure he'd made it to Pittsville okay.
"Bella," Greg said. "I'm safe, don't worry over me, just be careful, I'm already hearing there's been minor damage."
"Bella," I heard Rosalie yell from the door. I said good bye to Greg and went to see Rosalie. "Mom told me to just sit tight. I know your fear of storms though, so I'm staying until it's passed."
Rosalie lived over in Carter and I was half tempted to take her keys as we walked towards her office in the front hall of the building.
We talked about school and what we had plans for summer, mine was school, she was traveling to see her boyfriend, who just happened to be my best friend, from back home. They had meet while in graduate school and had been together four years. I hadn't even realized that my professor Rosalie was my best friend Emmett's girlfriend. The night the three of us had gone out for dinner was interesting.
"Damn," Rosalie muttered, getting up from her desk, going over to her windows. The sky was growing darker by the second and the flags that normally fluttered lazily in a non-existent wind were wiping wildly around their poles. The American flag over on the other side of campus was going every which way, circling the pole repeatedly then going back the other way.
I pulled my camera out took a few second video of the flags.
"Did somebody get Ty over to the dorms?" I asked.
"Yea," Rosalie said as she set back down, doing work on her computer. "Edward took him over."
I hit the end of my video and put the phone back in my pocket moving towards the door.
"Damn," I muttered. "Rose, my ears are popping, maybe we should head down to the green room and sit. I've got my phone and computer for internet."
"Okay, I'll be right down."
I took off in a run to check on programming. When I got about ten feet from the station I smelled an ozone like smell. I let a very un-lady like cuss word out as I started walking around the equipment.
"I just saw Edward drive down Newman, not speeding or anything," Rosalie said as she came in. "What died in here?"
"I'm not sure," I mumbled as I called my boyfriend. "Edward, if you are still on campus, please come to the station, we just saw you drive by and we now that you only live a few minutes away, but I'm starting to get scared, the sky is so dark." I wished I could talk to him instead of his voice-mail.
The way the sky looked had really set the butterflies in my stomach into a flurry. The wind wiping the flags and Edward still driving outside was scaring me, the ears popping, the smell, everything was setting my already frazzled nerves even more on edge.
"I'll check weather(dot)com," Rosalie was getting on the computer while I picked up the land line and dialed security.
"Security," somebody finally picked up after what felt like I'd tried a million times.
"I'm over in master control and I kind of need to know what's going on."
"We do have a confirmed tornado on the ground at Rangeline and 7th. We have two shelters set up on the dorm side of campus, if you feel like you can get over there, but just hang tight were you are. Is there anybody else with you?"
"Just a professor and I are in the building."
I hung up after that, just as Rosalie logged off the computer. I felt my phone vibrate, but I never remember picking it up or anything.
"Rose," I said, pointing to the studio lights that were lighting up with each clap of thunder. We headed towards the green room and I set on the ground of the bathroom, Rosalie made her way towards the double glass doors.
"Rose, no," I screamed.
"It's fine, Bella," Rosalie said. I shook my head and she finally came towards were I was and put her arms around me.
It was a full fifteen minutes after I'd started my shift that we took cover. My phone started vibrating again.
"Hello," I said.
"Bella," I barely made out. "Campus… you…" My father was saying, but I couldn't make anything out as the call dropped.
There were a few text messages on my phone.
Tornado on ground, take cover-Greg
Take cover-Lara
There were others, but none really gave me an indication about how bad this tornado had been. We left the green room a few minutes before six. The sky was already lightening as Rosalie and I made our way back up towards the front office. We heard a noise coming from the hall.
"HELLO?" I yelled, better to identify myself than to walk blindly into somebody in the hall.
I glanced around the corner, nobody, but the radio teachers office door was rattling. I glanced at the window.
"Did Hunter leave his window open?" I asked.
"Not sure, but I'll close it," Rosalie said, going in and closing it. "Look, you are upset, why don't you head back to the dorms and get some rest, I'll tell Fiona that I made the choice to pull us off air early."
I pulled my phone out and tried to get a hold of my dad again, but the call was dropped each time.
"Are you getting through," I asked as we walked back towards the studio so I could take us off air, just a half hour into my shift.
"Just spoke with my mom, she's saying the west side of town has minor damage, nothing bad."
I sighed.
"Can I use the phone to call my father?"
Rosalie handed the phone over and I dialed my father's number, nothing, so I tried again and again, finally it went to voice-mail.
"Dad, I'm fine, I love you," I said as the call dropped.
"Go back to the dorm, things are fine," Rosalie said. "Edward is fine, I'm sure."
I nodded as we left the station and I began the five minute drive over to the dorms. I slid out of my car and went to the room. I flipped the television on, but there was nothing but snow, I flipped it off and went to the computer.
During that time, one text came through just fifteen minutes after the storm hit.
i'm safe, u from Edward. I sighed a breath of relief as I saw this, shot a text back to him and then turned my computer on to the weather channel's website.
In big bold letters there was a banner that read Cherryville Tornado, town decimated.
It didn't hit me how bad the tornado had been. From what I'd heard so far, Rosalie's mom saying it was minor damage on the west side and from what I was seeing on the internet, more than minor damage, but still just the west side. I had no clue how much of the town was gone.
I watched the live feed as the meteorologist, who'd been just ten minutes behind the tornado, talk about how one of the two hospitals at the area was gone. I choked back tears as I watched, remembering that a good friend of mine was having a graduation party just a mile from there.
I sent a text message to her, praying that I'd hear back from her. Then I put a desperate plea on Facebook.
Somebody get a hold of my father, please tell him that I'm fine. When we talked he sounded frantic and reception was bad.
I prayed that my Facebook message would reach my father, we were closer than most father/daughter duo's. My mother had walked out on us when I was seven, he'd remarried just a year ago, Sue had became my mother, she had two children, Leah who was three years older than me and Seth, who was a year younger than me and one of my good friends, even before dad and Sue had married. Charlie and I were just close from all the years that we'd been that duo and at this moment, he was all I wanted, I wanted my dad even more than my boyfriend, but currently, either would do.
A frantic pounding on my door brought me out of my thoughts as I stood up, still shaking, seeing that video of the hospital had shook me up worse than I'd thought. I stumbled over boxes to the door and opened it. Edward stood there, shaking, tears running down his face.
My boyfriend never cries, he doesn't cry, I've never seen him cry, but in the coming weeks, I'd see a lot of things that I'd never seen before.
Edward pulled me into his arms and held me tightly, I pulled him into my room and he set down on the bed, his arms never left me.
"I love you," he muttered.
"Edward, you're scaring me," I whispered. He was still holding me.
"When I didn't hear back from you, I feared that you were gone, I couldn't get through to Rose, nobody, I should have swung by the station, I was so scared. I love you."
"Edward," I shook as I clutched him close. "What happened?"
"Bella, most of the town is gone, I'm hearing at least half, if not more is gone. Twentieth street the full six miles of town is gone, the high school, two other schools, they are gone, flattened. Alice and Jasper's apartment is flattened. They are fine, Alice was at the mall, Jasper was at work."
Edward keep talking, my own brain was going numb as he recounted how he tried to find Alice and Logan. His parents had been frantic as they'd gotten in their vehicles and left, Edward got in his truck driving to a surrounding city to find cell signal trying to find Alice. A text message finally got through from Alice, saying they were at the mall. Edward sent a message to his family saying he was on his way here and were Alice was.
"Bella," he muttered, hugging me tight. "I've never been so scared."
I couldn't really talk, I didn't know how to comfort my boyfriend, so I simply hugged him, holding him as he cried.
Another knock came at my door and I moved towards it.
"Hall meeting in five," our resident director, Maggie, said.
I nodded and we headed, along with Edward and my other few hall mates, since school had ended, there was only two other girls in my hall and we headed towards the common area.
The rest of the dorm showed up in a few moments.
"As most of you probably know, a tornado just went through town," Maggie said. "The dorm staff still plan on having you stay in your room while you're here, then as planned, you'll move to the other dorm at the end of intersession if you stay for summer.
"There is a curfew on the entire town tonight, meaning anybody who's here as of now, anybody in this room, has to stay here tonight. Under the circumstances, we won't charge for tonight, boys you can stay in the girl's room; if you need mattresses ask and we'll drag one in for you."
Maggie smiled sadly and left for her room as the group dispersed. Edward grabbed my hand and lead me back to the room.
"You doing okay," Shelby asked. Shelby lived across the hall from me and as I'd been waiting on words from my friends, I'd been over in her room, worrying.
"I'm scared, Nicki was having a graduation party," I said, leaning into Edward.
"I'm right across the hall if you need anything," Shelby said, opening her door.
Edward led me into the room, his hand on the small of my back calming me.
"I'll text my mom and we'll lay down," he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
I puttered around the room, getting ready for bed, not that sleep would come tonight.
"Okay, I heard from her, they are going to get some sleep, Alice and the baby are there, Jazz is being held at work for the night."
I nodded, just as my phone started ringing. Apparently service was up. I dived at my desk, where my phone was and grabbed it.
"Hello?"
"Bells," my best friend Emmett sounded frantic. "Are you dead?"
"No, I'm fine," I said.
"Mom called and asked if you survived," Emmett said.
"Reassure your mom I'm fine, Edward's with me and we are fine, his brother lost his apartment, but everybody is fine."
"That's good. If you need me, I'll be there in four hours."
"Don't drive tonight, there is a curfew on the town. I have a trip home planned in just three days if I can get out of the town."
"You better be able to, or I'm coming to get my girls," Emmett said. Of course I forgot that his girlfriend lived in this area as well.
"Have you spoke with Rose?"
"Yea, she said you were fine, but I needed to talk to you, I'll keep my phone by me tonight, call if you need to talk."
"Edward's forced to stay here tonight, so I'm not to worried, I promise to call tomorrow."
"K, love you," Emmett said.
"Love you, too."
I hung up and looked at Edward.
"Em freaking out?" Edward asked.
"Of course, his mom called and asked if I was alive."
"Great, bet that scared the shit outta him."
I smiled, as I threw a pillow at him, laughing. Then I dialed my father.
"Bella?" Charlie sounded frantic. "Are you okay?"
"Daddy," I said, even though I rarely used the word, it didn't even beginning to convey how much I wanted my dad, how much I needed him. "I love you."
"Bella, I'm so glad to hear your voice. Your uncle Marcus called and said campus had been hit, obliterated and I couldn't get a hold of you. Baby, I love you."
"Dad, I love you, too."
"Is everybody okay?"
"Too soon to tell, Edward's fine, his families fine," I said.
"Kara, Morgan, Becs are fine, they just Facebooked, each person has a destroyed house, but are all fine, just dug out," Edward said from the computer.
"Friends are slowly starting to file in online; we still have internet, but no television."
"Okay, just stay safe and I'll be there just as soon as I can. I got the call before the town even got hit, as a trained first responder, I got the call, so Seth and I are on our way. Apparently, the television stations started showing the tornado before it even started hitting the town. They called the big city's asking for ambulances, word got to me, I grabbed Seth from practice, since he's a trained first responder, we're about halfway there. I'll call when I get closer."
"Okay, Edward is with me, call me when you get close," I said, hanging up.
Edward was already sprawled out on the bed, as close to the wall as he could be so I could have some space. Not that I wanted any, I wanted to be as close to him as possible.
"You can lose the jeans, I'm sure I have some sweats that you might fit into or you can sleep in boxers."
Edward and I have been dating for a year, but he held sex to a high regard, it was sacred to him and his family, Jasper had knocked Alice up at nineteen and just four months ago Logan had been born. Edward and I had been getting to the point were we wanted to have sex, but after finding out about Logan, we took a big step apart. Tonight would be the first night that we'd sleep in the same bed in over six months.
"I'm fine," he murmured.
"Edward, it's fine, you are going to need what little sleep you can get. Charlie will probably take you with him when if he drops by later tonight. Sleep without your jeans," I said.
He finally nodded and took his jeans and shirt off and had this been any other night, I would have ogled my boyfriend, but tonight, there was too much pain and suffering.
I flipped on the local station, which was going wall to wall with coverage, heard a few moments of what was only the beginning of a huge battle before looking at Edward and seeing the unshed tears in his eyes and turning the radio off.
"Sorry," I muttered.
"It's so hard to believe," Edward said, holding his arms out. I went to them willingly and snuggled into him. "I'm just glad that everybody is okay."
"I love you," I said, hoping that my words would provide some comfort, but knew that they didn't.
He give me a kiss on the forehead and hummed my lullaby that he'd wrote for me as I laid there, evening my breathing out and pretending that I was asleep, but really thinking about everything that was going to happen over the next days, weeks, months and years.
I must have dozed off, because Edward was shaking me awake. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I looked up at him, he was still holding me in his arms, but had situated himself over me, looking into my eyes as he woke me up.
"Phone's ringing," he said.
I scrambled out of my bed and over to my computer were my phone was charging, feeling thankful that I still had a computer and internet and a way to charge my phone.
"Hello?" I knew I sounded groggy as I answered, last I'd checked on time, before falling asleep, it was a little after ten, now it was after three, how had so much time passed.
"Bells," my father said. "We made it around eleven, but we let you two sleep; figured you'd need it. They are putting Seth and I in your dorm for the time being, so I'll stop by here shortly to see you."
"K," I yawned, tossing jeans at Edward. "Love you." I hung up the phone.
I glanced back at Edward; his face was relaxed, soft snores sounded. My boyfriend had fallen back to sleep.
I didn't have the heart to wake him up, so I pulled on some jeans and set down at my computer, pulling up the local radio station and putting my head phones on to listen. I listened as people made frantic calls, trying to find loved ones, loved one's who were calling to let listeners know they were okay. People who were stuck in basements, but managed to find signal to call out and beg for help. It was all too much as I listened; my heart broke with each caller.
A soft knock came at my door, I slid off my chair and went to the door, glancing to make sure Edward hadn't woken up.
"Dad," I cried as I shut the door, holding my father tight, he held me tight as well. He tried to comfort me as we cried. Seth stood off to one side, giving my father and I the time we needed to comfort each other.
I've known Seth since we were five and three respectively. His father was my father's best friend and we'd grown up together. If my father wasn't trying to get me with his other friends son, Jacob, he was trying to persuade me to get with Seth, but that changed when Charlie married Seth's mom two years after Seth's father passed away from a heart attack.
Seth was well built, muscular, even if he was only eighteen. He was always at the gym working out or running. He had the dark complex that he'd inherited from his native American heritage. I knew him well enough to know that when things got uncomfortable, he would run his hand through his hair, if he was scared the hand running would end with a tugging.
Right now, his hair was sticking out at every end; I presumed he'd been tugging on it constantly since Charlie had picked him up around six from football practice.
"How bad is it, really, Dad?" I asked. I glanced at Seth, but he'd turned away, looking at the wall and I feared for his sanity.
"Let's just say that Seth won't be going back out in the morning, he'll be sticking close to you."
Seth had seen a lot for his age, he'd been with his dad, Harry, when he'd had the heart attack. Seth had hunted frequently, using a bow and arrow to shoot his pray, so if Charlie was saying Seth wouldn't be staying out, than it was bad.
"Bells, I want to sleep in your room," Seth said. His voice wasn't the strong manly voice that I'd grown accustomed to over the last year or so that Charlie and Sue had been married. He reminded me of the young boy that had been scared of storms and would call me in the middle of the night to calm him down.
I had to chock back tears as I heard my brother sound so sad and scared. Charlie patted me on the back.
"Bells, from what I'm seeing, we'll be lucky if there isn't a death toll over a thousand."
I had to take a deep breath at that time, but even then, I didn't even begin to comprehend how bad it was.
"Bella," Maggie came running up to me, looking between me and my father and brother. "Charlie, your room is ready."
"Okay, my son would like to stay in Bella's room tonight, she's my daughter."
Maggie nodded and went to find a mattress and with Seth's help, dragged it into my room.
I was glad I'd covered Edward up as he didn't have anything but boxers on as Seth moved quietly around the room, getting ready for bed.
"Bells," Seth said quietly, "I pulled bodies from the rubble. It's not something I ever want to do again."
The sun was hanging low in my east facing window, it was still early, I presumed as I took a peak at my clock, it was just a little after eight in the morning. Edward's arm was tossed over me haphazardly, holding on to me tightly. I slowly moved his arm from my waist and tip-toed around Seth and over to my computer.
Seth's hazel eyes watched me as I moved, but he didn't dare speak, Edward needed some sleep, he'd woken up around three-thirty, just moments after Seth had laid down, screaming, a nightmare, and none of us had gone back to sleep until almost six, we all just laid there, worried about what first light would bring.
I logged onto my computer and pulled up the school's website. The first thing that caught my eye was that all employee's, all teachers, faculty, staff and student summer employee's were to get to their department as soon as possible. If they couldn't get into the town, then they were to call.
I had an e-mail from Fiona asking that I come to the station. I grabbed Edward's phone, an iPhone, like my own, and checked his e-mail, Fiona had e-mailed us both asking us to come over.
I walked around Seth again and opened my closet, pulling out jeans and a t-shirt, not dressing up today since I was sure things would be busy.
Seth turned away as I changed into my daily clothes then he got dressed and I finally saw Edward starting to stir, he was searching the bed for something, or someone, and I wasn't there and he was making the most adorable upset face.
I heard the click of the camera on my phone and looked to find Seth silently laughing as he took the picture. As the click sounded through the room, Edward shot out of bed and landed on the floor, glancing between Seth and I, we both finally laughed loud and long.
"Sorry, sweetheart," I said as banging came at my door.
I went to the door and found Ty on the other side.
"Fiona wants us at the station," he said, before walking in. "Apparently, you had a party last night."
"You know Edward, the other guy is my brother, Seth. My father is a trained first responder and was half way here by seven last night. Seth is also trained with my father, but after working last night, my dad doesn't want him out there yet."
"It's scary," Seth muttered. "So much destruction and devastation. I felt physically sick."
"Fiona wants us all at the station," Edward asked as he pulled his gray v-neck shirt on.
"Yea, I checked your e-mail and she'd sent the same one to you and me and I guess any other broadcast student on campus."
Edward nodded. I frowned at him, the bags under his eyes were just as bad as I was sure mine were and Ty and Seth didn't look any better.
We left by nine that morning, the sun was shining and I wanted to scream at it, it needed to hide because of the fact that my town was almost completely gone. It felt like the sun was mocking the survivors, it mocked us that it was in control of light and how the hours we had to find survivors got slimmer with each passing hour.
Edward held me close as we walked towards the station, just across a busy street from the dorms. There were so many people walking around; some had bewildered looks on their faces, others were scared. I saw one little boy standing by the bus stop, crying. I couldn't take it and broke away from my group.
"Sweetie," I said, bending down to get on eye level with the eight maybe nine year old. "Where are your parents?"
"I don't know, my home is gone and I couldn't find them. I was swept up in a crowd and pushed on a bus that was located to here. Can you help me find my parents?"
I glanced back at my friends, they were nodding.
"Sure, we'll go talk to my boss and see what we can do," I smiled. The boy grabbed my hand and held on tightly, like I was his lifeline, for all I know, I was his lifeline.
"What's your name? I'm Benny."
"I'm Bella and these guys are Edward, Ty and Seth," I said as I led him towards the station.
"The bronze is a weird color, did you ever get teased?" Benny asked Edward.
"Sure, but I'll let you in on a secret, being weird is the best, because you get peoples attentions more if you stand out over blending in."
"I bet the girls swarm around you," the young boy said. His fears slowly gave way to his conversation with Edward as they bantered back and forth. Benny talked about a girl, Suzanne in his class.
"Bella," I heard Fiona say as the five of us walked in the door. I went to her office, Benny and the other guys stayed in the hall. "Picking up the boy's, huh?"
"The older one you don't know is Seth, my brother. The little boy was crying by the bus stop. He can't find his parents and he asked for help."
Fiona nodded and then told me to take him to the shelter, were most of the bussed people were being taken.
"You look like you've sleep as well as everybody around here," she said as I watched Benny and Edward play. Seth was leaned against the wall, his eyes closed and I'm sure he was asleep.
"Yea, my father was a first responder, he got here about eleven, showed up with Seth around three and dad refuses to have Seth out there anymore, nor does Seth want to be out there. Edward ended up getting stuck in my dorm last night."
"Well, swing back by after you get the kid to the shelter, make sure they have your number, in case they can't find his parents, they might be able to take a picture and have him come back over here or something, he's frightened,' Fiona's face softened as she watched the boy place with Edward.
I nodded and went back into the hall.
"Seth, why don't you wait here, I'm going to take Benny to the shelter."
"I'll go with you," Seth said. "Maybe there is something I can do."
"I doubt dad wants you doing much today, you did well last night," I said as I held Benny's hand as we walked toward the gym, the same place that just twenty four hours earlier, we'd been holding the local high school's graduation.
In just the few hours, the graduation stuff had been removed, all the chairs from the floor, were the one's that were completing one step of their lives and moving on to another, had been moved to make way for the Red Cross shelter.
I was now thankful that less than a month ago, the school had signed an agreement with the Red Cross that should a natural disaster happen, the school became the shelter, no questions asked, things could just happen without channels needed to be gone through. I knew that nobody thought they would need the agreement so quickly.
Cots were on the floor, people were eating at the gym concession stand, and tables had been set up along the back wall for them to sit at. Others were sitting on their cots, again the dazed and confused looks were present.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am," I said as I bumped into an older women with purple hair.
"Don't worry about it, dear, you didn't do anything wrong. Just be thankful that we're alive," she smiled.
Even though a tornado had just ripped through the town, here were no tears in the shelter, granted I'm sure the severity of it all hadn't sunk in yet, but people were laughing with others, some played cards games. It was a little community all of it's own.
"Benny?" I asked. He turned towards me, his brown eyes looking up at me. "Have you seen your parents?"
"No, I'm not even sure they made it out. It was confusing."
I nodded and began to look for somebody who might be in charge. Finally I went to the check in table.
"I found the little boy," I told the person, a professor here at the school. I gave her the full story, she looked at the boy then back at me.
"Do you know were he was when it hit?"
"Benny, where were you?" I asked.
"My home," he said, in a small voice that once again reminded me of Seth. "913 W. 20th."
Seth gasped, the teacher glanced at me then at the boy. My eyes darted between Seth and the professor. I almost feared what was going on. Seth pulled me away from Benny.
"That's were Charlie and I were, that area, I'm not sure of the address, but it's by the high school. It's the hardest hit, that's where most of the bodies were being pulled from."
I nodded and went back to the table. The teacher was smiling at Benny and talking to him.
"I guess what's going to happen," the professor said. "Is that we'll take him and give him a cot."
I nodded, smiling at the boy.
"We'll find his parents," the professor promised.
"Will you keep me in touch? Can I come by later to check on him?"
"Yes, we'll keep you updated," she smiled sadly. I gave her my phone number then asked Benny to come over.
"Bud, this is Professor Stanton, she's pretty cool and she's going to take care of you until your find your parents, okay. I'll swing by later to check on you."
"Okay. What if my parents are dead?"
"Don't think like that," I said, but knowing in my heart that there was a possibility that they hadn't survived, especially if what Seth was saying was true.
I gave Benny a hug and Edward hi-fived him and we had to leave. Seth looked around and shuttered, staying just a few feet behind Edward and I. Edward held my hand tightly as we walked back to the station.
"So what happens now?" I asked Fiona as we walked in.
"Well, we are running graphics on the station, we're thinking about doing cut in's with students giving information, but not today, today nobody would be able to read the prompter," Fiona said, yawning to add affect. "We sit, we wait, we pray."
I've never been a patient person, I'm decent around people when I need to wait, Ty and Seth came back to my room and we played card games, or they did, my mind was some where else.
Edward had to head home, but he promised to swing by and check on me before curfew. Ty and Seth both promised to stay here tonight, we'd put two mattresses on my floor. I couldn't imagine being alone tonight.
No phone calls were going out yet, three of the main cell towers in the town where gone, I had to drive over to the small town that ran into Cherryville just to get signal to call Emmett and check in, he was still freaking out and had been a bear at practice yesterday. He was the head football coach and a science teacher at our Alma mater.
Emmett had already told the classes that he was waiting on a call and that if he picked up a call they went to reading time. I called him around noon while Seth was helping up at the front office with the first responders who were starting to stream in from as far away as NY and Chicago. Ty had ran to his room to grab clothes do what he needed to do before sleeping over here, while I took a trip to find signal.
"Hey, sweetie," Emmett sounded relieved as he picked up the phone on the first ring.
"Hi," I said in a frightened voice. I still hadn't heard from a few of my friends and things were getting to that nail-biting stage of not hearing from them.
"Are you okay?"
"No, I'm scared, I wish you where here."
"I'm there, I'll be there in four hours if that's what you need."
"I need you here, but you need to stay there. Rose and I are coming in just one day."
"I'm still holding you to that," Emmett laughed.
"I have to take Seth home. Em, he pulled bodies out of the rubble, he's not sleeping, not that any of us are, but he's sixteen, how is he going to coup with this once we get home?" I cried.
"I'm making him see a counselor, as his coach I have the right to do that and I'm enforcing that."
"Thanks," I said. "So what is your class doing?"
"Reading, I think everybody's surprised I'm even here today, I'm so tired. Rosie called around three and we talked for an hour. I was expecting you to call."
"I was snuggled with Edward and Seth was on my floor and I knew it would be an early morning."
"I know, hun, are you doing okay?"
"Yea, still confused, it really hasn't sunk in yet and I want to come home," I said, tears slipping down my face.
We talked for awhile longer before I had to get off so that somebody else that might need the line could call out. As we hung up, I glanced up at the sky, the sun was gone again and storm clouds where moving in. I made a beeline back to the school.
"We're under another tornado watch," Edward said as I opened the door to reveal my boyfriend. "Mom said to stay here with you again."
I nodded and opened the door for him to come in.
"Body counts up to 105," I told him, not that he probably didn't know, I knew he'd been out all day helping Alice and Jasper scour what was left of their place for anything usable. He'd probably heard everything today.
"Missing person's is well over 1,500," Edward said. "State finally stepped in and is working towards making a list that is cross referenced with all the unofficial list that are floating around."
"Let's hope that it dwindles down and they can locate everybody," I said as I sat down on my bed, Edward set beside me. Ty and Seth where both up at the front office helping give emergency workers sheets and other articles they might need while helping.
Edward slung his arm around me and pulled me close. "I love you, you know that right?"
"Yea," I said, curling into him. "You know I love you too."
"Of course, we'd never have made it this far if we didn't. Last night, wrapped in your arms, I felt safe," my boyfriend, who was supposed to be my protector was telling me. It's weird when the roles have been reversed, normally I'm the girly one of the relationship and I always feel safe in his arms but to have him say that, I'm happy to provide comfort to him when he needs it most.
"Now you know how I feel each time we are wrapped up together," I said, looking into his emerald green eyes.
"I was so scared the night you didn't answer my text. I knew the tornado had passed south of me, but that didn't mean there wasn't another one on the ground and it had hit school. Bells, I'm not sure what I'd do if you died, it would tear me up inside. I've loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you freshman year, now look at us, I'm getting ready to start graduate school and your finishing up undergrad work before getting a real job," he smiled.
"Heading out into the real world," I muttered, "sounds better than grad school."
He chuckled, but I knew there was more, he was antsy, he was expressing his emotions and while it was an emotional time, I knew this was over the top, even for the situation.
"Bella, all the bad that's around us at the moment, something good needs to come out of it, I was going to wait until your graduation in July, but now seems like a better time. Something to celebrate amid the chaos that, now, rules our lives. Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?" (A/N: this plot bunny comes from a billboard that has a picture of wedding bands and says 'Our Love is Tornado Proof.)
My eyes went wide, my jaw went slack, my boyfriend had just proposed. Was it due to the fact that there was so much going on and he was afraid that he'd lose me? Was it the fact that the siren's were going off, again.
Wait a minute, I thought to myself, not answering an expectant looking boyfriend. The sirens are going off?
My door slammed open and my brother came barreling in.
"Tornado on the ground, north of the track the other one took," Seth said, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me out the door. North of the track, how far north? The school had been missed by only six hundred yards, was this tornado on track to hit the school.
All thoughts of the proposal flew out of my head as Seth pulled me, which in turn; I grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him out the door. His hand was clammy as I gripped it.
I set down in the hall, Edward set behind me, and as everybody filed in around me, I realized that in the panic to get out into the hall, I had never given Edward an answer, I glanced back at him, he was playing with my hair, braiding and un-braiding my brown locks, not thinking. His eyes had unshed tears in them, from the fear of the storm or that I'd say no, I wasn't sure.
I turned my body, tugging my hair out of his hands. He couldn't even look me in the eyes.
"I'm sorry," I said, looking deep into his eyes.
"For what? You can't control mother nature, that should be apparent after all the shit we've been through."
I can differently tell that he's in a bad mood. Rarely does Edward cuss and if he does, it's a sure sign that things aren't going well.
"For ruining a perfect proposal," I said, I didn't realize how compact our hall had become and that Seth and Ty where sitting by us, almost on top of us. Seth's head snapped up and Ty's jaw dropped, not that I took much notice, I was too busy looking at Edward. "I know there is a lot of shit going on and people would think you're crazy for asking me, but now is the perfect time because out of all the chaos and devastation and despair, hope and love triumph. It's those things, no matter how small and insignificant they might seem now, that is going to get us through the coming days, weeks, months and years. It was the perfect proposal, considering the circumstances so I have the perfect answer; yes, Edward, I'll marry you."
"My sister is engaged," Seth cried as I embraced my love, kissing him with what I could.
"We have three tornado's," the RA of my hall come running over, "just across state line, coming strait at us, so unless it changes directions, we're fucked."
I broke away from Edward, the realization hitting again. I felt my fiancée move behind me, digging for something in his pocket.
"Did I miss something?" Michaela, the RA said.
"Bella just got engaged," Seth said.
"Who are you?" Michaela asked my brother.
A hand snaked around in front of me, a ring on the pad of the pad of the hand; it was oval with miniature diamonds.
"Holy shit did I ruin the proposal?"
"No," Seth said. "I'm the brother."
I leaned into Edward, smiling as he slid the ring on my finger, a promise that better things were to come, if we survived this storm.
"Morning," Edward kissed my neck, his arm rubbed my bare stomach, his hand rested under my shirt.
"I have to go home today," I muttered. "Are you going with me, still?"
Edward had already planned to go home with me, but with recent events that had happened, I wasn't sure he'd be coming with me.
"I think it would be best if I did," he said. "Mom actually said I should, that way I can rest for a while, come back with a better frame of mind."
I nodded as Seth let a loud snore resonate through the room, causing Edward to laugh silently.
I laid in my fiancés arms for a while, taking deep breaths as we laid together, dreaming of what the future would hold.
There would be more deaths in the coming days, the death toll would rise, it' wasn't the only thing we had to look towards, there would be happy days ahead, our wedding, we'd discussed a date, but we weren't sure on a specific date. We didn't want to wait, though, we were ready to be married, that was the one thing we were certain of. Edward even suggested that we fly to Vegas and get hitched.
Like his soon to be sister in law would go for that one. Not that we've told her, we wanted just a few days were I lived in just newly engaged bliss, away from the tornado devastation that we'd been facing for the last few days.
"I love you," Edward said, yawning.
"That's why I'm marrying you," I laughed, yawning myself.
"Go back to sleep, we'll leave around noon, I heard Rangeline's open, maybe we'll drive down so you can see the damage."
"Okay," I yawned.
I had to blink as I saw places that I'd been, just hours before the tornado hit, were now destroyed, Mythos was gone, (the real Mythos is still standing, but it was missed by less than a few feet). I'd been there just hours before with Lara.
There was people still digging through rubble, Seth was silent in the back seat, together we just looked, Seth hadn't been off campus since he'd showed up after helping our father, this was my first outing and it was really creeping me out.
"I can't even remember where things were," Edward said, "I think that was Aldi's."
Edward keep pointing out area's, then we saw Wal-Mart. My breathing increased.
"I was there, just the night before," Edward said. "Getting graduation pictures developed."
"Lara and I went as well, it's so hard to see it gone," I muttered.
Edward grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
The radio station, the entire group had gone wall to wall, calls and information were being spit out at us rapidly and I almost didn't understand what I heard next.
"Just days after a massive EF-5 tornado ripped through Cherryville, Missouri, a town sixty miles east of Kansas City, Missouri has been hit with an EF-3 tornado. John Smith has more."
"Renville, Missouri," I heard and I turned back to Seth before turning the radio up. Renville was my home town. "Was hit with an EF-3 tornado, the high school has damage, along with most of the southern side of town has been hit."
Edward turned the radio off for and speed up as fast as he could to get back to campus.
"Get us out of here, I have to get a hold of Em," I screamed, my breathing frantic as I worried for my best friend from Renville.
"Honey, it's a disaster zone, there isn't going to be signal until we get to campus," Edward tried to reassure me, Seth was rubbing his hand on my shoulder as I sobbed while we drove as quick as we could back to campus.
I keep trying to get a hold of Emmett as we drove towards the next town to find signal. Finally I managed to get signal and call out.
"Bells," Emmett said. "I'm fine, I took a sick day, I haven't sleep well the last few nights, I've heard the high school didn't get hit bad, just minor damage, about a half mile east of the high school is what got really it."
"Thank god," I muttered. "Edward, Seth and I are getting ready to head home around noonish, we'll be there around four. Love you," I said.
"I'll see you then, Rose said she'll be here around six, she's got a few things to deal with in Carter, love you, too, tell Ed and Seth to stay cool."
"I will, see you soon," I said and sighed, hanging up the phone, the boys looking at me expectantly.
"He's fine, he took a sick day," I sighed, Seth rubbed my shoulders as I slumped back. "I'd like to run over to the shelter and see if Benny's doing okay."
Edward nodded and we pulled as close as we could to the shelter that was housing over 150 families that had been displaced by the tornado. Together the three of us got out of the car and made our way towards were we could inquire about the boy we'd found just two days ago.
Conversation filtered around us, topics from the death toll, currently at 148, to how the state had finally stepped in and gotten the missing person's list down, how the football field was being used as the city morgue.
Edward gripped my hand tight as we headed towards the check in table.
"Bella," I heard one of the professors at the table say, looking up and smiling at me and my two companions.
"Hi, Mrs. Merry," I smiled, or tired, my heart just wasn't in it.
"You here about that little boy you found?"
"Yea, I'm getting ready to get Seth packed and take him home, but I wanted to stop and see Benny. Have his parents," I said, letting the question trailed off.
"I hate to be there bearer of bad news," Mrs. Merry said. "They didn't survive, we heard this morning, we're trying to contact his grandparents but they are out of the country."
"He's got to be so scared," I muttered. "When we were here yesterday filming, he was still holding onto the hope that his parents were fine, have you told him yet?"
"A social worker came in and broke the news to him, he's been laying in his cot all day, just staring at the lights, Erica Stanton has been sitting with him most of the day, she was the one that checked him in when you brought him here, she's trying to get the state to allow her to take Benny home with her, they are just trying to get the paperwork done, he's only six, it's so much for a first grader to go through."
I smiled sadly and we turned to go to Benny's bunk.
"Seth," I said. "You've had experience in losing a parent, maybe you can connect with him?"
"I'll try Bells, but the situations are completely different, his parents were taken in a violent storm, mine was taken because of heath reasons."
I nodded but encouraged my brother to go first, Benny didn't even look over at him, just set there with tears on his face.
"Hi, are you two doing okay?" Erica Stanton said.
"I'm sure we've all seen better days," Edward mumbled.
"I got the phone call from the state, I've been awarded emergency temporary custody of Benny until his grandparents are reached."
"That's good, what if they don't want him?" I asked.
"Then he goes into the system. He's already been through so much, it's just horrible, everything about this storm is horrible," Erica sighed as she moved away and headed towards were she could get Benny some food.
"Oh, Edward," I sighed, leaning into him. "I feel so helpless."
Edward didn't say anything, just sat there stroking my hair. I watched my brother try to reach Benny, but the young boy just stared off into the rafters of the gymnasium. Seth probably tried for ten full minutes before Benny finally glanced at him and laughed at something that my brother said.
Seth glanced at us and cocked his head in a motion informing us that if was okay to approach the duo.
"Hi," Benny said in a soft voice. "Did you hear?"
"Yea," I said, sitting down on the cot. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm scared," the young boy admitted and a single tear slid from his eye off sideways and into his hair. "I don't have any family anymore."
"It's going to take some readjusting, but I know things will eventually get better," Edward said, crouching down as Benny set up on the cot. "Erica has been awarded temporary custody of you until a family member is reached. She's been really cool to you these last few days, hasn't she?"
Benny nodded and looked between the three of us. "What are you guys going to do?"
"Seth and I are heading home, Seth needs to get back to school and Edward and I are going to take him back and stay there for a few days. Let my family see that we're okay."
"I wish I could go with you," he sighed. "I don't want to stay here, around all this happiness."
"Bud," Edward said, putting his hands on the young boys shoulders. "Erica is taking you to her place tonight. She promised that if you wanted to talk to us, she'd call us. She took our number, we're just a phone call away."
"Promise?" Benny held is pinky out.
"Pinky promise," Edward laughed and they linked pinkies.
As I watched Edward and Benny interact for a few more minutes, I knew that Edward would be a great father, that I couldn't wait to settle down with him and start trying for children.
"Bella!" Emmett nearly yelled, his roommate James looking at him like he was crazy, of course after everything that had happened over the last few days, I think we all were suffering from a bit of craziness.
As Emmett launched himself out of his door, I braced myself for the bone crunching hug that I knew would possible leave me with bruises and some major soreness.
True to form, Emmett grabbed me and lifted me off the ground, a few of my joints popped as he held me tightly.
"Em, can't breathe," I huffed out and my feet found the ground once more.
"I'm just thankful you are alive," he said as we headed inside the house. "I saw the coverage and I really thought you were dead."
"I'm still alive and kicking," I tried to laugh, but laughing still wasn't coming easy to me. "I am engaged though."
"Edward finally got the balls to ask, huh?"
"Yep, how about you and Rose?"
"I now realize that life is to short to waste time, I'm asking her as soon as she walks through the door."
"We'll leave before then," I promised, Emmett would want some alone time with Rosalie, just as I'd wanted alone time with Edward following the storm.
I said high to James, who said congratulations and he was glad we weren't hurt, then Emmett and Edward and I headed inside, where Emmett pulled out the liquor and we drank to our wellness, then getting lost in conversation.
"Edward," Sue said, her arm tightly around me. "I've set the couch up for you, per Charlies orders, but as long as you're there when I wake up, I don't care where you sleep."
"Geez, mom," Seth whined. "You never tell any of my girlfriends that."
"Yes, but are you engaged?" Sue laughed.
Seth shook his head and headed out of the room.
"Thank you for everything, Sue," Edward said, giving my step-mother a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Tell me," Sue said, I figured what would come next out of her mouth. "Are you two really okay?"
"Sue," I said, unsure of how to say this. "The events that happened, they have really taken a toll on us. Physically, I promise, we are both fine."
"Mentally, well, that's another story," Edward said. "After everything we've seen the last few days, after everything we've been through, I don't think we'll sleep sound for a while."
"How are your parents?"
"As well as can be expected. They are housing Alice, Jasper and Logan and my brother and Alice are starting to grate their last nerve."
"Does your brother need anything?" Sue asked. "Are they going to be okay?"
"Jazz was at work when the tornado hit, Alice and Logan were at home," Edward started and I zoned out for a few.
Edward had told me that Alice and Logan had been at the mall, he'd forgotten in his panic to get to me, to inform me that Alice was at home and had hid under the stairway as the eye of the tornado passed over their house, her and Logan, along with the other renters in the house, had to climb out of the stairwell in a hole in one of the apartments kitchen.
When Edward had found Alice and Logan, Logan had been splattered with mud as they arrived at the mall, Edward had told me that it was the most heart wrenching sight in the world for him.
"Oh, dear. Tell Esme and Carlisle that if Alice and Jasper would like, they can come here, I'm sure we could find them a job."
"I'll tell my parents, but Alice's parents want her to move back to Kansas with Jazz and Logan for awhile."
"Okay, just let them know the offer stands. One more question, I'm sure you two want some alone time. Will my son be okay?"
"I don't know," I whispered. "Don't talk to him about it, he told me that he had to pull bodies from the destruction. I've already spoke with Emmett and he's forcing Seth to go see a professional about all this. Seth will tell you when he's ready."
Sue nodded and left us, after giving me one more big hug. Edward and I were seated on the couch and I leaned into him, kissing his cheek.
"Will things ever get back to normal?" I asked. "Will the nightmares ever go away?"
One hundred and sixty-one people died that day and the weeks ahead, children, adults, parents, grandparents, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, friends, teachers, neighbors, they all lost their lives because of mother nature.
Volunteers swarmed Cherryville, one agency, left their own destruction from the Alabama tornado's and drove all night just to help Cherryville. Nearly a half million people came to help in a time of need.
For me, I thankful only lost one person, a teacher and while I'd only meet them a handful of times, I knew him. My university lost three people, the professor, a student and a professors husband, who had thrown himself over his wife and unborn child to save them, losing his own life in the process. The university would go on to name a scholarship in honor of the three members of the university family that lost their lives.
Shortly before my final class, I heard from my friend who'd been having the graduation party. Her home was the only house still standing on her street. She figures that she was still in EF-3 territory. Had it been just a block further, her home wouldn't be standing, because the storm intensified to an EF-5, wiping out most of the town.
My friends had their stories to tell, they'd had homes fallen on them, one of my friends had to have a tetanus shot, she informed us it was because a house had fallen on her. She could laugh about it.
Another friend was sucked up into the tornado, in his bath tub and when he landed, he broke his hip, he went home and settled in Chicago for three months, before returning and going back to work. He said it was the best roller coaster ride of his life and he didn't care to repeat it.
There are so many stories from that day, we each have our own stories, mine is easier to tell than others, I wasn't physically harmed, I don't have scars that anybody can see, my scars are deeper, though, they are mental.
Being around everything, all the destruction was making me more moody than ever, so following graduation, I chose to move home, back to Renville, where I moved in with my father, step-mother and step-brother. Emmett not only forced Seth to go see somebody he recommended that I did as well, so Seth and I started down a path of healing.
Seth will never forget what he saw, when you see such destruction, how can you? The bodies you try to rescue, and fail, it destroys a part of you, Seth told me, besides the professional we both see, he'll only speak to me, while rarely do I speak to anybody about it besides him and Edward.
The days following Seth's return home, Seth started acting out. Some girl at his school had been tearing down a poster that asked for help for Cherryville, she felt that nothing had happened to the town, that it was a big publicity stunt. Seth ended up having to home because he slapped the girl, if I'd been in his shoes, things would have been worse, I would have snapped completely.
A month after the tornado, Benny's family was reached and his grandparents, his only surviving family moved home to take care of him, the bad news was, both of his grandparents were in their eighties and both passed away within weeks of each other, leaving Benny an orphan.
Benny still called me every chance he got and when I learned of his grandparents passing, I called Edward and we set a plan in motion.
We choose to adopt Benny, well, more like we appealed to our parents to let us adopt him, my father, after talking with Sue, agreed that we weren't ready for kids, but Sue and him would be more than willing to take Benny in. While Benny wanted Edward and I, we gently told him that he'd be family, we'd be his brother and sister, not his guardians, there for we could get him into more trouble than if we were the rule enforcer.
Benny lived with Sue and Charlie on a trial basis, he found that he really enjoyed living with us and the courts awarded full custody to Sue and Charlie six months after his grandparents died.
Benny still have nightmares from the tornado and after Seth was released from therapy, Benny had to enter, with a child psychologist, I guess nobody thought to inform Benny's teacher that about Benny's past and when Benny took a chunk of wood in from the tornado, we'd tried to find things for him from his home, we'd ended up finding a few picture albums from his early years and some memorabilia that his parents had given him, then we'd allowed him to get one thing from the destruction, he'd chosen a board, it was his height chart, where his mother would measure him ever month to see how tall he'd grown.
When he took the board in and told the class what the board meant to him, the teacher called us, asking for the full story, by the time we finished telling it, she was in tears. Charlie and I agreed that Benny needed to talk to somebody besides us.
Benny is on the road to recovery, rarely does he talk about May 22, 2011, though, neither does Seth, Edward or I, he does slid tidbits in from time to time and that's when we know he wants to talk and we let him. Mostly he opens up to Seth, who understands losing a parent.
Because I moved home, Edward and I were doing the long distance thing. Edward would drive twice a month to see me, we'd sit and do his homework together, we'd go to the movies, we'd be normal, things slowly returned to normal.
The morning of May 22, 2012 arrived and we were back in Cherryville. I'd only made a handful of trips back since leaving after my final class that summer. Today would be the day, at 5:40, in a church that had recently been rebuilt, Edward and I would become husband and wife.
The sun shined down on us, while most of the town still have leaps and bounds to go, things were getting back to normal, the trees were in bloom, though some still survived from the tornado and their blooming patterns would be forever changed, most now bloomed the way the wind had been whipping that day.
The tree's would eventually have to come down, new tree's had been donated in to replace those that had been lost.
Things were starting to look up and Cherryville was moving towards a brighter future.
I stood in a changing room in the church we'd chosen, Edward's church, the church his parents had been getting ready to leave for that day, but had chose not to go because Alice and Logan were coming over.
"Bells," my father came in, tears in his eyes.
Our cute little ring-bearer, Benny came bounding in behind my father, a megawatt smile on his face. This was the first time back for him since he'd moved to his grandparents, so far no adverse reactions, but we stayed away from his old home, though we knew that someday he'd ask to return, to see where his parents had been ripped away from him.
"Bella," Benny smiled. "You look pretty."
"Thanks, Ben," I smiled and picked him up, he through his arms around me and whispered something in my ear.
"I'm glad I found you, that day. I love you."
"Love you, too, Benny."
"It's Ben know," Benny smiled, his two front teeth missing.
Benny insisted we start calling him Ben now, maybe it was because he was growing up, maybe it was because it reminded him of his parents, we didn't know what went through Benny's head half the time, but we knew we loved him and loved that he was family to us.
Alice was my matron of honor, her and Jasper had been married six months prior to Edward and I, it was a small ceremony with friends and family only, since the tornado, Alice had chilled out a lot, she didn't even nag us for a big wedding.
Rosalie was my bridesmaid. Both wore light purple strapless, floor lengths dresses. I'd be getting dolled up again in two months for Emmett and Rosalie's wedding, where I was the best women.
Jasper was the best man and Emmett was a groomsman, everything had come together today and today would become a day of fun and laughter. Marred only by the absence of those one hundred and sixty-one people who were killed.
Who knows what the future holds, I thought as I ascended the aisle towards my waiting groom, who was smiling at me. For me, I hoped for children and family and laughter.
I hoped I never had to deal with another EF-5 tornado, but if it happened, we'd deal with it, just the way we always did, together.
A few moments with the author: So I hope all of you enjoyed the story. I wish there hadn't been a reason to write it, but there was so I wrote it, my way of letting go, so please don't leave rude and obscene remarks in the comment box.
I lived through the Joplin tornado, this story is pretty much my story of how the events unfolded that day and the following days. A few things were changed though, of course names and locations, but the story remains.
While the guy who inspired Edward isn't my boyfriend he is one of my closest friends, in the days following the storm, we'd sit and talk for hours on end, he'd tell me about his sister-in-law and son and how the managed to ride the storm out, the same way as Alice and Logan did.
The Benny aspect of the story came from a story that I'd heard around town while living in Joplin. A young boy was orphaned and taken in by the people who'd saved him. I felt that I should add a child into the story so you could understand that this tornado didn't choose it's victims, the people where as I said. A child became orphaned due to the storm, parents lost their children.
I remember hearing a first responder say that he thought the death toll would be over a thousand, this was before I saw the town, I'd only seen segments from the weather channel online. When I got out and drove through the disaster zone, I realized that yes, the death toll would be high.
I've heard numerous times that the death toll was extremely high, 162 people is a lot. While yes it is, and since what you've seen on television you might agree, to me, that number is low. 8000 homes were destroyed. Maybe that will put you into perspective of how few people passed on. It amazes me that the number was so low, when I've seen that destruction.
I plan to post this the morning of May 22, 2012, one year after the deadly tornado that left invisible scars on me. Life has moved on, I've moved away from Joplin, returning home such as Bella did. I've received a job at a small television station in Mid-Mo and found out that they were sending a crew down to cover the anniversary, it's been very hard to focus and do my work, but my co-workers understand, as they've said, it's only been a year and the healing process has just begun.
I won't be heading to Joplin tomorrow, I've never been one for big events, but tomorrow night, at 5:40 PM, I'll be sitting out on my porch, lighting a candle in memory and support of Joplin and it's residents. I'd like to ask that all my readers do the same, I'll be lighting mine for twenty minutes, the rough amount of time it took the tornado to blow through the town, blowing the candle out shortly before six, when I made my way back to the dorms and saw my first images of St. Johns.
Thank you for letting me get this off my chest, don't expect me to answer reviews and don't expect a follow up, because this story is complete and I promise that I'll be back to My Brother's Best Friend soon.