Storms of the Heart by Vanessa S. Quest
Jonny's wrists burnt. 'Where am I...' He asked himself, trying to sit up. His entire arm felt like it was on fire. He scowled, his shoulder was clacking it was dislocated. Jonny began heaving, his breaths pants.
His covers wrapped around his legs as he twisted and contorted trying to wriggle free from his bonds.
Jonny moved his shoulder back towards his weight; he felt the rope loosen around his wrist he smirked with satisfaction. He dropped to the ground with a soft thud.
He fell out of bed with a heavy, clattering clunk.
He pushed his hands up from the ground his arm burning; 'I must have a pinched nerve...' Jonny turned left to right, searching the perimeter. 'Nothing, wait a second... she's over there!' He leaned against the wall of the building.
He leaned against the door.
'Mama, I'm coming... wait for me... please wait for me...' Jonny slid his hand down the wall to turn the corner, the woman well ahead of him.
He cracked the door open, slipping out of the room walking in a trancelike state, with staggering grace.
'Where did she go?' Jonny stepped towards a door it began to open.
Race opened his bedroom door, 'Who the hell would be up at this ungodly hour?' Race drew his gun as he opened the door, cautiously yet casually. "Jonny..."
'Guards!' Jonny swallowed, he kicked the guard, hard and to the stomach.
Jonny flew at Race, his eyes never seeming to open. 'How the hell is he AIMING at me?!' Race thought, he caught Jonny's foot.
A group of guards came from behind Jonny, hearing the commotion. *AHhhhhh* Jonny could hear his mother scream in the background.
Race held Jonny firmly to the floor. "Jonny, WAKE UP!" Race looked around, 'It's too dangerous to leave him here... like this.'
"AHhhhhh!" Jonny screamed, his heart was racing, he could see the figure dangling limply in the guards arms, 'mama... no...' Jonny's body began to loosen, he began to go limp.
Race quickly cupped Jonny into his arms. 'Not another nightmare, this is the third one he's had this week.'
Jonny half-opened his eyes, his face exhausted and depleted of emotion. He curled into Race's side.
"Come on you, its well past time for all 14 year old boys to be in bed." Jonny curled his fingers around Race's shirt.
Droplets of sweat collected on Jonny's brow, the perspiration causing his thin pajamas to stick to his chest as he respired. "Where am I?" Jonny began sitting up, he closed his eyes, giving in to his fatigue.
Cradling Jonny's neck, Race laid Jonny back into his full-sized bed. 'How long can this continue?' Race asked himself, he pulled off Jonny's comforter from his bed and pulled over a crochet-blanket to Jonny's shoulders.
Race walked to the door and flicked the light switch off.
'Mama no!' Jonny sat up, he was screaming again, loudly. His face caked in clammy sweat his eyes milky.
Race and Benton reached the door, the same moment from down the hall.
Venus leaned again her doorframe, clutching at her ratty stuffed rabbit in her long off-white nightgown.
Jessie and Hadji both stood at their doors, or paces from, Darren ushering them back inside. He glanced back to Venus, then smiled softly. 'She still has that damn toy?'
"Jonny, what is it?!" Benton shook his shoulders softly. His eyes were closed now, his heart still racing.
"Benton, he's asleep again. Look at his eyes." Jonny's eyes moved back and forth underneath the eyelids.
"You're right. Race he was walking around, earlier, wasn't he?"
"Yeah. I brought him back to his room. It was about 3 AM."
Jonny could see her now, they had the syringe they were even dressed like nurses, like it was a hospital. He kept walking along the wall, looking in through the window. 'Mama... no please don't die!' The needle slid under her skin.
*Now administering the C²N², Doctor.*
'That's cyanogens... cyanide!' Jonny thought, he fell into the crates, in horror they dragged her limp body from the 'hospital' and dumped it into the river.
*Someone's outside*
Jonny stood there, after her body splashed into the river his strength was gone. The woman smiled vehemently.
He saw the needle, the table, the straps holding his arms and legs. The needle slid in effortlessly.
A loud sound of gunfire filled the room, flashes appearing against the wall. Bodies fell all around Jonny, he felt numb cold inside. The needle pulled out of his neck as the latest corpse dropped to the ground right beside him.
'Why...' His eyes watered up to their brims. His bonds were cut...
BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp
...By his father, 'Why didn't you come... sooner... in time to save mother? WHY?!'
BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp
Jonny began blinking, he turned to the racket, his face muted from all expressions besides utter exhaustion.
"Where am I?" He said to the ceiling, the room empty, save for the alarm clock.
BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp
Jonny grabbed his head in his right hand, his eyebrow twitching and lip snarling. His left hand covered the alarm clock, muting it as his hands learned to function once more this morning.
BwAmPph.
He turned the alarm off.
He sat up in his bed. He looked down at his knees, his arms rested at their sides.
Jessie knocked on his door, "Jonny, school's cancelled today! That hurricane DIDN'T veer like the Weather Channel had hoped, it's going to hit us head on. Actually, school is cancelled for the week, it's supposed to be used as an emergency center and they need to get ready. Too BAD it's already a Wednesday, huh?"
Jonny smirked, "Yeah. Too bad." He stretched his arms over his head. His shirt rested on his chair, his jeans on top of it and shoes at the chair's legs. "Hey, Jess, ask Venus if she's ever seen a hurricane before. I- I wonder if she ever has been in one."
"Hadji's WAY ahead of you on that one, Jonny. See what you get for sleeping in? He's been drilling her since 9 about it!"
"WHAT?! What TIME is it???" Jonny said, he glared at his watch. "How in the hell... 10... WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP!" Jessie walked in.
"Aw, but you look so cute asleep, besides you didn't get to sleep till 6, Dr. Quest and dad timed it." She smirked. "Besides, school WAS cancelled." She scuffed his hair.
"Damn you." Jonny said, smirking. He took his comb and fixed his hair. "Did I miss breakfast?"
"Nah, Mrs. Evan's will make you something, you know that!" Jessie teased.
Drops of rain began to trickle against the glass. Venus sat in her room intent to watch it, Hadji continued lecturing; Venus rolled her eyes.
"Hadj, it's nice of you to fuss, but really if you don't get out of my room in three seconds I'm going to show you a force of nature MUCH more threatening then this silly little gust of wind and bit of rain." Venus said with a soft smile, then shot him a hard, icy stare. Hadji stumbled backwards.
Darren laughed, he stood at the door.
"Oh hello father. As voyeur as ever I see." Darren's eyes grew, he leaned back into the doorframe and chuckled softly.
"D- Why kitten, never." Hadji looked back to Venus with a twitch.
She snarled. Hadji ran out the door towards much safer territory, such as a golf course during a thunderstorm, but more accurately, in this instance, the kitchen.
"So, what class is this Hurricane F1... F2...?" Venus asked.
Darren smirked, he looked down, "Oh that's silly, way up HERE in Maine, a hurricane reaching that high on the Fujita scale? Actually, this one is oddly strong, it's an F3."
"WHAT????"
"Yeah, no kidding. This far up it should be dead by now, it caught a warm- air current from the Mid West but was pushed back into us by a strong- forced dry arctic cold front. That sped up the wind gusts again it almost dissipated too." Darren explained.
"Well, THAT sucks. So it'll be like we're in St. Lucia all over again, won't it?"
"Heh... THAT was an F5, we should've LEFT that island Venus, and if it wasn't for the job we would've but it was such a perfect opportunity. Come on, we need to pack this place up."
Venus smirked, "Sure thing dad, IRIS, lower storm shields."
A heavy clanging sound can be heard throughout the compound.
Jonny winced, he leaned against the wall in the living room, his hands open, sweat pouring down his face and neck, his heart pounding. With each clanking sound comes a guard, closer than the one before...
"Hey, Jonny... are you alright? You look kinda pale." Jessie reached her hand towards him
Jonny saw the windows, closing. 'My way out... trapped... no, not again!' He swallowed hard, racing for the farthest window, the glass shattered as he jumped through the window landing a flying kick, elbows block his face.
"Oh. shit." Jessie gulped. "DAD! DR. QUEST! HADJI!" Jessie screamed whilst racing towards the closing window.
'They... know I've escaped, have to... get out... of here... find mom... before its too late!' Jonny thought to himself.
Venus smirked from inside her bedroom, "See, it can be shut down within a minute... IRIS, raise all the storm shields." Venus walked towards the main hall. Her eyes grew as the light reflected from the broken glass and crimson stains. "What in the hell!"
She raced towards the window, stopping at the windowsill. She touched her hand to the pane of glass.
Darren ran towards her, "Venus! What are you doing?!" Her head turned, her hand dug into the glass.
"OW! Oww... Damn it, smooth move dad, DISTRACT me while I'm investigating! BAKA!" She clutched her hand.
He grabbed her hand, "It looks deep Venus..." wrapping his handkerchief around it. "I'm going to need to clean it... and bandage that..."
Venus rolled her eyes, "Nah really, here I thought I'd get some chum and some staf and just slosh my hand in THAT for a while till I stopped bleeding."
Darren smiled softly, "So long as you're being pleasant about this. I wonder who broke the window."
"It was Jonny."
Venus and Jessie said in unison. Jessie's voice seemed full of anxiety, Venus on the other hand oddly calm and surreal.
Darren's eyes narrowed. "So you both saw him jump or something?"
"Yeah..." Jessie answered quickly.
"No, I figured it out... The footprints and the blood didn't make mine clot." Venus replied.
"Mr. Kiers, you have to help us find him! The hurricane is going to hit us any minute now!" Jessie said, her anxiety turning to panic.
"Jessie, are you afraid of storms?" Darren asked.
"No. not storms, I'm claustrophobic." Darren nodded.
"I'll find him, you girls just wait in here, with Hadji and Benton. Your dad and I can handle looking for him, we'll take Bandit."
"But dad!" Venus said, shooting him a glare.
"What? You can operate IRIS and help Benton..." Darren smirked.
"So can Hadji." Venus said eyebrow twitching in frustration. "Besides, I have experience in a storm... Or have you forgotten?? I doubt that."
"Damn. All right, Race, Bandit, you and I will go looking for your brother. The rest of you hold down the fort, okay?"
"Yeay!" Venus smirked victoriously. She winked, holding up the victory 'v' "I won't let you down dad." She said, running out the door grabbing a flashlight.
"This will be a long night." Darren and Benton both breathed.
Jonny sat in a tall oak, the wind blew against his back. He pressed his hand against the branch to steady himself. He looked down at the ground, fifteen feet below him. 'The wind's getting strong... What am I doing here...?'
"JONNY!" Venus called, her voice carrying across the woods, "JAHHHHKNEEEE!"
Jonny closed his eyes, 'So tired...' "Damn why am I so tired..." He asked himself faintly, he looked back down towards the ground, it blurred to two images overlaying one true image. Jonny fell back against the branch.
Venus's ear perked, she pointed towards the trees branches swaying in the wind. The wind growing heavier and heavier still. 'The rain will come soon...' Venus thought to herself as she tasted the air.
Darren looked at the ground, "Venus, footprints lead to this one." He whispered. "Who feels like a climb?"
"I'll go." Race answered, he slid towards the tree, droplets of rain fell from the sky, one, two, trickling. Race was halfway up, downpour. "Jonny?"
Jonny held the tree tightly, the wind swaying his body back and forth at its command. "Darren, this branch is weak, it's going to snap." 'I have to move quickly.'
"Get away from me..." Jonny said he slid his body down the branch further.
"JONNY! Stay still! That branch is going to break!"
He stilled for a moment, a strong gust of wind blew, the branch swayed, Race swallowed hard. He put a foot onto it, *Cra...*
"RACE! Get off that! I'm coming up!" Venus called, handing Darren the flashlight. "Dad, I'll try to jump, if you don't catch me, I'll destroy you." She whispered aside, "Have Race catch Jonny... he's heavier..." Venus hummed as she climbed.
Race reached the bottom just to see Venus at the branch. Venus swallowed hard. 'Acrophobia: One who has the fear of heights. In the agency fears are not allowed...' Venus began to remember one day in training, she had froze up on a 'mission' or whatever you can call it when you were kidnapped and it happened to go along with the common good of your orders. 'They suspended the bodies from one-hundred foot water towers then filled it to the brim with the town water supply... all the while leaving you the view of your feet dangling all the way down the pipes the rock-hard ground.' Venus clenched her fisted then opened them, placing them against the branch she pushed herself up to a standing position as though she was ready to walk tight rope. 'And they wonder why I lost my nerve about taking a shot, FROM that damn position, did they even ask 'are you alright are you hurt?' no... they wanted me to kill... I was petrified, my arm was dislocated, and when I finally pulled the shot my arm shanks and almost drowns me from hitting a water valve, and even then do they get a clue... no.'
She walked down the branch. The wind swayed all around, her body was a reed, soft to bend and return the drag minimal on her body. 'Dad was the only one who went to pull me from the pipe... damn bastards fear kills, but uselessness kills quicker. Oddly enough the very next week I made an invention that saved more than half their asses.' Venus looked down at Jonny, her body soaked from rain. "Well, looks like I just found a cat stuck in a tree."
She bent one knee then, looping it dropped so that she was upside down, she pulled her arms around the tree and rolled onto the top.
Jonny swallowed back.
"Jonny, are you even awake?" She whispered sweetly.
"Yeah... now, how did I get up here?" Jonny mumbled, looking at the ground so far away.
"Ah, but a wiser man would ask how do I get down." Venus smirked, "Well, without injury." She winked. "Ya ran off, so I figure you CLIMBED up here, but that's just one of those obnoxiously logical guesses I have. Either that or Alice got mad at you, abducted you and dropped you in a tree for revenge, but the window of opportunity is just TOO small so I have to say the former verses the latter." Venus smiled.
"Enough jokes!" Jonny groaned, "Please, we're going to fall... do you have any idea how much that hurts?" Jonny mumbled, obviously recalling upon past experiences with this very beast.
"Oh I have an idea, is it like being shot at point blank? Or perhaps more like the binds? No, maybe it's just like falling down an elevator shaft, hmm but before or after the sensation of the elevator itself falling upon me... I wonder." Venus teased.
"Urgh. I'm jumping. Anything is better than this."
"Good, because this branch is going to break, and being impaled is EXACTLY like falling down the elevator shaft AFTER the elevator lands on you, definitely." Venus taunted.
Jonny twitched. "Someone catch me!" He let go of his grip, nothing happened.
"Jonny, you are still facing skyward." Venus added to his torment.
"Damn you." He laughed, he wrapped his leg around the branch and turned upside down, he extended his arms, "Race, AIM."
"Jonny, I'm right below you, don't worry, just drop... but perhaps, NOT head first."
"Drat foiled again." Jonny giggled, he wrapped his arms around the tree and let his legs drop freely, he let his grip drop freely.
"Mph! Got you Jonny!" Race touched Jonny to the ground, "Venus, your turn, come on down before the branch snaps!"
The wind was howling the rain gushing.
Venus looked down, she felt dizzy, *In Alpha 1 If you do NOT conquer your fears, they conquer you... that is why we have devised this exercise for you...* Venus remembered, she could feel the bonds suspend her upside down in the dark, swinging her back and forth and simulating the height, then one day, the chord DID break... 'bastards...' Venus looked down, her vision blurred. "I- I'm coming down." She spun upside down, *Crac-cakk!* "AAYYYYIIHHH!"
"Shit! The branch snapped!" Darren said, looking up at his daughter, still suspended in the air.
"Not completely... VENUS! Come on! You have to climb down or jump... The branch is still holding momentarily!" Race called to her.
Venus held to the branch in a death grip, her heart pulsating, "I can't aim... if I jump... How will I clear the debris? It will surely fall if I exert any pressure!"
"This ISN'T math class Venus, this is P.E. now JUMP! Kick off the tree and jump!" Darren barked, he himself aiming his body for the anticipated brunt of the blow.
"Right!" Venus swallowed. She leaned her leg against the tree. Folding her knee. pulling her arms close to the tree, standing perpendicular to the tree... release!
Venus flew towards the ground headfirst, Venus tucked her knee towards her stomach, flipping herself. She landed hard on her ankles, as she dropped Darren caught her, lifting her into his arms.
Jonny coughed, his hair stuck to the sides of his face.
"Let's get you kinds inside... I don't know if you NOTICED but we're in a hurricane out here." Race teased. He guided Jonny back towards the compound.
***Five minutes later...
Jonny leaned into Benton's shoulder, returning a hug. "Jonny! Are you alright? Why did you run off?"
Pools of water formed where he stood. He rubbed his face in a weary fashion.
"Jonny, the compound is on lockdown... you need to stay somewhere I can find you at ALL times... why don't you lay down in my room? You look exhausted, the storm is going to continue for the most of the night more than likely... And your room isn't hurricane proof."
"I know the drill dad...I'd rather stay up..."
"I'd rather you not." Benton countered.
Jonny's eyes narrowed. "Gee thanks for your input dad." Jonny smiled sardonically.
"Jonny, what are the nightmares about?" Benton asked seriously.
Jonny swallowed back hard. "I don't want to talk about it..."
"Jonny, it's becoming a regular trend. What are they about? ...Your mother?"
He looked down, tears welling.
"So it is." Benton said scientifically, measuring his son's reaction.
"She died in weather like this. Do you remember?" Jonny asked.
Benton looked down. He slid his arms around Jonny, forming a tight, warming embrace.
"So you do." Jonny said in a trembling tone. "I hate this weather."
~End.~
Jonny's wrists burnt. 'Where am I...' He asked himself, trying to sit up. His entire arm felt like it was on fire. He scowled, his shoulder was clacking it was dislocated. Jonny began heaving, his breaths pants.
His covers wrapped around his legs as he twisted and contorted trying to wriggle free from his bonds.
Jonny moved his shoulder back towards his weight; he felt the rope loosen around his wrist he smirked with satisfaction. He dropped to the ground with a soft thud.
He fell out of bed with a heavy, clattering clunk.
He pushed his hands up from the ground his arm burning; 'I must have a pinched nerve...' Jonny turned left to right, searching the perimeter. 'Nothing, wait a second... she's over there!' He leaned against the wall of the building.
He leaned against the door.
'Mama, I'm coming... wait for me... please wait for me...' Jonny slid his hand down the wall to turn the corner, the woman well ahead of him.
He cracked the door open, slipping out of the room walking in a trancelike state, with staggering grace.
'Where did she go?' Jonny stepped towards a door it began to open.
Race opened his bedroom door, 'Who the hell would be up at this ungodly hour?' Race drew his gun as he opened the door, cautiously yet casually. "Jonny..."
'Guards!' Jonny swallowed, he kicked the guard, hard and to the stomach.
Jonny flew at Race, his eyes never seeming to open. 'How the hell is he AIMING at me?!' Race thought, he caught Jonny's foot.
A group of guards came from behind Jonny, hearing the commotion. *AHhhhhh* Jonny could hear his mother scream in the background.
Race held Jonny firmly to the floor. "Jonny, WAKE UP!" Race looked around, 'It's too dangerous to leave him here... like this.'
"AHhhhhh!" Jonny screamed, his heart was racing, he could see the figure dangling limply in the guards arms, 'mama... no...' Jonny's body began to loosen, he began to go limp.
Race quickly cupped Jonny into his arms. 'Not another nightmare, this is the third one he's had this week.'
Jonny half-opened his eyes, his face exhausted and depleted of emotion. He curled into Race's side.
"Come on you, its well past time for all 14 year old boys to be in bed." Jonny curled his fingers around Race's shirt.
Droplets of sweat collected on Jonny's brow, the perspiration causing his thin pajamas to stick to his chest as he respired. "Where am I?" Jonny began sitting up, he closed his eyes, giving in to his fatigue.
Cradling Jonny's neck, Race laid Jonny back into his full-sized bed. 'How long can this continue?' Race asked himself, he pulled off Jonny's comforter from his bed and pulled over a crochet-blanket to Jonny's shoulders.
Race walked to the door and flicked the light switch off.
'Mama no!' Jonny sat up, he was screaming again, loudly. His face caked in clammy sweat his eyes milky.
Race and Benton reached the door, the same moment from down the hall.
Venus leaned again her doorframe, clutching at her ratty stuffed rabbit in her long off-white nightgown.
Jessie and Hadji both stood at their doors, or paces from, Darren ushering them back inside. He glanced back to Venus, then smiled softly. 'She still has that damn toy?'
"Jonny, what is it?!" Benton shook his shoulders softly. His eyes were closed now, his heart still racing.
"Benton, he's asleep again. Look at his eyes." Jonny's eyes moved back and forth underneath the eyelids.
"You're right. Race he was walking around, earlier, wasn't he?"
"Yeah. I brought him back to his room. It was about 3 AM."
Jonny could see her now, they had the syringe they were even dressed like nurses, like it was a hospital. He kept walking along the wall, looking in through the window. 'Mama... no please don't die!' The needle slid under her skin.
*Now administering the C²N², Doctor.*
'That's cyanogens... cyanide!' Jonny thought, he fell into the crates, in horror they dragged her limp body from the 'hospital' and dumped it into the river.
*Someone's outside*
Jonny stood there, after her body splashed into the river his strength was gone. The woman smiled vehemently.
He saw the needle, the table, the straps holding his arms and legs. The needle slid in effortlessly.
A loud sound of gunfire filled the room, flashes appearing against the wall. Bodies fell all around Jonny, he felt numb cold inside. The needle pulled out of his neck as the latest corpse dropped to the ground right beside him.
'Why...' His eyes watered up to their brims. His bonds were cut...
BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp
...By his father, 'Why didn't you come... sooner... in time to save mother? WHY?!'
BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp
Jonny began blinking, he turned to the racket, his face muted from all expressions besides utter exhaustion.
"Where am I?" He said to the ceiling, the room empty, save for the alarm clock.
BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp, BwAmPPp
Jonny grabbed his head in his right hand, his eyebrow twitching and lip snarling. His left hand covered the alarm clock, muting it as his hands learned to function once more this morning.
BwAmPph.
He turned the alarm off.
He sat up in his bed. He looked down at his knees, his arms rested at their sides.
Jessie knocked on his door, "Jonny, school's cancelled today! That hurricane DIDN'T veer like the Weather Channel had hoped, it's going to hit us head on. Actually, school is cancelled for the week, it's supposed to be used as an emergency center and they need to get ready. Too BAD it's already a Wednesday, huh?"
Jonny smirked, "Yeah. Too bad." He stretched his arms over his head. His shirt rested on his chair, his jeans on top of it and shoes at the chair's legs. "Hey, Jess, ask Venus if she's ever seen a hurricane before. I- I wonder if she ever has been in one."
"Hadji's WAY ahead of you on that one, Jonny. See what you get for sleeping in? He's been drilling her since 9 about it!"
"WHAT?! What TIME is it???" Jonny said, he glared at his watch. "How in the hell... 10... WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP!" Jessie walked in.
"Aw, but you look so cute asleep, besides you didn't get to sleep till 6, Dr. Quest and dad timed it." She smirked. "Besides, school WAS cancelled." She scuffed his hair.
"Damn you." Jonny said, smirking. He took his comb and fixed his hair. "Did I miss breakfast?"
"Nah, Mrs. Evan's will make you something, you know that!" Jessie teased.
Drops of rain began to trickle against the glass. Venus sat in her room intent to watch it, Hadji continued lecturing; Venus rolled her eyes.
"Hadj, it's nice of you to fuss, but really if you don't get out of my room in three seconds I'm going to show you a force of nature MUCH more threatening then this silly little gust of wind and bit of rain." Venus said with a soft smile, then shot him a hard, icy stare. Hadji stumbled backwards.
Darren laughed, he stood at the door.
"Oh hello father. As voyeur as ever I see." Darren's eyes grew, he leaned back into the doorframe and chuckled softly.
"D- Why kitten, never." Hadji looked back to Venus with a twitch.
She snarled. Hadji ran out the door towards much safer territory, such as a golf course during a thunderstorm, but more accurately, in this instance, the kitchen.
"So, what class is this Hurricane F1... F2...?" Venus asked.
Darren smirked, he looked down, "Oh that's silly, way up HERE in Maine, a hurricane reaching that high on the Fujita scale? Actually, this one is oddly strong, it's an F3."
"WHAT????"
"Yeah, no kidding. This far up it should be dead by now, it caught a warm- air current from the Mid West but was pushed back into us by a strong- forced dry arctic cold front. That sped up the wind gusts again it almost dissipated too." Darren explained.
"Well, THAT sucks. So it'll be like we're in St. Lucia all over again, won't it?"
"Heh... THAT was an F5, we should've LEFT that island Venus, and if it wasn't for the job we would've but it was such a perfect opportunity. Come on, we need to pack this place up."
Venus smirked, "Sure thing dad, IRIS, lower storm shields."
A heavy clanging sound can be heard throughout the compound.
Jonny winced, he leaned against the wall in the living room, his hands open, sweat pouring down his face and neck, his heart pounding. With each clanking sound comes a guard, closer than the one before...
"Hey, Jonny... are you alright? You look kinda pale." Jessie reached her hand towards him
Jonny saw the windows, closing. 'My way out... trapped... no, not again!' He swallowed hard, racing for the farthest window, the glass shattered as he jumped through the window landing a flying kick, elbows block his face.
"Oh. shit." Jessie gulped. "DAD! DR. QUEST! HADJI!" Jessie screamed whilst racing towards the closing window.
'They... know I've escaped, have to... get out... of here... find mom... before its too late!' Jonny thought to himself.
Venus smirked from inside her bedroom, "See, it can be shut down within a minute... IRIS, raise all the storm shields." Venus walked towards the main hall. Her eyes grew as the light reflected from the broken glass and crimson stains. "What in the hell!"
She raced towards the window, stopping at the windowsill. She touched her hand to the pane of glass.
Darren ran towards her, "Venus! What are you doing?!" Her head turned, her hand dug into the glass.
"OW! Oww... Damn it, smooth move dad, DISTRACT me while I'm investigating! BAKA!" She clutched her hand.
He grabbed her hand, "It looks deep Venus..." wrapping his handkerchief around it. "I'm going to need to clean it... and bandage that..."
Venus rolled her eyes, "Nah really, here I thought I'd get some chum and some staf and just slosh my hand in THAT for a while till I stopped bleeding."
Darren smiled softly, "So long as you're being pleasant about this. I wonder who broke the window."
"It was Jonny."
Venus and Jessie said in unison. Jessie's voice seemed full of anxiety, Venus on the other hand oddly calm and surreal.
Darren's eyes narrowed. "So you both saw him jump or something?"
"Yeah..." Jessie answered quickly.
"No, I figured it out... The footprints and the blood didn't make mine clot." Venus replied.
"Mr. Kiers, you have to help us find him! The hurricane is going to hit us any minute now!" Jessie said, her anxiety turning to panic.
"Jessie, are you afraid of storms?" Darren asked.
"No. not storms, I'm claustrophobic." Darren nodded.
"I'll find him, you girls just wait in here, with Hadji and Benton. Your dad and I can handle looking for him, we'll take Bandit."
"But dad!" Venus said, shooting him a glare.
"What? You can operate IRIS and help Benton..." Darren smirked.
"So can Hadji." Venus said eyebrow twitching in frustration. "Besides, I have experience in a storm... Or have you forgotten?? I doubt that."
"Damn. All right, Race, Bandit, you and I will go looking for your brother. The rest of you hold down the fort, okay?"
"Yeay!" Venus smirked victoriously. She winked, holding up the victory 'v' "I won't let you down dad." She said, running out the door grabbing a flashlight.
"This will be a long night." Darren and Benton both breathed.
Jonny sat in a tall oak, the wind blew against his back. He pressed his hand against the branch to steady himself. He looked down at the ground, fifteen feet below him. 'The wind's getting strong... What am I doing here...?'
"JONNY!" Venus called, her voice carrying across the woods, "JAHHHHKNEEEE!"
Jonny closed his eyes, 'So tired...' "Damn why am I so tired..." He asked himself faintly, he looked back down towards the ground, it blurred to two images overlaying one true image. Jonny fell back against the branch.
Venus's ear perked, she pointed towards the trees branches swaying in the wind. The wind growing heavier and heavier still. 'The rain will come soon...' Venus thought to herself as she tasted the air.
Darren looked at the ground, "Venus, footprints lead to this one." He whispered. "Who feels like a climb?"
"I'll go." Race answered, he slid towards the tree, droplets of rain fell from the sky, one, two, trickling. Race was halfway up, downpour. "Jonny?"
Jonny held the tree tightly, the wind swaying his body back and forth at its command. "Darren, this branch is weak, it's going to snap." 'I have to move quickly.'
"Get away from me..." Jonny said he slid his body down the branch further.
"JONNY! Stay still! That branch is going to break!"
He stilled for a moment, a strong gust of wind blew, the branch swayed, Race swallowed hard. He put a foot onto it, *Cra...*
"RACE! Get off that! I'm coming up!" Venus called, handing Darren the flashlight. "Dad, I'll try to jump, if you don't catch me, I'll destroy you." She whispered aside, "Have Race catch Jonny... he's heavier..." Venus hummed as she climbed.
Race reached the bottom just to see Venus at the branch. Venus swallowed hard. 'Acrophobia: One who has the fear of heights. In the agency fears are not allowed...' Venus began to remember one day in training, she had froze up on a 'mission' or whatever you can call it when you were kidnapped and it happened to go along with the common good of your orders. 'They suspended the bodies from one-hundred foot water towers then filled it to the brim with the town water supply... all the while leaving you the view of your feet dangling all the way down the pipes the rock-hard ground.' Venus clenched her fisted then opened them, placing them against the branch she pushed herself up to a standing position as though she was ready to walk tight rope. 'And they wonder why I lost my nerve about taking a shot, FROM that damn position, did they even ask 'are you alright are you hurt?' no... they wanted me to kill... I was petrified, my arm was dislocated, and when I finally pulled the shot my arm shanks and almost drowns me from hitting a water valve, and even then do they get a clue... no.'
She walked down the branch. The wind swayed all around, her body was a reed, soft to bend and return the drag minimal on her body. 'Dad was the only one who went to pull me from the pipe... damn bastards fear kills, but uselessness kills quicker. Oddly enough the very next week I made an invention that saved more than half their asses.' Venus looked down at Jonny, her body soaked from rain. "Well, looks like I just found a cat stuck in a tree."
She bent one knee then, looping it dropped so that she was upside down, she pulled her arms around the tree and rolled onto the top.
Jonny swallowed back.
"Jonny, are you even awake?" She whispered sweetly.
"Yeah... now, how did I get up here?" Jonny mumbled, looking at the ground so far away.
"Ah, but a wiser man would ask how do I get down." Venus smirked, "Well, without injury." She winked. "Ya ran off, so I figure you CLIMBED up here, but that's just one of those obnoxiously logical guesses I have. Either that or Alice got mad at you, abducted you and dropped you in a tree for revenge, but the window of opportunity is just TOO small so I have to say the former verses the latter." Venus smiled.
"Enough jokes!" Jonny groaned, "Please, we're going to fall... do you have any idea how much that hurts?" Jonny mumbled, obviously recalling upon past experiences with this very beast.
"Oh I have an idea, is it like being shot at point blank? Or perhaps more like the binds? No, maybe it's just like falling down an elevator shaft, hmm but before or after the sensation of the elevator itself falling upon me... I wonder." Venus teased.
"Urgh. I'm jumping. Anything is better than this."
"Good, because this branch is going to break, and being impaled is EXACTLY like falling down the elevator shaft AFTER the elevator lands on you, definitely." Venus taunted.
Jonny twitched. "Someone catch me!" He let go of his grip, nothing happened.
"Jonny, you are still facing skyward." Venus added to his torment.
"Damn you." He laughed, he wrapped his leg around the branch and turned upside down, he extended his arms, "Race, AIM."
"Jonny, I'm right below you, don't worry, just drop... but perhaps, NOT head first."
"Drat foiled again." Jonny giggled, he wrapped his arms around the tree and let his legs drop freely, he let his grip drop freely.
"Mph! Got you Jonny!" Race touched Jonny to the ground, "Venus, your turn, come on down before the branch snaps!"
The wind was howling the rain gushing.
Venus looked down, she felt dizzy, *In Alpha 1 If you do NOT conquer your fears, they conquer you... that is why we have devised this exercise for you...* Venus remembered, she could feel the bonds suspend her upside down in the dark, swinging her back and forth and simulating the height, then one day, the chord DID break... 'bastards...' Venus looked down, her vision blurred. "I- I'm coming down." She spun upside down, *Crac-cakk!* "AAYYYYIIHHH!"
"Shit! The branch snapped!" Darren said, looking up at his daughter, still suspended in the air.
"Not completely... VENUS! Come on! You have to climb down or jump... The branch is still holding momentarily!" Race called to her.
Venus held to the branch in a death grip, her heart pulsating, "I can't aim... if I jump... How will I clear the debris? It will surely fall if I exert any pressure!"
"This ISN'T math class Venus, this is P.E. now JUMP! Kick off the tree and jump!" Darren barked, he himself aiming his body for the anticipated brunt of the blow.
"Right!" Venus swallowed. She leaned her leg against the tree. Folding her knee. pulling her arms close to the tree, standing perpendicular to the tree... release!
Venus flew towards the ground headfirst, Venus tucked her knee towards her stomach, flipping herself. She landed hard on her ankles, as she dropped Darren caught her, lifting her into his arms.
Jonny coughed, his hair stuck to the sides of his face.
"Let's get you kinds inside... I don't know if you NOTICED but we're in a hurricane out here." Race teased. He guided Jonny back towards the compound.
***Five minutes later...
Jonny leaned into Benton's shoulder, returning a hug. "Jonny! Are you alright? Why did you run off?"
Pools of water formed where he stood. He rubbed his face in a weary fashion.
"Jonny, the compound is on lockdown... you need to stay somewhere I can find you at ALL times... why don't you lay down in my room? You look exhausted, the storm is going to continue for the most of the night more than likely... And your room isn't hurricane proof."
"I know the drill dad...I'd rather stay up..."
"I'd rather you not." Benton countered.
Jonny's eyes narrowed. "Gee thanks for your input dad." Jonny smiled sardonically.
"Jonny, what are the nightmares about?" Benton asked seriously.
Jonny swallowed back hard. "I don't want to talk about it..."
"Jonny, it's becoming a regular trend. What are they about? ...Your mother?"
He looked down, tears welling.
"So it is." Benton said scientifically, measuring his son's reaction.
"She died in weather like this. Do you remember?" Jonny asked.
Benton looked down. He slid his arms around Jonny, forming a tight, warming embrace.
"So you do." Jonny said in a trembling tone. "I hate this weather."
~End.~