Sorry for the long hiatus! It ended up being much longer than planned. I'm trying to get excited about this story again, but I've had it in my head so long now that it seems old now! If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks for your patience... I hope you're still interested!!
Chapter 10
"So, I would imagine you'll be joining us, huh?" Jason inquired, sounding much more chipper a mere half hour later as he headed down the stairs. He had taken a shower and gotten dressed in a red ringer tee and a pair of jeans, and his hangover was quickly becoming a mere memory. He joined Kimberly, who was slumped on the bottom stair, and Zack, who stood directly across from her, looking bemused.
Kim tilted her head in Jason's direction. "Are you talking to me?"
"Yeah. You just had a meltdown outside. I figured that meant you wouldn't want to stay here while we go."
"Uh… Where are we going?" Zack asked, reminding both of them that he had just rolled off the couch a few minutes before.
"Oh, sorry, bro. I signed us up for equipment and manpower duty."
"Huh?" Zack replied, rubbing his forehead.
"Trini called right after they left and asked us to go out and get some equipment from the sporting goods store… Repelling equipment, to be exact. She said she thought we might need it, Jason answered with a shrug.
"And the manpower?" Kim said.
"Well, I figured we'd just swing by the hotel on our way back and pick up Rocky, Adam, Aisha and Tanya. Save them a trip, you know?"
Kim scoffed at the mention of the last name in his list. "Count me out."
"What are you talking about?"
"You want me to climb into close quarters with someone who hates me and ride around town? She'll probably kill me."
"So, uh… you're gonna stay here alone with Tommy?" Jason asked, raising one eyebrow.
Kim sighed and looked to Zack for support; however, he still seemed confused. "Rock and a hard place, Jase. But I think I'm better off here. I'll just stay out of his way."
"Are you two… fighting?" Zack said, taking a stab in the dark.
"Not fighting… Flirting," Jason said, matter-of-factly, earning him a glare from Kimberly.
"Well, duh…" Zack contributed.
Kim sighed. "Plus, I haven't even showered yet…" she continued, purposely ignoring their insinuations.
"Me neither," Zack replied quickly, finally catching on to the dynamics of the situation between Tommy and Kim.
"But it will take me way longer than you, Zack. You know that. If you waited for me, you'd probably still be here when Billy and Trini get back." Kim watched Zack and Jason exchange amused glances and rolled her eyes. "I'm just going to head out to the beach for a while. Call me when you guys get back," she said, pulling herself up from her seated position.
"You got it," Jason called after her as she headed for the back of the house. Zack shook his head, then took to the stairs.
Tommy took a long swig from his water bottle and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He was still feeling the effects of his long night of drinking, and he would do about anything to just go back to bed. Thoughts of his bride-to-be trapped with an unknown nemesis kept the adrenaline flowing, though, and those thoughts were only compounded by thoughts of Kim's abrupt departure. He dropped the water bottle back to its spot on the ground and returned his attention to the punching bag immediately to his left.
He became so focused on his workout that he barely heard the basement door swing open. It wasn't until he heard Jason's voice ring out from above that he allowed himself to be ripped from his state of oblivion,
"Tommy? You down here?"
"Uh, yeah, Jase. What's up?"
"We're heading out to get some supplies, and we're going to swing by and pick up everyone from the hotel on the way back."
Tommy nodded. "Sounds great. I'll keep an eye on things here."
Jason did his best to repress a giggle. "Well, speaking of that, we're leaving Kim with you."
A deafening silence echoed from the basement, but Jason remained stationary, waiting for a reaction from his friend. Just as he expected, Tommy's face appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "What? Why? Why isn't she going with you?"
"She seems to think Tanya hates her, and I'm pretty sure she's not wrong. So she's just going to hang here with you, if that's alright."
"Yeah, I mean… If that's what she wants… She can stay, if she wants to."
Amused at Tommy's stammering, Jason turned to leave. "You kids behave yourself."
Kimberly sprinted down the small hill leading from the back of Tommy's house to the narrow coastline. Her feet stopped as soon as they hit the sand, and she paused to take in the view of the early afternoon sky over the water. The smell of saltwater overtook her, and a meek smile touched her lips as her eyelids drifted closed. This really is beautiful… she thought. She pushed her hands high above her head and stretched her arms, then dropped both hands to her hips as she gazed out over the water.
She could have remained in that exact spot forever, soaking in the sights and sounds of the beach. Her hair, damp from the ocean spray, danced haphazardly across her cheeks and she made no move to brush it away. With every crash of the waves she felt the tension in her neck and shoulders loosen just a little, and she was determined to let the waves carry her thoughts of Tommy out to sea.
Except, the waves are crashing into the shore, dumbass, she thought, with a sarcastic smile.
Kimberly actively pulled her thoughts away from Tommy, and as she did so, her legs became restless. She turned and headed down the coast at a slow pace as Jake made his way into her mind.
Jake Moreno, Kim's current boyfriend, had been part of her life for a mere four months. He was Tommy's polar opposite, a statement she could easily make about every man she'd dated since leaving Angel Grove. He worked as a department store manager at a major mall in Miami, and Kim had to admit that his affluent lifestyle was easy to get used to. He was "old money," the son of a corporate attorney who made more in a month than Kimberly hoped to make in a year. Jake was also a metro-sexual in every sense of the word, and he often spent more time primping than Kimberly did. She loved slipping into a little black dress and a pair of stilettos to join him for a night on the town, and he had a knack for making Kimberly feel like she didn't have a care in the world. He truly cared for Kim, and she knew he'd be willing to give her anything she ever wanted, but as she stood there in the sand watching the sun reflect off the surface of the water, she thought about the moment Tommy grabbed her that morning. She thought about the butterflies in her stomach as he carried her down the stairs, and the nervously-excited feeling that overtook her as she spun to face him after he'd released her. All the money in the world couldn't buy her that emotion.
The starry-eyed brunette shook her head and burst into a slow jog. All this pondering did her no good. She knew she was dancing around the thought that Tommy was her ideal man, and that ideal was simply unattainable. If you keep holding everyone up to Tommy, you'll be alone forever… she scolded herself. Be happy for Tommy… and be happy with Jake. And with that final thought, her jog became a run as she darted further away from Tommy's house and his memories.
A short time later, Tommy trotted up the stairs and into an empty house. "Kim?" he called out, glancing around briefly before grabbing another bottle of water. He made his way into the living room, then to the base of the stairs. "Kimberly?" His beckon was again met with silence.
Maybe she changed her mind about staying… he thought glumly. He called out one last time, then headed for the shower.
The light haired man moved through the dank cave purposefully toward his frail servant, taking special care to avoid the occasional beam of daylight breaking in between the rocks. "Finster! How's it coming?"
"My lord, it's as strong as it's going to get, I'm afraid."
The man stopped short when he reached Finster, whose lower body was surrounded by a dark cloud. He winced slightly when lightning illuminated the small room, then nodded at the cloud's creator. "Set it loose."
Finster raised his hand and the cloud followed, seeping out of the cave through the small cracks. The man smiled and nodded, then turned to leave, scooping up the brightly glowing viewing orb as he went.
"Where are you going, my lord?"
"It's time to pay our prisoner a visit."
The sea had become choppy, and the waves were coming to shore much faster than before. Kim watched as the ominous gray cloud crept over the rough waters, and she suddenly realized she had wandered quite far from Tommy's house. She looked back at the approaching storm and decided to get moving.
As she turned and headed back, she checked her phone. Jason hadn't called yet, and neither had anyone else. They'd better hurry… Otherwise we'll be setting up Portal-Coms in the rain…
She cast one last look over the jerky surf, then tossed her wind-blown hair over her shoulder and moved quickly toward impending Tommy-awkwardness.
Tommy leaned back in the desk chair as he watched Katherine's silhouette move across the computer screen. She still appeared to be okay, but Tommy wanted to make sure she stayed that way. It just seemed so unusual that no one had come near her since she had been abducted. What was even more surprising is that no one had stepped forward to make any demands for her return. He had been expecting to hear from some villain in a raspy voice demanding that they come work for the side of evil, or something of the like, to ensure her safe return.
He studied her image for a few minutes more, before the sound of a slamming door made him jump. He leapt to his feet and turned in the direction of the sound defensively, only to find a semi-disheveled Kimberly darting into his kitchen.
"Oh… Hey, Kim," he said, dropping his arms to his sides. "Sorry… I've been a little jumpy lately."
"Haven't we all," she said, pushing wet strands of hair out of her eyes. "There's a huge storm rolling in."
"Where have you been? I thought you went with the guys."
"No, I, uh… I decided to stay here."
Tommy, sensing that Kimberly had lightened up a little since their last encounter, decided to push the envelope just a little. "Any particular reason?"
Kimberly tilted her head and flashed him a flirty smile. "Because I enjoy your company SO much, I couldn't bear to leave."
"I am pretty irresistible."
She laughed, a sight that never got old for Tommy. "Well, that, and having my eyes clawed out didn't sound like too much fun. Could I have something to drink?"
"Oh, yeah," Tommy said, moving quickly towards the fridge and purposely ignoring her eye-clawing comment. "What would you like? I've got water, juice, soda… Merlot, Captain Morgan…"
"Too early for that nonsense. Water's fine."
Tommy handed her a bottle and motioned for her to join him in the living room. She followed him, but elected to remain standing while he sat. "So really, where have you been?"
"I went out to the beach. I needed to clear my head a bit." She locked eyes with him as she spoke, hoping he would catch her meaning, but if he did, he didn't show it.
Tommy nodded thoughtfully. "So, you said there's a storm rolling in?"
"Yeah, it started to rain just as I made it back – hence, the 'drowned rat' look," she said, pointing to her tousled hair.
"I hadn't noticed," Tommy said with a shrug and a wink.
Kim blushed a little and looked away as she took a short sip of her water. "Did you check on Kat today?"
"Yes," Tommy said resolutely, not dropping his gaze. "She's fine." His voice was pleasant but non-committal and Kim shook her head and laughed to herself.
"You're something else, Tommy Oliver." Tommy threw both of his hands in the air in an exaggerated shrug and smiled. Kim studied him from across the room, trying desperately not to let awkwardness creep in. "Anyway, I'm gonna jump in the shower. Everyone will be back soon."
Tommy nodded wordlessly, and followed her with his eyes as she took to the stairs.
"This is one of the strangest weather patterns we've ever seen. Rain is coming down heavily in sporadic locations all over the greater Santa Cruz area, but the coastal area is mostly clear, except for one small area. Watch for flash flooding and lightning strikes. This storm came in out of nowhere, without making any appearance on our radar, so it's difficult to know how long it will last. Authorities are recommending that everyone in our broadcasting range stay indoors until the storm passes, due to the unpredictable nature of this weather pattern. For WXML, I'm…"
Jason clicked off the radio and turned his attention back to the window in the small hotel room. The parking lot had at least two inches of water, all of which was trying to flow into an already flooded street. The rain was still coming down pretty heavily, which wasn't helping the situation. He sighed and turned back towards the crowded room.
"We still stranded?" Aisha asked, almost rhetorically.
"Normally these storms are over pretty quickly. They come on strong, but are short. We can probably wait it out," Adam contributed optimistically.
Jason shook his head. "There's nothing 'normal' about this storm. Even the forecasters know that, and they're usually the last to know what's going on with the weather."
Rocky tried to force a laugh in the otherwise tense room, but it didn't seem to lighten the mood. "Has anyone talked to Billy yet?"
"He and Trini are in a pretty similar situation downtown. It's coming down really hard there too. And the icing on the cake is that the storm is somehow interfering with our communicators," Zack said.
"Good thing we all have cell phones," Rocky replied, again trying to stay positive, but Jason shook his head.
"Cell phones only work if the other person answers them – which Tommy and Kim are not."
"What do you mean they're not answering?" Tanya said quickly. From behind her, Zack made nervous eye contact with Jason.
"Well, Tommy's phone is just going straight to voicemail, and I'm getting some interference or something when I dial Kim," Jason responded matter-of-factly.
"I still think it's too dangerous for us to venture out in this," Aisha added, sensing Tanya's next thought. "We can't do anyone any good if we all get into a car wreck." In support of her point, the lights in the hotel room flickered as a large clap of thunder roared outside. "At least we're safe here," she continued, with slightly less confidence than before.
Jason turned back to the window again. "So we wait."
Tommy turned his attention away from the computer monitor to the large windows at the back of his house. The threatening clouds had moved directly over his house, and rain smacked against the windows violently. Lightning flashed twice in quick succession, followed by the loudest rolling thunder he'd ever heard. He looked back at Kat, a station he'd taken up again as soon as Kim had left the room. "We're coming as soon as we can," he whispered quietly, as if he could hear her.
In response, the display on the monitor dimmed with a sharp buzz, and Tommy looked around to see that the lights around him had followed suit. "Uh oh," he muttered, as the electricity flickered and died with another flash of lightning.
Darkness filled his home, and Tommy moved slowly and calmly through the blackness towards the pantry for a flashlight – slow and calm, that is, until Kimberly's sharp shriek rang out from upstairs.