Thanks to lily moonlight and Aly for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed the last two chapters!

Chapter Twelve: Tornado

Mac and Stella Taylor's Apartment

Rain fell outside, knocking on the windows of the apartment. Thunder sounded in the distance, awaking the sleeping of Chicago. Lighting pierced the sky, making the night sky light up like it was daytime. Lindsay's weather report had turned to be partly right; the tornadoes and hail hadn't hit Chicago, or at least not yet.

It was two in the morning, and Mac Taylor was still up, reading a book. His wife, Stella, was standing besides the window that led to a glass door to their balcony. She had been standing there for a long time now, watching the storm that devastated the night. Mac glanced over to her, starting to get apprehensive if she was all right, since she hadn't moved from her spot for over an hour. He closed his book, got up from his chair, and called to her. "Stella?"

She turned around at the sound of her name. "Yes?" she asked.

He walked over to her. "You know, you shouldn't get too worried about this storm. Storms like this hit Chicago all the time."

"I understand Mac," she said. "But what Lindsay said about New York City being under water, and then all the weather reports around the country, it's hard not to worry. Something is bound to happen."

Mac took her hand and pulled her into a hug. She was glad for the comfort because she immediately put her arms around him. She put her head on his shoulder, softly crying to herself. He knew how hard it was for her, to lose New York City, the place where she had lived most of her life. He wasn't as affected by it, he did miss New York City, but he knew there was nothing that could be done to clear the water away from the city. Chicago had been his first home, so he still had something he could remember.

He reached over to the remote, turning on the radio for peaceful music, something that would help Stella push the thought of never seeing New York City again out of her mind. She looked up at him, tears still rolling down her cheeks, but there was a sparkle of something in her eyes that wasn't sadness. Her eyes showed the sign of gratitude.

"Thank you," she whispered, and again lowered her head to rest it on Mac's shoulder. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

A new song on the radio was beginning. It was titled, "Have No Fear," by Bird York. The song filled the room, making the sound of the thunder of the storm seem distant. The rain seemed to lighten to a soft padding on the window. They swayed to the music.

Have no fear, in your heart

Though you feel you've been broken and lost

There's a world where we will meet up again

There's a place that mends your hurt and takes you in

Stella light out a cry. "Mac," she whispered. "I don't want to have fear, but it's so hard, when everything you know seems to all slip away. But Mac, you've never left my side, and I thank you for that."

"And I won't leave your side now," said Mac. "We'll get through this together, no matter what happens."

The next verse of the song began, and Stella decided to sing along, but her cries made her voice only a faint whisper. She held on to Mac tighter.

There are times faced alone

When you find all the holes in yourself

You don't have to walk the night on your own

I will send a prayer with you to lead you on

I will say a prayer for you when you have gone

The song ended, for it had been a short song. Stella pulled away from him, but still held on to his hand. She looked up to him and told him she was going to take a shower. Despite the time, he didn't protest, and let her do what she wished. He knew that it would help her clear her thoughts. He decided he needed a shower himself.

They showered fast, and soon they were dressed in clean clothes, sitting in bed. Stella was writing in a journal, about things they needed incase of immediate evacuation. She had a map out in front of her, and Mac could tell she was still stuck on where to go. The upper east coast was out of the question, since many people were stilling cleaning up from the destruction of Hurricane Arthur there. Florida and the southern states wouldn't be a good option either, since many hurricanes were heading for that direction. The west or head farther north would be their only option. But Montana sounded like the best suggestion now.

"Should we go to Montana?" asked Stella.

"It seems like the best choice," replied Mac. "I know we'll see Lindsay there; she'll probably evacuate there if any bad weather hits."

At the mention of bad weather, Stella glanced over to the window, to see the rain pouring on the streets. "I don't know Mac, I feel so unprepared. I don't want to leave again; I wanted to stay here and make a living. I'd thought we'd be fine here, but it turns out I was wrong."

"You wouldn't have known this was going to happen," said Mac. He took her hand. "It's getting late. You need to rest."

Stella nodded. She closed her journal and set it on the end table next to the bed. Next, she put the map back in the dresser, where she had found it. Then she crawled into bed, turned off the lights, and huddled close to Mac. She soon fell asleep in his arms.

Mac didn't fall asleep right away; he listened to the rain, hitting hard against the buildings and streets outside. He stared at the ceiling, thinking of everything he had learned about today. New York City being completely under water, the rising storm around the world, and the website that held all of the information of Lindsay on it, and whoever had made it knew her true identity. Out of all of the problems there were to worry about right now, he thought Lindsay's was the worst, for her secret could slip out at any moment.

A breeze blew across the room, making Stella shiver. She pulled the covers over her. When the breeze still hit her, she lowered the covers from her face and looked around the room. A window was open, but she didn't ever remember opening it before she went to bed. She tapped Mac on the shoulder to get his attention. "Mac," she whispered.

"Huh?" he asked, still in a daze.

"The window," she replied. "It's open. Did you open it?"

"Yeah," said Mac. "It had stopped raining when I opened it. Is it raining again?"

"No," said Stella. "It's just a cold breeze that was bothering me." She paused. "Wait, the breeze stopped." She looked questioningly at Mac.

Mac raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't me, if that's what you where thinking."

Stella laughed. "No, I wasn't thinking that at all."

Mac smiled, relieved to know that. He was about to closed his eyes again when suddenly a noise sounded in the distance. And it wasn't thunder that pierced through the sky this time.

Stella immediately threw the covers off of her and ran over to the window. She gasped when she saw the sky. "Mac, the noise, it's a siren!" she exclaimed. "A tornado's coming! We need to hurry and get to the lowest floor of this apartment."

Stella ran to grab her cell phone, and Mac followed. They quickly threw on a coat, slipped on their shoes, and ran out of the room. In the hallway, Stella began to bang on doors and yell. "There's a tornado, hurry get to the lowest level of the apartment building!"

As she continued to bang on doors to get people's attention, the crowd in the hallway grew more immense, and she got separated from Mac. She turned away from the door she was about to knock on and looked through the crowd to locate Mac. She couldn't see him. "Mac!" she yelled.

She pushed her way through the crowd and called his name again. "Mac!"

A voice answered her call. "Stella, where are you?"

"Where are you..?" Someone knocked into her, making her fall backwards, into Mac's arms. She looked up to see his face. "I can trust you to catch me when I fall," she said.

He smiled. "I'd always catch you when you fall." He helped her up. "We need to hurry, before the power…"

The lights flickered and then went out, leaving them in the darkness. Screams of panic came from the rushing crowd. "…Goes out," Stella finished for him. The noise of howling winds sounded closer to the apartment.

"Come on!" yelled Mac. He grabbed her hand, and then they rushed over to the stairs. They stopped in front of the doorway, seeing that they wouldn't be able to get through the crowd. Stella turned her head to the sound of roaring winds that began to rip through the apartment. She looked towards the crowd.

"Single file!" she yelled. She hurried to get the people to get a single file line, and soon the line began to vanish down the stairs. She signaled to Mac, and he quickly ran over to her. Once they were inside the stairwell, Stella closed the door behind her, grabbed Mac's hand, and together they ran down the stairs.

"What's the lowest level of this apartment building?" Stella asked as she ran.

"The basement," replied Mac.

"This apartment building has a basement?" questioned Stella.

Mac nodded to the door as it came into view. He quickly pushed it open, letting Stella go first, and then he went through next, closing the door behind him. They huddled over to a corner where there weren't any people.

When she sat down against the cold wall, Stella immediately pulled out her cell phone.

"What are you doing?" questioned Mac. "The storm is about to hit!"

"I'm calling Lindsay," replied Stella as she dialed in her number.

"Why?" questioned Mac. "I mean what about Flack and Hawkes? What about Danny?"

"Flack and Hawkes would have already heard the sirens since they live close to us," said Stella. "I don't have Danny's number. I don't even know where he lives." She stopped talking as she heard a voice answer on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?"

"Lindsay, is that you?" asked Stella.

"Yeah, of course it is," replied Lindsay. "What's your reason for calling me at four in the morning?"

"Never mind the time," said Stella. "I just need you to listen."

"Okay," said Lindsay. "You've got my attention."

"A tornado is about to hit the eastern side of Chicago," said Stella. "I know you live in the city, but have you heard…"

"A tornado?" questioned Lindsay. "That can't be possible, the sky's not green, there's no hail or severe thunderstorms going on right now, and the sirens aren't…"

An eerie silence came after her sentence. "Lindsay? Lindsay, are you all right?" Stella glanced at Mac apprehensively. "Lindsay, what's happening? Are you there?"

A long beeping noise came on the phone, telling her that Lindsay had hung up. She flipped her phone shut. "Did you lose her?" asked Mac.

Stella nodded. She moved closer to Mac, holding on to his hand. She heard the noise of the tornado ripping through the apartment, destroying her home, just like how the hurricane had destroyed the city of New York a year ago. "Mac," she whispered. "I love you, always remember that, okay?"

He put his arm around her. "I love you too, Stel," said Mac. "I'll always remember that. We're going to be okay. We're going to make it through this storm."

Stella looked up at him and smiled. His voice had sounded so convincing; she just wished she could believe the same.

Here comes the action...next chapter will be about Lindsay! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!