I had actually been planning on writing this chapter for, oh maybe the past week. Now as I am apparently going to be facing down a derecho, I feel what better time to really start this chapter! :D No, a dercho (for those of you woh don't know is a seriously long line of powerful thunder storms) will not be in this; I never heard of it till today. It does in fact involve a dangerous storm though.
You see, in all my characters I implement different traits of myself, just a little bit, and put some of my own experiences into stories as well. This part, that I am putting Sonya in this chapter, is a characteristic that I haven't used in any of my other characters before, so what other better than to put it into my candy. This little problem she has, isn't a tiny thing, it's actually pretty serious, though I'm not entirely sure it can classify as a phobia.
"Velvet!" Sonya called out to her dog her was romping around in the water. The dog pause for a moment, looking at her girl, dripping wet, but only for an instance before she was back to splashing through the creek. Sonya started to laugh, and so did Nathaniel, who was perched on a rock behind her. They had come out to the park together, enjoying the little bit of peaceful time they got to spend with one another. They both lounged, soaking up the warm, late summer sun while Velvet played. It wouldn't be long at all now before the temperatures dropped. Fortunately, it stuck around a bit longer than usual.
Sonya leaned her head back onto Nathaniel, from where she sat on the ground. "I wish days could just stay like this. Warm, carefree." She said, while looking up in those golden eyes of his she loved so much.
"I know. No worries about school or work. Just the two of us." Velvet splashed up out of the water and bounded over to them, shaking wildly, sending a torrent of flecks of water all over them. "Velvet too." He added, with a laugh, watching her plop down in the grass beside them.
Sonya reached her hand over and absently stroked the soft, wet fur of her dogs head. "Do you want to go for a walk?" She suddenly asked. Velvet turned her head, and had this huge puppy grin on her face. Her answer was clear as day.
"Sure, let's go." They both stood up and Sonya clipped a lead back onto Velvet's collar. Then Nathaniel took her other hand that didn't hold the leash and they both started up to the walking path. They walked in peaceful silence for a while before Sonya suddenly spoke up. "My brother called me again last night."
The air around them turned tense. "Did you talk to him?" It remained quiet, and after a moment, Sonya nodded her head. She didn't look at Nathaniel's face. "What did he want?"
"Well, he asked how I was doing. I only said good. I didn't let him know anything else. He said he missed me and I said okay." She explained. It was better just to give vague answers, over anything else. "Then he told me he talked to our father." This only seemed to turn things over even more. "I guess he wanted to know how his kids were doing, and he wasn't too happy with the fact that 'his baby girl' is out in the world on her own."
"You aren't alone." She looked at Nathaniel, as he was frowning, with that familiar hint of anger on his face that came with this subject. "You have all of us and you're doing just fine on your own. Why does your father want to care about you know all of a sudden?"
Sonya shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. Frankly, I don't care whether he cares about me or not. I'm just so tired of it anymore." Nathaniel let go of her hand and wrapped an arm around her. He understood where she was coming for. He had trouble with his own parents, and he was always trying his best to be good enough for them, and not wasting things on unimportant things, especially having a girlfriend. "I guess he might come home from a business trip sometime for the holidays." Sonya wasn't all too sure she really wanted to even see her father. What if he wanted her to come with him? She couldn't stand having to travel on boring business trips where her father wouldn't have time for even living together, and more importantly, she didn't want to leave her friends.
"You don't have to see him. He doesn't even know where you live." Nathaniel pointed out.
Sonya nodded. "I know, but a part of me feels obligated too. Like I want him to see how great I'm doing on my own; to see what he has done." She paused again. "I'm just afraid he's going to try to take me away."
"He can't do that. He lost the fight in court. You're free on your own and he can't do anything about it." Nathaniel told her reassuringly. "I wouldn't let him take you anyways."
Sonya shrugged her shoulders. "There wouldn't be anything you could do anyways."
Nathaniel stopped her suddenly, and turned her to face him. "Look, I would find a way. I know that to them I'm not much, but to me you are everything. I know it is much to say this, but I love you Sonador. I always will. I won't let anyone do something to you that you don't want."
Sonya felt a surge of emotion crash over her and she nodded head. "I love you too. Thank you. I know what you mean, and you're right. They won't be able to do anything, because I'm not leaving you either."
Nathaniel seemed satisfied now. "Let's talk about something else, okay? Lighten the mood some. It's far too good a day to waste on negative things."
She laughed. "Alright!" They continued on their walking, chatting on many different things, school and the students there, Amber and whatever stupid things she does, anything that they could possibly think of. It was fun and relaxing. As they were coming back around the end of their path, Sonya looked up in the sky and noticed darkening clouds on the horizon. "I guess we better be getting out of here before the rain comes. Hopefully we can make it home dry!"
The two teens and the dog turned to leave the park and take the road back home, while the dark clouds slowly rolled in their way. They had only been out of the park a few minutes before Sonya's phone started going off. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the ID; Castiel. She normally didn't answer when she was with Nathaniel, but a gut feeling told her she should. "Hey." She said, once she picked up.
"Hey, where are you at?" He asked, and his voice sounded pretty urgent.
"Uhm, I'm out why? We took Velvet to the park." She said, glancing around her at the dark sky.
"We have really bad storm warnings out for our area." He paused for a second. "Possibly tornadoes."
Sonya felt her heart stop for a millisecond. "We're on our way back now." She finally said, and glanced at the clouds again. The sky was now completely covered and the wind was picking up. She noticed a worried expression on Nathaniel's face.
"Are you driving or walking?" When Sonya answered walking she heard him sigh through the line. "Look, why don't you come over to my place. I'm a lot closer than your house, and it'll be pouring in a minute anyways." Sonya very quickly agreed and once she hung up the phone, tightened her grip on the lead, and started hustling Velvet along after her. Nathaniel jumped to catch up with her.
"What's going on?" He asked, trying to get his girlfriend to slow down.
She didn't stop walking to answer. "We're going to Castiel's." She saw the annoyed expression that crossed his face and she ignored it. "He said there are really bad storms coming, and his place is closer." At this given moment, she didn't want to argue with him over the fact that he couldn't stand her best friend.
He didn't seem to want to argue either. "Well at least let me take the dog. You're turning your hand purple." Sonya looked down at her hand holding on to Velvet's lead. He was right. She handed it over without any further comment.
The rain started to come down before they reached their destination and by the time they were standing at the front door, they were all very wet. Sonya shot another look at the sky, the rain and the wind before Castiel opened the door and she flew herself at him. He hugged her briefly, before removing her from him, always having that uncomfortable feeling when Nathaniel was wrong. He turned his attention to him next. "I'm half tempted to take the dog and leave you out."
"Castiel!" Sonya scolded. Castiel moved aside, with much resign and Nathaniel stepped in, with mutual feelings. Velvet wriggled herself free from his grasp and took off to great her friend Demon, Castiel's dog. "At least someone here can be happy." She stated before turning her attention to the boys. She was pretty sure she could just see all those negative auras radiating off of them both, but she wasn't feeling any of it at the moment. Her eyes shifted over to the window, staring as a lightning bolt flashed. A moment later a low rumble of thunder sounded.
"I thought you liked thunderstorms?" Nathaniel said, catching on to her nervous posture.
She looked to him again. "I do. It's tornadoes I don't like."
Nathaniel made a face. "You didn't say anything about it being that bad." He watched as she became antsy, tapping her foot, wringing her fingers. She looked like she was trying to shake it all off and he couldn't help it, he looked at Castiel, feeling so lost.
"It's good to know she doesn't tell you everything." Castiel just couldn't resist saying it. "She's downright terrified of tornadoes." He said with a nod of his head in her direction. She had just started randomly wondering around the house, like she was trying to find something, but she wasn't. Just occupying herself. "She doesn't mind movies or anything, but find out one is coming her way, and she does this. Every time." By now, she was out of their view. Normally, her restlessness would annoy him, but in this situation, he wasn't fazed. "I usually just let her go, stay where she needs me but there is really no use in trying to talk to her. It's just an uncontrollable fear." Then he turned, and went to go find out wherever it Sonya had wandered off to.
Nathaniel followed behind him, trying to process all that. He was surprised that Sonya had never brought it up with him. He assumed she may not have known how, until now when the situation comes up. He looked up, breaking from his thoughts, to see her sitting on the couch, a dog on either side of her, petting both their heads, and again, staring out a window. Castiel was closing the curtains of the window, preventing her from seeing outside. You don't see it, it isn't there. There wouldn't be any watching the weather channel, or any other channel news would come through on, to freak her out even more. If anything important enough came up, it would go to his phone.
Nathaniel sat down beside Sonya, well with Velvet between them. "Are you okay?" He asked softly.
Sonya looked at him. "Yea. Yea I'm okay." She answered, but she was still tapping her toe and her left hand had stopped stroking Velvet and was now drumming on her head too. Nathaniel removed her hand from the dog. Another sound of thunder rolled over the silence.
Suddenly rock music started through the living room and loud too. Nathaniel looked up to see Castiel standing at a stereo. Distractions, he thought. He really did know what he was doing. Then he turned and directed to Sonya, "Wanna play some games?" He asked, trying to get her to focus on something else.
"Yea. That's a good idea." She agreed, nodding her head a little too much. She looked over at Nathaniel was Castiel was setting up. "We can take turns." '
Nathaniel shook his head. "No, that's fine. I'll just watch." He did, watch as she came undone. The fear just seemed to melt off of her as she entered a totally different world with a fierce rivalry. It seemed as if everything outside had just evaporated. He had to smile, and surprised himself by being pleased. Castiel was a good friend to her, as much as he disliked him.
They were all having fun, with the two arguing it off and battling it away, and Nathaniel being extremely amused watching them, and it came to a sudden surprise when they were surrounded with black. A second later thunder rumbled, and the house shook. Then they sat in silence.
"I'll be right back, stay right here." Castiel was heard saying and it was assumed he walked off, but it was pretty dark down here in the living room. Out the door way you could at least see his form retreating.
Nathaniel reached over and took Sonya's hand. "I'm fine, really." She said, but he could feel her tension in her hands. Simply like that, it all came back again.
Castiel had gone to the front window, looking outside. The wind was strong and shaking the house. A lightning bolt lit up outside, and he could see debris scattered over the yard. A minute later, a new sound came on the roof. Hail. He walked back into the living room. "The storm is still raging out there." He said, sitting back on the couch. All three, plus the two dogs, stayed there for a while, just listening to what was going on outside.
The wind howled, and it seemed to be getting louder, to the point that it really was frightening. Every so often, the room would light up with light, sometimes even for larger spans with multiple bolts, long enough to see one an others faces. Sonya moved so she was curled up against Nathaniel, the dogs were on the floor now, and Castiel was stretched out in a chair.
A low growl broke the silence and soon another one followed. In the dark, all three teens looked at the dogs on the floor, which now had their heads up and pointed in the same direction. "What do you think that's about?" Sonya asked, warily.
"It's nothing. They're just feeling tense, like the rest of us." Castiel answered, telling his dog to hush. Demon instead ignored him and stood up now, and a second later, Velvet followed.
"What's wrong with them?" Sonya sat up now, feeling the tense energy from the dogs. She knew animals could sense things people couldn't.
"Maybe the storm is just starting to scare them now." Nathaniel imputed.
Sonya turned to look in his direction in the dark. "The storm has been going on for hours now. Why all of a sudden then?" He admittedly had no reason for his excuse.
"No they do know that something is going to happen." Castiel said, and he stood up. Nathaniel felt Sonya shrink back to him in terror, knowing her mind was probably thinking up all these worst case scenarios.
Castiel started walking to the front room and before Nathaniel registered it, Sonya was bolting after him so he followed as well. "Stay away from the window!" Sonya yelled after him.
"It's fine." He said, looking back at her.
"No." She went after him and latched on to him from behind. "Something's going to happen and you should stay safe. You don't need to see what's going on out there." He knew she really was the one who didn't want to see, and that she would if he did. He sighed. "Fine. C'mon then." He led her back towards the living and they went down to his room in the basement.
Nathaniel stayed back, and it was he the one who looked outside, just as a loud crash sounded. When the sky lit up again he couldn't see much, at least to what crashed. A few minutes later blue and red lights flashed, and some others too. Probably ambulances as well. He frowned, hoping someone wasn't hurt. He still couldn't tell what was going down, so he retreated, trying to find his way around the dark of the unfamiliar house. He ended up finding the dogs first and followed them instead.
As soon as he got downstairs, Sonya came flying at him. "Oh my god! I was freaking scared something happened to you! Where did you go? What was that loud crash? I wouldn't let Castiel leave to go find you, I didn't want to be alone but you worried me."
"Hey, hey, hey. Breathe, please breathe. I'm in here, nothing can happen to me. You're overreacting." He said, hugging her close to him and resting his chin on her head. She finally calmed down then.
An hour later she was curled up so cutely on Castiel's bed, with him sitting beside her, leaning on the wall. Nathaniel was in a beanbag, and he was only allowing the fact that he wanted Sonya comfortable, and she was. She was relaxed and felt safe in her dreams.
"What was that crash, anyways?" Castiel asked to break their intense silence.
Nathaniel shrugged. "I'm not sure, I couldn't really see. It's too far down the street, but there were ambulances."
Castiel frowned. That wasn't exactly reassuring news. Both the dogs had calmed down now; they hadn't made a peep after they came downstairs. In fact they were fast asleep as well. Castiel got off the bed, and went over to the old couch on the other side of the room with a pillow and a blanket, marking that as his bed for the night. Nathaniel was pleased with that idea. "Take one of the extra blankets off the bed." Castiel told him, without looking at him. It was quite strange for the two of them to even act remotely civil; they usually tried for Sonya's sake, though it often failed. At least, for now they could manage.
"Wanna see the damage?" Castiel asked, looking over at Sonya who was sitting there biting her lip and staring at the front door. "There's nothing scary out there anymore, it's okay to leave the house."
Sonya glared at him. "I know! I'm not a child anymore!" Though he found it hard to see the difference, he didn't say so.
Finally though, they managed to go outside. The world was wet and muddy, with large amounts of water pooled in a lot of different places. Guaranteed, good amounts of road were flooded. There were a lot of leaves, sticks and branches strewn across lawns, and other different things. "Can we play finders keepers?" Castiel asked, absently kicking through a pile of junk on the side of the road someone had probably left outside during the storm.
"What way were those ambulances at, Nathaniel?" Sonya asked him and he pointed in the direction. They all started walking but before they were even close, they could see it from a distance in the daylight. A huge tree was down, stripped from the roots. "Wow." Fortunately it had landed away from the house and into the road, and nothing was caught underneath it.
When they were done surveying everything, Sonya and Nathaniel left, heading back for her house. They decided to walk, not wanting have to risk taking a car out when most of the roads were surely flooded. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" Nathaniel asked as they walked.
Sonya stared at the sidewalk beneath her feet. "I don't know. I just never thought about it, ya know? Then it just happened and I didn't really have the chance to explain."
"So you were really afraid, huh?" He asked, hoping he got what he meant, because to be honest he was even a little afraid at some point last night, after the thought of the possibility of people being hurt.
Sonya glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye. "Yea. I mean, I get seriously terrified, to the point it is uncontrollable. I can't control it, as long as I think about it. Even when someone just says there is a warning out, if nothing is happening, I'll still feel nervous and on edge. I'm embarrassed at how I react to it but..."
"Hey. Don't say that." Nathaniel stopped and turned her to him, gently lifting her chin. "You shouldn't be embarrassed about it, okay?" Sonya nodded and they kept on walking. "I must say though, Castiel really surprised me. I never doubted he wasn't ever a good friend to you, but all of that effort to get you to stay calm."
Sonya smiled. "He's used to it, I guess. When we were kids, I used to be much worse. I would go hide in a corner in my basement underneath a pile of thick pillows and blankets and that's where he would find me and hide with me just to make me feel better. After I would never want to leave the house because I didn't believe the trouble went away. I would've hid forever if I could but he would eventually talk me into going outside and seeing the sunshine again, and I'd be okay."
Nathaniel was quiet for a while. "Well, I am glad for that then." Sonya looked at him and smiled. She knew what it took to say that and mean it, and for also what it was for both of them being such close quarters and behaving themselves so not to make things harder on her. For once they could actually manage to get along long enough when it counted. She really did love those two stupid boys.