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The sky darkened and by noon, the rumbles of thunder were almost continuous and loud enough to rattle the windows in the hallways. I didn’t have a chance to see Ben or Danny and I wasn’t sure they’d welcome me after leaving them to explain things to Noah. The late bell rang and I sighed, slowing down even though I knew arriving late to lunch meant scarfing down food at a record pace.
Julia fell into step next to me and took my hand. I smiled at her but her gaze jumped past me to the windows on our right. Her eyes widened and her grip on my hand tightened enough for me to snap my head in the same direction. I stopped short, yanking Julia to a stop with me. The timing was off and my heart jump-started in my chest at the sight of the massive funnel cloud bearing down on the school.
We weren’t the only ones in the hall just staring at the tornado, it took us all by surprise and my mouth went dry. I blinked and then my reactions kicked in, but instead of pulling Julia to the ground, like I did when I had that hallucination, I dragged her backwards towards the classrooms.
The doors to the cafeteria burst open and a wave of panicked kids came running towards us. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way and I had a moment to catch Julia’s gaze before I focused back on the crowd.
“Get down!” I yelled, my voice booming the command louder than the thunder, feeling the power building in my bones. By the surprise painted on the students’ faces I had a moment to revel in the fact they didn’t have a choice but to obey. Julia dropped to her knees just before the glass blew.
Shards of glass peppered me, stinging like a hundred angry bees, but I was able to throw a protective cocoon around the rest of the students in the hallway. Unfortunately, my protection ended with those out here and I cringed at the screams of fear and pain coming from behind the jammed doorway.
I turned my attention toward the tornado, ignoring Julia’s pleas for me to get down. The growl that came from the sky reminded me of a wild animal and I raised my hand, my fingers splayed in the universal sign for stop.
Shards of lightning erupted from the dark clouds, followed by a rumbling overshadowed by the shattering glass and bricks of the cafeteria, but my attention was drawn to the bolt heading my way. I yanked my ankle from Julia’s grip just as an electrical jolt tore through my body.
Pain gripped every muscle and I cried out, falling to my knees and cradling my burnt palm against my chest. Julia reached for me and I shook my head.
“Don’t touch,” I whispered as the lighting pinged through my body like a pinball. I had to release it before I killed someone. I inhaled and leaned my head back, bellowing at the ceiling, releasing the buildup of heat in my soul and watching in horror as the building disintegrated around me.
I fell forward into darkness.