* * * * *
Janelle held nothing back on the way to the beach. The incident in Chemistry came pouring out of her as they walked, and each word she said felt like a rock rolling off her shoulders. Gary faced her as they made their way down a side street, not once laughing or even smirking, and not once interrupting her to give her some scientific explanation that didn't really exist. He didn’t even look shocked at all. Gary just nodded as she finished, as if he'd expected her story for days.
"It sucks that you had that reaction in class," he said with understanding. “What crappy luck.”
They walked downhill now, past the ice cream shop and through downtown. The ocean smell got stronger. “I’m getting the idea that I’m not like everyone else. And that you and that woman aren’t, either. Does she have one of these, too?” Janelle held back tears of relief as she rolled up her sleeve to show the gray spiral on her arm. It felt so good to just be able to talk to someone about all of this, and someone who understood.
“Well, yeah. All Tempests have one of those.”
Janelle narrowed her eyes at him, wrapping her mind around the word. “Tempests?”
Gary’s jaw fell open. “That’s what we’ve always called ourselves. Wow, your dad really has kept you in the dark. Some parents are like that.”
“What exactly is a Tempest?” she asked at last.
“It’s something I have to show you,” he said. “We need a spot on the beach away from everyone else.”
“My dad told me not to come to the beach this week,” she said as they made their way down the stairs and towards the sand. “He said it was too dirty still. It looks okay to me.” The beach spread out ahead, and beyond it, the sparkling ocean. Kids from school laughed and splashed around in the water. Janelle wished she could join them. “I can’t do that, can I?”
They reached the sand. Gary watched his feet sink into it. "No. You can’t."
“Then why did my dad move me here?” Janelle asked. “He knew I’d have that reaction, didn’t he?”
“Your dad’s a Tempest, too. He probably moved you here because he wants you to have company. Well, after you find out what you are. I'm sure that's why he gave in and let you see me. Most of us live near the coast or in the tropics.”
“My dad?” Janelle exploded. "If he's got this same thing on his arm, why didn't he ever show me?"
Gary's brows rose. "You've never seen his upper arm? He showed it to me when he came up to my room. He’s got the same mark we do."
"No. He always wears long sleeved shirts." Why hadn't she realized? She couldn’t help but feel betrayed.
“Where else do you think you got it from? It's always inherited from one or both of your parents.”
“How could he hide this from me? And you haven’t answered my question about what Tempests are.”
Gary sighed. “I found a spot yesterday under the docks.” He peeked at her from the corner of his eye. “Sorry, but this is going to scare the crap out of you.”
“Uh…I’ve already had the crap scared out of me. Your guardian just calmed my nerves, you know.” Janelle tried to lift her voice to lighten the mood, but it wasn't working. Gary's gaze stayed as serious as ever.
“Not like this, you haven’t. You might be better off not knowing the truth. You can still turn back.”
Janelle swallowed a dry lump down her throat, fighting an urge to walk back up the hill and back into town. No. She’d waited forever for this. “I can take it.”
“This way.” Gary stared at the sand again as he strode towards a chain-link fence that separated the public beach from a rocky, off-limits one.
“But--” Janelle began, but the salty aroma of the ocean hit her again and sent another tingle through her body. That settled it. She followed Gary to the fence.
He’d already hoisted himself over. As Janelle climbed the fence, one of the guys behind them shouted something and laughed with his buddies. It was pretty obvious what they thought she and Gary were planning to do. She ignored them. Obnoxious guys were the least of their worries.
“Is this necessary?” she called out as she landed on the other side.
“Yeah. You’ll see,” Gary said, trudging forward.
The beach in front of them was littered with boards and splintered plywood, which stuck up like the spikes on the back of a buried dinosaur. Curtains, trash, and even something that looked like a teddy bear lay half-buried in the sand. Whoever owned this beach hadn't called in a cleanup crew yet.
They walked in silence. Every rock and piece of debris on the coast tried to trip her up. But at least the catcalls of the other kids grew fainter behind them. That was a plus. At last, only the cackles of seagulls could be heard along with Gary's strained breathing next to her. He kept his gaze out to sea as if trying to avoid staring at the land around him and at the destruction along the coast.
Janelle glanced up at clusters of battered trees and houses. No one came out to yell at them for trespassing. It wasn’t like they could, anyway. Most of the homes sported blue tarps and missing walls, and a few had been reduced to half-standing piles of rubble. It looked as if no one would dare live here again.
“That’s where we’re going.” Gary pointed to a huge dock ahead that stretched over the beach. “The tide’s out right now, so we can go under and no one will notice us.”
“Is this that bad?” If he had to drag her way out here, it couldn’t be good.
Gary didn’t answer.
After five long minutes, the dock blocked out the sun. Janelle’s sneakers sunk into the wet sand as a chill swept through her. Whatever Gary had to say couldn’t be minor if he’d gone to this length to do it. “Okay. Get it over with. The more you wait, the more nervous I get.”
Gary backed slowly towards the water. “The ocean’s what gives us our power, Janelle. If we’re too far away from it, we don’t get the whole increased strength and the ability to control wind. That’s why you seemed normal until you moved here.”
“Okay. Makes sense. Move on.” The tingle coursed through her body in waves. Water lurched at the sand as if it were trying to reach for them.
“It’s more, though.” Gary’s voice cracked as he turned away and stared into the water. “It’s also a…catalyst…that can make us release our full power, whether we want to or not. Don’t you get why I share my name with that storm? Why I appeared right there when it died? I know you saw that. I can remember your face.”
A fantastic and terrifying thought crept into her mind, paralyzing her. Gary…Hurricane Gary…Gary. “Uh…”
“That’s what happens when Tempests touch the ocean,” he said, leaning against a wooden pole and burying his face in the crook of his arm. His words seemed to race and fall apart as he spoke. “You just had a small reaction since it was a bowl of water that fell on you, but diving into that is a different story. You…change. And you can’t stop it. The other Tempests forced me to go because my name came up on that storm naming list. That meant it was my time. I tried to escape, but my guardian had me thrown in the water. I tried to calm down before I got to shore. That’s why my guardian’s mad at me. She wanted more destruction, more deaths. As if the five people I killed aren’t enough to make me feel like crap for the rest of my life.”
“What?” Janelle’s pulse roared in her ears. She couldn't stop what she blurted next. “So you’re telling me that because your name came up on that list they use to name tropical storms, you were tossed into the ocean against your will, which made you turn into a hurricane and slam into the coast. And then when you were over land, you changed back and passed out right in front of me.” It was a joke. It had to be.
Gary let his arm slap down to his side, but still he didn't face her. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
She took a step back, stumbling over a slimy rock. The bottom of the dock seemed to
be coming down on her, closing in. “No. I don’t believe you. I refuse. Do you think I'm going to take your word on that? Just tell me the real truth, Gary."
Gary faced her, trembling. His pupils had dilated. “Then how come I can do this?” He raised a hand in the air as if to say stop, and a wind whipped underneath the dock, pushing Janelle’s hair into her face. Before she had a chance to flinch, he continued. “And this?” He dropped his hand and the wind died. “And what about this?” Whirling around, he faced the water and focused on it. The ocean started to tumble up and down, defying the calm day. Whitecaps grew taller and grabbed for the sand, hugging Gary’s feet and racing for Janelle.
She leapt out of the way and watched the water retreat. The world seemed to tilt around her. She'd taken his bait and fallen into a trap. “Gary, stop this! I don’t want to see any more.”
Another burst of wind whistled past as water swirled around Gary’s feet and retracted into the ocean. He trembled as if he’d just put his hands on an electric fence. Now was he having a seizure on top of all this?
Janelle ran for him, searching for her phone with one hand and slapping her hand down on his shoulder with the other, prepared to call an ambulance. “Gary!”
He turned to face her and she had to choke down a scream.
The gentle hazel had gone. Instead, storm clouds spun and raged around his black pupils. She was staring into the eye of a hurricane.
“See?” Gary’s voice took on a growl. “See what I am, and what you are, too!”
Chapter Six