As a human, she’d never cared for taking precaution. It wasn’t in her blood to sit still and wait for the metaphorical – or in this case, literal – storm to pass. From the day her parents had died, she’d been trained to handle anything that came her way, even if it was a few inches of rain. She had a job to do, and it was that job that had taken her from the comfortable silence of her apartment and out into the city, where the rain was pouring down and the people were running in a panic to get in doors. “Cowards,” she muttered in distaste, her accent thick as she pulled a pack of cigarettes from the back pocket of her black jeans. There were acting like it was the mother ******* apocalypse. She would never comprehend the weakness of the human mind. Even when she was one, it had been lost on her.
”********, little sister. You are as weak as one of them.”
“That was before they took away the part of me that cared,” she whispered, her voice going unheard beneath the downfall. With a shrug of her shoulders, she pulled her leather jacket tighter around her and patted down the pockets for her lighter. Curving her hand over the filter of her cigarette, she flicked the zippo three times before the flame flared to life. Once it was lit, she dropped the lighter back into her pocket and tipped her head back, gaze moving skyward. Her brother remained at her side, his apparition taunting her with its mere presence. He never left her alone, never gave her a moment of peace. Instead, he opted to remind her of how she failed, how everything was her fault. He thought to bring her down, but his constant voice in her ear only strengthened her resolve. Shaking her head, she turned to blow the smoke away from him as her husband’s voice filtered into her thoughts.
Seek shelter. Now!
It was the panic in his voice that pushed her into action, a split second before the world went to ****. It was as if Harper Rock had taunted the fates and lost. The ground threatened to open up beneath her feet, the tremor nearly bringing her to her knees as the world broke into pieces. She watched as the building next to her began to crack open, her hand moving to grab the street-lamp for support. It didn’t offer much as it swayed beneath her touch, though it gave her enough that she could drop her bag to the ground. Quickly searching through it, she pulled out the leather-bound tome that lead her to the Eyrie, the wind causing her hair to whip across her face. “Come on, come on.” Her voice was drowned beneath a crack of thunder, and the tome remained lifeless in her hands. The usual power she felt emanating from it was gone, leaving her stranded in the middle of a freak storm.
Reanna, answer me. Are you alright?
“I cannot deal with you right now, Kirill,” she muttered, dropping the tome back into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She tried to move to her feet, but another shock caused her to fall back, gaze lifting to the sky. It was like a scene straight from a nightmare, black and treacherous. She wanted to believe she could trust it to stay that way, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to. She had to seek shelter somewhere closer than her apartment. Shaking her head, she tightened her grip on her bag and quickly made her way across the street. Ducking into the nearest building, she slumped back against the door as it closed, dulling (albeit barely) the sound of howling wind. With a quick run of her fingers through her hair, she shook some of the rain out as she did a quick survey of the building. She knew its design, though she’d hardly spent a lot of time there. She had hoped for a place without anyone, a place where she could be alone, but it seemed she wasn’t going to be lucky at all. Already, her muscles began to tense, her green eyes darkening as they landed on the woman at the bar. Swallowing back a growl, she continued her recon as she dropped her bag to her feet once more. It only took her a moment to find a familiar face, and as she pulled out her iPad to e-mail her husband, she made her way to him.
‘Remington,’ she greeted, her device speaking for her while she took a spot next to him, her irritation evident at the close proximity they had found themselves tucked away in.