Master of the Storm

Chapter One: Message

A/N: I'm backkk! Welcome to the first chapter of Master of the Storm, sequel to Centre of the Storm, a recently finished book. If you haven't read that then wtf are you doing here (just kidding just kidding)
Anywayyy this is gonna pick up pretty close time-wise to where we left off at the end of the first book, to be more exact, it would be about two days later. happy reading and don't forget to vote!!!

I stared into the newly broken bathroom mirror, still not quite used to my disguise.

The others had suggested I change my clothing style, since I was on the run and everything, and Olivia had insisted on taking me thrift shopping. That was how I ended up in a worn baseball cap, a denim jacket, and cotton shorts. Not my style at all.

I sighed, and pushed my dark brown hair away from my face, harshly brushing through it and tying it back in a bun so tight it hurt my head as my eyes scanned the small room. I was going to need to do serious curl repair once all of this was over. Most of the blue dye had faded, and the rest wasn't as visible with how dark my hair was. It was as if my hair was returning to its original state from before I left the orphanage, and along with that, the rest of me was too. I was alone again.

Well, maybe alone wasn't the right word, I thought, as a knock on the bathroom door pulled me out of my thoughts. I felt alone. "You okay in there?" Olivia asked, her voice slightly muffled through the door.

I quickly splashed some water on my face to try and wake myself up before
I opened the door. "I'm fine," I told her. "Just zoned out. We should probably get going."

She nodded, and hoisted her bag over her shoulder, preparing to leave. I looked around at the small motel room Beatrix and I had shared. It hadn't been much, but it had been home.

I looked over at the windowsill, remembering how we would sit there and eat together, watching the people on the street below and trying to guess things about their lives. And the bed, where she'd read to me from long and dull but ultimately compelling books as I lay curled up and unresponsive, trying to keep my breathing steady but afraid that I would die if I focused on it too hard. My wooden easel still stood in the corner, too big to bring even folded up. Beatrix had got it for me on my birthday, to replace the cheap plastic one I'd found in a junk yard.

I tore my eyes away, ignoring the memories that washed over me. Not just ones of this room, but of when we had said goodbye to each other two days before. At the time I had seen it as closure, now, just more betrayal from her. Because she had left with a computer stick, that she had taken from the journal she had given to me, knowing I wouldn't notice until later, and then she would be gone. And I needed to see what was on that. The journal had provided me with information about my powers, but not enough.

I pulled the straps of my backpack over my shoulders, and Olivia and I walked towards the door. "So, you're positive it was a message from her?" Olivia asked. I nodded. "And you know where she is?"

"I have a pretty good guess," I replied.

"That's good enough for me. But why would she leave you a message in that journal? Does she want you to know where she is or something?"

I had been wondering that myself. I remembered what she had told me when we had been escaping together.

I'm better at hiding on my own anyway.

"Maybe she wants me to chase her or something," I said quietly, as we walked down the hallway. I looked around nervously, paranoid Thomas was going to jump out of the walls and attack me. It had taken a lot of convincing from my new friends to get me to come back here, since I knew the place was most likely being watched. The hallway was empty as usual, most people only stayed a few nights. We'd known to keep our door locked and barricaded all the time just in case, though. Like the woman who gave us the room on our first night had said, we'd had weird neighbours.