Elementals
Chapter 2

Tyler ran to the football field as fast as he could. It was across campus, and hard to see in the rain. He could hardly keep on his feet without slipping. There were several times he fell to the ground, getting covered in cold water and mud, but he always got up. The wind got harder and it was more, making it beyond difficult to walk against it, and although he was terrified of the tornado, Tyler was determined to save May.

After a few minutes, Tyler started to see the football field. He started to run again, but slipped. His foot slid against the wet grass and his ankle rolled towards him in an unnatural way. He fell to the ground, landing right on top of his sideways foot. His ankle made a loud cracking sound. It was numb for a moment, before a shooting pain quickly overwhelmed his leg. Tyler screamed in pain. He couldn’t bare it. Pain and fear were all that filled his mind.

It hurts, Tyler thought. I think it’s broken! I can’t walk if it is! I can’t run! I’m gonna die! Is anyone going to replace me?! Someone! Please! Help! Help me! Help… May! Help her! Please, let someone help her!

No, no one is coming. I was the only one who left the school besides Rosalie. If May and I are getting to safety, I have to get up! I have no choice! If I don’t we’ll both die.

Tyler took a deep breath. His ankle throbbed with pain. It felt as though the bone was stabbing into his nerves. Nevertheless, he squinted his eyes shut and and placed his hands flat on the ground. He pushed up with all his strength. The pain shot all the was up his leg, reaching even his hip. He gritted his teeth and yelped slightly. He managed to get onto his good leg, without slipping on the wet ground, and limped towards the football field.

Each step Tyler took sent excruciating pain shooting through his leg, as though he was being repeatedly stabbed with a red hot knife, but he kept moving. It took several agonizing minutes, but he got to the middle of the football field. “May! May!” he yelled, as loud as he could, hoping maybe she would be there and hear him.

He heard a loud, high pitch scream. He followed the sound, heading towards the far end of the field, and found May. She was sitting at the base of the goal, clinging onto it for dear life. Her head was ducked and her eyes were squinted shut in fear.

Tyler limped as fast as he could, coming close to a run as his leg began to go slightly numb, until he reached her. Tyler got to her, and fell more than knelt, but got level with her. “May,” he said softly. He slowly reached out and touched her shoulder. May jumped and whimpered a bit, before realizing it was Tyler. May hesitantly opened up her eyes. “Tyler!” she yelled as she released the football goal and leaped onto the injured Tyler, sending him backwards and to the ground with torturous pain.

May jumped up. “I’m so sorry!” she shouted. “No, it’s alright,” Tyler replied. The wind sped up and the rain got harder. Tyler couldn’t get up. His leg hurt too bad to move. He heard a loud snap, followed by a long creak. He looked up and to his horror, the football goal was coming down on top of him. He pushed May to the side and out of harm’s way before attempting to save himself. Although he tried, he couldn’t get past his bum leg.

Tyler closed his eyes in fear and dread as the large metal pole was coming closer, and closer, and closer… Then, it stopped. He opened his eyes to see the football goal hovering about two feet off the ground. Tyler stopped and stared in awe at the scene before him. Shock spread through him as when he moved, the goal did as well. Did I… do this? He wondered. He decided to test it.

Tyler rolled out of the way of the football goal. He lowered his hands and let them drop down to his sides. The goal hit the ground. Tyler stared down at his hands in astonishment as the realization set in that he actually made that happen.

“What… was that?” May asked. Tyler looked up at her, remembering their situation.

“I don’t know, but it’s not important,” he quickly said, “For now, just help me up and let’s get back to the school.” May nodded. She walked over to Tyler and helped him to his feet, letting him use her for support, to steady himself until he was balanced on one foot.

The wind sped up more and the rain got harder. The sound got unbearably loud. The two of them looked towards the direction it was coming from, and their jaws dropped in horror; the tornado was practically on top of them. It was only a few yards away.

May was so small. The wind hit her hard. Her feet began to lift from the ground. “Tyler! Help!” she screamed, an unimaginable mix of fear and panic flooding her mind until it was all she felt.

Tyler saw what was happening and grabbed a hold of her hand. He gripped it was tightly as he could, swearing not to let go. May was screaming, and the tornado grew nearer. She closed her eyes tight, wishing for the chance to survive this. Tyler held onto her the best he possibly could, while also trying to keep on his feet.

May tensed up more. She started to emit a strange, silvery glow. Tyler watched this in confusion, wondering what is was, and not realizing that her hand was slipping from his until it was too late.

Tyler grabbed for May’s hand, but it was no use. The tornado was practically on top of him and he could feel himself being pushed by the force of the wind within it. May got swept away before Tyler’s eyes.

She didn’t struggle. She didn’t scream. It was as if she passed out from fear. She just… disappeared.

Tyler fell to the ground, being rolled a bit by the wind. He knew he was likely to die, but he no longer cared. He had one job - to save May - and he couldn’t even do that. He laid there, motionless, as he accepted his fate.

Just as Tyler knew he was about to die, the wind stopped. On a dime, the tornado disappeared as if it were turned off by a switch. Tyler watched the sky grow calm and light, as sunshine poked through the clouds and beamed down, in between the raindrops that seemed to shine like fireflies. Tyler sat up, amazed, and looked around for May. There she lay, in the middle of the field, flat on her back with her arms out to her sides.

The world seemed to be tinted a sickly, yet soothing, shade of yellow. Tyler managed to crawl over to May. She was unconscious, but he checked her pulse to replace that she was alive.

“Hey, May, wake up,” he said gently as he softly rubbed her cheek. May squinted her eyes as her face twitched and her hands balled up into fists. Her hand slowly raised up to her head, and she rubbed it, moaning a little. Groggily, May opened her eyes to see Tyler, ecstatic that she was okay.

“Hey, you nut,” May said jokingly.

“May!” Tyler shouted, crushing her in a tight hug.

“Geez! Let go! You’re gonna crush me,” May complained, trying and subsequently failing hold back laughter as she did so.

Tyler smiled. He looked up and towards the school. The walk back would be even more painful than the run up here, but he could relax now that he knew they’d be okay. He just hoped Rosalie managed to get that Lillian they had heard about girl inside and to safety without any type of disaster going down before she could.

The school didn’t even bother with properly serving lunch. Most of the students had already left and class was officially let out. Many of the cars in the parking lot had been damaged by the wind, either with popped tired or shattered windows.

The town’s high school had also let out early. Rosalie waited for Jane to get there, wanting only to go home and figure out what it was that happened with the pink light. However, that was not the case as she and May were sitting in the principal’s office.The harsh weather had passed, so the principal kept them there seeing as they had disobeyed the rules, throwing precaution to the wind, and went outside during the tornado.

“So, tell me, why in the world did you leave the school?!” Mr. Garrettson scolded.

“My gym teacher needed his stop watch, but had left it on the football field during practice, so he sent me to get it,” May quickly explained.

“I will talk to him about it,” Mr. Garrettson replied, “Now, you two are only half of the students who broke the rules, yet you’re the only ones I can have in here. Do you know why?” Before either of them could answer, he continued, “Because the other two are in the hospital! One of them nearly broke his ankle and the other was struck by lightning! So, Rosalie, you’d better have a darn good explanation as to why you ran out of the hallway, into the storm, taking Tyler with you!”

There was no use in lying. So, Rosalie told the truth. “Mr. Garrettson, I overheard the teachers talking about May and Lillian being out in the storm,” she explained, “May’s my friend! Even if she wasn’t, like Lillian, then there must be something wrong for them to not come inside. So, I went out to see what the issue was. Tyler came as well, by his own volition, having had the same idea as I had. Just as I had thought, Lillian was tied to a tree, unable to come inside. I helped her! Yeah, the lightning struck, but I got her inside quickly enough for her to be treated! She could have died!”

“That doesn’t matter! You still broke the rules,” Mr. Garrettson argued. Rosalie was enraged. “Darn right, I broke the rules, and I’d gladly do it again! I’ll help the people close to me, or even complete strangers, if and when I can! I don’t care of I get hurt, and I definitely don’t give a hoot if I get in trouble for it! I guess I just care more about the safety of your students then you do!”

May stared at Rosalie in shocked disbelief and she realized she was shouting. More than that, she had rozen from her seat and was standing, having risen from her seat in a fit of fury. Rosalie felt panic filling her mind as she quickly threw herself back into the seat and pretending to be calm.

She avoided eye contact with Mr. Garrettson, yet she still felt his intense gaze. “Ms. McCart,” he said after a moment of awkward silence had gone by. Rosalie slowly forced herself to look up at her principal.

“Yes?” she quietly responded.

“You have detention,” he calmly stated, “Starting next Monday, you will serve one hour in detention for three days, and not for your actions during the tornado. I was considering letting that go with a warning. You will have detention due to your outburst just now. There was no need for it. I will talk to Tyler and Lillian and get their accounts of the story as well. As for now, you two may go.”

Rosalie grabbed her backpack hastily and marched outside to where Jane was parked, waiting. Jane saw Rosalie coming and unlocked the car. Rosalie got in and closed the door a little too hard. “Is someone upset?” Jane asked condescendingly.

“No, I’m just chipper! Can’t you tell?” Rosalie replied, full of sarcasm.

“Yeah, the principal called mom. She told me. You nearly scared her to death, you know,” Jane explained.

Rosalie gazed out the window of the car, watching trees and empty fields pass against the gray and dreary sky. “You did a good thing,” Jane finished. Rosalie took a deep breath and sighed.

Why am I acting like a stereotypical emo kid? she mentally scolded herself. I know I did the right thing. It’s not like any of those poor excuses for teachers would have helped! I just want to know what that light meant. Did Lillian see it? Oh, of course she did! She was right there! I just hope she doesn’t remember…

Rosalie looked up at Jane. “Can we… Umm… Can we go to the hospital?” she asked.Jane glanced at her, puzzled, then seemed to understand.

“Do you want to check on that ‘Lily’ gir? Or do you want to see Tyler?” Jane asked.

“Both,” Rosalie answered. She wanted to check on Lillian’s condition, to make sure she was really alright. More than that, she wanted to know what all Lillian saw and if she remembered any of it. Also, she was worried about Tyler.

She had seen the tornado right on top of where he went, which was where he was found. That’s also where it completely disappeared from. She wanted to ask Tyler about it.

Those events, plus the fact that both he and May are fine (other than his injured leg) just seemed weird, especially after what happened with Rosalie when she nearly got killed by some glass debris. Something wasn’t right. She wanted to know why.

Jane let Rosalie hop out of the car and go on into the hospital while she found a parking spot. Rosalie nearly sprinted to the front door. She went to the information desk and asked about Tyler.

“Oh, are you his girlfriend?” the receptionist asked.

“No!” Rosalie nearly shouted, before calming down and lowering her volume, “No, I’m just his friend. We were both outside when the tornado hit, and I feel responsible for him getting hurt. So, I wanted to know if he was okay.” It wasn’t completely a lie. Rosalie was a little guilty, though she was exaggerating on how much.

“Oh, well I can call his room and see if he’s allowed visitors?”

“That’d be great! Thank you.”

The receptionist - Lisa, according to her name tag - used the phone on her desk and asked for the third floor. She talked to one of the people at the information desk up there, and asked about Tyler’s status. The person she talked to put her on hold for a moment, then came back. Lisa listened for a moment, then thanked them for their trouble and hung up.

“The nurse I talked to asked Tyler’s doctor about it, then said they were in the middle of performing X-rays at the moment,” Lisa explained, “If you’d like, you can go up to the waiting room there and they’ll let you know if there’s an update.”

“Alright, I’ll do that as soon as my sister comes in so she won’t wonder where I am, but would you mind if I ask about someone else?”

“Of course not. Who is it?”

“Lillian Peters. She got hit by lightning. Do you know anything?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. It’s not everyday a kid gets hit by lightning. I’m afraid she’s not allowed any visitors other than family until she wakes up. They’re not sure when that will happen. Are you friends with her, too?”

“No, I’m the one who helped her during the storm.”

“Oh! You are? Well, can I get a name and number? That way, I’ll make sure you get a call when she can have company.”

“That would be great! Thank you so much!”

“Oh, it’s not a problem, Ms…?”

“Rosalie. Rosalie McCart.”

Rosalie gave the receptionist her cell phone number, then took a seat until Jane came in. The two of them went up to the third floor’s waiting room and sat there for a while. It was over half an hour later, when the elevator opened and May walked into the waiting area. Rosalie got up and met her in the middle of the room.

“Hey,” Rosalie said. May looked up, a bit surprised.

“Oh, hey,” she replied.

“Are you here to see Tyler?” Rosalie asked.

“Yeah, I am,” May answered.

“Me too.”

Rosalie sat beside May, who seemed to be acting a bit strange. She kept staring at the ground and fidgeting, occasionally playing with her hair or her thumbs, or even tapping her foot. She wouldn’t make eye contact with Rosalie. Rosalie contemplated asking what was wrong after about twenty minutes of this, but before she could, a nurse walked over to them.

“May and Rosalie, correct?” the nurse asked, looking at the clipboard in her hands. The two nodded in unison. “Tyler’s fine,” the nurse explained, “It was a bad sprain, but that’s all. He should be right out. You two are good friends for waiting so long. Oh, and Rosalie?”

“Yes?” Rosalie answered.

“Lillian’s awake. She knows you’re here. Though, she says she doesn’t want to see you. I’m sorry.”

“What? Why?” Rosalie asked, confused.

“I’m not sure, but if it helps, she’s doing fine. She has a few minor burns, but nothing to worry about, and no signs of internal injuries. You did a good thing.”

“Th-Thank you,” Rosalie replied. Why doesn’t she want me to visit? Is she afraid? Please don’t let her tell anyone what she saw… I’ll just have to talk to her at school. I really hope I get a chance soon, Rosalie thought.

Just then, Tyler limped down the hall and into the waiting room on a pair of crutches with a brace on his ankle. He looked up at Rosalie and May, smiling and waving. “Hey, guys.”