26. Violet
CHAPTER 26
VIOLET
T he wind starts getting really bad, and I don’t feel safe driving anymore. I pull over to the side of the road and put my hazard lights on, wondering if they will even be visible through the sheets of rain.
I’m still soaked, but I find a clean shirt that I left in my car, and I switch out my soaked sweater for the dry shirt. I start to feel a little better immediately.
Once I’m halfway dry, I pull out my phone, my fingers numb from the cold. As the screen lights up, I see several missed calls and messages. Most of them are from Hannah, and my stomach tightens with guilt. I should have known she’d be worried. I open the latest text and read it quickly.
Hannah
Violet, where are you? Have you been hurt or something? Call me as soon as you get this.
Oh my god. Has Hannah been freaking out about where I’ve been all this time? I scroll back through our message chain and see that she’s sent me a ton of similar messages, along with multiple missed calls.
My fingers fumble with the phone as I call her.
As soon as she answers, she starts talking.
“Violet! Thank God. Where have you been? We’ve been trying to reach you for hours!”
“I’m sorry, Hannah. I just needed some time to clear my head. I went out to Lake Ernest.”
“Lake Ernest? Don’t you know that there’s a tornado heading our way? You’re supposed to find a room in the middle of the house with no windows and shelter in place. Not drive out to the lake like it’s a day for a picnic.”
“A tornado?” I ask, glancing through my windshield as the wind plays with the tree branches in front of me.
I had no idea, and I start to feel an icy fear working its way down my body.
Hannah continues her questions. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Why did you leave work to go to the lake?”
I sigh, running a hand through my wet hair. “I don’t know, Hannah. Everything’s just... a mess. My mom, work, everything. I just needed some space. I didn’t know there was a tornado heading toward town.”
“I get it. But you can’t just disappear like that. We were all scared something happened to you.”
“Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”
“With the tornado, maybe I’m just freaked out. Charlie and I are here in our apartment, just waiting for it to pass. You can head here if you want.”
“No, I should get to my mom. I need to make sure she’s safe.”
“Be careful, Violet. And let us know when you’re safe. Don’t disappear again.”
“I’ll let you know once I’m back there and have got my mom and me in a safe room.”
Panicked, I leave the hazard lights on my vehicle and start inching my way down the street. I can’t be moving more than twenty miles an hour, and it feels like I’m never going to get there at this speed.
I glance at my phone after a moment, wondering if I should call my mom, but I feel like I need both hands and eyes on the road right now. I watch as the wind rips a branch off a tree on the right side of the road and throws it across the opposite lane.
Fear hits me as I hunch forward, trying to see through the rain. I just need to get home. I need to get to my mother and make sure she’s okay.
As I turn onto our street, the wind gusts so strongly that it pushes my car into the opposite lane. I push forward, determined to get to my mom and make sure she’s okay. The sky is dark, and the rain is coming down harder now, but I’m almost there.
Finally, I reach our house. I fumble with my keys, my hands shaking from the adrenaline coursing through me. I manage to get the door open and step inside, and the sound of the storm is instantly pushed out, just a little.
“Mom?” I call out, shutting the door behind me and locking it. “Mom, are you here?”