Chaos Storm

Penelope Cromwell snarls at her grandmother, wanting to drain the magic from the elderly woman. She wasn't a vampire, her client was a vampire; bleeding most people dry. Her charcoal-black eyes remained as they were, turning her anger on the woman who always treated her kindly. "There's nothing to excuse, Grandma!"

"Penelope!" Evelyn hissed, just as Penelope lifted her palm midair, allowing a black ball of energy to form. The elderly woman's light blue eyes widened, knowing she needed to counteract whatever curse her granddaughter was placed under.

"I've wasted too much time on listening throughout the years!" Penelope hissed, flinging the black energy ball at the elderly woman. The ground beneath her, Evelyn, Delphine and Mackenzie at The Winchester began to shake.

Evelyn waved her hand in the air, causing a swirl of light purple and gold to emit from her own palm, blocking whatever black magic Penelope shot her way. "You won't take me down! I may be old, Penny, but I'm still strong."

Penelope darkly chuckles. "You might be stronger than me, Grandma, but when the time is right, your grandson will rise up and take your magic from you."

"I don’t believe he would do that to me. He's slightly crazy with a twisted sense of humor, but he's always sweeter than you, Penny." Evelyn corrects her granddaughter, who flings another black energy ball at her grandmother.

"Why won't you just allow me to kill you, crazy, old bat? I could inherit everything from you. My brother is more unhinged than I am!" Penelope growled at Evelyn, who once again had blocked her attack with her own set of swirling magic.

Delphine started to believe she was in some twisted alternate reality where she was dreaming. Her candy-apple-green eyes flickered from Evelyn to Penelope, digesting just how real the situation was to her mind. She hears a hefty sigh fall from the lips of her best friend. "Do you believe this, Kenzie?"

"I'm not sure what to believe, Del. This could just be some fever dream we're both sharing. What are the chances we will wake up tomorrow finding we have shared this as a dream?" Mackenzie whispers over to Delphine with wide eyes. She was partly joking, mostly serious, since she didn't know what to believe.

"If the chances are that this was a shared dream tomorrow, then there's a good chance that magic exists. I'm open-minded, but I'm not that open-minded." Delphine nervously replies in turn to her best friend. She had known the lavender-haired woman since ninth grade when they found each other.

"I'm with you on that," Mackenzie whispers in agreement just as Penelope becomes even more frustrated.

Delphine cut her eyes to the window, frowning at whatever was happening with the brewing storm outside. Gently chewing on her lower lip, she didn’t know what to make of the raging dark blue waves violently slamming into one another. She heard a roar overhead, soon eyeing the dark clouds quickly moving in overhead. "Was it supposed to storm this afternoon?"

"I checked the weather. Today was supposed to be a perfectly calm, chilly, beautiful day. No storms were listed on the horizon." Mackenzie utters a reply to Delphine with worry sliding into her navy gray eyes.

"I have a grand fear of storms. I don’t like thunder, lightning or the chance of getting soaked to the core." Delphine hissed, not angry at all. She was simply annoyed that the weather in Clairvoyant Cove was always changing. For once, she wished that whoever was prancing around upstairs would quit dabbling with the weather, leaving it at one setting.

"It will be okay, Del. I'm with you and so is Eve," Mackenzie softly explains to Delphine, extending a hand to squeeze the shoulder of her best friend. She couldn’t wait to leave The Winchester while the panic in Delphine skyrocketed upon noticing the sea level beginning to rise.

"Erm, Kenzie!" Delphine hissed, managing to smack Mackenzie in the face. Instead of apologizing right away, she gestured for the lavender-haired woman to take a peek out the window to see what she saw.

"Yes, Del?" Mackenzie questions, soon following the gaze of Delphine after scowling at her friend for accidentally slapping her in the face. Her navy gray eyes became horrified at the water rising above The Winchester in a quick-paced manner. She ran her fingers down her smooth, blue denim shorts-clad, bronze-colored legs. "Am I seeing the water rise above us while we're inside?"

"You're seeing exactly what I'm seeing," Delphine informs her best friend, just as horrified as Mackenzie herself. She harshly gulped, tearing her eyes away from the chaos storm brewing outside while they wound up trapped inside. Her eyes darted towards Penelope and Evelyn, watching as Penelope conjured a small, black dagger in one hand.

"Penny, you wouldn’t dare harm a frail old woman, would you? Think about how cruel that would be! I'm your grandmother!" Evelyn irritably exhales to Penelope, who processes what her grandmother is saying.

Penelope doesn’t care one bit about her grandmother as a wicked grin spreads across her lips. "You are no grandmother of mine! You traded me and my brother for non-blood-related women who are like granddaughters in your eyes compared to the grandchildren you already have!"

"I'm beyond shocked at how you could believe or even think that I'd love you or your brother any less. I have enough love in my heart to go around." Evelyn calmly explained to her granddaughter in a wobbly voice. She was conjuring up the most honest reply she could give her granddaughter.

"ENOUGH!" Penelope roared at her grandmother. She heard enough from the elderly woman to last a lifetime nor did she fancy doing the same old dance. She took aim at Evelyn just as Delphine jolted to her feet to stop the worst from happening.

"Del, what are you doing?" Mackenzie is dumbfounded, bouncing from her own spot after Delphine had pushed herself to her feet earlier from Penelope's attack. She asked just as things took a turn.

Delphine didn’t answer her best friend. She had to act when Penelope launched the dagger at her grandmother, causing her to take the blade for the elderly woman. She could have let Evelyn die, but she valued the elderly woman versus her own life. She groaned as the black dagger buried itself in her right shoulder. "Ouch!"

Penelope grew even more perturbed, stepping up to Delphine, twisting the black dagger in the shoulder of the brunette. She broke out into a menacing grin. "Your time to be sacrificed is on the way, Dolphin Scum!"

Delphine pushed Penelope away from her while the honey-blonde ceased the opportunity to sidestep around the brunette. She heard her best friend gasp with Mackenzie halfway to her feet in order to stop Penelope going for Evelyn, but the lavender-haired woman was too late.

"Evelyn, your time on this Earth is long overdue!" Penelope hissed, grabbing her grandmother, pulling the elderly woman into her body before teleporting from The Winchester with Evelyn in her grasp.

Mackenzie frowned, extending a hand where they disappeared, only for a shot of purple glitter to escape her hand. "Purple glitter?"

Delphine was beyond disappointed in herself and the situation of what took place. She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for Penelope stealing Evelyn, knowing the honey-blonde would more than likely kill her grandmother. "I am cursed!"

Mackenzie scurried over to Delphine upon realizing her best friend was injured and still at The Winchester with her. She inhales sharply at the black dagger buried in the right shoulder of Delphine, who let her shoulder take the hit so neither her nor Evelyn would die. "Del, ouch! Are you okay?"

"I'm doing better than I'm sure Evelyn is doing. Is Penelope really going to sacrifice her own flesh and blood?" Delphine spoke, rolling her candy-apple-green eyes. Her black tank top clung to her petite body, snugly fitting, as did her semi-ripped, blue denim shorts. Her eyes met the navy gray eyes of Mackenzie Rivers, who was in disbelief of her attitude upon what had just happened.

"We need to get out of The Winchester, but the water has gone above the windows, which means you can't leave through the doors either." Mackenzie informs Delphine, who grows dizzy with blurring vision. She briefly scanned Delphine from head to toe in order to ensure that her best friend was fine before finding a safe way from the formerly grand restaurant.

Delphine was about to make a suggestion when a loud crack in the window kept her from what her suggestion was. Her eyes grew a fraction while allowing them to cut to the one large window in The Winchester. "I hope you can hold your lungs for as long as it takes to breathe underwater."

Mackenzie breathed in, holding in puffed-out cheeks of air just as the window broke, ensuring the water infiltrated The Winchester so it could drown whoever was present. She nor Delphine were prepared for the twisted journey they had suddenly, unexpectedly been thrust into.

Delphine's lungs began to burn in the water, noting it was salt-flavored water, burning the black dagger in her right shoulder. Her eyes began to burn with the pain of the salt water. She couldn’t catch her breath quick enough like Mackenzie had been able to. Struggling to figure out what to do, her dizziness grew tenfold as the pain in her shoulder began to radiate down. She did the only other thing she could think of, taking hold of the black dagger, pulling it from her right shoulder while fire cleansed the wound from where the dagger had previously been.

If she could have screamed from how bad she was feeling without fearing she would lose her life, then she would have released a scream into the universe. Squinting as best as she could, her eyes scanned the salty water in search of her best friend with no traces of Mackenzie to be found. Hope fled her before she could instill it in her heart just as tingling began to rock her entire body. The fiery pain in her lungs shortly died down as the salt water stopped burning her and her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she was able to get her bearings underwater, confusing Delphine to no end.

Since when could Delphine see, hear and breathe underwater? She found it odd that it was salt water to be exact, especially when salt stung like no tomorrow. Most normal people couldn’t function in such a setting, but after what she witnessed, was anything about her life normal? Begging to differ, she shook her head, finally catching sight of Mackenzie. Wondering if she could speak under the salt-flavored water, she ventured off to her best friend, who appeared a bit differently.

"Mackenzie?" Delphine managed to ask underwater, shocking herself and the lavender-haired woman who was already in a sea of confusion. Her eyes danced to the scaly, purple mermaids' tale her best friend was sporting. She was finally able to convince herself that they were stuck in some weird dream that neither of them would remember the next day.

"Delphine? You can talk underwater?" Mackenzie scoffs, cutting her navy green eyes from the light purple shells hugging her breasts to her best friend who spoke to her underwater.

Delphine frowned as she gestured to Mackenzie. "You're a mermaid."

"That’s it! We are definitely having some shared, off dream. I'm not a mermaid nor can you function underwater." Mackenzie sharply informs Delphine, who snorts, vigorously nodding her head in agreement.

"How do we get home?" Delphine mutters, allowing her eyes to roam around the underwater restaurant.

"I have a feeling. Follow my lead," Mackenzie suggests, opting to exit The Winchester by swimming through the broken window. She doesn't make sure Delphine is following, aware that her best friend had no other options. Neither did she.

Delphine didn’t have to question Mackenzie or her leadership. She swam after her best friend, wanting to wake up from whatever dream they were sharing. She swam after Mackenzie for a few good minutes with everything seeming calm, quiet as could be before something had to break up what little peace they got. "Kenzie?"

Mackenzie didn’t miss the nervousness of her best friend, swimming about face to better eye Delphine. A glimpse of movement shimmered from the corner of her eye, behind her best friend, causing a frown to form on her lips. "Delphine, you might want to hurry over to me. I saw something—"

Delphine heard the panic in Mackenzie's tone, causing her to become tense in her spot, especially upon her friend stopping mid-sentence. She shot a glance over her shoulder, finding nothing behind her while her friend remained in a frenzy of fear. "What did you see? If I move, then the chances of being eaten are high, aren't they?"

Mackenzie nonchalantly shrugs as if it's not a big deal. She crosses her arms to her bosom. "I don’t want to alarm you, but I think it was your favorite seafood platter."

Delphine becomes even more tense if it were possible for her. "Please, don't tell me, it's the seafood platter, I think you mean!"

"It definitely looked like an alligator," Mackenzie confirmed, only for Delphine to dart over to the mermaid in a timely manner. As soon as Delphine reached her, she turned the brunette around to the alligator hurdling towards them. "We have got to go before it gets us!"

"Swim to the surface and find dry land! Get away from the water as quickly as possible!" Delphine sharply shouts at Mackenzie, nudging her shoulder in order to get away from the alligator.

"That sounds like a good plan." Mackenzie agrees, doing as Delphine suggested. She knew Delphine wasn't far behind her since they both wanted to escape the alligator.

Delphine swam faster than Mackenzie, breaking the surface, starting to shiver, feeling the wetness of being soaked by the salt water. She reached the lay of the land, exhaling before propelling herself onto the grass quickly, forcing her legs to work. She wound up on the road with an exasperated Mackenzie soon trailing along after her. "We are soaked beyond recognition."

"I'm well aware that we're soaked, Del. We're evenly pruned too." Mackenzie gingerly points out to Delphine in a light-hearted manner. She briefly cuts her navy gray eyes to the water, keeping a lookout for the alligator. "We should find my purple jeep. I'll drop you off at home."

"It's over there," Delphine says, pointing to said purple jeep which was by a tree on the side of the road. She jogs over to the purple jeep along with Mackenzie. She didn't see her silver gray jeep anywhere. Once upon a time, she had made a pact with her best friend—they would own a similar type of transportation when they got their driver's license. "I think my jeep went under."

"Don't concern yourself with it, Del! It's us or the alligator! Pick your poison!" Mackenzie had already jumped into the driver's side of her vehicle. Her eyes dart to Delphine, who mirrors her best friend, popping into the passenger side of the purple jeep.

"I'm not too worried about it, Kenzie, but it was my only way of transportation. I can't afford to buy or rent another one," Delphine sadly squeaks to Mackenzie, who puts her jeep into drive.

"I'm well aware of this fact, Del. We can figure something out later. I could always drive you crazy all over Clairvoyant Cove," Mackenzie half joked, offering to help her best friend. Her best friend could be stubborn, so, even with offering her help, Delphine wouldn’t necessarily take it.

"I know you're trying to lighten the mood while attempting to be helpful, but I won't accept it. I put all my fundings into my fourth album, having faith that it would pan out. I learned my lesson. I'm not set up for life like most would be in my position," Delphine explains as something surfaces in the mind of Mackenzie.

Mackenzie was already zooming down the street as it clicked in her brain. She cut Delphine a curious glance. "You are a talented singer, D. Didn’t you get paid a nice sum for your first three records with Candlewood Records? Something doesn't add up."

"They told me, I wouldn't make a good profit like most until my voice proved itself. Like I said, all my money went into the fourth unreleased and unfinished album," Delphine informs Mackenzie, who feels it's a ludicrous idea.

Mackenzie pulls up to the one-story, four-bedroom, two-bathroom powder blue house of Delphine, beginning to tap her fingers on the steering wheel. She sighs. "This will have been a dream when we get up tomorrow. You'll see."

Delphine internally begged to differ. Something about the events of the day seemed so real, she could hardly shake the feeling of it being an actual set of events. She pursued her dark pink, full lips, finding she not only dried fairly quickly, but she was no longer pruning. "A good night's sleep will probably clear up our minds."

"Let me know if and when you see any sign of Autumn and Hazel. They left Clairvoyant Cove not too long after your dreams took off. They went sleuthing together from what they told everybody." Mackenzie opts to inform Delphine as a frown becomes apparent on the face of her best friend.

"Thank you for telling me. It's a bit weird since the house was left to the three of us. The longer it sits, the more it falls apart," Delphine explains to Mackenzie while processing everything she learned.

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