Read Online Tempest (#1 Destroyers Series) by Holly Hook - Free Book Online Page A

lost in her own thoughts. Gary’s
birthmark popped up in her mind again. And that little mole on his
nose…why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? He was long gone,
probably eaten by an alligator with her luck.
    She unrolled some plastic wrap and stretched
it out over and over to distract her thoughts. Was Gary still
trying to find her? What if he was out on the streets? Anything
could have happened to him in the past week.
    Mrs. Vanderson appeared at her table and
poured the ocean water into the bowl. A funny tingle swept through
Janelle at the salty smell of it. The same thing had happened when
she’d caught a whiff of the salt water on Gary. Great. Now she was
thinking about him again .
    “Let’s get this done,” Donovan said, lifting
the bowl off the table. “Uh…ah…” He let out a huge sneeze.
    The bowl tilted to the side. Donovan tried to
steady it, but it wobbled right off his hand and towards her.
Janelle tried to scoot to the side, but water splashed against her
shirt and onto her lap.
    Her birthmark tingled and burned. A roar
filled her head as Janelle wrapped her arms around herself and
gritted her teeth. The roar became a scream and a burst of wind
whipped against her clothes and whistled through the room. Students
cried out around her. Glass shattered and papers flew. Blinds
rattled and books slid across tables, crashing to the floor.
Janelle was tilting, swaying, spinning…she could no longer feel her
arms or legs. What the hell was this? A seizure. This must be a
seizure. She was going to die…
    The roaring and tilting stopped.
    Janelle opened her eyes. The world snapped
back into place as water dripped off her lap and onto the
floor.
    Papers fluttered down while everyone turned
in their chairs to look around the room. Mrs. Vanderson stood
against a file cabinet, not that Janelle could blame her. And
Donovan’s face had turned red—really red. He looked down at his own
lap and muttered an apology. But Janelle had no time to feel sorry
for him. A panic rose inside her like floodwater, threatening to
pour out of her at any second.
    The water soaking through her clothes had
been some kind of trigger. She had…she had…
    “Where did that come from?” the teacher
asked, gripping the cabinet as if expecting another blast. “Did
someone open the window?”
    “No. That was weird,” a girl said near the
front of the room, rubbing a red mark on her arm and wincing. “The
windows are all shut.”
    “Well, is everyone all right?” Wide-eyed,
Mrs. Vanderson walked to the front of the room and stumbled over a
fallen chair. “What happened in here? A localized tornado?”
    Janelle looked around the room, the flood of
terror rising through her chest and making her heart pound as if it
were trying to escape. She hadn’t had a seizure, that was for sure.
Seizures didn’t destroy everything around them.
    A case of beakers had tipped on a nearby
counter and shattered. The floor was a mess: papers, water, and
bowls everywhere. The blinds hung in a tangled mess on the other
side of the room. At the next table, a girl held her hip as tears
formed in her eyes.
    Janelle's stomach threatened to lose its
contents. The panic rose up her throat, and she couldn't swallow it
back down. Now wasn't the time to break down in front of all these
strangers.
    “Uh…Mrs. Vanderson? Can I go to the office? I
don’t feel well and I kind of need to dry off.” She had to leave.
Now. Even if she got busted for skipping the rest of class.
    The teacher studied Janelle’s clothes. “Go
ahead. At least go dry yourself off. I think we’ll just be doing
some reading today, anyway.” She picked up the fallen chair,
muttering something.
    Janelle made her way for the door. Nervous
chatter surrounded her. No one stared in her direction, but that
didn't stop a prickling sensation from crawling up her back, like
someone had a camera trained on her. Out. She had to get out.
    The hall was empty. Good. She hugged herself
and