Disclaimer: All characters belong to Christine Feehan, for she is the Queen, and I bow to her queenliness. No copy write infringement intended.

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Dark Storm

by Pagaan Place

Chaney was refilling the sugar shakers and glanced around the diner, it was almost midnight and Al's Diner was a bastion of emptiness. With a 1950's diner feel, Al's was the only diner in town. Consequently, the only place to "eat out" unless you wanted to drive the 15 miles into Burroughs Ridge to eat.

The red Formica-topped tables still gleamed from the last wipe down Chaney did an hour ago on all of the empty tables. It was like everyone stayed home tonight, even their regulars. And that uneasy feeling was back again. She'd had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, all day. Chaney was glad the diner was closing soon.

Chaney sighed, murmured to herself, 'My radar must be off today.' She went and placed the sugar shakers on each table.

Not much in tips tonight and she needed to pay rent tomorrow on the room she stayed in above the restaurant from Al, who is really Jose, who bought the place from Al when he and his wife retired to Florida to be closer to their grandchildren.

Luck had been with her when she strolled into town about a year ago looking for a job and a place to stay.

Chaney was a runaway, had been since the age of 15 when Social Services, put her in the Baker home and Mr. Baker decided he liked her more than his wife.

And of course Chaney was removed from the home at the request of Mrs. Baker when Chaney told her he'd been trying to touch her. And didn't mention Mr. Baker's attempts to assault her but told Social Services, Chaney was an incorrigible child.

And, when her case worker told her she should have just kept her mouth shut, she knew she'd had enough of Social Services too.

When the chance came to escape, Chaney crept out late one night, of the dingy institution and never looked back. She worked odd jobs, slept in unlocked cars and dumpsters but mainly stayed in or near church's which is how she found the job at Al's.

A Priest found her sleeping in one of the cornices close to the door and brought her into the church and gave her a meal. Father Juan was brother to Jose and knowing he was looking for a waitress, contacted his brother the next day. The following day, Chaney had a job as a waitress and for once a roof over her head that was hers. She was just 17 years old.

As Chaney moved to lock the door to the diner, she yelled back to Jose, "Jose, I am closing up shop, ok?"

"Okay, I will see you in the morning," Jose said as he stepped out of the kitchen.

As Chaney was about to interrupt, Jose stopped her with a wave.

"Go on out, little one. I will finish here. I will see you in the morning. You be careful in those woods. If your not home in an hour, I will come looking for you, ya hear?"

"Sure Jose, I'll be careful, I promise", said Chaney smiling at his concern. No one except Jose and his wife Marta, had ever been concerned about her. It was a novel feeling but one she enjoyed. She picked up her jacket and a plastic bag of meat scraps and headed out to her small cabin in the woods. It was more like a shack than anything else, but her and the animals made it their meeting place.

She left out the side-door, quickly locking it behind her, which in this small town was not necessary but old habits died hard. Especially being from the city where lying, cheating and stealing were a constant presence in her life. She would turn 18 next week and she would no longer have to hide from social services. Although, she was quite sure they never looked for her in the first place, it was a burden hanging over her head, knowing she had no true control over her life until her 18th birthday.

Chaney usually wandered the woods visiting her animal friends in the forest, tending them when necessary. It also allowed her to use her gifts to help people and animals alike without being discovered. She knew Jose and Marta knew something was different about her, but they never said a word or treated her any different. Chaney needed to see Snowflake, a little albino raccoon, that shouldn't have been able to survive in the wild but with Chaney's help, has grown into a fat butterball of fur.

And this wouldn't be the first time someone in Lancashire had been "helped". When the town was suffering from a mysterious drought, Chaney went out to the woods and used her gifts to bring an abundance of rain, so much so, she had a hard time controlling the storm and almost flooded the town. She hadn't been particularly sure that she was the only one feeding the storm. Somehow her minor storm to refill the water tanks had grown almost uncontrollable and it took all of her power to turn the deadly storm around. As the storm ended, she felt another presence in the storm and it felt evil and oily, and she quickly shielded herself and her power.  And although she had stopped the storm, she passed out right there in the woods, from the sheer power required calm the storm. She was very careful from then on, since it seemed there was another and their power felt evil and full of mischief.

As she rounded the corner and stepped into the woods, she felt the wind pick up sharply and grow colder. She could always tell when a storm was coming but this did not feel like a natural storm. Seems like the other was using his or her power again, Chaney wasn't sure how she knew but whenever that power was used in the town, she could feel a wave of it wash over her.