Chapter One

The Weather.

Discos had never really been Ben West's thing. That was what he had told his friends, but they had insisted. So there he was, awkwardly standing in the corner of the school hall - dressed in a red T-shirt under a mostly buttoned blue chequered Airwalks hoodie shirt and denim jacket with jeans and a pair of white trainers - with a can of Coke in his hand looking generally bored. He almost never went to parties himself and if he was having one, it usually consisted of him and a few friends going to the Cinema then playing games at his house for a couple of hours before they all went home. Not in the middle of a crowd that was randomly jumping up and down to music that wasn't even that good. But here he was, not remotely enjoying himself at a school disco his friends had roped him into coming to.

Ben decided to try to sneak out and get a bus home. Casually walking to the back of the hall, he stopped to talk to a couple of people in case his friends saw him trying to leave. Eventually he made it to the back of the hall and promptly walked straight into his friend Alisha sending them both staggering backwards. Alisha was short, with shoulder length red hair and bright green eyes in a skirt and blue blouse with a white jacket.

"Careful Ben; watch where you're going next time." Alisha narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to leave?"

Ben mumbled something unintelligible. Alisha winded her eyes again. "You are! You're trying to leave. Come on, Ben. You said you'd stay for the whole thing."

"Actually," Ben replied "I said I'd come. I didn't say anything about staying. So, yeah… I'm leaving."

Alisha put her hands on his shoulders and turned him around. "Tough luck. You're staying."

Ben tried to argue but Alisha interrupted him; "Come on Ben. You hardly ever get out except for school, and that doesn't even count. Just have fun for once, okay?"

Ben sighed, annoyed. He turned around again and started to walk back into the crowd. In the next hour and a half, his Coke got knocked out of his hand, the music grew increasingly terrible and somebody stood on his foot.

Eventually, when things start to slow down and when they were allowed out, Ben made a beeline for the doors, trying to keep ahead of the inevitable crush that would occur when people realized the doors were open. Just managing to get out in time, Ben was slowed down by Adrian, a friend of his that also hadn't wanted to go to the disco. Adrian had decided to wear brown chinos and an orange hoodie over a red T-shirt.

"Well, what'd you think of that?" Adrian asked. Ben thought about how to answer for about two seconds.

"Thank God that's over."

Adrian laughed. The two of them had been friends since they had met six years ago, when they were seven. They both liked comics and were both introverts, preferring to be alone most of the time, although Ben more so than Adrian.

"Ben? Hello?" Adrian rapped his knuckles against Ben's head causing him to start. "Yeah, sorry; what?" Ben asked, confused. Adrian rolled his eyes. "I was asking if you wanted to come over."

Ben shook his head. "Nah, sorry. I've got some English homework to do." Ben frowned and wiped his forehead with his fingers. They were sticky with sweat. "Has it suddenly just got warmer?"

Adrian nodded. "Yeah. Weird though; the weather forecast said it was going to be pretty cold."

It was getting warmer and both Ben and Adrian were sweating heavily now. Ben unbuttoned his hoodie shirt.

Ben pulled out his phone to check the weather forecast. He launched his browser and searched 'BBC weather' when his phone started to get really hot and the plastic started to bubble. Ben cried out and dropped his phone, clutching his hand. Adrian yelped. "Ben, your jacket's on fire!"

Ben ripped off his denim jacket and threw it on the ground, stomping out the fire. Then he quickly picked it up and brushed it off and put it back on.

Then suddenly the temperature dropped right down to normal, about six or seven degrees. Ben and Adrian looked at each other. "That… was weird." Adrian said, stating the obvious. Just then Alisha came up to them from behind. "Hi guys." She looked between them. "What's wrong? You looked like you've seen a ghost."

Ben looked at her. "You're not serious. You cannot have just missed that heat wave thing."

Alisha stared at him blankly. "What you talking about?"

"You know, the air just turning so hot Ben's jacket lit on fire and started to melt his phone?" Adrian said, looking at Alisha's face for any reaction. She simply shook her head.

Alisha looked up at the sky. "What's up with this weather?"

Both Ben and Adrian looked up at this. Seemingly out of nowhere, storm clouds black as pitch were rolling in across the sky. They seemed to spread out for miles and miles, like the lid of some great coffin, sealing them in. People were now steadily trickling out the schools front doors from the disco either in pairs or on their own. It was when the first lightning bolt struck, people started to freak out.

It came down from the sky and obliterated one of the members of staff's cars by melting right through the metal in a split second, leaving it a pile of red hot melted slop. Then the screaming started. Hysteria breaking out. A natural reaction. People turned back to run into the school but the lightning struck through the roof and collapsed stone and masonry down into the entrance.

Then another one of Ben's friends turned up. "What the hell is going on?" Rachel demanded. Ben didn't answer, just yelled out for people to start running. Ben quickly reached down and picked up his phone. It seemed to be working

Rain was pouring down around them, lightning flashing on every side, each bolt accompanied by a clap of thunder. By an unspoken signal, the four of them decided to run to Alisha's house as it was closest, just a few minutes away if they ran hard.

The four of them ran, their faces scrunched up against the cold wind and stinging rain. As he ran, Ben was wondering where this storm had come from. There had been no warnings on the news or anything and a storm like this could usually be predicted miles off. So where had it come from? The same thing went for that weird heat wave/flare thing. It had been so hot Ben's jacket had caught fire and started to bubble the plastic on his phone. But they had heard nothing about it in the days that had past.

They reached Alisha's house. Running onto the front porch, Alisha quickly shoved her hand into her pocket and fumbled around for a key. Finally she found it. Striding forward, Alisha tried to fit the key into the lock, but it was stuck. Ben and the others shouted at her to open the door.

Then the lightning came down through the wooden roof of the porch and blasted them backwards onto the gravel.

For Ben, time seemed to slow down. It was as if he were falling backwards through syrup. He could feel the lightning travel through his body and into the ground when he slammed into it, forcing the air from his lungs. Gasping, Ben managed to find the strength to pull himself back to his feet. He sprinted for the door through the rain and tried to unlock the door. When it wouldn't work, he turned round and grabbed Adrian and pulled him to his feet. "Gimme a hand with the door!" Ben shouted.

The two of them slammed themselves against the door again and again. Eventually, Alisha and Rachel got up and helped them.

Suddenly, the door burst open, sending the four of them spilling into the entrance hall of Alisha's house. Ben quickly turned around and slammed the door behind them after yanking the key free of the front lock.

The four of them just stood there, leaning against the walls for a few minutes, the adrenaline leaving their systems.

Ben glanced over at Rachel. He held out his jacket for her. She frowned. "What's that in aid of?" Rachel asked, perplexed.

Ben blushed. "Your T-shirts wet. It's kinda, see through. Same for you Alisha. You two might want to cover yourselves."

The two girls looked down and yelped. Rachel grabbed Ben's jacket and wrapped it around herself, whilst Alisha zipped up her coat to cover her blouse.

Adrian, who hadn't made a sound for several minutes said, "While this is all well and good, we need to talk about more important matters. For instance; we should be dead. We're thirteen years old and we just got struck by lightning. And we haven't died." Adrian paused. "Not that I'm ungrateful or anything. It's just weird, you know?"

Even though he didn't say it out loud, Ben agreed with him. He had been able to feel the lightning frying him before it dissipated. No way he should have survived.

Ben was about to say something when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out: he was surprised that the melted plastic hadn't destroyed the phone. He had a text from his Mum; she had been freaking out when the storm and heat-wave hit and wanted to know if he was okay. He quickly texted back saying that he was fine and was on his way home. Ben looked up at Alisha.

"You mind if I borrow a towel?

"What?" Alisha was confused

"A towel." Ben said. "Can I borrow one? My mum just texted me. I need to go home."

"Oh, uh sure. They're in the cupboard on the left once you go up the stairs.

Ben followed her directions and managed to find a towel and dry himself as much as possible, before coming back down the stairs.

"Storm seems to have stopped. So, I guess I'll see you guys on Monday then." Ben mumbled, before turning around and walking straight into the closed door. Strangely though, it didn't hurt, it just sort of tingled. He opened the door and walked out into the driveway.

It took him about ten minutes for a bus to arrive at the bus stop, during which he stood in silence listening to the sounds of traffic going by. Ben asked for a ticket to Summer-hill Avenue which cost him one pound ninety. After he got off the bus, he walked up the street to his house; Nine Rosepark, Belfast. Ben reached over the gate to unlock it. As he was fumbling with the catch, it suddenly bent in half before he yanked the gate open.

That was strange .the gate isn't rusty or anything. Ben thought. He walked up to the front door and fished the key out of his pocket. He must have been too forceful, because when he went to unlock the door, his key snapped in half. Ben managed to open the door with the fragment of key stuck in the lock before pulling it out. Ben stepped inside the house before closing the door behind him and calling out to his Mum that he was home.

His Mum quickly came running. She was tall, with blue eyes and auburn hair.

"Are you okay?" She asked franticly to which Ben replied that he was fine but that he needed a shower.

"How was your day, Ben?" His Mum asked.

Ben thought about it for a minute before saying, "Uneventful."

(First posted this on Fictionpress.com. Will update it as priority, but will try not to sideline this version.)