The dim ceiling lights flickered as the storm rumbled outside. Every flash of lighting shined on the two employees working at their desks. Chase Rainbows and Raina Shine had been typing as many reports as they could get their hands on before tomorrow. If asked by a coworker, they’d just say they love their jobs and want nothing more than to help their work family. Of course, this was a crook of shit.
“I don’t hear much typing, Mr. Rainbows.” Raina said, clearly forcing a southern accent.
“Drop the accent like how you dropped out of community college.” Chase said.
“Drop dead like the granny who wore your stained cardigan.”
The two of them had been given a low level assistant job at the same news station a couple months ago and never quite saw eye to eye. It didn’t help that Raina would wear heels that, mixed with her closer-to-god hair style, made her a foot taller than Chase. Whether it was typing out a new report for the station or a meeting to share ideas for stories, they would always try to be better than the other. Their competitive natures were as helpful as they were harmful for their egos at times. For example, they both were offered a position as the head meteorologist at the station because of their overly detailed weather reports. However, there’s only one available position and their prides are a tad too large to let the other have it.
“I don’t hear much typing, Ms. Shit.” Chase said mockingly.
“You know it’s Ms. Shine and that ain’t even clever!” Raina said
After a few more exchanges that were certainly inappropriate for the workplace, they both had finished their last reports of the night. It was half past twelve and a growl from his stomach reminded Chase that he skipped his lunch break to look more productive. His witchy coworker never eats in front of people and he’d be damned to let her have extra time to work while he stuffs his face. Finally able to take a break, he pulled out a brown paper bag from his larger, nonpaper, workbag. Everyday, he packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with an apple juice box and chips. Everyday, Raina laughed at how ate like a school kid on a free meal program. After months of working with her, he never had a good comeback for that one.
“Still using jelly? No wonder your figure is just as jiggly.” Raina said. “I’d be delighted to share some healthy alternatives, but they’re above elementary reading levels.” She gracefully sat on Chase’s desk and posed as she spoke. Her hands glided down the sides of her figure as she placed one thin leg over the other. Raina began to tilt her head to have her “good side” face Chase, but she stopped as she felt her hair moving.
“I have a glue stick if you need to touch up your hair.” Chase said
Raina’s face flushed red as she straightened her back while turning her head away from him. Chase giggled as his coworker went back to her desk, gathered her things and readied to leave. Just as she was about to pass him, Raina asked where Chase’s umbrella was. He was about to give her a sarcastic response, but noticed his umbrella was gone. He bent under his desk and began searching when he heard Raina giggling. By the time he had lifted his head, Raina was in an elevator with a familiar looking umbrella.
“Hey! Wait!” Chase cried, but it was too late. The elevator doors had closed and Raina was gone with the only thing to help Mr. Rainbows with the storm outside. Chase kicked the closed doors and cursed under his breath for longer than most grown adults would admit to doing. He knew he couldn’t stay in the office forever, so he gathered his things and readied for a very wet walk home.
***
The storm had gotten worse when he arrived at the news station’s exit. Sighing, he unbuttoned his cardigan and raised it over his head with one arm, knowing it’ll only keep him dry for a few minutes. He opened the exit door just a crack with his other arm and took a deep breath. After several more deep breaths, he threw open the exit. Unfortunately, he immediately got hit by a parasol being blown in the storm.
He fell backwards into the building as he wrestled the attacker off of him. When Chase finally grasped his bearings, he stared at the parasol on the titled ground. It was white with a lace trim around its brim. He picked it up and there wasn’t a tear, not a dirtied piece of lace, nothing that hinted at its time in the cruel world. With no one outside to question, Chase rested the parasol on his shoulder and headed home.
Despite the heavy rain, the parasol worked wonders at keeping the underpaid worker dry. Chase closed its brim as he walked into the lobby of his apartment building. He started to shake the water off of it, but there wasn’t any water. The parasol was as dry as a woman on a date with Mr. Rainbows and, much like the women who ghosted him after said date, Chase couldn’t believe it. Thinking he just got really lucky, he shook his head and made his way up a short flight of stairs. Chase never liked taking the stairs, especially after work, but his apartment’s elevator was still under maintenance. He corrected himself that he was just slightly more lucky than average as he lugged himself up each step.
When he finally made it to his apartment, he flopped on the couch and let his belongings fall to the floor. A grunting noise came from the floor as this happened. Chase lazily lifted his head and was met with his empty living.
“Just a creak in the floor.” He thought.
He laid on the couch a moment or two more while trying to decide if he was still hungry or wanted to dream about food instead. His stomach growled an argument that was rather convincing, so he dragged himself over to the kitchen to make a quick meal.
A couple eggs in the frying pan with some seasoning was all he needed to make his mouth water. Chase wasn’t much of a cook, but he also wasn’t much of a picky eater. As the eggs finished cooking, that same grunt from earlier came from behind the young man. He peered over his shoulder and again saw nothing except his workbag. Chase took the frying pan off the oventop as he stared at the lone bag slumped on his floor.
“Where’s the umbrella?” He muttered to himself
He scanned the room from the kitchen doorway, thinking his eyes were playing a trick on him, but the parasol wasn’t in the living room. Since Chase had never watched a horror movie before, he again ignored the noise and the missing item to plate his meal. The eggs were slightly burnt on some parts, despite others looking raw.
“Ketchup should help.” Chase thought.
While opening the fridge door, he heard the same grunt for the third time. Chase wiped his head around and emptiness stared back. He slowly closed the fridge as he peered around the doorway as best he could. Quietly, he stalked towards the kitchen’s exit, trying to convince himself it’s nothing.
Unfortunately, Chase was right.
There was no one in the living room.
He’d have to check the next room to see if anyone was there.
Chase had made it halfway across the living room when he heard a loud thud from behind him. He screamed and leapt to the couch, for some reason thinking cushion stops killers. While there was no one he could see, he heard beastly snarls and grunts from the kitchen. Chase clutched a pillow between his arms and chest as he readied himself for the unknown.
“If you’re gonna kill me,” Chase yelled, “DON’T HIT MY FACE!” He rushed into the kitchen, eyes closed and oddly at peace with being killed, but it wasn’t a murder. It was his parasol eating his sad excuse of eggs. The object stood upright on its handle with its canopy open, now wearing a mouth on one of its panels. A large, blue tongue was its only appendage and it was licking the plate of eggs clean. The creature only stopped when he noticed Chase standing a couple feet away from it.
“Is it too late to say ‘Don’t be afraid’?” The parasol asked. Its answer was Chase passing out after hyperventilating for a minute. The last thing the poor man heard was the creature sighing about how this always happens to it.
***
Chase slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the light pouring out of a cracked door. He lifted his head, but felt a deep throbbing on his temple. He tried to focus on the running water to distract from his headache. Muttering under his voice about what’s happening, Chase realized he was lying in his bedroom and the light and noise was the connected bathroom.
He chuckled softly as he thought “It wasn’t real. I must’ve been drunk and called Stormi over again.” Mr. Rainbows fell back into his pillow, blissfully waiting to see his special friend come back to bed. He started getting comfortable when he noticed his shirt was on. Chase lifted the blanket he was under to see he was still wearing his outfit from work, including his shoes.
The running water stopped and the bedroom grew bright from the bathroom’s artificial rays. Standing against the doorframe was a silhouetted figure Chase didn’t recognize. Unless Stormi had grown a foot taller and gained several pounds of muscle, Mr. Rainbows was finally living up to his name.
“You’re awake finally!” The stranger said. Chase flinched at the man’s voice, noting it was loud as thunder and sharp as lightning. Whoever this was, he felt right at home as he jumped into bed and cuddled next to Chase.
“Do you need more meds? I gave you some since I heard that humans take them when they get hurt. Oh, random question, how many pills should you take at once?” The stranger said. Blanky staring at his surprise guest, Chase didn’t know what was worse: the fact that a random guy possibly drugged him or that it’s not a woman. He simply hoped that the drugs were kicking in and that’s why the stranger in his bed was blue.
“Could I get some water?” Chase said.
“Yup!” The man started. “Open wide.” He happily lifted his hand up to Chase’s face. Chase began to ask why, but was interrupted by water shooting from the man’s palm into his mouth. It didn’t stop until Chase looked like a drowned rat and slapped the man’s hand away. The stranger wore a wicked grin while the soaked man coughed up as much water as he could.
“What the hell?!” Chase yelled.
“That’s what you get for throwing me on the ground.” The man said. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from Chase.
“I see why, especially if waterboarding people is a hobby of yours.”
The stranger stuck his nose up. “If anything I stopped you from being waterboarded outside, but NNNOOO. Perry’s always the bad guy.”
“Perr…” Chase’s eyes widened. “Parasol?”
“It’s pronounced Pharah Sol. Like a fa sound.” The man said “And that’s my mom. I’m Perry Sol.” Perry kept peering over his shoulder at Chase, tapping a row of fingers along his arm. Chase moved his head a couple of times to look at Perry directly, but the blue baby kept pouting and turning away.
“This is about dropping you, right?” Chase put a gentle hand on Perry’s shoulder. “Get over it.”
Perry whacked Mr. Rainbows’s hand away as his white hair turned a dark, stormy gray. He rose from the bed, sudden gusts of wind blowing through the room and let the blanket wrap itself around his changing form. Claws of hail replaced his delicate hands, much like his soft face now was stark and jagged like lightning bolts. The beast snarled a deep, guttural sound as he brought his face only an inch or two away from Chase’s. The mortal shook as cold breath made fresh dew on his beard. Perry readied to speak, opening his large jaw filled with hot fangs with light.
“You’re so mean!” Perry bellowed, his boisterous voice threatening to throw Chase off his feet. He slammed his shifting fragments of a body on any surface he could reach. It didn’t take long for Perry to break every piece of furniture or decoration around him and he wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Not wanting to end up like his newly made rage room, Chase tried to scramble out of the blue baby’s temper tantrum. He flattened himself along the wooden floor and army crawled towards the bedroom door. It wasn’t far, but Perry’s fury had a way of making seconds feel like centuries. Just as Chase made it to the hallway, he felt something wrap itself around his leg.
“Where are you going?”
Chase floundered on the ground, trying to find anything on the floor to hold on to as he was pulled back into the eye of the storm. Around his leg was one of Perry’s now multiplying limbs, a long arm that ended in a cage-like shape. The man cried, begged for forgiveness as he was lifted upside down in front of his capture. Another hand wrapped around Chase’s mouth, its long fingers stretched and fused together to form a muzzle.
“Okay, look.” Perry said. “I know this is a lot, but you can’t leave in the middle of my pity party. What’s the point of one if no one sees it” A muffled curse was all Chase could say from under his restraints. Perry sighed as he relaxed on to the pile of debris that used to be a bed, his appearance slowly morphing into the figure Chase first saw in the bathroom. His extra limbs faded away and Chase was gently placed next to the being. This was the first time they had a proper look at the other. Perry had a muscular frame, covered loosely by a few strands of large, white fabric. Slow moving swirls of pale blue and cream streaked across his semi transparent form. The edge of his shape was blurred slightly, but features like his face were crystal clear. Chase wondered what the stranger thought as his golden eyes observed the mortal.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you, Perry,” Chase’s brow creased. “But you can’t destroy my room.”
“Thank you and since we’re being honest, you can’t pull off stripes.”
“Noted. Now, what are you?”
***
Chase sat on the couch with his eyes closed, per request from Perry, as his house guest readied his answer. It had been over an hour since he asked his question and Chase kept getting less concerned about his situation the longer it went on. A loud slurp rang in his ear, quickly followed by a burp and an apology. Chase opened his eyes to see Perry slumped on the couch drinking a diet copyrighted soda. When he noticed he was being watched, Perry smiled with a straw still in his mouth and waved hello.
“You don’t remember my question, do you?” Chase asked.
“Was it important?” Perry replied while chewing on his straw. Chase groaned as he got off the couch.
“I kid. I jest.” Perry floated off the couch and drifted towards the bedroom door. “I just wanted to talk in a place less sad than your first, and failed, attempt at feng shui.” Chase ignored him, trying to focus on getting at least one hour of sleep before work. He opened the door to his room, but stopped when he noticed the new furniture, as well as the new windows, wall paint and everything else. The room was lit in a soft glow from small clouds carelessly floating around the pastel setting. The bed, which grew twice as large, sat between two floor to ceiling windows, each with curtains that swayed to a record player’s gentle harmony. Perry nestled himself into a corner of the bed, tightly wrapping an ornate blanket around himself.
“Impressive, right?” He asked. Chase had gotten so distracted with everything, he completely forgot his uninvited guest was still in his home.
“What are you? How did you do this?” Chase asked.
“I’m Perry Sol and I’m this town’s local weathervane.” He threw off the blanket dramatically as he spoke. “Think of me as a god or deity for weather. The sky’s the limit with my powers, literally.” He paused for a laugh, but Chase just stared at him waiting to continue.
“Anyways, as this town’s sky daddy, I’m in charge of bringing all sorts of rain and shine down to you humans. You’ve written a couple flattering reports about my work, so I had to meet one of my most adoring fans.”
Chase blushed. “Glad to hear it. I worked hard on those.”
“Speaking of work,” Perry said with a wink. “That thing you call a lady needs to take some notes from you. Her ‘work’ is insulting my weather patterns and I try really hard to make sure they look good. She writes report after report about how bad the weather is around this town. ‘Writes’ is being generous with the amount of AI she uses too. Maybe then I wouldn’t bring as much wind down. I mean, I still would because of my duties to mortals or whatever, but would it kill her to say something nice about my work for once?”
“You mean Raina?” Chase asked, but the weathervane was spinning out about his harsh critic. Perry’s hair was starting to turn a dark gray as the hair on Chase’s neck stood upright.
“I’m not attending another pity party.” Chase grabbed on to Perry as he repeatedly yelled.
Perry shook away his grays as he sat back on the bed. “The point is I want your help to screw with her. Possibly kill her too, but I’m still working on that plan.”
“You can’t kill her.”
“Can too!”
Chase dragged his hand across his face, sighing as the deity seemed to be debating murder strategies. “I have an idea. It doesn’t involve cyanide, but it’ll piss her off.”
Perry raised a curious brow. “Proceed.”
“Raina and I work at the same low level, errand running positions, but I was offered a higher position. I’d get to report on live TV with the best reporters at the station. The only problem is Raina was also offered this position. Tomorrow starts screening week where, from Monday to Friday, we both will have mock interviews and other tests to see who would make the better head meteorologist.”
“Great exposition,” Perry said. “But I’m not hearing a single stream of pissed off.”
Chase sat next to Perry and placed a hand on the deity’s chest as he said “I need a sky daddy to help me win.”
Perry blushed a deep navy as Chase continued. “You can perform any kind of weather magic you want as long as it makes me look good and breaks Raina’s plastic self.” Perry was too flustered to give a vocal answer, so he nodded his head up and down, not breaking eye contact with the mortal. Chase gave a sigh of relief, not thinking flirting would actually work this well. He took his hand away and tugged himself into bed, signaling for Perry to follow suit.
The weathervane sat dumbfounded on the edge of the bed. “Wait, we’re not banging?!”
***
It was early morning when the two had gotten up. Sat on top of the news station building, they stared down at the city like how Chase imagined weathervanes do. Of course, Perry is the exception because he was still snoring on a large cloud he created to get the pair on to the roof in the first place.
“I thought you wanted to rain on Raina’s parade.” Chase said with a chuckle.
Perry glared at him with a look that said “One, that joke was too easy, do better. Two, there is no reason why I should be on top of a random building to throw a couple raindrops on a girl when I can do that later in the day.” His middle finger also helped share these thoughts.
The clicking of heels interrupted their banter. Down below was the woman of the hour walking to work, hair freshly styled and face beat, blushed and bronzed for the day. Raina confidently marched along the sidewalk, the shine of her pearls matching her pale, sharp eyes. She only wore pearls when she knew an important event or person was at the station and today was no different. Today was the first test of Raina and Chase’s trial week: the interview. Each of them would sit in front of the current meteorologist team members, as well as the TV news producer for first impressions and general knowledge on what to do while on air.
Chase shook Perry, eager to get started now that their target was approaching. “Come on, it’s time for a petty party.”
The deity slid off his cloud with a yawn as he held his hand to Chase. “If we’re doing this together,” Perry said. He began to glow a bright hue of tiffany teal. “You’ll need to know what it’s like to make magic.”
Chase took Perry’s hand and the weathervane bellowed a wicked laugh. He jumped gleefully, taking his ill informed partner with him high into the air. With a bright flash, his form changed into the parasol Chase had first met. Only this time, it was spinning out like a rocket during takeoff with no sign of stopping. Mr. Rainbows clutched the deity’s shaft hard and squeezed his closed eyes harder. Raina didn’t notice the sight because she was too distracted by the few drops of rain that came from nowhere. She assumed it was a passing sunshower and tried to hurry out of the sprinkle’s way. He couldn’t laugh as a parasol without his mouth, but Chase knew Perry would talk all about his little accident later.
“Perry!” Chase was losing his grip with the constant acceleration of the parasol. “Please STOP!” No sooner than the words left his mouth, he stopped flying and began to fall. “No, NO!” Chase started frantically shaking the weathervane, hoping he’d do anything to save him. “Now is not the time for games.”
A wide grin split between the parasol’s panels as Perry began to slowly spin upwards back to the top of the news station. Once his leather shoes were practically dragging along the roof floor, Chase let go of the parasol and fell to his knees. He grabbed at the collar of his cardigan and pulled it high and tight around his head, mimicking an old turtle who had just tucked into his coffin for the last time. Unfortunately, Chase was a healthy man who was simply scared shitless. Perry tried to muffle to his laugh, but the sight of it all was too much not to let a few stray giggles loose.
“It’s ok to come out, Chase.” Perry said, patting the shaking man’s back. “I’ll still like you, despite your choices.” Chase shot the blue trickster a sharp glare from his coat.
“I gotta have a bit of fun.” he said. “Now it’s time to get serious.” Perry took a deep breath in, pushing up his large chest more and more with every second of intake. Chase came out of his coat, curious to see what Perry was doing. The weathervane held in the air for a moment or two and just when it seemed his broad self was about to pop, he blew a mighty gust of dark gray wind downwards. The winds stitched themselves tight into clouds like a new shawl being sewn. Inside, they were filled with rain. Such a sight would’ve made anyone stop and stare, but Raina Shine was not just anyone. Her vanity was rivaled by a select few, so as she walked down the sidewalk with her eyes glued to her compact mirror, she didn’t flitch at the sudden gales of a storm. It wasn’t until she couldn’t see her own reflection through the gallons of water dumped on her did she question her surroundings. Raina screamed a water boarded cry, scrambling along the slick pavement to the safety of the news station. Perry had already made a cloud for him to fly down on, no jokes attached, and he quickly followed after his rival.
“Oh no,” Chase said in his most insincere voice. “You look horrible, Raina.” Raina wiped her mop of hair around, slapping Mr. Rainbows across the face.
“Sorry, darling, I didn’t see ya there.” She shot him a fake grin, trying to let her fake teeth shine. Chase smiled too once he saw her massacre running down across her cheeks.
“Not a problem at all.” Chase stopped in front of Raina and grabbed the door handle behind them both. The team was waiting for them just beyond that door.
“I can’t wait to watch you fail.”
***
Chase threw the door open as he pushed Raina’s soaked back in front of him. She stumbled a bit, but no one seemed to notice before she regained her poise. Sat at a table in the certain room were two, well dressed ladies and one man wearing business way too casual.
“Good morning!” The ladies said. Chase started to say good morning back, but Raina gave too loud of a greeting for anyone to hear him. Chase and Raina took a seat next to each other as the ladies pushed a glass of water to them both. The ladies’s faces were the same, but one had dirty blonde hair wrapped tight in a bun while the other let her golden curls fall off her shoulders. The dirty blonde introduced herself as Hailey and the blonde blonde was Sunny.
“We’re the Sky Sisters.” Sunny said. “Hopefully we find another member of the weather family here today.”
“I’m Raina, but y’all can call me Rainy Sky, sisters.” Raina laughed extra hard as she shook the Sky Sister’s hands. They laughed along too, but Hailey’s eyebrow was telling Sunny’s wrinkled nose that this wasn’t funny and is a bad start for this new girl.
The man next to them reached his wrinkled leather hand to Chase. Despite his aged appearance, he had a strong grip and shook Chase like he owed him money.
“Henry Cane,” He said looking through thick glasses. “Nice to meet ya.” He did the same exchange with Raina and seemed only mildly confused about why she was dripping wet.
“As y’all know, this is a personality/general knowledge exam. We need to see if either of you matches well with the girls here and if you know a thing or two about clouds. Sunny and Hailey will ask questions and I’ll write down how y’all respond.” Henry gathered a few pieces of paper together and clicked a large red pen a few times as he murmured something to himself. “Ok, Raina. You’re first.”
“Naturally.” She said under her breath. She got out of her chair while placing her hands over her heart and took in a short, sharp breath.
“Before this begins,” Raina contorted her face into the most despicable of sweet, fake southern smiles. “I am so blessed and honored to have this opportunity with y’all. Thank y’all for offering me, as well as my dear coworker, this chance of a better position.” The sisters forced twin smiles and politely asked Raina to sit down. Henry narrowed his eyes through his fishbowl spectacles.
“First question: What would you do if asked to report at the scene of a hurricane?” Sunny asked.
“I’d be happier than a windchime in a storm and I’d show y’all while in that storm.” Raina beamed in her own question, but regretted her answer when she saw Henry take off his glasses. He held them firmly in one hand as he stared coldly at Raina.
“You think I’m a joke?” He curled his other hand into a tight fist.
“No, no of course not, sir.” Raina’s voice was shaking. A drop of sweat and foundation trickled down her face.
“Then quit making fun of my accent.”
Raina nodded her head a few times and take a large gulp of water while Henry put his glasses back on, still staring daggers into Ms. Shine. The Sky Sisters continued asking questions, but with Raina going back and forth between using her real voice and an accent that didn’t help with Henry’s clear rage towards her, things were a little tense.
After a series of unfortunate answers from Raina, it was Chase’s turn for questioning. The questions asked were roughly the same as the ones previously asked, so it was too difficult to know how to answer them. They started off as simple weather related questions, but once Chase started getting comfortable and cracking jokes in between his answers, the conversation turned into a nice chat between quick friends. Hailey and Sunny were delighted by Mr. Rainbows and Henry even chuckled a few times throughout the interview.
An hour had gone by before Raina sighed a long, dramatic breath. The group looked at her, then at the clock. The sisters and Mr. Cane apologized for letting the interview go on for as long as it did, but thanked them both for their time. Sunny gave Raina and Chase a paper detailing what the following week will be like for them to test if they are ready for the head meteorologist position. Raina and Chase thanked the group for their time and turned to leave the test room, but stopped when Hailey called out to them.
“This is silly,” She shook her head as she skipped towards them. “I think we already know who should be given the job.” Hailey looked back at her sister and Henry, both of which nodded in agreement.
Henry held his hand up to Chase as he said “Welcome to the team, Mr. Rainbows.”
***
Chase couldn’t believe it. He became the head metrologist and was going to have his mug broadcast on live television. When the thought of Raina crying every morning while watching him out of spite came to his mind, it made him more giddy than a kid on a culturally inclusive winter holiday. He practically skipped out of the interview room with a less than fine rival close behind him. When the door shut behind them, Raina slammed her elbow into Chase’s gut. He fell into himself, clutching his bruised body as the witch loomed over him.
“You bastard,” Raina stomped her heeled foot hard on the floor. “You cheated. You did something there, didn’t you?”
“I won.” Chase squeaked out as he pushed himself off the ground.
“I know you did something. There’s no way in hell all three of those pinheads would love you and not me.” Had it not been for her still ruined makeup, Chase would’ve loved to be degraded in a public workspace.
Instead of playing along, however, he simply smiled and flipped Raina off as he walked out the front door. Raina began to follow him, but was slammed out of the way by the Sky Sisters. Hailey and Sunny each grabbed hold of Chase’s arms as they giggled at each other. They didn’t say much, but they gave Mr. Rainbows a look that was all too friendly to be casual. Chase basked in his glory while he walked down the pavement with the sisters. After a few joint steps, Raina mentioned to get back on her feet and chased after the trio. Unfortunately, a strong wind blew by, taking Raina’s hair and dignity with her.
Chase and the sisters hadn’t been walking long when one of them asked to stop for a moment. Sunny leaned against a tall building and rested her head in her hands. Chase tried to put a concerned hand on her shoulder, but his fingers phased through her.
“I just need one more minute.”
Chase wiped around to see Hailey with her hands on her knees. She was panting and parts of her clothes were dripping off her body. When she lifted her head up, her makeup had completely changed and was noticeably more blue than before.
“Perry?” Chase backed away from the “woman” and completely passed through Sunny’s body, causing her body to dissolve into mist. A cold shiver ran through his bottom half, lingering on his glutes for a moment too long to be normal. Chase shut his eyes from the chill and when he opened them, Hailey’s body double was gone.
***
“PERRY. LIVING ROOM. NOW.”
Chase had practically sprinted to his apartment when he realized an unthinkable truth: Raina was right. He sat on the nearby couch’s arm and crossed one leg over the other, much like his father would do when he waited for a young Chase to drag his naughty self out of his bedroom for a talk. Adult Chase waited only a minute before calling out to the deity again. When he still didn’t show up, Mr. Rainbows used an ancient technique mortals have used for centuries.
“ONE. TWO.” He raised his hand high above his head as he counted. “Don’t make me get to three, young man.”
“I told you I was daddy.” A disgruntled voice whined from the bedroom. A disembodied head followed, slowly floating towards Chase.
“You can be daddy when you act like it. Now explain.” Chase tapped his fingers anxiously along his knee.
“You said you wanted to beat Raina and get her mad, so I helped you. Why am I in trouble?” Perry’s head was now sat at the far end of the couch.
“Because it’s all fake.” Chase stood up and walked around to face Perry’s head. “You used magic and pretended to be the Sky Sisters and I bet you were also Henry.”
The rest of Perry’s body stomped into the living as he wrinkled his brows at Chase. “Henry was himself and LOVED you. So what if I shapeshifted into those two news girls? The point is that you’re gonna be the main event for morning weather reports. It’s sad that it means this much, but I just made that sad, little dream come true.” Perry’s head floated back to his body and with a quick spin, it sat nicely on his broad shoulders.
Chase crossed his arms over his chest and thought for a moment. “Promise it was actually him. That I actually did get the job.”
As Perry was about to confirm the news, a knock came from the front door. Knock may be too generous a word though, as whomever was knocking was actually beating the devil out of the wooden wall. Chase cautiously walked over and looked through the peep hole to see Hurricane Raina waiting outside. He turned to tell Perry to hide, but the weathervane was gone. Taking in a deep breath, he opened the door and tried his best to smile at the beast.
“I heard everything.” She growled. “I know you cheated and have some magic something doing it.” Raina stomped through the door and didn’t stop till Chase was pinned against his apartment wall.
“I can explain.” Chase put his arms up and out to give distance between him and Raina, but she batted them away.
“I’M NOT FINISHED!” She grabbed Chase by the collar of his shirt. “I want in. Whatever fairy is helping you, it better help me too.” Her eyes were bloodshot and a strong stench of whiskey oozed from her lips. Raina opened her jaws wide, ready to spout more demands, but instead she let them hang open. Of course, the large amount of electricity coursing through her was what really made her stop. She twitched and spamsed for a quick minute and even quicker dropped dead at Chase’s feet. His eyes followed the smoke from her fried corpse up to the ceiling, piling over itself as it slowly made its way to a floating Perry. He met Chase’s traumazed look with a warm grin.
***
The studio was buzzing with energy as the cameras shut off. The real Sky Sisters were congratulating Chase on his first broadcast when a familiar face walked into the room. She wore a gingham dress and tall, fake hair and her clicking heels could be heard a mile away. She handed Chase a freshly made cup of coffee as she talked about how fun today’s news shoot was to watch.
“Raina,” Sunny said. “It’s so admirable how supportive you are of Chase. I know I’d never become my sister’s security.” The two girls laughed while Chase and Raina shot each other a sly grin.
