Serial Vlogger: Part Forty

A horror story in tiny slices

Lonny Meow clacked bright blue nails, studying several screens opening on the monitor in the studio. Smooth, even tones emitted from their mouth through the mic and to the viewers around the world, even though it was obvious that the strength of the storm was unsettling.

“I’m not usually a storm chaser, as you know, but we can see three different vloggers recording this bizarre and sudden storm over Toronto. It presents like a tornado, perhaps some kind of hurricane. You can see the clouds and the sideways rains; I’m not even sure how these people are getting these images without blowing away themselves.

“And talk about an eye of a storm. There’s something super freaky going on with that storm. The darkness of the eye looks, in fact, like an eye, don’t you think? I mean, check it out.” Lonney clicked and clacked on the keys, bringing a closeup of the deepest, darkest part of the storm. The black clouds seemed to form an eye.

“But how? And can that eye see? What is in that eye?”

Lonny stared at the camera.

“But more importantly, where did this storm come from? It wasn’t predicted on CNN. It didn’t blow up from the tropics or sideways from the mountains. It’s not an nina or a nino. It’s just a truly bizarre formation, and what a formation.”

Lonny pulled another image large for the camera.

“Check it out! How tall are those clouds? I’m not a meteorologist but I think, like many of you dear viewers, that I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the weather news ever since Katrina. But this is no Katrina. Better? Worse? I don’t know. But I do know that if you’re in the Toronto area, you’d better hide in your storm cellars until this … this thing blows over.”

Lonny drank deeply from the oversized water jug on the desk. “Oh, and don’t forget to order your own water bottle; they come in several colors. Down there on the link. Even in the greatest of storms, you must stay hydrated. Sure, you’re wet on the outside, but you need to keep those insides moist and ready as well.”

Lonny changed gears from the plug and returned to staring at the monitors.

“I mean, has anyone seen anything like this? I’ll check out other sources soon, but these storm images are insane. I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you seen clouds this black, this intense? I mean, even all you viewers in Tornado Alley, down there in Kansas, and all those other crazy storm places, do clouds really get this black for this long?”

Lonny looked at the chat.

“Barkingdog3234 writes that they’ve seen such dark and crazy clouds in storms across Louisiana. Meredith90 writes that they see faces in the clouds of the storms, as if the gods themselves have come down to spread their displeasure.”

Lonny nodded.

“You have something there, Meredith90, I think. I would have to say that those gods seem to be coming down more often, and they are growing angrier with every minute. I swear I can see faces in the clouds as well.”

Lonny looked at the monitors and enlarged another frame to show the running video of the storm.

“I mean, look at that…” A huge thunderclap surged, and Lonny clutched the desk.

“Holy smokes, it feels like it’s right here. Right where am I am.”

Viewers continued to post in the chat.

“No, I’m not out in the storm. I‘m in my studio. No, I’m not telling you where I record from; just know that I’m safe. Everything is fine. Truly.”

The lights flickered on and off, and the monitors filled with static. Then, Lonny saw it. Saw her.

“What on earth…” Lonny rolled the mouse around to enlarge the image. It showed a woman walking down the road, seemingly unmarked, untouched by the storm raging around her. People around her huddled on the ground, clinging to lamp posts, each other, stair rails. Most had their faces covered to protect themselves from flying garbage and chunks of trees. Yet, the one lone woman walked. Barefoot. In a hospital gown.

“What is that?” Lonny scrolled the mouse to enlarge the woman. The glow of the amulet filled the screen with bright red light.

“Chat, anyone understand what is happening here?”

The chat room flooded with astonishment, with theories, with endtimes and newtimes.

“This is not he Endtimes, people. This is a storm. A sudden storm but a storm nonetheless. I just don’t understand how this one woman has the fortitude to walk through it all, barefoot no less. And what is that around her neck?”

Lonny clicked the screen to take a still shot and then enlarged a picture of the woman until the screen was filled with just the glow of the necklace.

“Anyone know what that is? What is that stone that shines so bright? Is it a glow stick or one of those party things?”

Lonny cocked their head, shrinking the image and putting the many videos back on the monitor. Meanwhile, Lonny’s fingers clicked on the keyboard, googling red glowing lights on one of the screens.

“Where is she going? Did she start the storm?”

The Google search was unhelpful. Red lights. Sirens. Red stones. Ruby. Red crimson. Red bloodstone. Red Jasper. Red Rum. The Google search seemed to have a find of its own as it flipped through red red red dresses, stones, ruby slippers, knights in battle, the shield, the eye…demon eyes.

The screens grew full of static again. Another boom of thunder.

Lonny’s room went dark. And the live stream ended.

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Serial Vlogger Part One Teaser Edition contains the first six chapters of the Serial Vlogger story.

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