A fire element herself, Sylvia lit a cigarette as she drove her Lexus into the parking garage. She exited her vehicle, smoothed her pant suit, and slightly ruffled her long black tresses. Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. It was a warning sign.
She had been followed.
People like Sylvia were too powerful to be brought down, so hunters often watched those of the high order for any out-of-place behavior. Missing a press conference with the president of the United States was certainly out of place for her.
She cursed herself for being careless as she flung the half-smoked cigarette to the ground. She walked at a brisk pace, setting up barriers with her magic as she went. She may be an expert as an elemental, but it helped to have a hand in other magick as well. It would hold them off but only just. Jack had better damn well hope he was right about this girl or there would be hell to pay.
Sylvia rang the doorbell and knocked. Jack opened the door, a single finger to his lips to indicate she be silent. She moved past him and entered his apartment, which she found too shabby for her tastes.
“Mother, you have been smoking again.” Her son disapproved of the habit, despite the fact most fire elementals were guaranteed to be habitual smokers. It was in their nature.
She waved him off. “I only have a few minutes. I was followed, so you better be damn sure this is one of them.”
He gestured to the futon.
The girl’s power radiated from her so intensely, it nearly knocked Sylvia to the floor. She had rarely ever felt such strong power before, even from the other high orders such as herself. The earth vibrated beneath her feet. This young girl held so much power, the earth shifted slightly at the smallest breath from her. The child would need years of training to learn the extent of her own powers. The poor thing probably had no idea what sort of power she held, or how close it was to surfacing. Sylvia wondered if the girl knew she had this power, or if it had been forced beneath the surface by an uncaring parent.
“I think she is a runaway, or has been in some sort of trouble,” Jack spoke up. “I doubt she even knows what she is. But look, you know I can’t keep any plants alive. All she did was touch it, and it’s like it was never —”
“You can silence yourself, my son. I can tell you she is as you say. I feel the power coming off her in waves. It’s been bottled up so long; I’m surprised she hasn’t completely burst with the magick inside her yet. To have this much power, yet not be aware of it, is unimaginable. It is also very dangerous. The hunters will sense this. My spells can only hold them off for so long. Shake her and wake her up, or carry her, but we have to leave right now and take her to the safe house and the council. They can explain better than us what is happening to her and help her tap into this power. I sense them! Hurry, son, wake her!”
*
Molly awoke to the sound of an explosion.
Confused by the noise, she sat up to see two men staring at her from the splintered front door, while Jack and a woman she didn’t know lay on the ground. Neither of them moved. She noticed the two men were dressed as secret service agents from a bad 1980s movie, with the exception of what she assumed was some sort of flame thrower pointed at her. If she wasn’t so scared, she might have found the scene comical. She screamed for help as one man grabbed and hauled her to her feet.
“Jack, don’t let them take her!” The woman had gotten to her feet first. She lifted a hand and aimed a steady blaze of fire at one of the men.
Molly used the distraction to bite the arm of the man holding her and run to Jack, who was still trying to get up.
“Molly!” Jack’s face was covered in blood. His hands shook as he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her towards the door. “They’re after you! You have to get out of here! I will find you, but you have to run! Now!”
Molly didn’t wait to be told twice. She ran out the door with one of the men close behind her. She was still weak, so she didn’t get far before being caught. Though she kicked and screamed, they put a sweet smelling rag over her mouth and nose, dragging her into the parking garage. The wet cloth burned her face, and she struggled to breathe. Her legs gave out as they shoved her into a black van.
Her eyes closed.
*
Jack burst into the parking garage. Too disoriented to use his powers, he aimed a .45 at the van. He hit his target with accuracy, but the van was bulletproof. Sylvia pulled him to her car.
“If they get her back to their facility, they’ll use her powers for their own evil deeds. They’ll wait until she’s weak and kill her!” Jack yanked the passenger door open.
“I know that, Jack.” Sylvia slid into the driver’s seat, throwing the car into reverse. “Buckle up and hang on!”
Tires squealed as Sylvia chased the van into the street. The car lurched forward, leaving scorch marks behind them.
“I don’t suppose you thought you might hit her with one of those damn bullets, did you?”
“Now is not the time for a lecture, Mother!” Jack shouted, as he tried to summon enough strength to use his powers.
Just as they were catching up to the van, one of the men leaned out the window and shot out the driver side tire. Sylvia’s car spun out of control, and Jack watched helplessly as the van sped away with Molly.
In the silence after her car came to a stop, Sylvia said, “Don’t worry, Jack. We’ll find her. We will go to the council.”
Bounty hunters did more than steal power; they sold it to high bidders. Such bids rarely ever brought anything good.
“If they hurt her… I swear, I’ll…”
“Don’t, Jack. You went down that road once when Sarah disappeared. We will find her, and I will make sure they pay. I am the destroyer; you are the healer. It’s going to be fine. There’s no way they have had time to do a proper cloaking spell on her. We will find her.”
They hailed a cab and headed straight to the headquarters for the Council of the Elementals. The council had more resources than the two of them at present, and once briefed on the situation, all of their resources would be at their disposal.
Jack marched into the council room to face The Council of Four. The oldest living elementals passed the laws and creeds of his clan and the others. The council of four was established long before the Christians, or the Vikings. If there was trouble in the clans, they were the ones to go to.
Jack prayed to any God or Goddess within earshot that they weren’t too late. These hunters had taken many elementals from their families, their homes, and everything they had known. They had taken his only sister. Sarah had been an innocent girl kidnapped — and maybe tortured — for her power because he had failed to act. He would not make that mistake a second time.
He pulled himself to his full height and began to plead their case.
“Members of the council, you know that the bounty hunters have caused us to lose more and more elementals. These men and women could have been helping people. They have taken children from their homes, never to be seen or heard from again. Now the bounty hunters have kidnapped a new elemental whose powers nearly brought my own mother to her knees.”
Several of the council members exchanged serious glances. An elemental that could bring Sylvia McKenny to her knees was a valuable asset. That same asset could be a powerful enemy.
“They have taken this new elemental, but we believe she is strong enough to leave a signature for us to follow. I know Councilman Vel has the ability to track the unique signature left by an elemental, if it is strong enough. We are aware you are trying to disarm their protective shield so we can find others who are missing. The elemental, a girl named Molly, may have been taken to where the others are. Finding Molly may provide the location to their stronghold.”
His mother stepped forward to address the council. “My son speaks the truth. Before, they only took those just coming into their powers. Their signatures were not enough to leave a trail for very long. This girl is different. I have never sensed so much
power in one person so new to it. If we can find her, it may lead us to the others who are missing.”
*
Molly woke up tied to a table and hooked up to a cable monitor. A jagged line throbbed across a scanner — her heartbeat, maybe. Only one window illuminated the dark, gray room. It was dim, but she thought she saw someone on a bed beside her. The air was foul, with a strange odor she couldn’t place. It made her gag the longer she breathed it. Her hands were strapped to a metal frame. The tight restraints turned her fingers a sickly shade of purple. She began pulling at her fetters, hoping for escape, but to no avail.
“Where am I?” she asked to no one in particular, but hoping to hear a voice, any voice.
“You’re their prisoner.” A soft yet scratchy answer arose from the bed.
Molly squinted through the darkness, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. A head rose up off the bed, and she could’ve sworn she was looking at a female version of Jack, albeit much thinner and gaunt around the face. This girl wore the same pendant Jack had around his neck. Could they be related?
“I’m Molly. Who are you?”
“Sarah. Sarah McKenny. It’s no use trying to escape. Believe me, I’ve tried every way there is. They never let us go.”
“But… I’m nobody. Just a homeless girl they kidnapped. What would they want with me?”
“They want the same thing they are taking from me: your elemental powers. You’re older than most of the ones they take. You must not have come into your powers until recently.”
Molly told her she had no idea what the girl was talking about, and the more Sarah tried to explain, the more confusing it got.
“So you’re saying I have some sort of magical power, and these people want to drain it out of me?”
“That’s pretty much it, yeah. I take it you didn’t grow up knowing your powers. They might keep you alive longer then. It’s harder to get power out of those who don’t tap into it. I’ve been trying, but they have a barrier. I won’t last much longer.”
“How do I use this power? I’d rather go down fighting!”
“If you haven’t tapped into it at full strength by now, I’d say you can’t. It takes years of training. They rarely ever take people who have full control. You will only wear yourself out trying.”
They laid in silence, until Sarah began coughing. It was a deep, painful-sounding cough that shook her bed.
“I want my mom,” she sobbed. “I want to see my brother.”
Pity for the girl came over Molly. She wanted to get her out of here. She was just a child.
“Sarah, how long have you been here? I mean, chained up?”
“Eight years. They took me in the park when I was four. My brother was there, too, but they didn’t get him. I know he would never give up looking for me, but now it’s too late. My powers are almost gone. I hope I die quickly. They let the others starve.”
Just then the lights came on in a blinding flash, and Molly saw what Sarah had been saying. Beds filled the large room, containing the chained bodies of maybe forty to fifty people. The bed on the other side of Molly held a child no more than seven or eight years old. She must have been dead for days. Sarah had to have watched her die.
A male voice filled the room, but there was no speaker in sight.
“Welcome, honored guest. Let me introduce myself. My name is Saveen. You have been chosen to give your talents to a wonderful and prestigious glory that will transcend the very universe. Your sacrifice will be a jewel for all.”
The voice disappeared, and the room fell silent. Sarah began to sob, mumbling something like a prayer.
“They will be coming in soon,” Sarah said after a moment. “They’ll hook you up to a bunch of machines and drain any amount of energy or power you have. I hope they kill me this time.”
Though Molly wanted to be sympathetic, she was getting a little annoyed with Sarah and the fact she had resigned herself to death. Sure, she had been here eight years, which would have driven anyone to insanity, but she was alive, and if she was alive, it meant she still had a chance. She could fight back.
Anger over what was happening to her, and over the others who had died, began to boil inside her. Heat rose within her and took over her body. The ground shook and rumbled.
Sarah looked over, her eyes wide with surprise. The shaking intensified, and the concrete slab underneath them started to crack. A concrete pillar fell in front of the door as yells of alarm came from outside, but their captors couldn’t get in.
“This earthquake is going to kill us!” Molly yelled, terrified.
“It’s not an earthquake!” Sarah shouted over the sound of the earth shifting. “It’s you! Don’t fight it. Let the heat burning inside you take over! You can make it out of here!”
“I don’t know how to control it!”
Sarah yanked helplessly at the straps holding her down. By the gaunt look of her, Molly knew even if she had been able to get out of the bed, she couldn’t have stood up. The girl went still and slowed her breathing down, turning her face to Molly with an intense look of concentration.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping. I can lend you my energy.” Her eyes turned milky white, her body barely moving.
The earthquake still rumbled, but it began to calm down. A vine crept up from the earth and wound itself around her chains. Tighter and tighter it pulled until finally, with a loud snap, the chains gave way and she was free.
Struggling to keep her footing, she rushed to Sarah’s side. Sarah’s manacles were bigger than her wrist and slipped right off.
“I don’t think I can walk. Or even stand,” Sarah said weakly.
Molly picked her up as gently as she could, and made her way past the dead bodies to the window. It wasn’t locked. Her anger rose again. The bastards must have taunted these poor souls with the idea of freedom, just inches from their beds.
Outside, a courtyard opened onto the street.
The earth began to shake once more, but this time it dislodged the pillar keeping the door closed. A man with graying hair and a lined face hobbled in, a gun in his hand.
“Stop this! You are still mortal, despite your powers! I’ll kill you where you stand!”
Molly hesitated. The window was open, but she couldn’t heave Sarah through it, and herself, without getting shot. Sarah wouldn’t survive long on her own.
“What do you want with us?” Molly demanded.
“You elementals are vile, evil creatures. You swore your souls to Lucifer. Servants of the devil have no right to live! We will destroy you and end your tyranny. You caused that earthquake just now. There’s no telling how many innocent people lost their lives because of you. I don’t know who forgot to sedate you, but I guarantee you aren’t walking out of here alive.”
Molly hadn’t stopped to consider that. Had she inadvertently caused the death of hundreds if not thousands of people?
“It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t kidnapped me! I wasn’t hurting anyone until you showed up. You should have left me alone.”
She flung her hand up, guided by some unseen force, and a wall of earth formed in front of them as he fired a shot. She slammed the earth into the man, causing him to hit the wall with a sickening thud.
She didn’t wait to ponder the fact that she had killed at least one person. Picking Sarah up, she pushed her through the window opening, crawling after her just as the roof caved in. She pulled Sarah up and found the girl’s side covered in blood.
Molly recoiled, staring at the wound. The bullet had gone into Sarah’s side, the blood flowing out like a river. Sarah had turned chalk white, her eyes losing focus. She sank against Molly, falling to the ground.
“No no no no no! You have to stay awake! I’m going to get you help!”
Snow had started to fall, and Molly could hear sirens in the distance. She was cold, but they had to keep moving. The men who grabbed her could be coming out of that building at
any moment.
As she lifted Sarah up, an explosion sounded inside the building. She threw herself on top of Sarah in an effort to save her. The blast knocked the sense out of her and left her disoriented.
Molly rolled over on her back and starred up at the snow falling from the sky. Her ears rang from the force. She vaguely wondered how people in movies make walking away from a big explosion look so cool. There was nothing cool about how her entire body felt at that moment. She realized that she didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to lay there and wait for her life to end.
Before she could get up, she saw one of the men who had kidnapped her come down the alley, his gun pointed at her. She closed her eyes, her energy spent in the escape. She was going to die there, but it would be quick, and she hoped it would be painless.
As the man pulled back the hammer, she grabbed Sarah’s hand and opened her eyes to the white sky.
The shot never came. She looked to see the man gasping and clawing at his neck, the gun on the ground. His eyes were wide open, and he fought to breathe, before his body slammed into the side of a brick wall again and again. The snowflakes falling swirled around him as his face turned blue from lack of oxygen.
At the end of the alley, Jack stood in a long black leather coat and held his hand out at the man. The man hit the wall again, Jack’s hand following the movement. It took her a minute to realize he was causing this, the same way she had caused the earthquake.
Jack marched towards the barely-conscious man.
“You will never touch these girls again, you sick bastard.” His was voice low, and threatening.
Molly knew he meant to kill the man, but she also knew that she couldn’t let him. It wasn’t right. Yes, he was evil, and he should pay for his actions, but not like this. She was sure her actions had killed the old man in the building. It was sickening feeling. She didn’t want that for Jack.
She struggled to her feet and ran to his side. “You don’t want to do this, Jack. You don’t want to kill him.”
He turned to face her, but he seemed not to know who she was at first. Slowly, recognition came to him, and he let his hand drop, allowing the man to breathe. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him protectively. His grip was tight, but she didn’t pull away.
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