The Ruby (The Hidden Gems Book 1)

by R. Getsee

  I let out a relieved chuckle. “Only you would take my being threatened by the embodiment of evil as an excuse to go shopping.”

  We both double over in laughter, staying in the deserted classroom until the next bell warned us that we were about to be late for another class. We quickly fixed out makeup, which was a mess due to the amount of laughter and crying that had happened.

  Linking her arm through mine, Emi hip-checked me lightly. “Seriously, Alex, you’re not alone in this anymore, we’ll figure this out.”

  10

  Alex

  Over the next couple of weeks, Emi and I had spent almost every day either at the library or at my house online trying to figure out more about the fifth element or the freaky place and creatures that had been there.

  Based on what the creature had said, we had also looked for information about whom or what the Ancients were, or any prophecies relating to them. The only thing we had found were instances that the Original, the first vamp to exist, was sometimes referred to as the Ancient.

  Other than that, we were just as empty-handed as when we had started, and I was beginning to feel a sense of hopelessness in the search. Emi remained optimistic that something would eventually fall into our hands though, so we continued to plow on with our blind searches.

  The threats that the creature had made still echoed in my head and my bad dreams were back, though since the vision I had been unlucky enough to remember them, since all they consisted of was chaos and death.

  I had an impending sense of doom as time went on—something was telling me that if we didn’t find answers soon, then we would be too late. For what, I was unsure, but we needed to find something and fast.

  As Emi and I walked into class, I felt a physical wave of exhaustion come over me as I slouched in my seat. Roman offered me a smile but nothing more. That was another cause of exasperation; he was continuing to run hot and cold toward me—some days he was sweet, caring and open, while others he would be distant and aloof.

  My crush was going nowhere fast. I had resigned myself to focus on expanding my powers, which was actually going pretty well, and the search for answers rather than being ‘that girl’ who waits by the phone for hours just for the guy to text ‘hey’.

  “Good afternoon, everyone,” Mr. C said in an overly formal tone. “Today, we will discuss the history of the origins of the Elementals.”

  I sat up a little straighter in my seat. The Elementals were seriously scary dudes and were all said to have been on the brink of insanity, driven by a lust for power, and they were all completely sadistic.

  “The story of the Original is shrouded in mystery and confusion. Some say that he was a human blessed by the gods, others speculate that he was the god, and that he created more vampires to mate with, while others say he mated with humans to create new vampires. The Original was said to have been immortal and watched for centuries as his descendants created new life, diluting the power he gifted them, until one day, he disappeared and was never seen again.”

  A hand shot into the air and Mr. C paused, nodding at the girl. “I’m sorry, but what has the Origin myth have to do with the Elementals?”

  He shot her a condescending smile before he resumed his speech. “The myth, as you say, has everything to do with them. A group of radical vampires who had multiple affinities believed that they were somehow chosen. They gathered to worship the Original like a god. They believed that vampires had become weak in their powers because they did not drink the blood of humans and only fed as infrequently as possible to blend in.

  “They started to massacre the humans that we had lived in peace with for hundreds of years. That was what had started the myth of the vampire, causing humans to panic and revolt, killing many innocents they believed were vampires. This is why the clan elders created the Accords, and went to the Elementals, and why we must avoid human detection even now.”

  Mr. C took a breath. “The radicals were executed for their heinous crimes, but some escaped detection, breeding and raising their young to become like them, passing their knowledge of the Original down through their bloodlines. That knowledge also contained the belief in a connection to a fifth element that was the key to ultimate power.”

  My back protested as I stiffened painfully in my seat, my eyes meeting Emi’s as people peppered Mr. C with questions. He quickly debunked the theory of the Fifth and went on to discuss the long list of crimes the Elementals had committed within the last century.

  I stood outside Professor Carlisle’s office at the end of the day, willing my pulse to calm as I knocked lightly on the door. After a brief pause, he called out, and I took a deep breath before pushing open the door.

  “Ah, Miss Morgan,” he acknowledged me from the seat behind his desk, before getting to his feet, “what can I do for you?”

  I nibbled on my lip for a second, before I asked, “Sir, I was wondering what you could tell me of the Elementals belief in the fifth element?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Well, I’m not surprised that you would ask that. Honestly, I was expecting you days ago.”

  It was my turn to look surprised, and he chuckled. “My dear, you are not the first person who has come to me with the belief in their connection to the fifth, and sadly, you won’t be the last.”

  Disappointment coursed through me. “So you don’t believe it exists, then?” I turned to leave. “I apologize for wasting your time.”

  A hand instantly landed on my shoulder, stopping my exit. I paused, trying to quell the unease in his sudden movement.

  “While one cannot prove its existence, the theory of it is not entirely debunked, either.” He gestured to the seat across from his desk and I slowly lowered myself into the comfy leather.

  “So, it is possible?”

  Mr. C sat back in his chair and made a pyramid with his fingers as he rested his elbows on the armrests. “I honestly don’t know,” he said. “There has been much speculation about it, but seeing as no one has had a connection to more than three elements before, there has been little evidence of it.”

  “Before me,” I finished for him.

  “Yes, before you.” He smiled. “Miss Morgan, how old do you think I am?”

  I blinked, slightly taken aback at his abrupt subject change. “Um…”

  Professor Carlisle chuckled softly. “I’m ninety-eight years old.”

  “Wow, that’s impressive,” I said, unsure of how to proceed.

  He waved a hand in dismissal. “No, being a vampire called Carlisle in a school of teenagers when Twilight came out and not becoming a mass murderer was impressive.”

  I snorted in surprise, shocked that the stuffy old vamp made a joke. “I don’t understand what your age has to do with the conversation though, sir.”

  “No, I don’t suppose you would.” He straightened in his chair, though I was sure it was for dramatic effect. “My point is that I have been teaching for a very long time, and many things that may seem impossible have been proven to be the opposite.”

  I waited, trying to be patient, but I was starting to get fidgety. I was weirdly uncomfortable being in the tiny room with this vamp.

  “The fifth has never been officially documented, but its mythology has been passed down for centuries. It was said that a being that existed long ago possessed this rare gift,”

  “The Original?” I guessed.

  “Yes, Alex.” He smiled. “If you were paying attention to my lecture earlier, you would know the history of the Elementals. They worshipped the Original and believed that the human race should be eradicated and farmed for blood. The amount of human blood they consumed drove them to insanity, and they formed a cult.”

  “And the fifth element?” I pressed. “Can you tell me anything more about it?”

  Mr. C shook his head. “I’m afraid most of what I know I already spoke about in class. The Elementals would know more about it, but I told you the gist. They believe that a connection with the fifth would grant control over the ot
her four, and to give a few other choice gifts that are unproven, as I’m sure you’ve already read in the textbook.”

  I nodded, my frustration coming back as I was faced with yet another dead end.

  “So, unless I go have a chat with a crazy cult of murderers that’s all I’m going to find out,” I deduced.

  Mr. C reached under his desk and pulled out a thick, dusty old manila folder. Blowing off a bunch of gross motes, he slid it across the heavy mahogany desk.

  Catching my eye, he said, “Over the last hundred years or so, three of the Elementals have been caught. This is a file of old writings and scrolls that date back millennia, which was recovered from one of their safe houses.”

  I eyed the folder suspiciously as if it might jump over and bite me. “How did you get it?”

  He waved his hands again in dismissal. “I have my connections, nothing you need concern yourself with. I was not able to make much progress in translating it, but maybe you and Emalia will get lucky.”

  I raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t aware he knew anything about me, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I gathered the folder in my arms as he gestured for me to rise.

  “Now I hate to rush you, but I have an appointment to prepare for.”

  I rose slowly from the chair and turned to leave, pausing at the door to meet his eyes. “Thank you, sir. I really appreciate the help.”

  Mr. C smiled and nodded. “I hope you and your friends find the answers you are looking for, but please be careful in your search. The Elementals won’t like it if they catch you prying into their business and are masters at infiltration and living without detection. However, you can always tell an Elemental if you see a tattoo of their elemental symbol on their bodies.”

  I nodded my thanks once more before I slipped out of his office and rounded the corner. I paused, looking back as I heard a familiar laugh, and noticed Athena and Torah, arms linked and grinning smugly as they entered Professor Carlisle’s office without knocking.

  Huh, that’s weird. I shrugged off the unease that tried to creep into my head. As Rhea was once again absent from the group, I realized that they must be called in for something they had done.

  Rhea was the only good girl in the group, so it would make sense that they were about to be reprimanded about something, and I fought the urge to eavesdrop. As tempted as I was to listen to my sister get her ass handed to her, I was on a mission to get answers and I couldn’t let myself get side-tracked from it.

  11

  Alex

  “Ugh, this is impossible.” I flung myself back on the bed, covering my face with my hands in defeat as the papers that surrounded me fluttered up into the air.

  “Hey!” Emi flapped her hands at me. “I just finished organizing that pile.”

  We’d headed straight back to my house after my meeting with Mr. C and pounced straight onto the contents of the folder. Though, after hours of combing through it, we were just as clueless as before.

  The sheets of parchment and scrolls that currently littered the bed were ancient and none of them appeared to be in English, Latin, Gaelic, or any living or dead language that Google Translate happened to know.

  Apologizing to the flustered girl, I reached for another scroll with a heavy sigh. A light rapping on the door startled me and the scrolls and papers bounced off the bed, rolling around the floor.

  “Seriously?” Emi almost growled.

  “Sorry,” I muttered as I gathered up everything and shoved it haphazardly under a pillow. Jared poked his head around the door with a hand covering his eyes.

  “Is it safe to come in?” he asked.

  Rolling my eyes at Emi, I held in a laugh. “It’s okay to look; we were only having a pillow fight in our underwear,” she murmured.

  I couldn’t help but snort as his ears turned an angry shade of red and his hand clenched tighter around his eyes as he choked. When I caught Emi’s eyes, we giggled until we were both bent over, clutching our sides with tears streaming down our faces.

  Jared had uncovered his eyes at some point and was staring at us as if we were both insane, which was probably a little too close to the truth.

  “Sorry,” I gasped, my ribs aching, “but your reaction was priceless.”

  Jared glared for a second before his face took on a serious look. “Alex, I need to talk to you about something…”

  Breathing hard, I made an effort to sit up straight as he produced a book from behind his back. Taking a deep breath, he met my eyes with concern. “Listen, this might sound crazy, but after Professor Carlisle’s class today, I did a little research.”

  “Okay.” I nodded for him to continue.

  He held up the book so I could read the familiar title, Elemental Magic Theory and A History of the Elements.

  “Alex, I think you might have an affinity for the fifth element.”

  “So you already figured it out?”

  Jared was sitting on the bed between Emi and me, looking back and forth between the two of us.

  “Yep.”

  “And you told Emi, but not me?”

  I winced at the hurt in his tone, guilt curling in my stomach. “I’m sorry, Jare. I was just scared, and I didn’t know how to explain it.”

  He raised his eyebrows at me as if to say ‘you still should have tried,’ and I cringed at the hurt that seeped onto his face. Before I had Emi, Jared was the one person I told everything to. His expression made my heart hurt; it was like I’d kicked his puppy or something.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I had to drag it out of her,” Emi added. “She hadn’t had her coffee yet, so she was vulnerable to my powers of persuasion.”

  His expression lightened, and I grumbled to myself as their eyes met and they stayed like that, as if they had forgotten I was in the room, until I cleared my throat.

  “So you can see the future,” he asked, remembering what I’d said as I explained what had been happening the last few weeks.

  “Yep,” I said, leaning back onto my hands as my lips popped on the ‘p’.

  “And that weird shadow monster hurt you in one of them?”

  “We think that one was different. I think she could have been astral projecting rather than seeing the future,” Emi explained the theory we had come up with as to how I’d gotten hurt.

  “You seem to be enjoying this far too much.” I mock glared at her as she gave me an innocent expression.

  “What, it’s a good story the second time around. You know, once you’re over the shock of finding out that your bestie is a super vamp and there’s an ancient evil creature who has a grudge against her.”

  Jared swiped me up into a bear hug and I realized that I’d been fighting off tears that had welled in my eyes. He pulled back slightly to hold my gaze.

  “Look, I get why you didn’t want to tell anyone,” he sighed, “but you have to promise me that anything that happens from here on out, you will tell me straight away.”

  I nodded silently, and he gave me one last squeeze before letting me go.

  “No more secrets,” I promised.

  “Good, we have each other’s back always, right, Lexa?”

  The tears that had been threatening welled again at the mention of the nickname he had given me when he was three and had been unable to say my full name. I had grown out of it when I was about eleven, wanting a more grown-up nickname, desperate to be older.

  But now, as I heard Jared say it, I realized how much I missed it. I really had grown up in the past month, and now I wished beyond belief that I could go back to being young and innocent of the fear that coursed through me every time I thought back to that twisted creature who made my blood run cold.

  After bringing Jared up to speed on all the events that had happened over the last month, he joined Emi and me in our tireless search to figure out what was going on with my powers and what the hell the creature was.

  Our attempts to translate the scrolls were slowing our progress immensely as we still ha
d no idea what language they were written in, along with the fact that Roman was now spending most nights at our house for some reason, distracting us from our work.

  Professor Carlisle had nothing more to give us and had offered us no more assistance. In fact, he was almost pretending as if he hadn’t given us the folder to begin with. He was also acting strange, the ever punctual and put together teacher had been coming to classes late, often rumpled or distracted, or just not coming in at all.

  Athena was still trying to cling to Jared, and she and Torah were spreading more rumors about me, some simply desperate. Not many believed in them anymore as my powers were getting far stronger. As word spread about me, more people were trying to become friends with our little group.

  As I glanced over at the table where the bitchy, popular group usually ate, I saw Rhea sitting alone, once again abandoned by her twin and looking miserable.

  I shook my head. Though Rhea had always been Torah’s backup as she tortured me growing up, she had never been the one to instigate any of the drama that followed her twin around. I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her as Torah seemed to be dumping her continuously to hang out with Athena.

  The mention of the homecoming dance brought my attention back to our table, and I forced myself to tune in to the conversation around me as Aiden looked at me.

  “So what do you think Alex?” he asked.

  “Sorry, what were you saying?” I smiled apologetically. “I’m in a world of my own today.”

  Moira let out a laugh laced with snark. “You’re always in a world of your own.”

  “I was saying that we should all ride together for the dance… You know, get a limo together.”

  I cringed internally. With all the drama of the last couple of weeks, I’d forgotten all about homecoming, leaving me dateless.