Different (Tainted Elements Book 1)

by Alycia Linwood

  If I wasn’t trembling from the cold too much to open my mouth, I’d have told him a couple of not so nice things. He motioned for me to go inside, and I grabbed the ledge and lowered myself inside. As I climbed down, the smell of mold, waste, and decay hit me like a rock. My feet touched the ground and I saw four or five big tunnels leading into the darkness. Noah jumped next to me, taking out something from his pocket. He turned on a flashlight and slammed his hand against a button on the grimy wall. The opening above us closed and I fought a wave of dread that overcame me. There was no way out now. At least it was a bit warmer down here.

  “Do you plan to feed me to the rats?” I asked as Noah took hold of my arm and led me down one of the tunnels.

  “Nope, but Jaiden might,” he chuckled. “We could have avoided the rats, but you can’t turn into air yet, so we have to walk.”

  I was about to ask who Jaiden was, but Noah stopped and knocked on one of the panels. The panel looked exactly the same as any other, especially under the flashlight. Noah pulled me back just as the panel slid open and a girl with long red hair and gray eyes pointed a gun at us. Behind her back, I could see a room full of light.

  She gaped at Noah. “You didn’t! Jaiden will kill you!”

  “What was I supposed to do? Leave her out there?” Noah’s fingers wrapped around my wrist, tugging me forward. The girl sighed and let us through, then closed the panel behind us. I squinted around me as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. To my surprise, the room didn’t smell like sewer and it was clean. The walls and floor looked like metal. In the middle was a couch with a table and a large shelf was in the corner. I could see various doors, but I had no idea where they led. Two guys and a girl looked up at us, their faces curious and suspicious.

  “Get her something warm. New clothes too,” Noah said to the red-haired girl. “Now.”

  “What did you do? Go for a swim?” She laughed.

  “Bay, where is the phone?” Noah yelled to the guy.

  “Kenna has it,” he replied, his dark eyes looking sympathetic.

  Noah swore under his breath and turned to me. “I’ll get you the phone. Just give me a moment.”

  I nodded and he started for the middle door, which opened with a swish before he could even cross the room. A tall guy came through, his dark brown eyes glaring at Noah with so much intensity that I was surprised Noah didn’t back away.

  “I can explain...” Noah started to say, but the guy disappeared and appeared in front of him in less than a second. A gust of air flew out of the guy’s palm, pinning Noah to the wall. “Jaiden...”

  “Why did you bring her here? Without my permission!” Jaiden stopped only inches away from Noah’s face. “Are you out of your mind?”

  “I’m sorry. I had to do something. I couldn’t leave her there. She would have gotten herself killed or captured,” Noah said calmly. “She’s one of us. We have to help her.”

  Jaiden ran his hand through his short messy dark brown hair, his eyes falling on me. Letting go of Noah, who sighed in relief, Jaiden strode toward me. My legs were rooted to the spot as he stopped in front of me, eyeing me up and down. He slid his black leather jacket off his shoulders and put it around me.

  “Someone get her dry clothes,” he said, glancing over his shoulder.

  “I’m on it!” the red-haired girl said, rummaging through the drawer. “Have to find something that fits.”

  “Oh, for the love of...” a familiar female voice rang through the room. I looked in the direction of the door and saw a beautiful tall girl with long dark brown hair. She was the one who had been in the house!

  “Kenna! I need the phone,” Noah said, waving his hand at her.

  “What for?” Jaiden stepped away from me, focusing his attention on Noah.

  “Moira needs to call her mother.”

  Jaiden burst into laughter. “Are you kidding me? So she can babble out to her mommy where we’re hiding? I don’t think so.”

  “Hey, I need to make sure my parents are alive!” I wrapped my fingers around Jaiden’s arm. He turned on me so fast that I stumbled back, his eyebrows rising at the sight of my hand on his arm. I let go, meeting his dark eyes. “Please. I swear I won’t say anything about you. I just need to know they’re safe.”

  He put his hands on his hips, licking his lips. “And why should we believe you? Noah trusted you and you had to ‘fess up everything to your mommy.”

  “Well, I’m sorry if I trust my mom more than some stranger!” I glared at him. “Wouldn’t you do the same thing?”

  He looked away.

  “No way! I’m not giving her the phone.” Kenna came to stand next to Jaiden, her hazel eyes narrowing at me.

  “Give her the phone,” Jaiden said quietly, lifting his eyes to mine. “She won’t say anything, will you?”

  “I won’t. I promise.” I wasn’t stupid enough to anger a room full of powerful elementals.

  “No.” Kenna crossed her arms in front of her. Jaiden gave her a long look and she chewed on her lower lip.

  “Kenna,” he said when she didn’t move.

  Rolling her eyes, she reached into the pocket of her jeans and fished out something black. She held out the phone to me, giving me a deathly glare.

  I snatched the phone, holding it tightly in my grip. “Thanks.”

  She scoffed at me and strolled off with one annoyed look at Jaiden. It took me three times to get the number right with my shaky fingers. Jaiden’s jacket was warm and smelled nicely of the ocean and pine trees, but it wasn’t enough to chase away the cold that had settled deep into my bones. I held my breath as the phone rang and rang.

  “Mom, please pick up,” I whispered over and over again.

  “Hello?” my mom’s voice from the other end of the line nearly sent me to the floor as the relief washed over me. I closed my eyes, pushing back the tears.

  “Mom? It’s me.”

  “Moira? Thank God! Where are you, sweetie? Are you okay?” my mom sniffled.

  “I’m fine. A friend took me somewhere safe.” I looked up just in time to see Noah’s warning look. His face was paler than usual, his fists clenched at his sides. Did he think I’d tell my mom everything? If I were in his place, I’d probably be suspicious too after what happened. “Are you and Dad alright? Do you know what happened?”

  “Yeah, we’re fine. Some minor wounds only. Nothing serious.”

  “Do you know anything about the people who attacked us? About what they were looking for?”

  She sighed. “No, not really. Listen, honey, you can’t come here. Ria has a bunker that is bullet and element-proof, so we are safe, but the men are still out there monitoring the house. If you come nearby, they could hurt you.”

  “But...”

  “Don’t worry, honey. We’ve contacted some people who will deal with the situation, but it will take them some time to get here, so please stay with your friend somewhere safe for now. Can that friend be trusted?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Noah?” Suspicion spiked my mom’s voice.

  “Yeah. It’s a long story, really. I’ll tell you later.”

  “Okay.”

  I heard voices arguing in the background. Ria and my dad were discussing something, but I had no idea what.

  “The bad guys might be listening in, so I have to hang up,” my mom said, her voice breaking.

  “Bye, mom. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I wiped off a tear that had slid down my cheek and put the phone on the nearby shelf where Kenna would find it.

  “I got you some clothes.” The red-haired girl smiled at me, handing me a pile of shirts and pants. “Pick whatever fits you better. I don’t really know what size you are, so...”

  “Thanks.” I took the pile, unsure where to go to change.

  “The bathroom is right there. The blue door.”

  “Thanks again.” I started for the door.

  “My name is Marissa, by the way.” The girl grinned at
me. I nodded, a smile quirking my lips. Now that I knew my parents were safe, I could finally relax and try to figure out what to do with this mostly grumpy group of elementals and convince them to let me stay, but only for a while.

  Chapter 11

  Everyone looked up at me when I emerged from the bathroom. Noah immediately got to his feet, his lips spreading into a smile.

  “Looks good,” Marissa said, nodding at my red sweater and blue jeans. “Your hair is all wet, though. Maybe I could...”

  “Marissa, no!” Noah stepped in between her and me. “Moira can’t quite control her fire and if you use your fire around her, things might get... complicated.”

  “Right.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “What are you talking about?” I frowned. “How could warming the air around me do something to my element?”

  “Our elements are different,” Noah put his hand on my shoulder. “They don’t react the same as normal elements. If Marissa warms the air around you, her element will touch you. Since you can’t control your element, it could unexpectedly burst out of you.”

  “He’s right,” Marissa said. “This kind of happened when I first got here. I flooded the whole room.” She cringed. “Wasn’t pretty.”

  “Okay.” I supposed that meant Marissa had fire and water. Noah had used against me only elements that I didn’t have and air, which I could control just fine, or at least good enough not to have it go haywire. “Wait, how many elements do you have?” I looked at Noah.

  “Three.” He lifted his chin up. “Cool, isn’t it?”

  “Three?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that even possible?”

  “Well, here I am.” He spread his hands, a satisfied smile on his lips.

  “Wow.” I would never have thought he was so powerful. No wonder he hadn’t had any trouble knocking me out. “You’ll have to explain this to me.”

  “We’ll have plenty of time for that.”

  “Umm, does that mean it’s okay for me to stay here for a while?” I asked. “Do you have an extra room or something?”

  “Sure. We didn’t really think of letting you leave,” Noah said, steering me toward the couch where the rest of the group was. “You have to meet the others.”

  I blanched at the part about not letting me leave, but I let it slide for now. I’d deal with that later.

  “This is Ashley,” Noah said. A blonde, green-eyed girl waved at me. “Her elements are mist and earth.”

  I waved back at her, surprised that one of her elements was a sub-element and not a full one. “So sub-elements aren’t too weak...?” I didn’t really know how to say it without offending her. “I mean...” Cassandra would have been thrilled to hear this, or maybe she’d just be pissed off that she didn’t have more than one element.

  “Yeah, sub-elements can be pretty strong too,” Noah said. “This is Sam.”

  I nodded at the dark-haired guy whose dark brown eyes were focused on me.

  “Sam’s elements are water and earth,” Noah said. “Bailey has fire and earth.”

  Bailey was the blond, blue-eyed guy. “Nice to meet you all,” I said.

  “I guess you all heard of Moira by now. Her elements are air and fire, but she can’t quite control them, so yeah... be careful,” Noah said. I cut him a glare. I wasn’t that bad at controlling my elements, was I?

  Noah took me aside and everyone else went on with their conversations. “You sort of met Kenna, the dark-haired princess. Her elements are water and air.” Amusement filled his eyes. “Our leader, Jaiden, has fire and air, just like you. You remember him, don’t you? Tall, intimidating, dark?”

  I nodded, although by now I’d forgotten most of the names and element combinations. Noah glanced at my arm and I realized Jaiden’s jacket was still draped over my arm.

  “Do you want me to return this for you?” he asked.

  “No, I’ll do it. I need to ask him something. Where can I find him?”

  “Brave, really brave.” He winked at me. “Go through the middle door and follow the hall until you get to the end. You’ll find him there.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’ll show you your room when you get back,” he yelled after me. Smiling, I looked over my shoulder. I pushed the door and found myself in a narrow hall, feeling as if the walls were about to close down on me. Doors were on each side of it, but the biggest door was right in front of me. As I came closer, I noticed it was slightly ajar, so I gently pushed it and peeked inside.

  Jaiden was lounging in a huge black chair and Kenna was sitting on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck. She giggled and bent her head to kiss him. I stopped dead in my tracks, realizing it was the best idea to leave before they noticed me.

  “Do you need something?” Jaiden asked just as I was about to turn around, a mischievous smile on his face. Kenna lifted her head in surprise and scowled when she saw me.

  “Doesn’t matter. I can come some other time.” I dropped the jacket on one of the empty chairs. “Thanks for the jacket, anyway.”

  “I have time,” he said and Kenna huffed as she got to her feet.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” I said. “It’s really not...”

  “No, please, take a seat.” Jaiden pointed at the chair opposite from him. “Kenna, would you mind giving us a minute?”

  “Sure, baby,” she said, but her eyes darkened. Her elbow bumped into my arm as she went past me, her long hair whipping around her shoulders.

  “So, what did you want to talk about?” He leaned forward as I took a seat.

  “Umm, since you’re the leader, I wanted to ask you if I could stay here for a while. Noah said it was okay, but I wanted to make sure...” I stared at my hands because his intense look was unnerving the hell out of me.

  “You’re staying.” He waved his hand. “The problem is what will happen now that you’re here. Ever since Noah saw you on that ferry I knew you’d bring nothing but trouble.”

  “Right.” So Noah was that shimmering I’d seen on the ferry. He must have been eavesdropping. How wrong my dad and I had been to think that we could talk freely just because no one was around! I glanced at the black sheet that was hanging from the ceiling and unsuccessfully hiding a large double bed with black covers. A desk with a computer stood in the corner of the room, the screen showing a dozen tiny images.

  “He shouldn’t have brought you here,” Jaiden said, tapping his fingers against his leg. “The first chance you get, you’re going to run to your mommy and tell her where she can find us so she could do her research or whatever it is that she is planning to do.”

  I laughed, and it wasn’t a pretty laugh. “You don’t know me at all and you sure as hell don’t know my mom.” I had no idea how old Jaiden was, but I’d say he was in his early twenties. No one here looked older than that. Surely he had parents somewhere too. “Why are you even hiding here? Is someone after you? Or is this some type of an elemental boot camp?”

  “There are many people who would want to catch us, trust me.” An unidentifiable emotion flashed through his eyes.

  “Well, there can’t be that many, can there? The world doesn’t even know about healthy elementals with more elements.” I crossed my legs, leaning back in my chair.

  He chuckled. “If only you knew. It’s nice that you still believe that no one knows about you or that they can’t find you, but ask Sam how he spent his vacation last year.”

  I opened my mouth, then closed it. I couldn’t even remember which one of the boys was Sam. “Did something happen to him?”

  Jaiden slowly licked his lips and for a second I thought he wasn’t going to tell me anything. “Sam’s family was one of those who still believed in God of Magic and all that crap about pure elements, so Sam never told them when he developed his second element. He was afraid how they’d react, so he didn’t use the element and hoped it would go away. But one day, when the whole family was on the beach, a secret organization came for him. They kille
d his whole family while trying to get to him, but he managed to get away thanks to his second element. He still has a scar where the bullet hit him. He can show you if you want. I found him half-dead and brought him here. Luckily, he fully recovered.” Jaiden paused. “Well, physically anyway.”

  My mouth went slack. “That’s... horrible. How did they find him? He must have told someone...”

  Jaiden shook his head. “He didn’t tell anyone. Our kind might seem elusive, but we aren’t that hard to catch if we aren’t careful. Especially if the secret organization is forcing one of us to find the others. With enough training, we can spot each other even when we are not visibly using our elements, but merely warming the air around us or having difficulty controlling our elements. Our ability is not as good as that of magic disease carriers, but it’s good enough. If you concentrate, you might be able to see it too.”

  “Can everyone like us learn to do that?”

  “No, not everyone. Only strong elementals.”

  “And this secret organization... Do they have a name? What do they want with us?” A beginning of a headache was starting to form behind my eyes.

  “The one in the city is called Elemontera. They specify in researching elementals like us, which mostly ends in death of captured elementals.”

  “But why?” I could understand that someone would want to do a research, but killing was a bit too much. “Does the government know about them?”

  Jaiden gave me a deadpan look. “Of course the government knows. They pay them. And you know why?”

  I shook my head.

  “Because they think we’re too dangerous.” Amusement flashed in his eyes. “They’re partly right. The things we can do...” He let out a loud breath. “...are extraordinary. The evolution of our elements has made us stronger than ever and even found a way to protect us from carriers. It’s the humanity’s dream come true, except of course for two or three tiny problems.” He raised his finger in the air. “One. They can’t control us. Two. They can’t become like us. Three. They are afraid of our abilities. Someone like us could take over the world.” He dropped his hand. “So they’re catching us and trying to find different ways to control us or kill us off. Not all of us are as equally strong and some are captured easier than others. They developed devices that can block our powers too. Most of them are still in beta testing, but they do exist and you never know if they’ll work or not.”