by A. N. Sage
“Was it the same thing last time on the subway?”
“Uhm. Yeah, I guess.”
“Hmm.” They looked over at Zag, who was scratching his head and making the messy layers of hair bounce all around his shoulders. “It seems you’re somehow picking up on heightened Elemental emotions. Liam was obviously pissed, and the guy on the subway straight up murdered one of us, so that’s bound to get some emotions going. That is very interesting.”
Zag started darting from one end of the small room to another, mumbling to himself as he did.
“And he’s off.” Liam smiled. “He gets like this when he’s trying to figure things out. Let’s go get some food, this could definitely be a while.”
They picked up a couple of sandwiches from the kitchen and as Ruby was about to sit down at a lunch table, she felt Liam nudge her lightly towards the door.
“Let’s take these to go. This place is going to get packed soon with all the kids out of class. We can eat in the greenhouse.”
They made their way through the hallway leading to the greenhouse and Ruby could hear the excited chatter behind her.
“Told you.” Liam smiled and sped up his pace.
The greenhouse was particularly quiet and peaceful with Zag not around. She could see why Liam wanted to come here. It was like something out of a movie, the two of them sitting on the floor with their sandwiches, surrounded by wild greenery.
If this was a date, it would be the most romantic date ever. Ruby thought and immediately felt embarrassed.
“You ok?” She looked up to see Liam staring at her.
“Oh, yeah.” Her cheeks were burning hot. “Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Just the Sword. And well, everything. What other powers would you have if you had it? Other than teleporting, which is just totally normal by the way.”
“Of course. No big deal, I’m sure.” He smiled, and she immediately felt herself relaxing. “Well, like Zag said back there, I could have more control over heat and fire which would be very useful in my career. Right now, I can only do the small stuff, like make flames appear and disappear, but with the Sword I can control as far as the sun itself. Oh, and supposedly Fire Elementals can divinate by using fire, because of their innate ability to read people and situations—but that has never actually been proven.”
That could be why he’s so good at sensing what I’m thinking. Ruby thought. It was beginning to make a bit more sense now.
“What about Zag?”
“Well, if you ask him, he’ll tell you he was dealt the worst deal, but that’s not actually true. His house can manipulate plant life and agriculture. Plus, they can move anything the earth touches. Even mountains! I think that’s a pretty big deal!”
“So, why doesn’t he think so, too?”
“Zag really wants to help more on the military side but he’s just not a fighter. I keep telling him we need him here to help us figure out where the Sword is, the guy is an actual genius when it comes to city mapping. He won’t listen though, keeps asking me to help train him.”
“So, what’s wrong with that?”
“It’s dangerous, Ruby. When I train, I can’t be around other Elementals. I could seriously hurt someone. Without the Sword, our powers are all pretty wonky. One wrong move and I could char my best friend to oblivion.”
“So, I guess me watching is out of the question?” She knew what the answer would be but still had to try it.
“Absolutely not happening. The closest you’re getting to witnessing Elemental powers is this greenhouse. It’s just not safe for you otherwise.”
Ruby got up and leaned over one of the rows of plantings. She had to admit, this was a pretty amazing accomplishment underground without any resources. Zag was more powerful than he wanted to admit, it seemed.
She ran her palm through the leaves, they felt lush and she could smell the life in them as she moved across the row. As her fingers traced one of the branches, she could feel her fingers cool down. It felt as though she was holding a bag of ice cubes. She wanted to pull away, but something kept her there. She watched as the stem sprung taller in her hand, growing past her arm and to the height of her shoulders. The leaves turned from a pale green to a deep and luscious jade. From the stems, within seconds formed tiny balls. First green then yellowing until they were a bright red.
Tomatoes! Did I just grow tomatoes! She felt like she was dreaming. Touching the red fruit repeatedly to make sure it was real. It was as real as the sandwich she’d just had for lunch.
“Woah!” Liam yelled, and was at her side instantly. “How did you just do that?”
Her smile was slowly dropping. What was once a feeling of wonderment and excitement had taken a quick turn. All she could feel was fear. She reached for the comfort of Liam’s hand.
“I honestly have no idea.”
Chapter 15
It’s exactly what I thought
Ruby’s night was restless with very little sleep, and when she met Liam in front of the pawn shop in the morning, she could not contain her excitement. After what happened last night in the greenroom, Zag suggested she meet with one of the elders. Anything to help her figure out why she now had Earth powers and what any of it had to do with her visions. It was starting to look like her dream about Jake could have more to do with her than with him, which was a relief. She made a mental note to run it by the elder anyhow.
“Ready for today?” Liam was definitely less excited than she was. She needed him to stop being so worried about her, she wasn’t some helpless creature.
“I literally could not sleep last night. I can’t wait!”
They made the same journey to the back of the shop and this time Ruby managed to smile at the shop owner, who looked surprised to see her again. If she was going to make it a habit of coming here, she was going to make some friends.
“Morning! Alice is already in the meeting room. Let’s go!” Zag was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs when they came down. “She’s pretty excited to meet you, Ruby!”
“Me, too.” She smiled; this was her chance to figure it all out.
Alice was sitting at the same round table they’d gathered around yesterday. She wasn’t as old as Ruby had anticipated, and she started to wonder why she was considered to be an elder. Ruby had expected a frail woman with grey hair in a bun and enough wrinkles to battle a Shar Pei. The woman she met was likely in her mid-fifties with almost flawless, olive-toned skin. She was fairly tall and had similar features to Liam, with the same piercing green eyes and sculpted nose.
“This is Alice.” Liam said, “She’s one of the Fire elders and is, essentially, a walking library of Elemental knowledge.”
“And your aunt.” Alice elbowed Liam in the ribs and laughed.
So, that’s where he got those eyes. Ruby thought.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ruby. I’ve heard quite a lot about you. It seems you had a pretty eventful day yesterday.” Her eyes were fixed on Ruby’s hands as if to make sure they weren’t doing any damage. “Is this the first time something like this happened?”
“Is it the first time I grew tomatoes out of thin air? Yeah, I’d say so.” She realized how rude that likely sounded, “Sorry. It’s just a lot to get used to still.”
“I understand, honey. Don’t worry about it. It will take time, but we’re here for you.”
“It’s not the first time.” Ruby remembered The Library. “I kind of made a coffee tornado the other day.”
“Right, at lunch.” Liam added as if just remembering.
“Oh, and sometimes when I get angry, my palms get so hot that I feel like I am actually burning. But that could just be stress. I think.”
Alice reached over and placed a palm on Ruby’s hand as if to check her temperature. “And when they get hot, do you feel lightheaded?”
“Yes! Exactly! How did you know?”
“Ruby, do you mind helping me test a theory really quick?”
�
��Uhm, sure.” Ruby didn’t mind helping but she also wouldn’t mind knowing what this theory was. Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out a balled-up piece of paper.
“Here you go,” she handed Ruby the piece. “Will you squeeze that really tight and think back to something that makes you upset? Is there anything you can think of like that?”
Was there ever! This entire situation made her angry. Jake was in danger; she was apparently a freak with powers and now on top of it all she was tossed in the middle of some war these people had amongst themselves. Just thinking about it made Ruby furious. She could feel her hand get hot around the paper. The tighter she squeezed, the hotter the paper became. Seconds later smoke emerged from her palm. She kept squeezing and getting angrier with each contraction. It was as if the paper was multiplying her anger. Her palm got hotter and hotter until she could no longer hold on. She flicked her hand and tossed the paper across the table. The ball landed in front of Zag, charred to a crisp with embers trailing away from it.
“Holy crap.” Zag’s mouth was wide open.
“I did that?” She couldn’t believe her eyes. How many strange things had she done so far? What was next?
“It’s exactly what I thought,” Alice walked over and put her arm around Ruby to calm her down. “We haven’t seen something like this in a very long time. Definitely not in the last few generations.”
“Something like what, exactly? Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Ruby demanded.
Alice turned sharply to Liam, as if to stop him from speaking. Something was going on here, and she was not getting the full story. Ruby felt deflated. Her hopes of finding out more about her role in their world might prove to be more difficult than she thought. More than that, she felt betrayed by Liam, the one person she counted on to have her back, down here.
Fine! If they want to play games, I can play my own! She decided her best bet was just to go along with their act. She was going to use this facility for everything it had to offer and get the answers she needed without their help.
“We’ll need to test a couple of more things out, honey. But right now, it seems that you might have all of the four Elemental powers.” Alice’s face was stern and while she was speaking, she was still looking directly at Liam. “Why don’t we go to one of the training rooms?”
She was afraid, and Ruby could see it. No one knew what powers she might have and if she could control them. She should have been afraid, too, but she was more excited than ever. She was one step closer to finding out what her vision meant. Maybe figuring out these powers would put her on the right track to save Jake. At the least, she could be strong enough to protect him from whatever was coming.
“What do we test next?” she asked.
“Well, we know you can control water, earth, and fire so far. What do you say we go see if you can make one of us stop breathing?” Alice smiled. Ruby knew she was joking, but deep inside she was wondering the same thing herself.
Chapter 16
Not a lot of time left
As it turned out, Ruby did not have the ability to suck the air out of a room. A huge disappointment, as she would have loved to feel like she could be in control if she was ever face to face with an Air Elemental. After a few hours of trying, she managed to fog up a glass turned over on the table. Alice said that Air’s powers were the toughest to control, so it might be some time before Ruby would be able to access them.
The idea of being able to control all the elements was starting to sink in with Ruby. She no longer felt like a weakling bystander. If she was able to control each house, she actually had a part to play in this war. What was worse was that she might actually have to choose a side.
This is definitely not what I signed up for, she thought, and her mind immediately jumped to Jake. She was no closer to finding out what danger he was in, but at least now she felt a bit more capable of protecting him. Her pace quickened, and she ran to cross the street to a tiny Chinese restaurant near school, where Jake sat in wait of their dinner plans. She’d have to make sure to dig deeper with him, maybe he could help her figure it all out without even knowing it.
“Sorry! I was shooting and totally blanked on the time!” She yelled as she dumped her jacket on the back of the chair in front of him. She was tired of lying to people about the Elementals, it was starting to feel like second nature.
“No worries, I ordered the dumplings already.”
Ruby loved the fact that their friendship involved ordering for each other. Something about it felt intimate and familiar. It reminded her of why she valued their relationship so much.
“Good, I’m starving!”
“Long day shooting?”
“Yeah. It’s been a hell of a week.” She eyed the menu and pretended to pick dinner options, better change the subject fast. “What’s been going on with you? Did you decide about the business yet?”
“I gave it some thought. Talked to my dad. I think I’m going to go.”
“Oh, yeah?” She was starting to panic, not a lot of time left.
“The way I see it, I should at least check it out. I feel he’s really counting on me to step in so...”
“But do you want to step in?”
“I have no clue. But it’s not like I have any other big ideas, so maybe this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. Wait,” he grabbed her hand, “what is this? What happened?”
Ruby looked down at her palms. They were swollen and a few blisters had formed on her fingers. She’d completely forgotten about that piece of paper she set on fire. How was she going to explain this to him?
“Oh. Uhm. I kind of accidentally put my hand on the stove before it cooled down. So stupid, I know.” She pulled her hands away and put them on her lap under the table. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Are you sure? That looks pretty painful.” He definitely did not believe her. “And both hands?”
“Oh, you know me, such a klutz. It’s really fine. Tell me more about the trip! Are you nervous?”
“Uhm. Ok. But you’d tell me if something was going on, right?” He was not letting this go it seemed.
“Of course. Trust me, everything is great.” She lied.
“All right. Just, you’ve been a little off lately. I haven’t seen you that much, Shaylah said you’ve barely been home and now these weird burn marks? It’s a little strange, Rue.”
“Well, when you put it that way, of course it is!” She tried to laugh to ease the tension, but the sound got trapped in her throat. “I’m just trying to get as much done during this break as I can. My prof has been on me to try new ways of shooting, so I figured I need to really give it my all. Plus, the more I get done during the break, the less I have to do next semester.”
“Ok. Well as long as you’re fine.”
Their food had just started to arrive, and she was relieved to have the intermission. Jake was just about to bite down on a dumpling when his phone rang.
“Hello?” Ruby tried to hear who was on the other end of the line, but she couldn’t make it out. “Yeah, I’m just out for dinner right now. Yes, that’s right. Hmm. Right. Yes, I know. I know it’s important! Do we have to go through with it? And why can’t you do it?”
Jake’s smile had dropped, and he had an intense look on his face. She leaned in closer, and he pulled back as if to make sure she was not within earshot. He was hiding something. But why? She was trying to piece together what the conversation might be about, but very little information was coming her way. She could have sworn she heard the name Evan on the other end.
“Fine. I said fine, I’ll handle it. Bye.” He dropped the phone on the table. “Rue, I am so sorry. My dad needs some help in the office and apparently it can’t wait. Are you ok if I leave?”
“Oh. Sure. Is everything ok? I thought I heard something about your brother.” She knew how that must have sounded. Jake’s brother drowned in a sailing accident four years ago, so why would anyone be bringing him up now?
“
Just something with the business. I have to go. I’m sorry!” He got up quickly and rushed to the door. “Let me know what the dinner is, I’ll cover it! Sorry again!”
She watched him disappear down the street. Something was definitely odd. She hadn’t mentioned Evan in years so as not to upset him, but now that she’d brought up his name it was as if Jake hadn’t even noticed. He was hiding something and whatever it was could be the thing that would put him in danger. Ruby knew she needed to find out. She picked up her phone and dialed Shaylah’s number. If anyone could help get to the bottom of this, it was her.
Chapter 17
Hanging out and getting face masks
“So, we’re doing what? Stalking Jake now?” Shaylah was both intrigued and bothered. This was strange, even for Ruby.
“We’re not stalking him. I just want to make sure he’s ok. He was acting weird and I’m starting to get worried.”
Shaylah laughed. “That’s exactly what he said about you.”
“Yeah. Thanks for telling him I haven’t been home by the way.”
“Well, you haven’t been. Spending all your time with Mister Hottie from the school project?”
“Geez, Shay. You didn’t tell him about Liam, did you?” She was really hoping her friend could at least keep some things to herself.
“Of course not. Although, I probably should have so you two can finally admit that you’re hot for each other.”
“Ok, well, no one is going to do anything unless we figure out what’s going on with Jake.” Ruby pulled on her friend’s sequined sweater and dragged her down the street.
“So, wait, you sure you heard someone mention Evan?”
“Yeah. Weird, right? I mean, he acted like he didn’t even hear me when I asked, but I can swear that’s the name they said.”