“Huh…” the short blond clerk said. “I thought we just got these in?”
“Dunno,” Brea said “but, they are really cute.” She smiled wide and handed the woman the money.
The woman took the cash and put the pants into one of their “Save the Planet” bags.
Brea looked like she had just won the lotto as they walked out of the store. Ava wasn’t sure if the smile was because of the new jeans or because she got her to use her magic. She hoped this one time wouldn’t encourage Brea to bug her all the time about using her gift, or her curse as she thought of it.
Chapter Two… (Temptation)
When Ava got home that night the house was dark. The front porch light wasn’t on either and Aunt Avalene always kept it on. Ava shut the car door quietly, clutching her shopping bag in her left hand and the door key in her right. She looked up at the night sky thankful for the moonlight that lit the small stone pathway leading up to the house.
She looked around and listened intently. There was no sound except her breathing and even that seemed too loud for such quiet. She took in a hard breath as she slid her key into the door. The lock turned with a clank and she turned the door knob and opened the front door. She reached for the light switch and froze as a hand gripped her right wrist tight, way too tight.
Before she could speak, another hand gripped her left wrist pulling her in and pinning her against the wall, “Don’t speak,” he whispered in a husky voice against her ear.
She struggled to get her wrist free as he pulled her down next to the entry way bench. “Let me go! What’s going on?” His hands gripped her wrist tighter and he pushed her hard against the wall with his chest, pressing his forehead against her cheek, “Don’t speak, they’ve come for you.”
“Who?” she said while trying to wriggle loose from his strong grip. “Let me go!”
He pushed his cheek harder against hers, his lips grazing her earlobe as he whispered, “Lareina’s Clutch, they will kill you. Do not speak Princess.”
She nodded her head quietly in the pitch-black dark and tried to turn her face. He wouldn’t budge though; he was like a human rock who had clamped himself against her. His hands were so warm they were almost hot. Her blood rushed with fear and desire at the same time. Questions raced through her mind; “Who is he and why is he calling me Princess? What is he going to do to me? Should I scream?” She could feel his heart pulsing in his chest as he pressed against her, his smell was warm, something like cinnamon and clove mixed together. She blinked her eyes in the dark trying to get a look at him, but there was only darkness.
The back door slammed shut, hard.
Something fell and broke.
She froze, her heart was pounding harder now and the hair on the back of her neck was standing on end. He pressed his lips together tight and forced a whisper between clenched teeth, “Stay still, clear your thoughts…stay quiet.”
She nodded silently hearing the sound of heavy footsteps moving though the dark house. She guessed there were at least three people, maybe four. She held her breath and bit down on her lip as they came into the room they were in. His heart pounded harder against her chest and his grip stayed tight around her wrist as they moved around the room looking for them. “Why can’t they see us? We’re right here?” She felt him release his breath against her neck. He turned his head just slightly to look behind him and she tried once again to see what he looked like. She blinked and strained to see but the darkness was complete. The only thing she had to hold onto was the feel of his hands so tight around her wrists that she could feel his heartbeat pulsing in his fingertips.
Finally they left the room and they heard the back door close behind the intruders as they gave up and left the house. He relaxed slightly against her, turning his face back towards hers. They both waited; the only sound that of the cricket’s chirping off in the distance now. He pushed his cheek against hers again, “Haven’t you been told not to use your magic during a full moon?” his voice was icy cold now.
She tilted her head up at him, “Yes, but…I…”
“No,” he stopped her; tilting his cheek away from hers and loosened his grip on her wrists, “Don’t ever use it during a full moon. This is serious, Princess.”
“I’m not a princess,” she whispered, “and who are you?”
His jaw clenched, “I can’t tell you that yet.”
“Where is Aunt Avalene?”
He tightened his grip again, “Safe, for now.”
A loud creak came from the direction of the staircase, he turned and his lips grazed hers. They both froze in place, their breathing quickening at the instant temptation of a kiss; the creak on the staircase gone from their minds. It was ridiculous to think of wanting to kiss him now, but she couldn’t help it.
She stayed very still, willing her lips not to move against his. It would be so easy to…
His lips brushed hers, but he stopped and rocked back on his feet as he let out a breath and released her wrists.
She reached for the light switch.
“Leave it!” His hand gripped her wrist again; slowly he pulled her hand down and then disappeared in the darkness. His footsteps were so light she couldn’t even tell which way he went.
She stayed there, her back pressed against the wall in the dark and her fingers inching up toward the switch while she tried to decide what to do. “Should I scream, turn on the light. No, don’t turn it on. Who is he? This is stupid; turn on the light then run or something…” Her heart pounded harder and her breathing was fast growing out of control as she tried to decide what to do.
After a minute or so she couldn’t wait anymore, she flipped the light on. She looked around but saw nothing but the two antique sofas and the arched-back sitting chairs. There was no one in the room but her. She rushed to the front door and pulled it open and stepped outside. She looked frantically around the dark yard. Her car sat just as she had left it, bright white moonlight reflecting off its windshield. Nothing. She let out a breath and walked back inside making sure to lock the door securely behind her.
She ran up the stairs, flipping lights on as she moved towards Aunt Avalene’s room. She was too scared to scream out for her. She pushed doors open as she went, finding each room empty. She pushed Aunt Avalene's bedroom door open last, and flipping on the light switch, found it empty too. The rose-colored bedspread on the king-sized bed was unwrinkled. Everything was in its place, and the bathroom door was shut.
She walked over to the old wood door and pushed it open, the bathroom light was on but the room was empty. The claw foot tub was sparkling clean and the pink towel Aunt Avalene used lay untouched over the rim. Where was she? She pulled back the bathroom window curtain and peered down into the moonlit yard below; the faint shadow of Aunt Avalene’s rosebushes peeked around the corner of the house. The tall willow tree cast a dark shadow against the side yard. No Aunt Avalene.
She ran back down the staircase and dug her cell phone out of her bag. She paced back and forth across the dark hardwood floors as the phone rang in her ear. She stopped just in front of the large stone fireplace, her fingers gripping the wood mantle. She looked around, each ring in her ear more agonizing than the last. Aunt Avalene's voice mail picked up, “leave a message” it said in her friendly voice. Then the beep sounded.
“Aunt Avalene where are you? Call me, something is going on. Are you okay…?” She actually waited for an answer. “Call me back, now… it’s an emergency!”
After trying the cell three more times she grabbed her keys off of the floor and ran out to her car. She only knew of one other place Aunt Avalene might be, Sherri’s house. Sherri lived on the other side of town and was her Aunt Avalene's best friend. She was also the only babysitter in the world who would let you stay up past midnight on a school night and eat chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.
Ava always wondered if Sherri knew their family secret. Sherri and Aunt Avalene were really close, but they weren’t supposed to share the secret with
anyone. It had been preached into Ava’s head since she was five not to tell anyone. She only shared her secret with Brea because she had too. Aunt Avalene wasn’t too mad since Brea had sort of become a part of their little family.
There were way too many times that she accidently slipped up in front of Brea not to tell her. She still remembered the time that they were swimming in the river and got swept up in the current and down the river. They spent hours making their way back up the side of the river bank through the woods. Brea had already been questioning her about the strange things that had been happening.
It started with the first day they met, when Brea caught Ava making water drift over her sandcastle on the river bank. It wouldn’t normally be strange to see water running over a sandcastle, but Ava had made the water flow up the bank and over the back side of the sandcastle she had built. There were numerous slip-ups after that day that Ava couldn’t quite explain to her friend. Brea wouldn’t let it go and the day they got lost beside the river she knew she had to tell her.
Seeing your best friend turn a giant log in the water with one wish so they could catch on to it, was the final straw. After climbing onto the bank and walking in silence for a while there was an explosion of questions. “How did you do that? I’m starting to freak out. What about that kitten? How did you move the log Ava? Please tell me what’s going on. I know there is something, everything can’t be a coincidence.”
Ava, having no other choice, told her best friend the family secret. Since that day Brea has kept the secret, but she has also bugged the hell out of Ava to use her magic again. She understood that Ava didn’t want to once she found out why her mother disowned her, but argued that she should learn it just to spite her mother. Sometimes Ava felt like she was still waiting on her mother to come back and get her, even now.
Ava parked in front of Sherri’s small wooden house. The front was covered in flowers and the old bird house that Ava helped her paint still sat crooked on the post by the steps. Ava glanced at it as she walked up the wide steps onto the front porch.
The door swung open before she could make it the five steps across the porch. Sherri smiled wide, “It’s Ava!” and Aunt Avalene appeared beside her in the doorway. “What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly.
Ava hesitated, then shook her head following them inside. “I need to talk to you Aunt Avalene.”
“Well, spit it out sugar.”
“In private,” she said looking towards Sherri who was sitting back down at the table in front of the puzzle they had been working on.
Aunt Avalene looked towards Sherri then back to Ava, “You used your magic tonight, didn’t you?”
Ava’s eyes got big and she looked towards Sherri, “She knows?” Aunt Avalene nodded. “Yes, I didn’t think…, I didn’t mean to!” Ava was shaking now. “Sherri knows?” she asked again.
“Yes…she knows.”
“Who the hell is Lareina’s Clutch?”
Aunt Avalene looked down, “Come on Shug.”
Sherri smiled warmly, “It’s okay, we’ll explain everything.” She glanced at Aunt Avalene then stood up. She walked across the room to a bookshelf on the far wall. She reached to the top shelf and pulled down a book covered with a white cloth. Ava shot her aunt a questioning look as Sherri walked back over to the table where they were standing.
“Sit down Ava,” Sherri said.
They all took seats around the small wooden table, pushing the puzzle to the far end.
“It’s time to tell her,” Sherri said.
Aunt Avalene nodded once and then reached over and touched the top of Ava’s hand. “We have been trying to give you time. I wanted to wait until you were old enough to accept your gift before I told you.”
“We?” Ava mumbled, the word catching in her throat, “And told me what?”
“Just some minor details,” Aunt Avalene smiled slightly but her blue eyes clearly held worry. “Sherri and I are friends, but we are also like sisters. You know about the family gift, but what you don’t know is that Sherri has the same gift you and I have. Sherri and I share the same birthday. Three other people also share our birthday.”
“What are you talking about…I thought the witchy thing ran in our family?”
“It does,” Aunt Avalene said, “but, not just in our family. Those like us are born in groups of five. Some inherit their gift from an ancient family, but others inherit it by chance.”
“What exactly do you mean born in groups?”
“Five people are born at the same time,” Sherri started now. “There are five elements.” She held her fingers up counting them off “Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Spirit. Each of us is born with an affinity for one element. Avalene possesses Earth and I possess Wind. There are three others you have never been introduced to before.”
Aunt Avalene’s beautiful face seemed to hold more worry now as she took over, “When you were born, the five of us met to consult and that’s when we learned that you are special.”
“What do you mean special?” “Like princess special?” popped into Ava’s mind.
“You know we don’t call ourselves witches or any of that nonsense?” Aunt Avalene said.
“Yes.”
“Well,” she said with a gritty edge in her tone, “That’s because those are names people came up with. Our magic is much older than those names. We have been called many things over the centuries “witch, sorcerer, wizard…”
“Temptress,” Sherri said with a laugh looking at Aunt Avalene. “You remember Woodstock?”
“Do I ever” Aunt Avalene smiled.
“What are you trying to tell me?” Ava interrupted their little moment.
“We are trying to tell you that people call us lots of things,” Sherri said.
“But,” Aunt Avalene’s smile widened, “we prefer to be called Elementris.”
“Elementris?” Ava repeated.
“Yes. Each Elementris is born with an affinity for an element of the earth. When you were born, no other Elementris’ were born at the same time.”
“Why?”
Sherri raked her fingers through her curly brown hair looking hard at Aunt Avalene.
“You see Shug, all Elementris’ in the same circle are born on the same day at the exact same time. When we had our meeting with the others after you were born, we learned you were born alone. That means you are what we call a True Elementris. You, my dear niece, were born with an affinity for all the elements.”
“I was…?”
“Yes.” Sherri smiled. “Normally we all have to get together with our sister Elementris’ or brother Elementors to perform any great magic, but because you possess all the elements you can do it all alone. That means you possess great power; a power that only you can learn to control and use the right way.”
“Sometimes this gift is passed down in families and that’s the case for me and you.”
“But,” Sherri said “sometimes our gift is merely chance, like mine.”
“You, my dear,” Aunt Avalene said “were born into one of the royal families of our kind and you are a True Elementris. That means you hold great power and a chance to take the throne.”
“Throne?” Ava said, looking between her aunt and Sherri, “What do you mean throne? Now I’m lost.” She remembered the guy calling her Princess. He was a question for later though.
“Yes, throne. A True Elementris is like the leader of all of the rest of us. All of the others born of the Element.”
“Are there lots of people like us…Elementris' or whatever?”
“Quite a few actually.” Sherri smiled “There are people like us scattered all over the world. Those like us, those born of the Element, have a secret society. We must abide by regular laws, but we have our own laws to go by as well. We still go by the old politics and government of kings and queens. In our society there is a True Elementris who rules over the rest of us. Our True Elementris is like our queen.”
Aunt Avalene took a deep breath. “A woman
named Lareina is our current True Elementris. She uses her position to do some bad things, but those of our kind have hoped for years that another True Elementris would be born who could take her position as queen.”
They both turned to look at Ava in unison.
Ava stood up, her chair falling over behind her, “Me? I can’t be a queen, or a True Elementris, or anything. I don’t even understand how there are queens and different laws or whatever. This is crazy!” And, you still haven’t told me who Lareina’s Clutch is!”
“They are guards. The Clutch is just what we call the people who are born of the Element who protect the queen, the secret, and all the rest of those born of the Element.”
“Are they bad?”
“That’s complicated” Aunt Avalene said. “For now, you need to stay off their radar. You need to concentrate on your decision.”
“I don’t want to be some queen, or True Elementris, or whatever the heck it’s called. I just want to be normal.”
Aunt Avalene dropped her eyes to the floor and then slowly looked back up. “Sherri and I have always hoped you would claim your birthright as the True Elementris, but every Elementris has a choice. It will be up to you to decide. On your eighteenth birthday, you must choose to either give up your power or accept it fully.”
Ava turned the chair back onto all four legs and eased back down into it, “I can give it up?”
“If you really want to,” Aunt Avalene said with a hard look in her eyes. “All of us have that choice. If you don’t accept it, another True Elementris will be born at some point, but who knows when. No one can predict these kinds of things. If you accept your gift and your birthright as True Elementris all of those born of the Element will know who you are. They will know you are the next True Elementris and they will expect you to challenge Lareina for the crown.”
Elementris, Exposure, Eruption Box set: The Vangeretta Curse Series Page 2